Free-space optical terminal

A system comprising:

• a first network comprising a first optical terminal;
• a second network comprising a second optical terminal;
• and
• an optical data link established between the first and second optical terminals,
• wherein the first optical terminal comprises:
• an optical fiber bundle comprising at least one optical data fiber and at least three optical tracking fibers;
• a mirror package configured to direct an incoming optical beam to the optical fiber bundle;
• at least three detectors, each detector corresponding to one of the at least three optical tracking fibers such that a one-to-one relationship exists between each one of the at least three detectors and a corresponding one of the at least three optical tracking fibers, the at least three detectors configured to receive portions of the incoming optical beam from the corresponding optical tracking fibers and convert the portions of the incoming optical beam to electrical tracking signals;
• and
• a controller configured to receive the electrical tracking signals from the at least three detectors and generate a feedback control based on the electrical tracking signals to control a position of the mirror package.

A method comprising:

• capturing, by a mirror package and an optical fiber bundle of a first optical terminal, an incoming beam from a second optical terminal, the optical fiber bundle including at least one optical data fiber and a plurality of optical tracking fibers;
• converting, by a plurality of detectors coupled to the optical fiber bundle, the incoming beam into a tracking signal, where a number of the plurality of detectors matches a number of the plurality of optical tracking fibers such that a one-to-one relationship exists between each detector of the plurality detectors and a corresponding optical tracking fiber of the plurality optical tracking fibers;
• processing, by a controller of the optical terminal, the tracking signal to generate alignment information and determine, based on the alignment information, whether an alignment of the incoming beam is correct;
• and
• articulating, by the controller, the mirror package based on the alignment information, when the alignment of the incoming beam is not correct.