Analysis of average capacity for free-space optical links with pointing errors over gamma-gamma turbulence channels

A novel closed-form expression for average capacity is derived for free-space optical (FSO) links over Gamma-Gamma turbulence channels by considering the effect of misalignment (pointing errors). The simulation results show that the average capacity of the FSO links can be analyzed with the effects of atmospheric turbulence condition, beam width, detector size, jitter variable, and transmitted optical power. Meanwhile, the results are further provided to verify the accuracy of our mathematical analysis. This work is useful for the FSO designer. © 2010 Chinese Optics Letters.