Design and implementation of mobile free space optical communication system

We explore the possibility and challenges of designing a mobile FSO system for remotely operated platforms. Therefore low power and light weight are essential qualities. The paper demonstrates a 10 MHz mobile FSO communication with low power consumption, light weight and low cost. The system is mounted on a mobile platform with the battery power. We realize arbitrary signal transfer at 50 meters, design the tracking system using beam splitting technique, and successfully interfaced to Ethernet for a packet transmission. LDs and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are used respectively in the transmitter design and be compared on the system performance. The LD transmitter consumes 600 mW of total power, and outputs 15mW of optical power, which is better than that of the LED-based system.