Laser Radar Architecture: Multi-Aperture vs. Single Aperture

摘要

Free space optical communication and laser radar links that operate within even a thin atmosphere can exhibit severe temporal short-term fading and cause tracking difficulties that are attributed to turbulence-induced scintillation. Various system architectures can be developed to mitigate scintillation and other atmospheric effects: (a) Increased transmitter power (may not be practical), (b) Increased aperture size (may not be practical), (c) Multiple small apertures at the receiver (both direct and coherent detection).