Device for optical communication and optical communication system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for optical communication and an optical communication system. The device comprises: a transmitting unit configured to transmit a first light beam; a transceiver unit configured to receive the first light beam from the transmitting unit via an aperture, send the first light beam to another device that performs optical communication with the device, and receive a second light beam from the other device, wherein the aperture radius of the aperture is determined based on a first beam radius of the first light beam and a second beam radius of the second light beam; and a receiving unit configured to receive the second light beam from the transceiver unit. The present invention can realize a device for optical communication and an optical communication system that has a simple structure, saves costs, and has a high transceiver isolation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of optical communication, and more particularly to an optical communication device and an optical communication system. Background Art

[0002] With the development of optical information technology, optical communication systems are being used more and more widely. In an optical communication system, a device for optical communication emits a light beam and receives a light beam from other devices to achieve optical communication between devices. An important performance indicator associated with the device is the transceiver isolation. Transceiver isolation is a measure of the leakage power of the device's transmission power that is leaked to the receiving unit of the device (used to receive light beams emitted by other devices), which is usually expressed as the ratio of the transmission power to the leakage power. Therefore, it is expected that the device for optical communication has a higher transceiver isolation so that the optical communication system has a higher signal-to-noise ratio. However, in order to make the device for optical communication have a higher transceiver isolation, it is usually necessary to design the device in a complex and precise manner, resulting in a larger device size and higher cost.

[0003] In summary, the disadvantages of conventional devices for optical communication are that they are large in size and high in cost. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention provides an optical communication device and an optical communication system, which can realize an optical communication device and an optical communication system with a simple structure, cost saving and high transmit-receive isolation.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for optical communication. The device comprises: a transmitting unit configured to transmit a first light beam; a transceiver unit configured to receive the first light beam from the transmitting unit via an aperture, send the first light beam to another device that performs optical communication with the device, and receive a second light beam from the other device, wherein the aperture radius of the aperture is determined based on a first beam radius of the first light beam and a second beam radius of the second light beam; and a receiving unit configured to receive the second light beam from the transceiver unit.

[0006] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit is configured to: send the first light beam to the other device along a first transmission direction via a light beam path in the transceiver unit; and transmit the second light beam to the receiving unit along a second transmission direction via the light beam path, wherein the first transmission direction is opposite to the second transmission direction.

[0007] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit includes: a transmission part, configured to form a first portion of the beam path, for transmitting the first beam along the first transmission direction, or transmitting the second beam along the second transmission direction; and an optical antenna, configured to form a second portion of the beam path, for sending the first beam to the other device, or receiving the second beam from the other device, the optical antenna having a predetermined zoom factor, for increasing the radius of the first beam according to the predetermined zoom factor, and reducing the radius of the second beam according to the predetermined zoom factor.

[0008] In some embodiments, the aperture radius of the aperture is also determined based on at least one of the following items: the predetermined zoom factor, the size of the optical antenna, a predetermined transmission loss rate of the device, or a predetermined reception loss rate of the device, wherein the predetermined transmission loss rate is determined based on the following items: the power of the first light beam emitted by the transmitting unit, and the power of the first light beam received by the transceiver unit, and wherein the predetermined reception loss rate is determined based on the following items: the power of the second light beam received by the transceiver unit, and the power of the second light beam received by the receiving unit.

[0009] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit is further configured to: transmit the reflected light in the first light beam reflected by the optical antenna to the aperture via the transmission portion along the second transmission direction, so that the reflected light enters the transmitting unit via the aperture.

[0010] In some embodiments, the device further includes: a light absorbing unit configured to be optically coupled to the transmitting unit and the transceiving unit for absorbing reflected light in the first light beam reflected at an interface between the transmitting unit and the transceiving unit.

[0011] In some embodiments, the transmitting unit is also configured to transmit a first beacon beam, the wavelength of the first beacon beam is different from the wavelength of the first beam, the transceiver unit is also configured to: receive the first beacon beam from the transmitting unit via the aperture, send the first beacon beam to the other device, and receive a second beacon beam from the other device, the wavelength of the second beacon beam is different from the wavelength of the second beam, and the device also includes: a precision tracking unit, configured to receive the second beacon beam from the transceiver unit via the receiving unit, so as to determine the reception quality of the receiving unit for the second beam based on the second beacon beam.

[0012] In some embodiments, the transmitting unit includes: a transmitting optical fiber configured to transmit a laser beam; and a collimating lens configured to collimate the laser beam to form the first beam.

