Patent ID: 8229304

Claim:
A coherent laser receiver for receiving encoded light from a remote source, the light from the remote source propagating over an aberrated path situated between said remote source of the encoded light and the coherent receiver, the coherent laser receiver comprising: a bundle of optical fibers arranged in an array, wherein the fibers in the array are arranged to receive light, as encoded from said remote source and received via said aberrated path, the encoded light from said remote source is received by at least a majority of the fibers in the array; a plurality of light amplifiers for amplifying the received encoded light; a control apparatus for coherently combining a composite output of the bundle of optical fibers, the apparatus including a single detector for detecting a portion of the composite output, an output of the single detector being utilized to control the plurality of light amplifiers so that all differential phases among individual fibers in the bundle are minimized by the plurality of light amplifiers; and a coherent detector responsive to the composite output of the bundle for providing an output signal representative of the encoded information from the source.