Optical wavelength diversity techniques for free-space optical communication

A free-space optical communication terminal, comprising:

• a reflective optical antenna configured to receive a laser beam from atmosphere through a first aperture, the laser beam including at least a first light beam in a short-wavelength infrared band and a second light beam in a mid-wavelength or long-wavelength infrared band;
• a deformable mirror configurable to correct aberrations of the received laser beam;
• a power selector configurable to split the received laser beam into the first light beam and the second light beam;
• a wavefront sensor configured to measure a wavefront profile of the first light beam;
• a controller configured to control the deformable mirror to correct the aberrations of the received laser beam based on the wavefront profile of the first light beam measured by the wavefront sensor;
• an optical demultiplexer configured to demultiplex the first light beam and the second light beam;
• a first optical receiver configured to receive the first light beam from the optical demultiplexer and demodulate data transmitted in the light in the short-wavelength infrared band;
• and
• a second optical receiver configured to receive the second light beam from the optical demultiplexer and demodulate data transmitted in the light in the mid-wavelength or long-wavelength infrared band.

A free-space optical communication terminal comprising:

• a first transceiver configured to transmit and/or receive data using light in a short-wavelength infrared band;
• a second transceiver configured to transmit and/or receive data using light in a mid-wavelength or long-wavelength infrared band;
• an optical multiplexer coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, the optical multiplexer configured to:
• multiplex the light in the short-wavelength infrared band from the first transceiver and the light in the mid-wavelength or long-wavelength infrared band from the second transceiver into a multiplexed light beam;
• and
• demultiplex light in a light beam received from atmosphere into light in the short-wavelength infrared band and light in the mid-wavelength or long-wavelength infrared band;
• and
• a reflective optical antenna configured to receive the light beam from the atmosphere and/or transmit the multiplexed light beam into the atmosphere.