Demonstration of a jitter rejection technique for free-space laser communication

An active jitter compensation scheme intended for free space intersatellite laser communication, utilizing self-tuning feedforward compensation, is developed. It is implemented via computer-controlled analog circuitry. The theory, design, and implementation of the laboratory prototype are discussed. A performance evaluation, comparing the feedforward compensator with the existing closed-loop control, is presented with the feedforward technique demonstrating significant jitter reduction.