[0013] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit includes: a transmission part, including a first reflector, a second reflector and a third reflector, the first reflector is configured to have the aperture, the first reflector is optically coupled to the collimating lens via the aperture, the second reflector is optically coupled to the first reflector, and the third reflector is optically coupled to the second reflector; and an optical antenna, including a first curved lens and a second curved lens, the first curved lens is optically coupled to the third reflector, and the second curved lens is optically coupled to the first curved lens and the other device, wherein the reflected light in the first light beam reflected by the first curved lens is transmitted to the aperture via the second reflector and the third reflector.

[0014] In some embodiments, the receiving unit includes: a first beam splitter configured to be optically coupled to the first reflector; a first filter configured to be optically coupled to the first beam splitter; a first converging lens configured to be optically coupled to the first filter; and a receiving optical fiber configured to be optically coupled to the first converging lens.

[0015] In some embodiments, the device also includes a fine tracking unit, which includes: a fourth reflector, configured to be optically coupled to the first spectrometer; a second filter, configured to be optically coupled to the fourth reflector; a second converging lens, configured to be optically coupled to the second filter; and a camera, configured to be optically coupled to the second converging lens.

[0016] In some embodiments, the first light beam and the second light beam have the same wavelength, and the another device is the same device as the device.

[0017] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an optical communication system is further provided. The optical communication system comprises the device according to the first aspect of the present invention and another device.

[0018] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the present invention are that by configuring a transceiver unit with an aperture that can be used to simultaneously send a first light beam and receive a second light beam, and by setting the aperture of the transceiver unit according to the first light beam and the second light beam, the structure of the device can be simplified, the production cost of the device can be reduced, and at the same time the device can have a higher transceiver isolation.

[0019] It should be understood that the contents described in this section are not intended to identify the key or important features of the embodiments of the present invention, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Other features of the present invention will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above and other features, advantages and aspects of the embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating an example environment in which an apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 2 A schematic block diagram of an apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic block diagram of a transceiver unit of an optical communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0024] Figure 4 A schematic block diagram of an apparatus for optical communication according to another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0025] Figure 5 A schematic optical path diagram of a device for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0026] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the aperture of the first reflector according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0027] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating an example of a light absorbing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0028] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating reflection of a first light beam by a first curved lens of an optical antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0029] In the various drawings, the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present invention more thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

[0031] As used herein, the term "including" and its variations mean open inclusion, i.e., "including but not limited to". Unless otherwise stated, the term "or" means "and / or". The term "based on" means "based at least in part on". The terms "an example embodiment" and "an embodiment" mean "at least one example embodiment". The term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. may refer to different or the same objects.

[0032] As described above, the conventional devices for optical communication have the disadvantages of being large in size and high in cost.

[0033] Conventionally, in order to enable a device for optical communication to have a higher transmit-receive isolation, in some implementations, a conventional device for optical communication may be configured so that a transmitted light beam (a light beam emitted by the device) and a received light beam (a light beam received by the device from other devices) have different wavelengths or different polarizations.

[0034] However, when the transmitted light beam and the received light beam have different wavelengths, the optical communication system can only perform optical communication within a narrow frequency band, which limits the flexibility of the optical communication system. In addition, the device needs to use optical devices such as a spectroscope to split the transmitted light beam and the received light beam of different wavelengths, which places high requirements on the manufacturing of optical devices, resulting in a high cost and large size of the device for optical communication. The spectroscope will also have a large degree of reflection on the transmitted light beam of the device, thereby limiting the improvement of the transmit-receive isolation of the device.

[0035] In the case where the transmitting light beam and the receiving light beam have different polarizations, the device used for optical communication requires optical devices such as polarization beam splitters and quarter-wave plates to realize the application of different polarizations, which has high requirements for the manufacturing of optical devices, resulting in high cost and large size of the device used for optical communication. The polarization beam splitter and quarter-wave plate will also have a large degree of reflection on the transmitting light beam of the device, thereby limiting the improvement of the transmitting and receiving isolation of the device.

[0036] In addition, in some other implementations, the conventional device for optical communication may also improve the transmit-receive isolation of the device by adding corresponding optical devices (e.g., optical spheres with a small radius of curvature, etc.) in the path of the transmitted light beam. However, this method may degrade the transmission efficiency of the device, affect the performance of the device, and result in a higher cost and larger size of the device for optical communication. In addition, the transmission light beam path of the device implemented in this way usually also has a beam splitter, which will have a greater degree of reflection on the device's transmitted light beam, thereby limiting the improvement of the device's transmit-receive isolation.

