Mitsubishi Electric said its optical receiver integrates functions to detect both four phase changes of laser light and beam direction. The result is a downsized optical receiver that enables space optical communication with 10 times the speed, capacity and distance of radio-wave communication. Since the wavelength is much shorter, smaller antennas can be used in compact communication units.
A newly developed optical circuit for coherent space optical communication detects four phase changes (0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees) in contrast to conventional two-phase (0 and 180 degrees) detection. As a result, communication capacity and speed are double those of two-phase optical communication schemes in the same bandwidth and some 10 times those of radio-wave communication systems.
