A position measuring apparatus instructs a first node to emit light by transmitting a first light emission pattern to the first node, instructs a second node to emit light by transmitting the first light emission pattern to the second node, when light emission following the instructed first light emission pattern is detected, and instructs the second node to emit light by transmitting a second light emission pattern that is different from the first light emission pattern, when light emission following the instructed first light emission pattern is not detected.

Systems and methods for communicating through a glass window barrier, in which one communication device, placed outdoors near the glass window, utilizes optical signals to propagate communication signals through the glass window, and thereby communicate with another communication device placed indoors near the same glass window. The outdoor communication device receives power from a power source located indoors, in which power is transported from the indoor power source to the outdoor communication device through the same glass window in a form of an alternating magnetic field. The outdoor communication device may be either placed near the glass window or mechanically fixed to the glass window on one side, and the indoor communication device may be either placed near the glass window or mechanically fixed to the glass window on the other side. Certain known properties of glass windows are exploited, such as transparency to both optical radiation and magnetic fields.

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving an association request from a nearby electronic device via a local wireless network connection, transmitting a position coordinate associated with a first node via the local wireless network connection to the nearby electronic device, receiving location information of one or more peer nodes from the nearby electronic device, adding the location information of the one or more peer nodes into a log included in the first node, and determining that at least two nodes are within Line-of-Sight (LOS) communication range of the first node based on the log, wherein the at least two nodes are included in the one or more peer nodes.

An optical communications system comprises a first node comprising a phased array transmitter for generating an optical beam and a receiver, and a second node comprising a phase conjugate mirror for returning the optical beam to be detected by the receiver of the first node. The phased array transmitters allow for electronic steering of the beams in a way that is much faster and with a potentially smaller physical footprint than the mechanical systems. The phase conjugate mirrors return the received beams of photons back over the exact path they were sent from the phased array transmitters, ensuring continuity of communication even in the presence of atmospheric turbulence.

The disclosure provides for a system that includes a network controller configured to determine a network configuration of a network and cause the network to implement the network configuration. The network controller may be configured to determine that an overall link bandwidth for a particular geographic area is less than a set bandwidth amount based on link bandwidth information for possible links directly connected to the particular geographic area. Based on a difference between the overall link bandwidth and the set bandwidth amount, the network controller may be configured to determine additional links to connect to the particular geographic area in a given network configuration of the network. The network controller may then send instructions to the plurality of nodes of the network to cause the plurality of nodes to implement the given network configuration and transmit client data at the given point in time.

Systems and methods for: suggesting network topologies for a wireless communication network such as a millimeter-wave network; using drones for determining a line-of-sight condition between pairs of geospatial locations where communication nodes in the network are to be placed; and wirelessly interconnecting pairs of nodes in the network according to the a line-of-sight conditions previously determined using the drones. The drones may test for a line-of-sight condition using any number of methods, including laser range-finding, signaling between two of the drones, and pattern matching of visual imagery. A network planning tool may be used to suggest the network topologies, communicate and control the drones, and come to a final conclusion regarding the actual network topology selected, the placement of the communication nodes, and the specific wireless links to be used in interconnecting the nodes in the final network.

Free-space communication systems and methods are provided. The systems include a transmitter that combines multiple sets of radio-frequency-modulated optical carrier frequencies for transmission across free space using multiple transmission apertures. Different sets of signals are filtered to form single sideband signals. The different sets of single sideband signals are then combined to form dense wavelength division multiplexed signals. In addition, combined sets of signals of different polarizations can be combined. A receiver can include a single receive aperture.

The disclosure provides a method for adjusting an optical link alignment of a first communication device with a remote device. The method includes transmitting or receiving an optical signal; receiving one or more measurements of at least one environmental factor at the first communication device or the remote device; and receiving or detecting an apparent amount of alignment of the optical signal. Then, by one or more processors of the first communication device, determining an estimated error attributable to optical cross coupling and an actual amount of alignment of the optical signal based on the apparent amount of alignment and the estimated error. Next, adjusting the first communication device based on the actual amount of alignment to correct for optical cross coupling.

This invention relates to optical wireless communication systems that use radiation beams for communication. In such systems aiming at the communication partner is not easy especially if the distance between the communication devices is longer and radiation in the non-visible range is used. It is proposed to use an adaptive signal quality indicator in order to provide installing persons and users with a quick and deterministic way of aligning the communication devices.

An FSO communication system includes a laser, an optical detector and a first optical adjustment module and a controller. The laser is configured to emit an optical signal. The optical detector is configured to receive an optical signal from the first optical adjustment module. The controller is configured to obtain an optical power of an optical signal received by the optical detector; and generate a control command based on the optical power and transmit the control command. The first optical adjustment module is configured to: receive the control command and the optical signal emitted by the laser; adjust, in response to the control command, the optical signal emitted by the laser to cause the optical power of the optical signal received by the optical detector to be in a preset reasonable range; and transmit the adjusted optical signal to the optical detector.