The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 12, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 18, 1997
Jeevan Prakash Dodley, Parsippany, NJ (US);
Christopher L Rutledge, Somerset, NJ (US);
AT&T Corp., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
An optical transmitter is provided for use in a free-space optical communications system. The transmitter has a laser source with a tunable wavelength and adjustable power. A beam splitter divides the output beam from the laser source. A first portion of the divided beam is transmitted to a remote receiver through the atmosphere. A second portion of the divided beam is passed through a local optical path to a local receiver. The local optical path may be either a portion of the atmosphere local to the transmitter or may be an atmospheric spectral attenuation simulator. Processing circuitry receives signals from the local receiver that indicate the amount of attenuation of the second portion of the beam in the local optical path. The processing circuitry may adjust the wavelength and power output of the laser source to optimize transmission of the first portion of the beam to the receiver based on the amount of the attenuation measured in the local optical path. The processing circuitry may also adjust the wavelength and power of the laser source based on weather data received from a weather data source.