Characterization and reduction of the amplitude-to-phase conversion effects in telemetry

Joffray Guillory (1) , Jorge García-Márquez (1) , Christophe Alexandre (2) , Daniel Truong (1) , Jean-Pierre Wallerand (1)

1 LCM - Laboratoire commun de métrologie LNE-CNAM
2 CEDRIC - LAETITIA - CEDRIC. Traitement du signal et architectures électroniques

We are developing a telemeter based on the measurement of the phase accumulated by a RF sine wave during its propagation in air. This wave is carried by a laser beam thanks to an intensity modulation. The main limitation of this technique lies in amplitude-to-phase conversion occurring in the detection of this modulation. Therefore, we characterized in this paper this phenomenon for a given telemetric system and discuss on how to reduce its effects on the resolution and the accuracy of the distance measurement. Finally, a solution is implemented and tested outdoor, in real conditions of use.

Keywords: laser diode; absolute distance meter; photodetection; amplitude modulation; phase measurement; amplitude-to-phase coupling; optical telemetry

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Electronics

Joffray Guillory, Jorge García-Márquez, Christophe Alexandre, Daniel Truong, Jean-Pierre Wallerand. Characterization and reduction of the amplitude-to-phase conversion effects in telemetry. Measurement Science and Technology, 2015, 26 (8), pp.084006. ⟨10.1088/0957-0233/26/8/084006⟩. ⟨hal-02448935⟩