[0037] In order to at least partially solve one or more of the above problems and other potential problems, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a device for optical communication. In the device, by configuring a transceiver unit with an aperture that can be used to send a first light beam and receive a second light beam at the same time, and by setting the aperture of the transceiver unit according to the first light beam and the second light beam, the structure of the device can be simplified, the production cost of the device can be reduced, and the device can have a higher transceiver isolation.

[0038] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating an example environment in which an apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented is illustrated. Figure 1 The example environment shown may represent an optical communication system. The optical communication system may include a plurality of devices for optical communication, such as Figure 1 The first group 110 of devices and the second group 120 of devices are shown. Each device 110-1, 110-2, ..., 110-N (N is an integer greater than 1) in the first group 110 of devices can perform optical communication with the corresponding device 120-1, 120-2, ..., 120-N in the second group 120 of devices. For example, the device 110-1 can transmit a light beam to the device 120-1 and receive a light beam from the device 120-1, the device 110-2 can transmit a light beam to the device 120-2 and receive a light beam from the device 120-2, the device 110-N can transmit a light beam to the device 120-N and receive a light beam from the device 120-N, and so on.

[0039] However, it should be understood that the above is only an example of an optical communication system for ease of description. In actual applications, the optical communication system may not group the devices therein, and any two of the devices 110-1, 110-2, ..., 110-N and 120-1, 120-2, ..., 120-N may perform optical communication. Figure 1 The apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is described by taking an optical communication system as an example.

[0040] Figure 2 A schematic block diagram of an apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Figure 2 The device shown may be Figure 1 Any device (e.g., device 110-1) in the optical communication system in Figure 1 Another device (eg, device 120-1) in the optical communication. Figure 2 As shown, the device includes a transmitting unit 210 , a transceiver unit 220 and a receiving unit 230 .

[0041] The transmitting unit 210 is configured to transmit a first light beam. In some embodiments, the first light beam may be a light beam carrying communication information. The transceiver unit 220 is configured to receive the first light beam from the transmitting unit 210 via an aperture, and transmit the first light beam to another device (e.g., Figure 1 The receiving unit 230 is configured to receive the second light beam from the transceiver unit 220. In some embodiments, the second light beam may be a light beam carrying communication information.

[0042] In some embodiments, the aperture radius of the aperture of the transceiver unit 220 is determined based on the first beam radius of the first beam and the second beam radius of the second beam. Thus, the transceiver unit 220 can receive the first beam with a lower loss and transmit the second beam with a lower loss. In addition, the above-mentioned aperture setting can also make the transceiver unit 220 reflect less of the first beam during the process of receiving the first beam, so that the device can have a higher transmit-receive isolation.

[0043] In addition, in some embodiments, the first light beam and the second light beam may have the same wavelength. In some embodiments, another device in optical communication with the device may be the same device as the device. Thus, an optical communication system can be simply implemented by a device according to an embodiment of the present invention without having to set up the device in the optical communication system differently, thereby saving the cost of the optical communication system.

[0044] According to the above-mentioned device of an embodiment of the present invention, by configuring a transceiver unit 220 with an aperture that can be used to simultaneously send a first light beam and receive a second light beam, and by setting the aperture of the transceiver unit 220 according to the first light beam and the second light beam, the structure of the device can be simplified, the production cost of the device can be reduced, and at the same time, the device can have a higher transceiver isolation.

[0045] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 220 may be configured to send the first light beam to another device along a first transmission direction via a light beam path in the transceiver unit 220. In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 220 may also be configured to transmit the second light beam to the receiving unit 230 along a second transmission direction via the light beam path. The first transmission direction may be opposite to the second transmission direction. Figure 3 An example of the transceiver unit 220 is further described.

[0046] Figure 3 FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a transceiver unit 220 of an apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, the transceiver unit 220 may include a transmission unit 310 and an optical antenna 320 .

[0047] The transmission portion 310 may be configured to form a first portion of a beam path of the transceiver unit 220 for transmitting the first beam along a first transmission direction, or transmitting the second beam along a second transmission direction. The optical antenna 320 may be configured to form a second portion of the beam path for sending the first beam to another device, or receiving the second beam from another device. In some embodiments, the optical antenna 320 may have a predetermined scaling factor to increase the radius of the first beam according to the predetermined scaling factor, and reduce the radius of the second beam according to the predetermined scaling factor.

