New-Tech Europe | Oct 2016 | Special Edition For Electronica 2016

Switching Aircraft Interior Systems to Fibre Optics

Thomas Heller, Molex

In addition to ensuring there’s no interference from the wide variety of systems on plane airframe systems, there’s also the issue of sufficient bandwidth for that number of users, especially those accessing video and audio files. Aircraft on-board system designers are at the tipping point for switching to fibre optics. Fibre vs. Copper With device and connector manufacturers driving the push to make photon-to-electron conversion points as small and as light as possible, fibre optic interconnects generate interest for their ability to perform better than copper in the critical SWaP (size, weight, and power) areas. Size wise, fibre interconnects and cable assemblies

the entire flight. Essentially, many flyers want aircraft to become flying Internet cafés. This trend, of course, creates challenges when it comes to outfitting aircraft cabins with modern electronic and electrical solutions. Size, weight, available space, power, cost, and vibration — all of which come at a premium within aircraft system designs — must be considered. To address the challenge, speeds and bandwidth over copper have increased dramatically over the last few years. But with copper, Wi-Fi access presents what amounts to an impossible obstacle, especially in cases where 300 passengers try to access Wi-Fi all at once.

With more airline passengers demanding in-flight Wi-Fi, system designers need to find a smart solution for migrating on-board systems to fibre optics. Here Thomas Heller is account manager, aerospace and defence, Molex, surveys the current state and major trends for aircraft OEMs. One of the hottest technology trends relating to cabin electronics in civil aircraft is creating designs that accommodate all the passengers that now want to use their smartphones, tablets, and laptops on board. Passengers want, and will eventually demand, the ability to recharge their devices as well as gain Wi-Fi access to stream video, audio, and data files throughout

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