Design and development of a multi-gigabit WDM network for use in the aerospace environment

Photonic networking technologies have the potential to revolutionise future military aircraft data communications, delivering substantial improvements in networking performance, reliability, cost and security. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), in particular, can provide a huge bandwidth-to-weight ratio as well as enhanced routing flexibility, connectivity and network survivability. In this paper, the design and development of a multi-gigabit, broadband WDM network architecture, specifically designed for use in the aerospace environment, is discussed. A key element in the system is the arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) wavelength multiplexing component, which has been designed to allow operation over the full military temperature specification (-55°C to +125°C) without additional environmental conditioning. The paper describes the design of prototype AWG devices, which use multimode interference couplers to provide a flat spectral response, and presents preliminary results of their operation