Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Optical Communication Technology

The design and research of coarse tracking system for space quantum communication

Qiang Jia

Published Jan 1, 2012• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

A design of a coarse tracking system for quantum communication is proposed.The DSP is used as the main controller,the CMOS detector is used for measuring the beacon light,the resolver and the PMSM motor is used as the servomechansim.Multi-loop feedback method is used for controlling the coarse tracking system.With the satellite simulation experiment and floating motion platform experiment,the performance of the coarse tracking system is tested.

Related papers

Simulation and test platform for free-space quantum communication

Hao Jiang, Jianjun Jia, Jianyu Wang

We propose a simulation and test platform for free-space quantum communication. The platform is used to simulate the working condition of the satellite-to-ground quantum communication, test the technical parameters and performance of the quantum communication terminal. A collimator is used to simulate the far-field optical transmission between the satellite and the ground; A turntable is used to simulate the motion between the satellite and the ground; A voice coil motor fast steering mirror is used to simulate the vibration of the satellite. With this platform, we design experiments to test the quantum communication terminal we developed. Its acquisition, tracking and pointing (ATP) performance and the far-field distribution of the communication photons are tested, the test results are provided and analyzed.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Oct 15, 2012•5 citations

Design and in-orbit test of a high accuracy pointing method in satellite-to-ground quantum communication

Liang Zhang, Jiansheng Dai, Changkun Li +3 more

To meet the requirement of high-accuracy pointing of quantum signals in satellite-to-ground quantum communication, this paper proposes a flexible satellite-based pointing method that changes the fine tracking point to solve the problem from point-ahead angle and ground beacon laser offset. This method does not require the use of a point-ahead mechanism and can detect the pointing angle in real time. Detailed algorithms and analysis are given. The method has been verified in orbit on the quantum science satellite Micius. The satellite-to-ground test results show that the quantum signal pointing accuracy is between 0.5∼1.0 µrad, which meets the efficiency requirements of satellite-to-ground quantum communication.

Optics Express•Feb 29, 2020•22 citations

ATP technology for 100-kilometer quantum entanglement distribution experiment

亓波 Qi Bo, 陈洪斌 Chen Hongbin, 任戈 Ren Ge +3 more

Acquiring,tracking and pointing(ATP) technique in a 100 km quantum entanglement distribution experiment was introduced in detail.By taking a 700 mm telescope at Alice receiving terminal as an example,the technological specification,light path layout,and tracking accuracy of the ATP system were analyzed.In order to reduce the angle-of-arrival fluctuations of quantum information transmission beams and beacon beams caused by air turbulence,a cascade acquisition and tracking system with coarse tracking,fine tracking and a ultra-fine loop was designed and a dual fast-steering mirror tracking algorithm was proposed.On the basis of a higher frame frequency CMOS detector and a piezoelectric fast-steering mirror,the ultra-fine tracking circuit was developed.Experiments show that these methods solve the contradiction between tracking dynamic range and tracking accuracy,promote the performance of the detector and improve band width and tracking accuracy.The system was used in a ground 100 km quantum entanglement distribution experiment and the results indicate that the tracking error of the system is 4 μrad for a 70 Hz bandwidth.

Optics and Precision Engineering•Jan 1, 2013•2 citations

Development of active polarization tracking and compensation system for satellite-to-ground QKD

Abhishek Khanna, Parthkumar V. Sakhiya, Jay B. Bhatt +3 more

In polarization-encoded satellite-to-ground quantum communication, the on-board transmitter and a receiver at the optical ground station encode and decode linearly polarized quantum bits for execution of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol. Dynamic polarization tracking and compensation is a key technique in realizing such a space based QKD system. In this work, we report the design and development of motorized waveplate based active polarization compensation system. Integrated testing and validation with Decoy-state enabled BB84 QKD testbed over ~5m free space channel and quantum link polarization extinction ratio (PER) ≥ 100:1 has been carried out successfully. Satellite motion was emulated as a continuous 1°/s polarization basis rotation at the Quantum Tx output. When active polarization compensation system was enabled, sazimuth (Az.) deviation was measured with ±1.5° accuracy. During this experiment, overall signal QBER was consistently maintained at <3.5% with secure key generation rate of ~1350kbps, proving the suitability of this scheme for realistic satellite-to-ground QKD scenarios.

IEEE Microwaves, Antennas, and Propagation Conference (MAPCON)•Dec 11, 2023•1 citation

Establishment and in-orbit test of optical link in satellite-to-ground quantum communication

Liang Zhang, Jianjun Jia, Sheng‐Kai Liao +3 more

The establishment of a high-precision optical link is a necessary condition for satellite-to-ground quantum communication experiments. Compared with conventional laser communications, a quantum experimental satellite needs to solve special requirements such as the great difference between the energy of quantum light and beacon light, and the establishment of optical links between one satellite and two ground stations. Based on the scientific demands of satellite-to-ground quantum communication, this paper proposes an overall scheme for an optical link establishing system with a combination of satellite pointing and load autonomous searching. By using a multiple-axis pointing control method, the requirements of high-precision optical tracking are met. We use the stare-stare capture method to achieve fast capture between the satellite and the ground stations. The high-precision alignment of the satellite and ground quantum beams is realized by using a method of joint scanning and system correction. Finally, in-orbit test results of the Mo-tse quantum experimental satellite are given. The experimental data show that all parameters in the establishment of optical links meet or exceed the expected requirements.

