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:
Dec. 11, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 15, 2004
Steven E. Koenck, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
David W. Jensen, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
John L. Meier, St. Charles, MO (US);
Steven E. Koenck, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
David W. Jensen, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
John L. Meier, St. Charles, MO (US);
Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a method and system for transmitting data between two objects via a free space optical data link. In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, the method may start with a step in which a laser beam modulated with data is transmitted to the vicinity of an optical collector. The laser beam may be transmitted by a modulated laser transmitter. The laser beam may cause atmospheric nitrogen in the vicinity of the optical collector to fluoresce and emit a set of characteristic line spectra. The set of characteristic line spectra may be received by the optical collector, and at least one characteristic spectral line may be obtained with an optical filter. Preferably, a wavelength of the at least one characteristic spectral line is selected from a group consisting of 3995.00 angstroms, 4630.54 angstroms, 5005.15 angstroms, and 5679.56 angstroms, which have high relative amplitude. The at least one characteristic spectral line may be detected and converted to electrical signal by a photodetector. The electrical signal may be amplified from a small signal to a large signal, and the amplified electrical signal may be processed with a communications receiver to obtain the data.