Free-space Optical Interconnect for Inter-Satellite Communications

无处不在。随着下一代卫星的部署，需要在它们之间建立有效的互连，特别是对于那些为即将到来的空间互联网应用而形成近地轨道星座的卫星。有限的无线电频谱不足以实现通信链路，因此，自由空间光学互连(FSOI)有望成为互连卫星的首选技术。Relex Photonics是一家来自魁北克省柯克兰的公司，过去3年来一直在为卫星内部连接提供光互连解决方案，现在希望探索如何利用其专业知识为空间应用制造FSOI发射器。为此，他们希望继续与UQAM的Ménard教授合作，并在之前的Engage项目中获得的关于硅光子调制器的知识的基础上，开发利用这项技术的FSOI发射机演示器，并通过模拟研究如何利用硅光子学的集成潜力来实现发射机的小型化，以便使其适合空间应用。

ubiquitous. As the next generation of satellites is being deployed there is a need for efficient interconnectionsbetween them, especially for those forming low earth orbiting constellations for the coming Internet-of-Spaceapplications. The limited radio frequency spectrum available is not sufficient to implement thesecommunication links, and thus, free-space optical interconnects (FSOIs) are expected to become the technologyof choice to interconnect satellites. Reflex Photonics, a company from Kirkland, Quebec, has been providingoptical interconnect solutions for connections inside satellites for the past 3 years and now wants to explorehow it can leverage its expertise to build FSOI transmitters for space applications. To do this, they want tocontinue their collaboration with Prof. Ménard of UQAM and built on the knowledge gained about siliconphotonic modulators during a previous Engage project to develop a FSOI transmitter demonstrator takingadvantage of this technology and to investigate through simulations how the potential for integration of siliconphotonics could be used to miniaturise the transmitter in order to make it suitable for space applications.