Description
The next big revolution in wireless communications is unfolding in space right now. With Starlink and OneWeb having launched approximately six thousand and seven hundred low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, respectively, and with Project Kuiper aiming for another three thousand LEO satellites in the near future, it is envisioned that the backhaul of future wireless communications will lie primarily in space. A highly suitable technology that can provide ultra-high speed inter-satellite links in space is the free-space optics, or laser communication system. Due to its very narrow beamwidths and minimal impairment in space, lasers can carry data up to millions of miles in space as demonstrated by NASA's Psyche Mission in 2023. Moreover, NASA's TBIRD project aims to exploit the high bandwidth of FSO signal to achieve a coherent 200 Gbps satellite-to-ground link with lasers. In this tutorial, we discuss the fundamentals and applications of a laser communications network, specifically in the context of non-terrestrial networks. We go over the pointing, acquisition, and tracking aspects of narrow laser beams and consider some related optimization problems. We then consider fundamentals of FSO communications with single-detector and detector-array receivers and consider maximization of optical channel capacity by tuning different system parameters. In the latter part of this tutorial, we consider some important applications of FSO in non-terrestrial networks (such as UAVs and HAPs). Finally, we consider one important application of lasers: wireless energy transmission to satellites and HAPs in space. We conclude the session with a vision of a "green smart grid in space," where the solar energy harvested by satellites in space can be beamed down to Earth through lasers and HAP constellations floating in the near-space region.| Period | 27 Nov 2024 |
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| Event title | 1st xGMobile Worshop |
| Event type | Workshop |
| Location | Brasilia, BrazilShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |