OLSG

The Optical Link Study Group (OLSG) was formed by the Interagency Operations Advisory Group (IOAG) in November 2010.  The purpose of the OLSG was to determine if a business case existed for cross support of optical communication links.  If the case existed then the OLSG was also tasked with providing guidance for standardization.

The OLSG presented its final report to the IOAG in June 2012. The OLSG Final Report recommended that they continue their work while providing additional guidance regarding the standards required to realize interagency optical communications cross-support capability. The IOAG accepted the OLSG recommendations and tasked the OLSG with developing an addendum to the final report which would provide such guidance and explore other topics further including the following sections:

Sec 2.1:  Investigate astronaut eye safety and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite uplink safety (including accommodations for Laser Clearing House [LCH]), as well as contacting International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Sec 2.2:  Explore the ground station coordination and operations concept for optical communication missions further including long-term and short-term scheduling, inter-station weather information flow, etc.

Sec 2.3:  Include uplink data as part of the standardization guidance (develop short scenarios for uplink communication)

Sec 2.4:  Investigate if adaptive modulation/coding should be included as part of standardization guidance

Sec 2.5:  Converge on standardization of modulation schemes for deep space [1]

 

Related Links

IOAG Slides: Optical Link Study Group Report

IOAG Paper: Optical Link Study Group Final Report

IOAG: Results of the Optical Link Study Group