Hybrid RF-Optical Terminal for Moving Platforms

The optical transmission system is divided into multiple independent transmission beams (at least two) that are spatially separated and transmitted through different atmospheric paths. This segmentation allows the system to overcome weather-related blockages or degradations affecting individual beams, as not all beams will be simultaneously affected by the same adverse conditions.

Multiple transmitted beams carrying the same or complementary data are combined at the receiver side through coherent or non-coherent detection. This merging process provides diversity gain and ensures that data can be recovered even if some individual beams are degraded by weather conditions, thus improving reliability while maintaining high data rates.

The system employs dynamic beam steering and tracking mechanisms that adapt to the motion of platforms without requiring complex adaptive optics. By using multiple beams with different spatial characteristics, the system dynamically selects and combines the most reliable transmission paths in real-time, achieving robust communication on moving platforms with reduced complexity.

Instead of using complex adaptive optics to correct atmospheric distortions, the system creates multiple copies of the transmitted data through separate beams. These copies traverse different atmospheric paths and are combined at the receiver, effectively bypassing the need for expensive and complex adaptive optical correction systems while maintaining transmission reliability.