High Reliability, Wireless, High-speed digital Fibre Channel Interface for Micro Munitions (IMM)

New smart munitions will require high-speed digital interface connections from the launcher to munitions such as that defined in SAE"s Interface for Micro Munitions (IMM), SAE 5726. The IMM connection specifies Fibre Channel as its data communications protocol and superimposes this balanced electrical data along with DC power signals over paired coaxial connections. Single-ended safety and mated status discretes also form part of this interface. The high-speed digital interface operates at 1.0625 Mbps. and will be very sensitive to intermittency or loss of transmission path integrity. Upper layer protocols will be able to compensate for data dropouts and loss through retransmission requests, but this could be time consuming and unacceptable in operation. The purpose of our research effort will be to examine and tradeoff potential contact-less forms of high rate data communications including: RF data link, optical data links, and near-field data links in order to identify a more reliable alternative IMM interface that will improve operational performance and readiness. Our work will culminate in a laboratory demonstration of prototype hardware. BENEFIT: Potential commercial applications: peer-to-peer virtual connections for smart devices, wireless digital content transfer for cameras, electronic viewers, personal entertainment and communications devices, contactless ticketing and security applications.