Airborne free-space optical communications for fronthaul/backhaul networks for 5G and beyond

Abstract

Free-space optical communication (FSOC) provides high-capacity wireless connections, without exhausting scarce RF resources, between airborne platforms constituting aerial fronthaul/backhaul network for 5G and beyond. However, accurate pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) of narrow-divergence optical beams between the transmitter and receiver has long been a major technical challenge of FSOC systems. We introduce an adaptive beam control technique to facilitate the PAT and improve the link availability.