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. 16, 2014
Filed:
Jul. 13, 2012
Gary D. Coleman, Redondo Beach, CA (US);
C. Thomas Hastings, Jr., Manhattan Beach, CA (US);
Duane Smith, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
John F. Silny, Playa Vista, CA (US);
Gary D. Coleman, Redondo Beach, CA (US);
C. Thomas Hastings, Jr., Manhattan Beach, CA (US);
Duane Smith, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
John F. Silny, Playa Vista, CA (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
A free space optical communication system () and method including a constellation of several satellites (). Each of satellites including: several inter-satellite optical telescopes () for optical communication with multiple neighboring satellites, each inter-satellite optical telescope is capable of adjusting its elevation angle; and several up/down link optical telescopes () for optical communication with multiple ground sites. As the constellation passes a given ground site, some of the up/down-link telescopes of a given satellite are configured to track at least two respective ground optical telescopes of the given ground site and send data to the ground optical telescope with the clearest line of sight to the given satellite. Moreover, each of the satellites includes optical circuitry () for optically processing and switching incoming and outgoing optical signals without converting the optical signals into electrical signals.