Scientia Sinica Informationis•Apr 12, 2018•5 citations

Energy efficient optical tracking for space quantum communication

Eric Vokes, Vinod N. Rao, Elinore Spencer +1 more

Power consumption is a critical constraint for CubeSat based quantum communication, where tracking systems often dominate the onboard power budget. We demonstrate an energy-efficient approach that enables reliable satellite tracking at substantially reduced beacon power by treating tracking as a weak-signal estimation task. Using a closed-loop system with fine steering mirrors and higher-order Kalman filters on ground, we can maintain stable tracking at a transmitted power equivalent to 34 mW over a -60 dB satellite to ground optical channel. Our results show that the resulting penalties on QKD bit error rates and signal-to-noise ratios are negligible, allowing for more efficient power allocation to quantum payloads in CubeSat missions.

quant-pharXiv:2602.22160•Feb 26, 2026•0 citations
A design of a coarse tracking system for quantum communication is proposed.The DSP is used as the main controller,the CMOS detector is used for measuring the beacon light,the resolver and the PMSM motor is used as the servomechansim.Multi-loop feedback method is used for controlling the coarse tracking system.With the satellite simulation experiment and floating motion platform experiment,the performance of the coarse tracking system is tested.
We propose a simulation and test platform for free-space quantum communication. The platform is used to simulate the working condition of the satellite-to-ground quantum communication, test the technical parameters and performance of the quantum communication terminal. A collimator is used to simulate the far-field optical transmission between the satellite and the ground; A turntable is used to simulate the motion between the satellite and the ground; A voice coil motor fast steering mirror is used to simulate the vibration of the satellite. With this platform, we design experiments to test the quantum communication terminal we developed. Its acquisition, tracking and pointing (ATP) performance and the far-field distribution of the communication photons are tested, the test results are provided and analyzed.
To meet the requirement of high-accuracy pointing of quantum signals in satellite-to-ground quantum communication, this paper proposes a flexible satellite-based pointing method that changes the fine tracking point to solve the problem from point-ahead angle and ground beacon laser offset. This method does not require the use of a point-ahead mechanism and can detect the pointing angle in real time. Detailed algorithms and analysis are given. The method has been verified in orbit on the quantum science satellite Micius. The satellite-to-ground test results show that the quantum signal pointing accuracy is between 0.5∼1.0 µrad, which meets the efficiency requirements of satellite-to-ground quantum communication.
Acquiring,tracking and pointing(ATP) technique in a 100 km quantum entanglement distribution experiment was introduced in detail.By taking a 700 mm telescope at Alice receiving terminal as an example,the technological specification,light path layout,and tracking accuracy of the ATP system were analyzed.In order to reduce the angle-of-arrival fluctuations of quantum information transmission beams and beacon beams caused by air turbulence,a cascade acquisition and tracking system with coarse tracking,fine tracking and a ultra-fine loop was designed and a dual fast-steering mirror tracking algorithm was proposed.On the basis of a higher frame frequency CMOS detector and a piezoelectric fast-steering mirror,the ultra-fine tracking circuit was developed.Experiments show that these methods solve the contradiction between tracking dynamic range and tracking accuracy,promote the performance of the detector and improve band width and tracking accuracy.The system was used in a ground 100 km quantum entanglement distribution experiment and the results indicate that the tracking error of the system is 4 μrad for a 70 Hz bandwidth.
In polarization-encoded satellite-to-ground quantum communication, the on-board transmitter and a receiver at the optical ground station encode and decode linearly polarized quantum bits for execution of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol. Dynamic polarization tracking and compensation is a key technique in realizing such a space based QKD system. In this work, we report the design and development of motorized waveplate based active polarization compensation system. Integrated testing and validation with Decoy-state enabled BB84 QKD testbed over ~5m free space channel and quantum link polarization extinction ratio (PER) ≥ 100:1 has been carried out successfully. Satellite motion was emulated as a continuous 1°/s polarization basis rotation at the Quantum Tx output. When active polarization compensation system was enabled, sazimuth (Az.) deviation was measured with ±1.5° accuracy. During this experiment, overall signal QBER was consistently maintained at <3.5% with secure key generation rate of ~1350kbps, proving the suitability of this scheme for realistic satellite-to-ground QKD scenarios.
The establishment of a high-precision optical link is a necessary condition for satellite-to-ground quantum communication experiments. Compared with conventional laser communications, a quantum experimental satellite needs to solve special requirements such as the great difference between the energy of quantum light and beacon light, and the establishment of optical links between one satellite and two ground stations. Based on the scientific demands of satellite-to-ground quantum communication, this paper proposes an overall scheme for an optical link establishing system with a combination of satellite pointing and load autonomous searching. By using a multiple-axis pointing control method, the requirements of high-precision optical tracking are met. We use the stare-stare capture method to achieve fast capture between the satellite and the ground stations. The high-precision alignment of the satellite and ground quantum beams is realized by using a method of joint scanning and system correction. Finally, in-orbit test results of the Mo-tse quantum experimental satellite are given. The experimental data show that all parameters in the establishment of optical links meet or exceed the expected requirements.
Power consumption is a critical constraint for CubeSat based quantum communication, where tracking systems often dominate the onboard power budget. We demonstrate an energy-efficient approach that enables reliable satellite tracking at substantially reduced beacon power by treating tracking as a weak-signal estimation task. Using a closed-loop system with fine steering mirrors and higher-order Kalman filters on ground, we can maintain stable tracking at a transmitted power equivalent to 34 mW over a -60 dB satellite to ground optical channel. Our results show that the resulting penalties on QKD bit error rates and signal-to-noise ratios are negligible, allowing for more efficient power allocation to quantum payloads in CubeSat missions.