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Photonic technologies for aerospace applications
Mauro Varasi (Finmeccanica) Roma - August 20th, 2008
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Outlook Photonics: where optics meet electronics Why photonics Structural Monitoring: FBG Gyro Radar Data Links New technological frontiers Conclusions
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Photonics: where optic meets electronic ….. ….. in airborne platforms
Smart Structures Health Monitoring Inertial Monitoring Units Sensors Data Distribution Subsystems Interconnect Signal and Data Processing Secure Comms Airborne Radars EW systems ….. in airborne platforms Microwave Photonics • Optical BFN Waveform Generator Filtering Antenna remoting , Transponder L.O. generation/ distribution …… Digital Photonic ADC & wideband digitizer Computing … . Fiber Optic Link High data rate interconnections Secure Comms Sensors Smart structure Homeland security Inertial sensors ( gyro acceler ., .) Acoustic Sensor hydrophones , ..) Optoelectronic Chemical / Biological Quantum Optics Cryptography computers comms interconnect In package Chip to Chip On board Board ..
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Photonics: where optic meets electronic ….. ….. in airborne platforms
BRAGG GRATING FIBER OPTIC TERMINATION Airborne Radars Navigation Fire control Smart Structures Distributes fiber sensors FBG Health Monitoring Structural Engine Human Subsystems Interconnect computers sensors / actuators weapons fly-by-light ….. Signal and Data Processing Inertial Monitoring Units gyroscope Sensors FLIR wind shear LIDAR / LOAS Multi-Hyper Spectral DIRCM / Designators EW systems ESM ECM Secure Comms Data Interconnect
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Why photonics ? improved EM interference immunity reduce volume and weight huge digital data handling capability low losses / low dispersion wide instantaneous bandwidth real time processing high accuracy and resolution …….
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Health Management System
Structural Monitoring: FBG Health Management System (HMS) & Health Monitoring Equipment (HME) Impacts Revelation Corrosion Revelation Defects Revelation Load monitoring Strain Sensors NDT + Stress measure Health Monitoring Equipment (HME) Fatigue Life Analysis Damage monitoring PROGNOSIS DIAGNOSIS Health Management System (HMS) HMS on-board connected to the ground support structure
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Structural Monitoring: FBG
Fiber Optic Bragg Grating (FOBG) AOTF PRINCIPLE Bragg Law AOTF BRAGG GRATING FIBER OPTIC TERMINATION Cobonded J-spar with embedded FOBG sensors The sensorised fiber is embedded into the composite structure Variations of the grating pitch can be read (i.e. mechanical stress, thermal deformations, pressure variation, ice formation) Several sensors can be positioned on the same fiber and separately A multiplex fiber system can be realized
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Structural Monitoring: FBG
PYLON HOUSING TEST BOX Typhoon Embedding of FOBG sensors into composite materials (carbon); System integration and ground test demonstration Centre Fuselage AREA A Stringer 10 C27J Frame 18 left side AREA B FORWARD
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Gyro Gyroscopes are key elements of IMU (Inertial Monitoring Units) in the navigation system of airborne platforms Optical gyroscopes have no moving parts, then: gravitation doesn’t affect no need for gimbal mounting reduced sensitivity to vibrations insensitive to EM fields Ω Splitter Combiner cw path ccw path Sagnac effect: rotation Ω induces phase shift ΔΦ between cw and ccw radiation paths ΔΦ=4π Α•Ω / λc
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Gyro Fiber optic gyroscope 0,01 deg/h
Can be produced in a smaller size in principle (looses precision though)
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Gyro Gyro Technology Applications 103 102 10 1 10-1
STRATEGIC BALISTIC MISSILES AUTONOMOUS SUBMARINE NAVIGATION AIR/LAND/SEA NAVIGATION SURVEYING AHRS TORPEDO TACTICAL MISSILE MIDCOURSE GUIDANCE FLIGHT CONTROL SMART MUNITIONS ROBOTICS STRATEGIC CRUISE MISSILES MECHANICAL RING LASER FIBER OPTIC MEMS / MEOMS Bias Stability (deg/h) Scale Factor Stability (ppm) 1 nautical mile/hour Earth rate STRATEGIC NAVIGATION TACTICAL CONSUMER Gyro Technology Applications
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Radar Photonic solutions in Airborne Radar systems Beam Forming networking in phased array active antennas Time delay lines Analog/Digital signal processing and distribution Fiber optic massive data transmission systems Very fast A/D converter Parallel optical computing Antenna remoting Antenna calibration