[0048] In this case, in some embodiments, the aperture radius of the aperture of the transceiver unit 220 can also be determined based on the predetermined zoom factor. In some embodiments, the aperture radius of the aperture of the transceiver unit 220 can also be determined based on the size of the optical antenna 320 (for example, the caliber of the optical antenna 320). In some embodiments, the aperture radius of the aperture of the transceiver unit 220 can also be determined based on a predetermined transmission loss rate of the device. In some embodiments, the aperture radius of the aperture of the transceiver unit 220 can also be determined based on a predetermined reception loss rate of the device. In some embodiments, the predetermined transmission loss rate of the device can be determined based on the following items: the power of the first light beam emitted by the transmitting unit 210, and the power of the first light beam received by the transceiver unit 220. In some embodiments, the predetermined reception loss rate of the device can be determined based on the following items: the power of the second light beam received by the transceiver unit 220, and the power of the second light beam received by the receiving unit 230.

[0049] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 220 may also be configured to: transmit the reflected light in the first light beam reflected by the optical antenna 320 to the aperture via the transmission unit 310 along the second transmission direction, so that the reflected light enters the transmitting unit 210 via the aperture. In this way, the reflected light of the first light beam can be separated from the receiving unit 230, thereby improving the transceiver isolation of the device.

[0050] In addition, in order to further improve the transceiver isolation of the device, in some embodiments, the device may further include a light absorption unit. The light absorption unit may be configured to be optically coupled to the transmitting unit 210 and the transceiver unit 220 to absorb the reflected light in the first light beam that is reflected at the interface between the transmitting unit 210 and the transceiver unit 220. For example, the light absorption unit may be disposed at the interface of the transceiver unit 220 that is optically coupled with the transmitting unit 210, or may be disposed at any position of the device that can absorb the reflected light (for example, disposed on the inner wall of the housing of the device).

[0051] In addition, during the optical communication of the device, in order to ensure the reception quality of the receiving unit 230 of the device for the second light beam (for example, the degree of alignment between the receiving optical fiber in the receiving unit 230 and the second light beam), in some embodiments, the device according to the embodiments of the present invention may also have a precision tracking unit for tracking the reception quality of the second light beam. Figure 4 A schematic block diagram of an apparatus for optical communication according to another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Figure 4 The device shown is Figure 2 The device shown is different in that the device further comprises a fine heel unit 410 .

[0052] exist Figure 4 In the illustrated embodiment, the transmitting unit 210 may also be configured to transmit a first beacon beam, the wavelength of the first beacon beam being different from the wavelength of the first beam. The first beacon beam may be a beam that does not carry communication information. The transceiver unit 220 may also be configured to receive the first beacon beam from the transmitting unit 210 via an aperture, send the first beacon beam to another device, and receive a second beacon beam from the other device, the wavelength of the second beacon beam being different from the wavelength of the second beam. The second beacon beam may be a beam that does not carry communication information.

[0053] The fine tracking unit 410 may be configured to receive the second beacon beam from the transceiver unit 220 via the receiving unit 230, so as to determine the reception quality of the second beam by the receiving unit 230 according to the second beacon beam. As an example, the fine tracking unit may have a similar arrangement structure as the receiving unit 230 (to be further described in the following examples). Figure 5 , an example of an apparatus for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is described in the form of an optical path diagram.

[0054] Figure 5 A schematic optical path diagram of a device for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Figure 5 The device shown may include the above reference Figure 2 or Figure 4 The transmitting unit 210, the transceiver unit 220, the receiving unit 230, and the precision tracking unit 410 described above. Figure 5 In the figure, the first light beam is represented by a solid arrow, and the direction of the solid arrow represents the first transmission direction of the first light beam. The second light beam is represented by a dotted arrow, and the direction of the dotted arrow represents the second transmission direction of the second light beam. In addition, the solid arrow can also represent the above-mentioned first beacon beam, and the dotted arrow can also represent the above-mentioned second beacon beam. The first beacon beam is transmitted along the first transmission direction, and the second beacon beam is transmitted along the second transmission direction.

[0055] like Figure 5As shown, the transmitting unit 210 may include a transmitting optical fiber 211 and a collimating lens 212. The transmitting optical fiber 211 may be configured to transmit a laser beam, such as a laser beam generated by another laser source, and the laser beam may have any wavelength. The collimating lens 212 may be configured to collimate the laser beam emitted by the transmitting optical fiber 211 to form a collimated first beam. The first beam is transmitted to the transceiver unit 220.

[0056] The transceiver unit 220 may include a transmission part 310 and an optical antenna 320. The transmission part 310 may include a first reflector 311, a second reflector 312, and a third reflector 313, which form a first portion of a beam path of the transceiver unit 220. The optical antenna 320 may include a first curved lens 321 and a second curved lens 322, which form a second portion of a beam path of the transceiver unit 220.

