Maximum Likelihood Parameter Estimation of a Laser System Using Return Photons

摘要

Accurate laser beam pointing is critical for a variety of applications including free space laser communications. Several methods have been described in the literature to estimate pointing error parameters. One such estimator is the maximum likelihood estimator that can provide nearly optimal estimates of the pointing error parameters using the signal returned from a target. This paper summarizes the key findings of the maximum likelihood estimator and compares its performance using experimental results.