Error performance analysis in short and long wavelength infrared free space optical communication

Based on the line-of-sight channel model of atmosphere established through the photon tracing method, the impact of SNR, bit rate and visibility to the bit error rate of free space optical communication (FSO) is analyzed. The comparative analysis is accomplished by using two wavelengths laser 1.55^μm and 10.6^μm. The results show that the error bit rates of 1.55^μm and 10.6^μm increase with SNR decreasing or bit rate increasing. In low visibility, the error performance of 10.6^μm laser is better than that of 1.55^μm, and the superiority is much more obvious in lower SNR and higher bit rate. Furthermore, error performances of the two wavelengths are almost the same.