[0057] The first reflecting mirror 311 may be configured to have the aperture H described above. Figure 6 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the aperture H of the first reflecting mirror 311 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, the aperture H may have an opening direction that is the same as the transmission direction of the first light beam. For example, when the angle between the first reflector 311 and the transmission direction of the first light beam is θ, the angle between the opening direction of the aperture H and the mirror surface of the first reflector 311 may be θ. The aperture H may have an aperture radius α.

[0058] Return to reference Figure 5 , the first reflector 311 can be optically coupled to the collimating lens 212 via the aperture H. The second reflector 312 is optically coupled to the first reflector 311. The third reflector 313 is optically coupled to the second reflector 312. The first curved lens 321 is optically coupled to the third reflector 313, and the second curved lens 322 is optically coupled to the first curved lens 321 and another device (e.g., Figure 1 Device 120-1 in.

[0059] The transceiver unit 220 can receive the first light beam (and the first beacon beam) from the collimating lens 212 via the aperture H of the first reflector 311, transmit the first light beam to the first curved lens 321 and the second curved lens 322 via the second reflector 312 and the third reflector 313 to amplify the first light beam (increase the radius of the first light beam), and transmit the amplified first light beam to another device.

[0060] In addition, the transceiver unit 220 can also receive a second light beam (and a second beacon beam) from another device via the second curved lens 322, reduce the second light beam (reduce the radius of the second light beam) via the first curved lens 321 and the second curved lens 322, and transmit the second light beam to the receiving unit 230 via the third reflector 313, the second reflector 312 and the first reflector 311.

[0061] The receiving unit 230 may include a first beam splitter 231, a first optical filter 232, a first converging lens 233, and a receiving optical fiber 234. The first beam splitter 231 may be configured to be optically coupled to the first reflector 311. The first optical filter 232 may be configured to be optically coupled to the first beam splitter 231. The first converging lens 233 may be configured to be optically coupled to the first optical filter 232. The receiving optical fiber 234 may be configured to be optically coupled to the first converging lens 233. In some embodiments, the first converging lens 233 may be a lens group consisting of a plurality of lenses.

[0062] The receiving unit 230 may separate the second light beam reflected by the first reflector 311 and the second beacon light beam via the first beam splitter 231. For example, the first beam splitter 231 may reflect the second light beam and transmit the second beacon light beam. Figure 5 In addition, in other embodiments, the first beam splitter 231 can transmit the second light beam and reflect the second beacon light beam. In this case, Figure 5 The arrangement structures of the receiving unit 230 and the fine tracking unit 410 shown can be interchanged.

[0063] In the receiving unit 230, the second light beam reflected by the first beam splitter 231 can be converged to the receiving optical fiber 234 via the first filter 232 and the first converging lens 233. The first filter 232 can filter out light having a wavelength different from that of the second light beam, and the first converging lens 233 can focus the second light beam. In order to improve the quality of optical communication, the second light beam needs to be focused at the center of the receiving optical fiber 234. The fine tracking unit 410 can be used to detect whether the second light beam is focused at the center of the receiving optical fiber 234.

[0064] The fine tracking unit 410 may include a fourth reflector 411, a second filter 412, a second converging lens 413, and a camera 414. The fourth reflector 411 may be configured to be optically coupled to the first beam splitter 231. The second filter 412 may be configured to be optically coupled to the fourth reflector 411. The second converging lens 413 may be configured to be optically coupled to the second filter 412. The camera 414 may be configured to be optically coupled to the second converging lens 413. In some embodiments, the second converging lens 413 may be a lens group consisting of a plurality of lenses.

[0065] In the fine tracking unit 410, the second beacon beam transmitted by the first beam splitter 231 can be converged to the camera 414 via the fourth reflector 411, the second filter 412 and the second converging lens 413. The second filter 412 can be used to filter out light having a wavelength different from that of the second beacon beam, the second converging lens 413 can focus the second beacon beam, and the camera 414 can receive the second beacon beam focused by the second converging lens 413.

[0066] Depend on Figure 5 It can be seen that the optical path structure of the precision tracking unit 410 can be the same as the optical path structure of the second light beam in the receiving unit 230. Therefore, by observing the position where the second beacon light beam is incident on the camera 414, it can be determined whether the second light beam is focused on the center of the receiving optical fiber 234, thereby tracking the reception quality of the second light beam in real time to ensure the communication quality of the device.

