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Abstract

A method and apparatus for setting the wavelength of a laser beacon in a free-space laser communication system. The invention uses the absorption and transmission attributes of a material, such as cesium, to generate a physical environment at the transmitting transceiver that essentially exactly replicates the environment that governs the physics of an atomic line filter at a receiving transceiver that is based on the absorption and transmission attributes of the same material. In general, the invention includes an apparatus for setting the wavelength of a laser beacon in a free-space laser communication system, comprising: a wavelength-tunable laser beacon having an output beam; optical means for directing at least part of the output beam through an absorption cell having at least one absorption peak; a photodetector positioned relative to the absorption cell for detecting wavelengths output from the absorption cell corresponding to a selected range of wavelengths for the output beam; a circuit, coupled to the wavelength-tunable laser beacon and the photodetector, for determining laser beacon tuning parameters corresponding to at least one absorption peak from the detected wavelengths and for setting a wavelength for the output beam corresponding to the determined tuning parameters.

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First Claim