COTS fiber optic interconnect solutions for mobile platforms

Fiber optics is being deployed in ever greater numbers across a wide range of commercial, industrial and military applications. Mobile platforms, whether land, sea, air or space, put extra demands on connectors and components due to the stressful, dynamic environments. These applications may require operation under conditions like: constant levels of sustained vibration and turbulence such as avionics and automobiles; momentary high levels of shock and vibration such as space launch and gunfire; constant cycling between temperature extremes such as satellites and engine compartments; and high humidity and corrosive conditions such as avionics and marine environments. The availability of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) interconnects and optoelectronics are accelerating the integration of fiber optics into new designs and applications. However, the user needs to become acutely aware of the issues involved in selecting among the many COTS solutions available on the market and be able to objectively judge their suitability to mobile platforms, particularly those for military and aerospace applications. This paper will survey the available COTS fiber optic solutions; offer a methodology for approaching these design projects; and reveal some of the critical system performance and reliability issues that need to be understood for successful fiber deployment