Patent ID: 8009990

Claim:
A system, comprising: a transmitter, said transmitter configured to modulate a laser beam with data and project said laser beam in a path over a horizon; a receiver; a first optical detector, coupled to said receiver, said first optical detector configured to receive a first signal via light scattered from a first segment of the path of said laser beam at a first time; and a second optical detector, coupled to said receiver, said second optical detector configured to receive a second signal via light scattered from a second segment of the path of said laser beam at a second time, wherein said transmitter modulates said first segment with a portion of said data and said transmitter modulates said second segment with the same portion of said data as said first segment, said receiver collects the first signal and the second signal, and said receiver produces a summed signal by at least one of phasing the first signal to produce a phased signal and summing the phased signal with the second signal or phasing the second signal to produce the phased signal and summing the phased signal with the first signal, wherein said transmitter and said receiver share position information via an order wire and at least one of said receiver utilizes said position information to align said first optical detector and said second optical detector with said laser beam or said transmitter utilizes said position information to align said laser beam with said first optical detector and said second optical detector, and wherein said receiver utilizes said position information to compute a geometric projection of the modulation of said data in said laser beam, adjusts an aperture of said first optical detector based on the geometric projection to minimize intersymbol interference and maximize communication channel benefits associated with spatial and temporal diversity, and adjusts an aperture of said second optical detector based on the geometric projection to minimize intersymbol interference and maximize communication channel benefits associated with spatial and temporal diversity.