Design and analysis of high photon efficiency optical communications systems utilizing low-risk commercial components

High photon efficiency optical communications techniques have demonstrated the ability to achieve high data rates over long distances using modest aperture sizes and laser power. These techniques have the potential to minimize the size and weight of optical communications terminals, allowing their incorporation into small satellite and airborne systems. However, the use of complex technologies, such as cryogenically cooled detectors and high overhead error correction codes, have hindered these applications. The link performance levels achievable through the use of commercially available technologies, such as fiber amplifiers, and high-performance, low-overhead coding, are analyzed to determine the performance capabilities of small optical terminal systems using low-risk component technologies. The link performance achieved by small optical terminals using available laser communications components is found to compare favorably with more complex state-of-the-art systems, enabling significant reduction in system size, weight, and power, and facilitating applications including low earth orbit and geosynchronous crosslinks and downlinks, lunar downlinks, and small unmanned aerial vehicles.