[0067] In some embodiments, in order to further improve the transmit-receive isolation of the device, a light absorption unit may be further provided to absorb the light in the first light beam at the interface between the transmitting unit 210 and the transceiver unit 220 ( Figure 5 The reflected light is reflected at the right surface of the first reflecting mirror 311 in the image. Figure 7 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a light absorbing unit 710 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 As shown, the light absorbing unit 710 can be a coating disposed on the back side (non-reflective surface) of the first reflector 311, and the coating can absorb the first light beam. In some embodiments, in order to make the device applicable to first light beams of various wavelengths, the coating can be set to absorb light of any wavelength, for example, black light-absorbing paint can be used to set the coating.

[0068] Furthermore, it should be understood that Figure 7 The light absorption unit 710 shown is only an example, and a light absorption unit located at other positions or having other forms can be used according to actual needs. For example, the light absorption unit can be set as a light trap, which can be located on the inner surface of the housing of the device for optical communication and on the reflection path for the back side of the first reflector 311.

[0069] Return to reference Figure 5 In order to further improve the transmit and receive isolation of the device, it is also possible to Figure 5 The first light beam is reflected by the first curved lens 321 ( Figure 5The reflected light reflected by the first curved lens 321 (the right surface of the first curved lens 321) is transmitted to the aperture H of the first reflector 311 via the third reflector 313 and the second reflector 312. As a result, the reflected light reflected by the optical antenna 320 in the first light beam can be prevented from entering the receiving unit 230, thereby improving the transmission and reception isolation of the device. This can be achieved by setting the curvature radius R of the right surface of the first curved lens 321 and the aperture radius α of the aperture H in association. Figure 8 The settings of the curvature radius R and the aperture radius α are described.

[0070] Figure 8 FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the reflection of a first light beam by a first curved lens 321 of an optical antenna 320 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For ease of explanation, Figure 8 The schematic diagram shown omits other optical elements (ie, the second reflector 312 and the third reflector 313) located between the first curved lens 321 and the first reflector 311. Figure 8 , the solid arrow represents the first light beam incident on the right surface of the first curved lens 321 along the first transmission direction, and the dotted arrow represents the reflected light in the first light beam reflected by the right surface of the first curved lens 321 along the second transmission direction.

[0071] Reference Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 8 , the curvature radius of the right surface of the first curved lens 321 can be represented as R, the angle between the first reflector 311 and the first light beam can be represented as θ, and the aperture radius of the aperture H can be represented as α. The optical path length from the center of the right surface of the first curved lens 321 to the center of the aperture H can be represented as L.

[0072] In this case, the focal point F of the right surface of the first curved lens 321 is at a distance D from the right surface. F It can be expressed as D F =R / 2. When the reflected light is expected to completely enter the aperture H, considering the symmetry of the reflected light on both sides of the focus F and the angle θ of the first reflector 311 relative to the first light beam, the mutual constraint relationship between the above-mentioned radius of curvature R, the optical path length L, and the aperture radius α can be expressed by the following formula (1).

[0073] (1)

[0074] In addition, in some embodiments, the first light beam may be a Gaussian light beam. At this time, although the first light beam can be regarded as a collimated light beam, it may still have a certain divergence angle, which can be expressed as u. In this case, in order to allow the above-mentioned reflected light to completely enter the aperture H, it is also necessary to make the reflection angle of the reflected light reflected at the right surface of the first curved lens 321 (which can be expressed as α / (0.5×R)) greater than the divergence angle u of the first light beam. Therefore, the above-mentioned curvature radius R and aperture radius α also have the following constraint relationship with the divergence angle u of the first light beam represented by the following formula (2).

[0075] (2)

[0076] Combining equation (2) with the above equation (1) yields the following equation (3).

[0077] (3)

[0078] In addition, while satisfying the constraint condition of the above formula (3), the aperture radius α also needs to be set to adapt to the predetermined transmission loss rate, the predetermined reception loss rate of the device, the predetermined scaling factor and size of the optical antenna 320, and other requirements.

[0079] In some embodiments, when the first light beam transmitted by the transmitting unit 210 is a Gaussian light beam, the optical power of the Gaussian light beam is concentrated in the central area of ​​the Gaussian distribution. Therefore, the first beam radius of the first light beam passing through the aperture H can be obtained according to the Gaussian distribution and the predetermined emission loss rate of the device. For example, when the predetermined emission loss rate is 86.5%, 1 / e of the peak power at the center of the Gaussian distribution can be obtained. 2 The spot radius at is taken as the first beam radius. In this case, the relationship between the aperture radius α and the first beam radius is expressed by the following equation (4).

[0080] (4)

[0081] In equation (4), ω1 represents the first beam radius.

