Dynamic optical interconnect
AssigneeHRL Laboratories, LLC
InventorDavid M. Pepper
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention provides a dynamic interconnection system which allows to couple a pair of optical beams carrying modulation information. In accordance with this invention, two optical beams emanate from transceivers at two different locations. Each beam may not see the other beam point of origin (non-line-of-sight link), but both beams can see a third platform that contains the system of the present invention. Each beam incident on the interconnection system is directed into the reverse direction of the other, so that each transceiver will detect the beam which emanated from the other transceiver. The system dynamically compensates for propagation distortions preferably using closed-loop optical devices, while preserving the information encoded on each beam.
Claims68
A method of optically interconnecting a first station to a second station by coupling a first optical beam and a second optical beam, the first optical beam originating from the first station and being directed to the second station, the second optical beam originating from the second station and being directed to the first station, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a first adaptive optical module and a second adaptive optical module;
- (b) disposing the first adaptive optical module in a path of the first beam for
- (i) reflecting and directing the first beam to the second adaptive optical module;
- and
- (ii) reflecting the second beam received from the second adaptive optical module, and directing the second beam to the first station;
- and
- (c) disposing the second adaptive optical module in a path of the second beam for
- (i) reflecting and directing the second beam to the first adaptive optical module;
- and
- (ii) reflecting the first beam received from the first adaptive optical module, and directing the first beam to the second station.
A method of creating an optical link between a first and a second station for the purpose of exchanging information between the two stations, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a first optical beam emanating from the first station, and a second optical beam emanating from the second station;
- (b) pointing the first optical beam and the second optical beam to a common location;
- (c) directing each beam into a reverse direction of the other so that each station receives the beam which emanated from the other station;
- and
- (d) correcting propagation distortions of the first and second optical beams.
An interconnect for optically interconnecting a first station and a second station, the interconnect comprising:
- a first adaptive optical module positioned in the line of sight of the first station;
- a second adaptive optical module positioned in the line of sight of the second station and in the line of sight of the first adaptive optical module.
In an optical system, a method of compensating for propagation errors, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing at least one adaptive optical module;
- (b) receiving an optical beam by the at least one adaptive optical module;
- (c) detecting the propagation errors by the at least one adaptive optical module;
- (d) computing a correction to compensate for the propagation errors;
- (e) applying the correction to the received optical beam;
- (f) sending a corrected optical beam by the at least one adaptive optical module.
A method of optically interconnecting a first station to a second station by coupling a first optical beam and a second optical beam, the first optical beam originating from the first station and being directed to the second station, the second optical beam originating from the second station and being directed to the first station, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing an adaptive optical module;
- (b) disposing the adaptive optical module in the propagation path of the first beam and in the propagation path of the second beam;
- (c) reflecting and directing the first beam to the second station;
- (d) reflecting and directing the second beam to the first station;
An interconnect for optically interconnecting a first station and a second station, the interconnect coupling a first optical beam and a second optical beam, the first optical beam originating from the first station and being directed to the second station, the second optical beam originating from the second station and being directed to the first station, the interconnect comprising:
- an adaptive optical wavefront corrector positioned in the line of sight of the first station and in the line of sight of the second station, the adaptive optical wavefront corrector having a first region and a second region;
- a first wavefront error sensor disposed adjacent the first region;
- and
- a second wavefront error sensor disposed adjacent the second region;
A system for coupling a first optical beam originating from a first station, and a second optical beam originating from a second station, the system comprising a pair of AO modules for directing each beam into the reverse direction of the other so that first station receives the second beam and the second station receives the first beam, the system dynamically compensating for propagation errors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.