The acceleration of worldwide digitization has led to an explosive growth of data traffic: 3-fold increase in the last 5 years, reaching 10 exabytes/day on average. Radio Frequency bandwidths are getting saturated, while 1/3 of humanity still does not have access to the Internet. Latest generation Earth observation satellites (e.g. Pleiades Neo) gather 40 Tbits of data per day, yet ground infrastructures are not ready to download such amounts of data. There is thus a crucial need for new broadband, scalable wireless communication modes. To complement limited RF wireless, laser communication solutions are a key technology to deliver on 3 major promises:
- ultrafast up and downlink (100Gbps+ !)
- unlicensed communication spectrum
- secure links (low probability of detection & interception)
Lasercom technologies have reached good maturity levels, especially in space, as highlighted by the acceleration of lasercom terminal deployments since 2021 – let’s mention for instance the 40 SCOT80 terminals (10Gbps compatible) that have been delivered by TESAT in 2023. However, signal scrambling induced by atmospheric turbulence remains a key bottleneck for laser communication through the atmosphere and prevents large scale deployment of ground terminals.
The CROCUS project aims at developing a high-performance, modular, multi-platform Laser Communication Terminal (LCT) for ground stations and vehicles under the stratosphere. This system will be:
- high performance: 10+ Gbps as a standard, and upgradeable to 100+ Gbps in the future;
- robust, thanks to the absence of moving parts;
- cost-effective: multiple times cheaper than adaptive optics-based systems
- compact: suited to embedded applications
- modular and scalable: compatible with standard telecom equipment.
Cailabs brings a solution to the atmospheric turbulence thanks to a unique turbulence mitigation module which reshapes the high-speed laser signal scrambled by atmospheric turbulence into a reliable signal. CROCUS broadband LCT will provide network links compatible with mobile constraints for ground or air- and sea-vehicles, under strong turbulence conditions. The terminal will be integrated into global communication systems, ground station networks for satellite-to-ground links, and line of sight communications with vehicles and remote areas. CROCUS will pave the way to largely deployed wireless optical communication, with impact on several markets:
- ground systems and components for laser satellite communication (including optical ground stations for Earth observation, massive data transfer, optical key distribution and quantum key distribution). Such technologies will for instance be strategic to the European IRIS² constellation;
- line-of-sight lasercom terminals embedded in terrestrial and naval vehicles;
- airborne terminals in aircraft or drones.
