Space-time trellis coding with transmit laser selection for FSO links over strong atmospheric turbulence channels

Atmospheric turbulence produces fluctuations in the irradiance of the transmitted optical beam, which is known as atmospheric scintillation, severely degrading the link performance. In this paper, a scheme combining transmit laser selection (TLS) and space-time trellis code (STTC) for multiple-input-single-output (MISO) free-space optical (FSO) communication systems with intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) over strong atmospheric turbulence channels is analyzed. Assuming channel state information at the transmitter and receiver, we propose the transmit diversity technique based on the selection of two out of the available L lasers corresponding to the optical paths with greater values of scintillation to transmit the baseline STTCs designed for two transmit antennas. Based on a pairwise error probability (PEP) analysis, results in terms of bit error rate are presented when the scintillation follows negative exponential and K distributions, which cover a wide range of strong atmospheric turbulence conditions. Obtained results show a diversity order of 2L-1 when L transmit lasers are available and a simple two-state STTC with rate 1 bit/(s . Hz) is used. Simulation results are further demonstrated to confirm the analytical results. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America