Direct Cross-domain Optical Data Transfer

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in cooperation with University of Southern California (USC), will develop a methodology for Direct, Cross-Domain Optical Data Transfer with Acoustic and Radio Modalities (DOT-ARM) across the air-sea interface. As advanced sensor payloads are developed for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), there is an increasing need to transfer sensor data wirelessly and rapidly across the air-sea interface for analysis. Laser communications enable high-speed (>10 Mbs) data transfer, reduce the probability of intercept, and can directly cross from sea to air. A self-coherent detection communications architecture will be used, increasing the bit rate, and making the link more resilient to turbulence. Three modalities will be investigated: sea-to-air, sea-to-surface, and sea-to-satellite. Sea-to-air is the priority of the DOT-ARM methodology: optical communications from UUVs to unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV), directly crossing the air-sea interface. Sea-to-surface allows greater flexibility for DOT-ARM. In challenging conditions, laser communications transfer sensor data from a UUV to an unmanned surface vessel (USV) or gateway buoy. The USV/gateway then relays the sensor data to a UAV using radio frequency (RF) or ultra-violet (UV) communications. Sea-to-satellite will also be investigated. The DOT-ARM methodology enables timely, flexible data transfer across the air-sea interface.