Mitsubishi Electric Develops Laser Communication Terminal Integrating Space Optical Communication and Spatial Acquisition
May 30, 2022 at 10:10 pm EDT
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Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it has developed the prototype of what is believed to be the world's first optical receiver for use in laser communication terminals (LCTs), that integrates space optical communication using laser beams and a function to detect the direction of received beams in the 1.5-µm band, a general-purpose band used for terrestrial optical fiber communications and other applications. High-resolution satellite imagery is used to assess damage caused by disasters, but since such images are transmitted via radio waves it has been difficult to transmit high-resolution images in real time due to limitations in data capacity and the size of satellite antennas. Large-capacity, high-speed space optical communications that do not require optical fiber are thus required to support fast and accurate damage assessments following disasters.
But space optical communications use very narrow laser beams, about 1/1000th of that of radio waves, so the challenge has been how to precisely align laser beams with satellites traveling at high speed.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is one of the world's leading manufacturers of electric and electronic equipment. Net sales (including intragroup) break down by family of products and by services as follows:
- industrial automation equipment (28.6%): programmable controllers, motor operators, counters, industrial robots, clutches, etc.;
- electric equipment (24.2%): generators, motors, transformers, power circuit breakers, testing systems, etc.;
- household appliances (22.4%): televisions, video recorders, air conditioners, refrigerators, lamps, vacuum cleaners, etc.;
- information and communication equipment (6.9%): mobile phones, satellites, aerials, medical and audiovisual equipment, servers, computers, etc.;
- electronic components and devices (4.7%): memory, logic integrated circuits, monitors, plasma screens, printed circuit cards, etc.;
- other (13.2%): financial services, real estate management, engineering and maintenance services, etc.
Net sales break down geographically as follows: Japan (52.1%), Asia (24.9%), Europe (11.1%), North America (10.3%) and other (1.6%).
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION 
