A method for calculating the aperture averaging function of an arbitrary shape optical receiver by mapping it to a one-dimensional array

Abstract

A method for calculating the aperture averaging function of free-space optical communication is presented. The aperture averaging function is an important factor affecting atmospheric optical scintillation. Different optical receivers have different aperture averaging functions. Recent studies have found that optical receivers with some complex shapes can significantly reduce scintillation. At present, there is no method to calculate the aperture averaging function of a complex optical receiver. This paper solves the problem of this calculation method from scratch. This paper introduces the process of mapping the shape of an optical receiver to a one-dimensional storage array and the automatic calculation of the aperture averaging function by a computer. To verify this method, the aperture averaging function of the circular lens is calculated by this method and compared with the theoretical one. It shows that the error is very small and can be reduced by expanding the storage array. It is reliable to use this method to calculate the aperture averaging function of complex optical receivers.