Scott Nicholas
A team of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory engineers has tested a free-space optical communications system between two moving vessels at sea to assess how the platform operated in a maritime environment.
APL said Thursday it demonstrated the compact form factor system at the annual Trident Warrior Exercise and showcased the FSO technology’s capacity to provide adjunct communications for U.S. Navy ships at sea.
Juan Juarez, technical lead for the JHUAPL project, said the system provided bandwidths that reached higher magnitudes and longer ranges than previous maritime FSO technologies.
“The demonstrated performance of APL’s laser communications systems opens up various potential applications,” said Mike White, head of the APL’s air and missile defense sector.
APL noted the mobile FSO demonstration culminates more than a decade of laboratory work on free-space optics technology.
