Laser Communication with Aircraft
TILBA® improves the reliability of aircraft laser communication systems
Going beyond mere air transport, airlines are now offering a real passenger experience to their customers. In-flight entertainment, mobile services, Wi-Fi and IoT are already an in-flight reality, and demand is now shifting toward a FTTH equivalent internet connection. In addition to passenger needs, aircraft also exchange large amounts of safety and navigation data, for equipment monitoring and in-flight maintenance, for example.
The increase in throughput associated with these new uses requires the deployment of very high-speed wireless connections to and from the aircraft. Free space optical communication technology, also known as Laser Communication, is the only technology that can provide the throughput of more than 10 Gb/s required for 500 passengers onboard an A380 to stream a series in Ultra HD.
Widely studied for its military applications, such as for drones or spy planes that exchange vast amounts of information1 with ground stations, laser communication is emerging as the solution to throughput issues.
With its ability to link constellations of satellites, balloons, drones and aircraft to ground stations, laser communication can extend the very high-speed telecommunications networks, which currently rely on static fiber-optic solutions, to any point on the globe, even in orbit.
Unfortunately, this technology is still limited by atmospheric turbulence. Fluctuaction and inhomogeneity of the air attenuate the intensity of the beam and modify its wavefront. The result is a limited connection in terms of both range and speed. Wavefront correction technologies do exist, but they require active opto-mechanical components that are difficult to install, in aircraft, for example.
Cailabs’ TILBA® solution improves the reliability of free space optical communication, thanks to:
- An increase in the range and robustness of optical links in free space
- Its onboard design, which is miniaturized, resistant to environmental constraints and mechanically passive.
- Fiber output that are compatible with standard telecom components for optical data processing.
1 In particular the Fly-Over Terabyte Offload project
