Performance evaluation of the data transmission link with Bessel-Gaussian beams through a tunable smoke channel

We simulate and experimentally demonstrate a 1 Gbps free-space optical (FSO) communication system in a smoke chamber with the Bessel–Gaussian (BG) beam. Firstly, we simulate and analyze the attenuation and bit error rate (BER) of BG and Gaussian beams in the smoke channel based on the Monte Carlo method. The results show that BG beams have more advantages than Gaussian beams in smoke transmission. Then we generate a BG beam based on the spatial light modulator (SLM) method, the BG beam’s central spot shows a stable diameter of about 0.9 mm propagating 3.2 m in space. The 1 Gbps 1550 nm on/off keying (OOK) signal is loaded on the BG beam via a bit error rate test (BERT). Next, a tunable smoke channel is established based on an acrylic chamber, and the attenuation and visibility of the smoke channel are characterized in real-time. Finally, the intensity distributions, power stability, power attenuation and BER performance of the BG and Gaussian beams’ transmission links in the tunable smoke channel are investigated. The experimental results show the improvements in transmission performance under the smoke channel conditions using BG beams. Compared with Gaussian beams, BG beams exhibit lower power attenuation (reduced by up to 3.13 dB) and a more stable receiver (decreased by 23 % in standard deviation). Additionally, the BER of 1 Gbps of the transmission link with the BG beam improved by 7.18 dB–10.17 dB in the tunable smoke channel (0.5–2 m). As the length of the smoke channel increases, the improvement of the BG beam in the smoke channel increases as well. The BG beam has shown remarkable advantages in transmission links through the smoke channel. The research offers a robust and generalized proposal for FSO communications based on structured beams.