Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

An optical transceiver for full-duplex communications employs a single gimbaled steering mirror, a receiver for receiving an incoming beam reflected from a field of view on the central portion of the mirror, and a transmitter for directing an outgoing beam onto a peripheral portion of the steering mirror outside of the field of view of the receiver. In the preferred embodiment, the receiver includes a Cassegranian telescope that receives the incoming beam reflected by the steering mirror and directs the beam through a beam splitter to produce separate beams for tracking and data recovery. The transmitter consists of a plurality of lasers positioned at the periphery of the telescope that have been boresighted to effectively produce a combined beam that is substantially parallel to the incoming beam. The transmitted beam has a divergence of at least approximately 200 micro-radians.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim