KR-20260064090-A - Method and Optical System for Improving Optical Efficiency for Optical Communication in Free Space

Abstract

A method and an optical system for improving optical efficiency for free-space optical communication are disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the optical system may include a first lens for controlling the phase and direction of light incident from a light source to output parallel light; an optical element for refracting or reflecting the parallel light output by the first lens to output light with a hollow center; a second lens for refracting the light with a hollow center to output refracted light; a first telescope for reflecting the refracted light output by the second lens to output reflected first light; a second telescope for receiving the first light and reflecting the first light to output reflected second light; a third lens for controlling the phase and direction of the second light to output parallel light; and a fourth lens for refracting the parallel light output by the third lens to output refracted light.

Inventors

• 이학순

Assignees

• 에스케이텔레콤 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241031

Claims (8)

1. A first lens for controlling the phase and direction of light incident from a light source to output parallel light; An optical element for refracting or reflecting the parallel light output by the first lens to output light with a hollow center; A second lens for refracting light with a hollow center and outputting the refracted light; A first telescope for reflecting the refracted light output by the second lens and outputting the reflected first light; A second telescope for receiving the first light and reflecting the first light to output the reflected second light; A third lens for outputting parallel light by controlling the phase and direction of the second light; and An optical system comprising a fourth lens for refracting the parallel light output by the third lens to output the refracted light.
2. In paragraph 1, The above optical element includes a first prism and a second prism, and An optical system in which the refractive index of the first prism and the refractive index of the second prism are the same.
3. In paragraph 2, An optical system in which the size of the light with the above-mentioned empty center is determined based on the gap between the first prism and the second prism.
4. In paragraph 2, An optical system in which the size of the light with the above-mentioned empty center is determined based on the thickness of the first prism and the thickness of the second prism.
5. In paragraph 1, The above optical element includes a first mirror and a second mirror, and An optical system in which the size of the light with the above-mentioned empty center is determined based on the distance between the first mirror and the first mirror.
6. In paragraph 1, The first lens and the third lens are collimating lenses, and An optical system in which the second lens and the fourth lens are convex lenses.
7. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned first telescope is, A first secondary mirror for reflecting the refracted light output by the second lens; and An optical system comprising a first primary mirror for reflecting light reflected by the first secondary mirror to output the first light.
8. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned second telescope is, A second main mirror for reflecting the first light; and An optical system comprising a second secondary mirror for reflecting light reflected by the second primary mirror to output the second light.

Description

Method and Optical System for Improving Optical Efficiency for Optical Communication in Free Space The present invention relates to a method and an optical system for improving optical efficiency for free-space optical communication. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and an optical system for improving optical efficiency by adding a prism-based optical element or a mirror-based optical element to the transmitter of an optical system. The following description merely provides background information related to the present embodiment and does not constitute prior art. Conventional wireless optical communication systems utilizing light in free space are being utilized in various fields, such as optical communication between buildings where laying optical cables is difficult, optical communication between unmanned vehicles and the ground, and underwater optical communication. As such, optical communication systems used in diverse fields consist of multiple optical components, including optical transmitters, optical receivers, and lenses configured in parallel. Optical communication systems utilizing light in free space employ large-aperture telescopes to increase optical efficiency and reflective telescopes to eliminate chromatic aberration caused by wavelength differences resulting from the use of light with multiple wavelengths. Here, a reflective telescope is designed to collect light using the reflective properties of mirrors and is generally composed of two mirrors. Because reflective telescopes have a coaxial structure, the optical path is blocked by the smaller of the two mirrors, causing optical loss. When such optical loss occurs, problems such as degraded signal quality and reduced transmission distance may arise in free-space optical communication. Accordingly, research is required to reduce optical loss and improve optical efficiency in optical communication systems utilizing light in free space. FIGS. 1a and FIGS. 1b are drawings for explaining the transmitter and receiver of a conventional optical system. FIGS. 2a and 2b are drawings for explaining a transmitting part and a receiving part of an optical system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a drawing for explaining a prism-based optical element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGS. 4a and 4b are drawings for illustrating a transmitter and a receiver of an optical system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a drawing for explaining a mirror-based optical element according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for an optical system to improve light efficiency according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that in assigning reference numerals to the components of each drawing, the same components are given the same reference numeral whenever possible, even if they are shown in different drawings. Furthermore, in describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known components or functions could obscure the essence of the present disclosure, such detailed description is omitted. In describing the components of the embodiments according to the present disclosure, symbols such as first, second, i), ii), a), b), etc., may be used. These symbols are intended only to distinguish the components from other components, and the essence, order, or sequence of the components is not limited by the symbols. When a part in the specification is described as 'comprising' or 'having' a component, this means that, unless explicitly stated otherwise, it does not exclude other components but may include additional components. The detailed description set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings, is intended to describe exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only embodiment in which the present disclosure may be practiced. FIGS. 1A and 1B are drawings for explaining the transmitter and receiver of a conventional optical system. The optical system includes a transmitter and a receiver. Light output from the transmitter of the optical system is incident on the receiver of the optical system. Referring to FIG. 1a, the transmitter of the optical system includes a light source (110), a first lens (120), a second lens (130), and a reflective telescope (140), etc. Light output from the light source (110) is incident on the first lens (120). The first lens (120) controls the phase and direction of the incident light to convert the incident light into parallel light. The first lens (120) may be a collimating lens. A collimating lens is a lens used to make light parallel and converts diverging or converging light into parallel light. A collimating lens ensures that the light maintains focus