[0082] In addition, if Figure 5 As shown, the aperture H of the first reflector 311 will cause reception loss to the transmission of the second light beam. Therefore, the aperture radius α can be further set according to the predetermined reception loss rate of the device and taking into account the second beam radius of the second light beam and the predetermined zoom factor of the optical antenna 320.

[0083] In some embodiments, the receiving aperture of the optical antenna 320 can be represented as D (ie, Figure 5The diameter of the second curved lens 322 shown in FIG. 3 ), the predetermined zoom factor of the optical antenna 320 can be expressed as k. In this case, the second beam radius ω2 of the second beam received by the optical antenna 320 (i.e., the second beam radius of the second beam on the right side of the first curved lens 321) can be expressed by the following formula (5).

[0084] (5)

[0085] The loss rate P of the second light beam having the second light beam radius ω2 at the aperture H of the first reflecting mirror can be expressed by the following equation (6).

[0086] (6)

[0087] Therefore, when the predetermined reception loss is x, P<x, ​​and equation (6) can be rewritten as the following equation (7).

[0088] (7)

[0089] Combining equation (7) with the above equation (4) yields the following equation (8).

[0090] (8)

[0091] Through the constraints of the above formula (3) and formula (8), the reflected light of the first light beam reflected by the optical antenna 320 can completely enter the aperture H, and the size of the aperture can satisfy the predetermined transmission loss rate and the predetermined reception loss rate of the device. As a result, the device can have a high transmit-receive isolation while satisfying other performances of the device. In addition, when the aperture H satisfies the constraints of the above formula (3) and formula (8), the aperture H can be set at any position of the first reflector 311, rather than at the center of the first reflector 311, thereby further simplifying the manufacturing difficulty of the first reflector 311 and further saving costs.

[0092] In addition, by Figure 5 It can be seen that according to the device disclosed in the present invention, there is no need to set a beam splitter in the transceiver unit 220, which can further simplify the structure of the device and avoid significant degradation of the transceiver isolation of the device caused by the reflection of the first light beam by the beam splitter.

[0093] In addition, in some embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention further provide an optical communication system. The optical communication system may include the above-mentioned device according to the present disclosure, and include another device in optical communication with the device. The optical transmission medium between the device and the other device may be any medium (for example, air, etc.), and the optical communication distance between the device and the other device may be different depending on the medium.

[0094] The various processes and processing described above, such as methods, may be performed at a computing device. The computing device includes, for example: at least one processor (at least one graphics processor and at least one central processing unit); and a memory connected to the at least one processor in communication; wherein the memory stores instructions that can be executed by at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by at least one processor. In some embodiments, the method may be implemented as a computer software program or program product, which is tangibly contained in a machine-readable medium. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and / or installed on a computing device via a read-only memory (ROM) and / or a communication unit. When the computer program is loaded into a random-access memory (RAM) and executed by a GPU and a CPU, one or more actions of the method described above may be performed.

[0095] The present invention may be a method, an apparatus, a system and / or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions for executing various aspects of the present invention. The computer-readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can hold and store instructions used by an instruction execution device. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0096] The computer-readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded from a computer-readable storage medium to various computing / processing devices, or downloaded to an external computer or external storage device via a network, such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and / or a wireless network. Various aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that each box of the flowchart and / or block diagram, and the combination of boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

[0097] These computer-readable program instructions can be provided to a central processing unit of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, thereby producing a machine, so that when these instructions are executed by the central processing unit of the computer or other programmable data processing device, a device that implements the functions / actions specified in one or more boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram is generated. These computer-readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and these instructions cause the computer, programmable data processing device, and / or other equipment to work in a specific manner, so that the computer-readable medium storing the instructions includes a manufactured product, which includes instructions for implementing various aspects of the functions / actions specified in one or more boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram.

[0098] The flow chart and block diagram in the accompanying drawings show the possible architecture, function and operation of the system, method and computer program product according to multiple embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each square box in the flow chart or block diagram can represent a part of a module, program segment or instruction, and a part of a module, program segment or instruction includes one or more executable instructions for realizing the logical function of the specification. In some alternative implementations, the function marked in the square box can also occur in a sequence different from that marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two continuous square boxes can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they can sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the function involved. It should also be noted that each square box in the block diagram and / or flow chart, and the combination of the square boxes in the block diagram and / or flow chart can be realized by a special hardware-based system that performs the function or action of the specification, or can be realized by a combination of special hardware and computer instructions.

[0099] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to reorder, add or delete steps. For example, the steps recorded in this application can be executed in parallel, sequentially or in different orders, as long as the expected results of the technical solution disclosed in this application can be achieved, and this document is not limited here.

