Iain McKenzie

Fiber optic sensing in space structures: the experience of the European Space Agency

The applications of fiber optic sensors on board spacecraft and launchers are discussed based on the experience gained by several ESA funded R&D projects along with the experience of preparing the first spaceflight hardware demonstrations.

Introducing photonics in spacecraft engineering: ESA's strategic approach

Photonic Technologies in the form of fiber optics, integrated optics and micro-photonics offer some compelling advantages when considered for use in spacecraft. Since 2002 the European Space Agency has engaged in a comprehensive Research and Development program in Photonics that covers applications in communications, sensing, signal processing as well as in some specialized applications. The Research and Development program has been accompanied with the first in-flight demonstrations as well as with the first operational use of fiber optics as critical element of a satellite payload. Fiber optic digital communications for all types of data rates is the first application of Photonics that will reach space qualification. Analog signal communication will follow together with fiber optic sensing. Signal processing applications including Rf down-conversion, switching and analog to digital conversion with electro-photonic means are also under development and their potentials remain to be assessed in comparison with the evolving electronic approaches.

A WDM Optical Backplane with AWG Based Passive Routing

An optical backplane based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is introduced. It is a tunable transmitter fixed receiver (TT-FR) architecture, which incorporates an NtimesN arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) element for passive data routing. A four-node prototype has been built using high-speed FPGAs for the implementation of the control plane. Bit-error-rate (BER) versus power incident on the receiver using three different AWGs has been measured at a data rate of 10 Gbps per link under static and dynamically changing configurations.

Measured radiation sensitivity of silica-on-silicon and silicon-on-insulator micro-photonic devices for potential space application

Silica on Silicon (SoS) and Silicon on insulator (SOI) fabrication technologies are now yielding efficient photonic devices that have potential uses (e.g. routing and switching) in multigigabit optical backplane interconnect applications. The ever increasing demands for higher speed data handling and greater throughput on board both operational and experimental satellites necessitate an examination of these technologies for their robustness and performance in a space environment. One of the main environmental stressors on electronic and photonic components is the incident radiation flux. This paper reports results from the experimental testing of two classes of photonic devices; namely a SoS arrayed waveguide grating (AWG), and a SOI ring resonator. For a total ionizing dose of 300 kRad Co60 gamma irradiation, the SOI ring resonator showed induced spectral shifts as lower than 0.4 pm/kRad, and the SoS AWG showed a maximum shift of 0.03 pm/kRad in one channel. The relatively low AWG radiation sensitivity tempt us to say that these devices could be considered radiation hard for the telecom CL wavelength band (1550 nm) in which these measurements were made.

Wavelength division multiplexing based optical backplane with arrayed waveguide grating passive router

A wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-based optical backplane architecture is introduced. It is a tunable transmitter fixed receiver (TT-FR) architecture incorporating an N×N arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) element for passive data routing between the nodes, which in conjunction with star couplers, offers both unicast and multicast capabilities. The data and control plane of the network are implemented on a high-speed field programmable gate array (FPGA), and a four-node demonstrator is built up. Three different types of AWG routing elements implemented in different technologies are employed, and bit error rate (BER) versus incident power on the receiver measurements are presented for a data rate of 10 Gbps per link. A total switching time as low as 500 ns is achieved, permitting packet switching operation with more than 95% efficiency when the packet length is greater than 10 kbytes.

Fiber optic sensing for telecommunication satellites

Modern telecommunication satellites can benefit from the features of fiber optic sensing wrt to mass savings, improved performance and lower costs. Within the course of a technology study, launched by the European Space Agency, a fiber optic sensing system has been designed and is to be tested on representative mockups of satellite sectors and environment.

Comparison of gamma radiation effect on erbium doped fiber amplifiers

Optical amplifiers have many applications in space, such as transmitters, receivers, for satellite telecom, lidars and remote sensing.

Fiber-optic Sensor Demonstrator (FSD) integration with PROBA-2

Modern telecommunication satellites can benefit from the features of fiber optic sensing wrt to mass savings, improved performance and lower costs. Within the course of a technology study, launched by the European Space Agency, a fiber optic sensing system has been designed and is to be tested on representative mockups of satellite sectors and environment.

Microphotonics in satellite payloads and platforms

The European Space Agency has a comprehensive R&D program to develop microphotonic solutions for use is spacecraft engineering. This covers predominantly microphotonic devices and MOEMS to be used as the core devices of microwave-photonic equipment for Telecommunication Satellite Payloads such any Frequency Generation Unit, Frequency Conversion Unit, Switch and Beam Forming. Similar solutions are considered for equipment to be used in satellite platforms such as interrogation units for fiber optic temperature and strain sensors and miniature fiber optic gyroscopes and inertial measurement units.

A nanophotonic 4/spl times/4 wavelength router in silicon-on-insulator

We demonstrate a 400times150 mum2 silicon-on-insulator 4times4 arrayed waveguide grating with 3.5 dB insertion loss, fabricated with CMOS technology. The device was pigtailed and used as a wavelength router in a 10 Gb/s reconfigurable optical backplane interconnect