Recently there has been strong interest in wireless optical (WO) communication link applications in airplanes and avionics platforms for size, weight, power, cost, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction. Wireless optical link has additional advantage of providing network security because the optical signal from wireless optical link is well confined within an airplane or avionics vehicle. In this paper we discuss some potential wireless optical link applications in commercial airplanes and the challenges in the implementation of wireless optical links for these applications. We will present our experimental results on using white LED (WLED), visible laser source and free-space small-form-factor (SFF) optical transceivers to demonstrate the viability of applying wireless optical links in avionics platforms.

Date Published: 26 May 2011
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8026, Photonic Applications for Aerospace, Transportation, and Harsh Environment II, 80260M (26 May 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.886858

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8026:
Photonic Applications for Aerospace, Transportation, and Harsh Environment II
Alex A. Kazemi; Bernard Kress; Eric Y. Chan; Nabeel A. Riza; Lothar U. Kempen, Editor(s)