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Photonic Microwave Photonics Radar Digital Photonics
Frequency Generation Photonic a technology for advanced Radar and EW systems Photonic ADC Converters 100 Gsample/s BW >20 GHz Resolution >8 bit Fiber Optic Massive Data Transmission System Antenna Remoting Trasponder >100 Gbit/s per link Photonic Digital Signal Processor Processor speed > 10 THz Giga Multiply Acc. Op. per sec. Filtering Microwave Photonics Optical BFN
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Radar Four steps towards the Photonic Antenna System Step IV:
Step III: Photonic replaces relevant parts of the RF system Step IV: Photonic assimilates the RF system TX RX Step II: Photonic implements complex RF functions Step I: Photonic supports the RF system
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Radar Analog to Digital conversion
Concepts of Photonic A/D conversion basically relies on using an optical architecture to: Generate a stream of very low jitter sampling optical pulses + wavelength dispersion Modulate the height of the dispersed optical pulses by the voltage signal to be sampled through an optical modulator Split along multiple (N) parallel wavelength channels the samples Perform A/D conv. in each channel with 1/N sampling rate using std electronic A/DCs Recombine the bit stream by digital processing
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Radar Frequency / Waveform Generations
Optoelectronic schemes and architectures for low phase noise RF oscillators at microwave frequencies (typ. 1 to 20 GHz) with high spectral purity (typ kHz offset for X band radar application)
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Radar Optical Beam Forming in Phased Array Antennas
Antenna architecture for the beamforming (BFN) function, supporting simultaneous multiple RF functions and allowing for a dynamic reconfiguration of array elements Analog RF and Digital control signals distributed by the same fiber network
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Optical Interconnections
Due to continually shrinking feature sizes, higher clock frequencies, and the simultaneous growth in complexity, the role of interconnect as a dominant factor in determining circuit performance is growing in importance Optical interconnects to mitigate the limitations of metal interconnects on-chip on-board board to board
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Optical Interconnections
sub-system to sub-system “fly by light” the step beyond the “fly by wire”
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Optical Interconnections
AFDX (Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet): Airbus implementation Through the use of twisted pair or fiber optic cables, Full-Duplex Ethernet uses two separate pairs or strands for transmit and receiving data. AFDX extends standard Ethernet to provide high data integrity and deterministic timing
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insertion into airborne platforms
New technological frontiers New technologies to support Photonics insertion into airborne platforms What ahead ? Multifunctional low cost integration: Hybrid Silicon Photonics Functional Polymer Integrated Circuits III-V Circuitry New devices and sensors: Photonic Band Gap Nanophotonics Plasmonics New crossings with “electrons/electronics”: THz
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New technological frontiers
Multifunctional low cost integration: Hybrid Silicon Photonics Functional Polymers Integrated Circuits III-V Circuitry
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New technological frontiers
New devices and sensors: Photonic Band Gap Plasmonics
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New technological frontiers
Nano Photonics
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Conclusions Photonic is a powerful underpinning technology in many avionic applications, enabling to advanced solutions and new capabilities The use of COTS from the consumer communication market is accelerating the introduction of photonic solutions into aerospace platform The most advanced photonic technologies are going to facilitate the photonic insertion into the aerospace platforms with their new multifunction integration capabilities and advanced functionalities.
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Thank you for your attention
questions ?
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