(Phys.org) -- In free-space optical communications (FSO), data is wirelessly transmitted by light propagating through open space. Among their applications, FSO systems are used for communications between spacecraft and have the potential to serve as the “last mile” for fiber optics broadband services. However, one challenge they face is that the light sources used to encode the data require power, and a power supply is often limited. Devices that reflect light, called corner cube retroreflectors (CCRs), can overcome this problem because they can transmit data without their own light source, simply by reflecting incident light from a base station.
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