Terabit-throughput GEO satellite optical feeder link testbed

Abstract

The paper presents an experimental testbed, which will be used for the demonstration of more than 1 Tbps free-space optical (FSO) transmission in a scenario similar to that of GEO uplink. The chosen terrestrial scenario corresponds to worst-case conditions of a GEO uplink scenario according to the atmospheric channel characteristics and the geometry of the scenario. The testbed consists of a DWDM-based FSO link over 26km distance with less than 2° elevation. The communications system consists of several DWDM transmitters, which are multiplexed, amplified and transmitted in a single FSO channel. The transmitter as well as the receiver will be pointed and tracked by a high-precision fine-pointing mechanism. The state of the atmospheric transmission media will be monitored in realtime, allowing us to deepen our understanding of the optical satellite uplink transmission.