arXiv subjects

Alberto Carrasco-Casado

Publications and source records attributed to Alberto Carrasco-Casado.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

High-speed free-space quantum key distribution with automatic tracking for short-distance urban links

High-speed free-space quantum key distribution located in urban environment offers an interesting alternative to public key encryption - whose security strength is yet to be mathematically proven. To achieve this, three main objectives need to be accomplished: both the emitter and receiver have to be capable of transmitting and receiving at high speed - with the selection of the source's wavelength and detectors being of especial importance - the error rate needs to be kept at a minimum, especially that due to solar background radiation; and finally, a fast automatic tracking system, capable of compensating for atmospheric turbulence effects, is needed. Regarding to sky background and atmospheric turbulence, two different tracking techniques involving the beam wander compensation in the emitter or the receiver are presented and one of them is selected for our system, based on the link propagation distance and the atmospheric turbulence regime.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

V-shape liquid crystal-based retromodulator air to ground optical communications

This paper describes the use of a 2D liquid crystal retro-modulator as a free space, wireless, optical link. The retro-modulator is made up of a retro-reflecting cornercube onto which 2 cascaded V-shape smectics liquid crystal modulators are mounted. The communication link differs with respect to more conventional optical links in not using amplitude (nor frequency) modulation, but instead state-of-polarisation (SOP) modulation known as Polarisation Shift Keying (PolSK). PolSK has the advantage over amplitude modulation, that it is less sensitive to changes in the visibility of the atmosphere, and increases inherently the bandwidth of the link. The implementation of PolSK both in liquid crystal based and in retro-modulated communication are novelties.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Design and early development of a UAV terminal and a ground station for laser communications

A free-space laser communication system has been designed and partially developed as an alternative to standard RF links from UAV to ground stations. This project belongs to the SINTONIA program (acronym in Spanish for low environmental-impact unmanned systems), led by BR&TE (Boeing Research and Technology Europe) with the purpose of boosting Spanish UAV technology. A MEMS-based modulating retroreflector has been proposed as a communication terminal onboard the UAV, allowing both the laser transmitter and the acquisition, tracking and pointing subsystems to be eliminated. This results in an important reduction of power, size and weight, moving the burden to the ground station. In the ground station, the ATP subsystem is based on a GPS-aided two-axis gimbal for tracking and coarse pointing, and a fast steering mirror for fine pointing. A beacon-based system has been designed, taking advantage of the retroreflector optical principle, in order to determine the position of the UAV in real-time. The system manages the laser power in an optimal way, based on a distance-dependent beam-divergence control and by creating two different optical paths within the same physical path using different states of polarization.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

Correction of beam wander for a free-space quantum key distribution system operating in urban environment

Free-space quantum key distribution links in urban environment have demanding operating needs, such as functioning in daylight and under atmospheric turbulence, which can dramatically impact their performance. Both effects are usually mitigated with a careful design of the field of view of the receiver. However, a trade-off is often required, since a narrow field of view improves background noise rejection but it is linked to an increase in turbulence-related losses. In this paper, we present a high-speed automatic tracking system to overcome these limitations. Both a reduction in the field-of-view to decrease the background noise and the mitigation of the losses caused by atmospheric turbulence are addressed. Two different designs are presented and discussed, along with technical considerations for the experimental implementation. Finally, preliminary experimental results of beam wander correction are used to estimate the potential improvement of both the quantum bit error rate and secret key rate of a free space quantum key distribution system.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Feasibility of utilizing Cherenkov Telescope Array gamma-ray telescopes as free-space optical communication ground stations

The signals that will be received on Earth from deep-space probes in future implementations of free-space optical communication will be extremely weak, and new ground stations will have to be developed in order to support these links. This paper addresses the feasibility of using the technology developed in the gamma-ray telescopes that will make up the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory in the implementation of a new kind of ground station. Among the main advantages that these telescopes provide are the much larger apertures needed to overcome the power limitation that ground-based gamma-ray astronomy and optical communication both have. Also, the large number of big telescopes that will be built for CTA will make it possible to reduce costs by economy-scale production, enabling optical communications in the large telescopes that will be needed for future deep-space links.

astro-ph.IM↗