Visible Light Communications for Distributed Space Systems

nbsp;The proposed research goal is to develop a visible light communication system that will enable an inter-satellite communication (ISC) system for a large number of heterogeneous small satellites to provide robust, flexible and high data rate communication. This will enable command, control, configuration, and information processing in real-time. Though the focus of this proposed work is to enable ISC, due to the fact that transmitting information based around free space optics is less susceptible to radiation effects it can also be used in extreme environments of the moon and Mars. This would allow the development of planetary sensor networks and Internet of Things (IoT) operations without interruptions in communication due to strong solar winds and other radiation events.