New generation Russian aircraft may receive onboard networks based on photonic technologies. GosNIIAS presented an architecture for a promising equipment complex, in which data is transmitted over an optical network using multiple channels in a single fiber.
The development emerged against the backdrop of the creation of new domestic aviation equipment, including the MC-21, SJ-100, and Il-114-300. However, the GosNIIAS photonic system is currently a technological development and has not been declared as equipment for a specific production aircraft.
The proposed architecture is based on spectral multiplexing. Multiple information streams are transmitted over a single optical fiber but use different wavelengths. This allows increasing the number of channels without a corresponding increase in the number of physical communication lines.
For an aircraft, such a scheme is interesting not only due to increased bandwidth. Reducing the number of cables and communication lines makes it possible to reduce the weight of the onboard infrastructure and simultaneously expand the capabilities of the equipment complex.
The next element of the system should be photonic integrated circuits. GosNIIAS plans to use them as part of the software and hardware platform of the onboard optical network. It should become the basis for an intelligent aircraft equipment control system.