We proposed the statistical misalignment model and the power-efficient configuration of transceivers for bi-directional multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) based vertical free space optical (FSO) links. Spatial diversity based MIMO FSO systems could be used to mitigate atmospheric fading issues. However, the increased number of channels can cause additional pointing error in pointing, acquisition and tracking (PAT) systems. The statistical misalignment model for detecting misalignment error is derived from the multiple transceivers. For the bi-directional characteristics of non-terrestrial back-haul networks, transmission performance is down-leveled to the worse in the asymmetric MIMO configuration of transceivers. The symmetric structure can mitigate the effect of increased pointing error to improve transmission performance. The proposed technique can be applied to the design of power-efficient FSO systems for non-terrestrial wireless back-haul networks.
Keywords: atmospheric turbulence; diversity gain; free space optical communications; multi-input multi-output MIMO; pointing error; spatial diversity technique.