Performance Evaluation and Analysis of an WoC Based Inter Satellite Link over the Low Earth Orbit

Abstract

The various advanced applications of 5G based wireless communications include autonomous self-driven cars, telemedicine, smart spaces (e.g., home, office, etc.), sensor networks, high speed trains, smart cities, and many more [9]. For such data intensive wireless communications, only radio frequency (RF) based wireless systems cannot meet the desired demands because RF band is susceptible to interference, has limited capacity, and requires a heavy license fee to use the spectrum [10]. Hence, other portions of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum and new technologies are required to be considered for fulfilling the demands of wireless communication systems in the near future. One such alternative solution is Free Space Optics (FSO) which is an optical wireless communication (OWC) based technology. The FSO not only has many advantages but also hampered by some atmospheric conditions, which degrades the link performance. This paper reviews the FSO link design and effect of different atmospheric condition like- fog, scintillation, turbulence, rain etc. This paper studies the system performance of an optical ISL which is proposed between satellites over Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In this study, the proposed link is simulated to obtain the maximum allowable data rate and minimum bit error rate over different distances. The system performance is improved by investigating its dependency on the photo detector type, operating wavelength, transmitted optical power, RZ and NRZ schemes.