LED-Based Visible Light Intersatellite Communication for Distributed Space Systems

Intersatellite communication (ISC), also known as intersatellite links (ISLs), comes with many benefits to distributed space systems (DSSs) including advanced capabilities, such as relative navigation among small satellites and a reduction in the need for the ground segment. Radio frequency (RF) has been the de-facto method for ISC in DSS missions. However, as new science missions evolve with advanced payloads and complex architectures, RF may not be able to meet the ISC requirements of high bandwidth and throughput without violating the size, mass, power, and cost (SMaP-C) constraints of small satellites. Laser communication has the potential of meeting the requirements for these more complex missions but may violate the constraints imposed on small satellites due to its high-precision pointing and tracking requirements. This work presents the progress made on the development of LED-based visible light ISC (VL-ISC). Key aspects of the system design are presented with regards to the physical and data link layers. The simulation of the nonorthogonal multiple-access scheme for VL-ISC in a cluster of small satellites indicates an overall system throughput sum rate of about 2 Mbit/s (for system bandwidth of 0.5 MHz) among others. The roadmap to the development of a future VL-ISC standard is discussed.