Physical design of the ODL-250H militarized surface mount optical data link

It is noted that many new military programs for data communications on mobile platforms require the use of fiber-optic systems. The advantages of fiber-optic systems for these applications include EMI (electromagnetic interference) immunity, increased security, reduced weight, and increased information bandwidth. The electrooptic components for these systems must operate over the full military temperature range of -55°C to +125°C. To meet these requirements, a 250-Mb/s hybrid optical data link has been designed and developed for harsh-environment military applications. The transmitter and receiver operate at an optical wavelength of 1.3 μm and use either 62.5/125- or 100/140-μm multimode optical fiber. In the absence of any military standards governing fiber-optic digital transmitters and receivers, the materials, processes, and design criteria for the data link were based on the custom hybrid microcircuit requirements of MIL-M-38510 Appendix G, class B. Screening and quality-conformance test procedures were implemented using a modified fiber-optic custom hybrid version of method 5008 of MIL-STD-883. Design criteria, mechanical and optical design, and analysis techniques used to achieve the above performance goals are discussed