Intelligent and Robust Sensor Network for Distributed Engine Control

In Phase II, IFOS will continue the development of a robust intelligent sensor technology and fiber-optic network for sensing temperature and pressure in high temperature/ vibration gas turbine engine propulsion system applications. The existing Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) architecture for aero-engine control system does not have the expansion capability to provide features and functionalities meeting the increasing demands of Test & Evaluation, health management and aircraft control integration. A new paradigm of lightweight, high reliability and wide bandwidth optical fiber data network is needed. Further, Distributed Control System (DCS) architectures are also necessary to enable modular design and inherent scalability via continued COTS technology advances. A key technology hurdle is adapting COTS to an aircraft propulsion environment. The technology will be validated in the laboratory and in ground engine tests outside IFOS. The success criterion is the survival of the fiber-optic network sensor system on an engine that is on the ground (Phase II) and in the air (Phase III). In Phase II, IFOS will build, test on a real engine, and deliver a detailed demonstration of a 4-node, self-healing, CWDM Optical Ring Network (CORIN), extendable to a DWDM Optical Ring Network (DORIN), in a jet engine environment.