FEED-FORWARD CONTROL OF FREE SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM BASED ON INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT

摘要

Embodiments relate to a free space optical (FSO) communications system with a feed-forward control path. A data-encoded FSO beam is transmitted from a local terminal to a remote terminal. The local terminal directs a propagation direction of the FSO beam by a beam steering unit. To reduce pointing errors between the terminals, the FSO communications system includes a feed-forward control path. The control path includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that outputs motion data indicative of motion of the local terminal, for example if the local terminal is mounted to a tower that sways. The control path also includes a controller that receives the motion data from the IMU and generates feed-forward control signals for the beam steering unit. The control signals compensate for an effect of the motion of the local terminal on the propagation direction of the FSO beam.