[0100] The above specific implementations do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present application. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions may be made according to design requirements and other factors.

Claims

1. A device for optical communication, characterized in that: include: A transmitting unit configured to transmit a first light beam via a transmitting optical fiber; a transceiver unit configured to receive the first light beam from the transmitting unit via an aperture, transmit the first light beam to another device in optical communication with the device, and receive a second light beam from the other device, wherein an aperture radius of the aperture is determined based on a first beam radius of the first light beam and a second beam radius of the second light beam; and a receiving unit, configured to receive the second light beam from the transceiver unit, wherein the aperture radius of the aperture is further determined based on at least one of the following items: a predetermined scaling factor of the optical antenna in the transceiver unit, a size of the optical antenna, a predetermined transmission loss rate of the device, or a predetermined reception loss rate of the device, wherein a radius of curvature of a lens in the optical antenna is determined based on an aperture radius of the aperture, The transmitting unit and the transceiver unit do not have a beam splitter, so that the first light beam is sent to the other device without passing through the beam splitter.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The transceiver unit is configured as follows: sending the first light beam to the other device along a first transmission direction via a light beam path in the transceiver unit; as well as The second light beam is transmitted to the receiving unit via the light beam path along a second transmission direction, the first transmission direction being opposite to the second transmission direction.

3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that The transceiver unit comprises: a transmission portion configured to form a first portion of the light beam path for transmitting the first light beam along the first transmission direction or transmitting the second light beam along the second transmission direction; and The optical antenna is configured to form a second portion of the beam path for sending the first beam to the other device, or receiving the second beam from the other device, and the optical antenna increases the radius of the first beam according to the predetermined zoom factor, and reduces the radius of the second beam according to the predetermined zoom factor.

4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The predetermined transmission loss rate is determined based on the following items: the power of the first light beam transmitted by the transmitting unit and the power of the first light beam received by the transceiver unit, and The predetermined reception loss rate is determined based on the following items: the power of the second light beam received by the transceiver unit, and the power of the second light beam received by the receiving unit.

5. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The transceiver unit is further configured as: The reflected light in the first light beam reflected by the optical antenna is transmitted to the aperture via the transmission section along the second transmission direction, so that the reflected light enters the transmitting unit via the aperture.

6. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that Also includes: The light absorbing unit is configured to be optically coupled to the transmitting unit and the transceiving unit, so as to absorb reflected light in the first light beam that is reflected at an interface between the transmitting unit and the transceiving unit.

7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The transmitting unit is further configured to transmit a first beacon light beam, the wavelength of the first beacon light beam being different from the wavelength of the first light beam, The transceiver unit is further configured to: receive the first beacon beam from the transmitting unit via the aperture, send the first beacon beam to the other device, and receive a second beacon beam from the other device, the wavelength of the second beacon beam being different from the wavelength of the second beam, and The device also includes: The precision tracking unit is configured to receive the second beacon beam from the transceiver unit via the receiving unit, so as to determine the reception quality of the receiving unit for the second beam according to the second beacon beam.

8. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The transmitting unit comprises: The transmitting optical fiber is configured to transmit a laser beam; and The collimating lens is configured to collimate the laser beam to form the first beam.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The transceiver unit comprises: a transmission portion, comprising a first reflector, a second reflector, and a third reflector, wherein the first reflector is configured to have the aperture, the first reflector is optically coupled to the collimating lens via the aperture, the second reflector is optically coupled to the first reflector, and the third reflector is optically coupled to the second reflector; and an optical antenna, comprising a first curved lens and a second curved lens, wherein the first curved lens is optically coupled to the third reflector, and the second curved lens is optically coupled to the first curved lens and the other device, The reflected light in the first light beam reflected by the first curved lens is transmitted to the aperture via the second reflector and the third reflector.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that The receiving unit comprises: a first beam splitter configured to be optically coupled to the first reflector; a first filter configured to be optically coupled to the first beam splitter; a first converging lens configured to be optically coupled to the first filter; and The receiving optical fiber is configured to be optically coupled to the first converging lens.

11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that The device further comprises a fine heel unit, and the fine heel unit comprises: a fourth reflector configured to be optically coupled to the first beam splitter; a second filter configured to be optically coupled to the fourth reflector; a second converging lens configured to be optically coupled to the second filter; and A camera is configured to be optically coupled to the second converging lens.

12. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The first light beam and the second light beam have the same wavelength, and the other device is the same device as the device.

13. An optical communication system, comprising the device according to any one of claims 1 to 12 and the other device.

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