An improved method of detecting and processing for the beacon in satellite-to-ground laser communication links

In satellite-to-ground laser communication links, the motion and vibration of the satellite are important factors that affect the real-time requirements of pointing, acquiring, and tracking. In order to acquire again the beacon quickly and accurately after losing it for a short time, we propose an improved method of detecting and processing for the beacon. In contrast to the conventional design of processing systems for the beacon, the advantage of the system we designed is provided by the spatial environment, where the optical communication terminal is located, and the motion trace of the beacon can be predicted effectively. We perform numerical simulations and simulation experiments, with a sampling frequency of the CCD in a system of 60 Hz and frequency and amplitude of the simulation vibration signal of 1 Hz and 0.1 mrad, respectively. We assume the motion of the satellite to be of translation type. The prediction precision is not more than 6 pixels of the CCD after the algorithm converges and the experimental results correspond fairly to the numerical simulation.