Free space optical communication has become an attractive solution for data transmission due to its cost-effective, license-free and high bandwidth characteristics. The performance of such systems, however, is highly affected by the effects of optical turbulence. Multiple laser transmitters and/or multiple aperture receivers can be used to mitigate the turbulence fading by exploiting the advantages of spatial diversity. In this work, the performance of a link employing spatial diversity at the receiver was investigated by analyzing two figures of merit: Bit Error Rate and Link Availability. The statistical properties of the photocurrent generated at the receiver – required for evaluating Bit Error Rate and Link Availability – were obtained by means of computer simulation using the Monte Carlo method. The results presented here can be very helpful in designing a free space optical link with spatial diversity, since they are given in function of system configurations and impairment conditions.

Date Published: 7 October 2014
PDF: 16 pages
Proc. SPIE 9224, Laser Communication and Propagation through the Atmosphere and Oceans III, 922418 (7 October 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2060432

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9224:
Laser Communication and Propagation through the Atmosphere and Oceans III
Alexander M. J. van Eijk; Christopher C. Davis; Stephen M. Hammel, Editor(s)