Intelligent and Robust Sensor Network for Distributed Engine Control

The Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) centralized architecture has become the norm in aero-engine control systems. This architecture, which limits the design choices, accounts for ~20% of total weight and acquisition cost of the engine. Any modification to the system hardware is costly and inefficient. The limitations of electronics in high-temperature environments is another major issue. Distributed control architectures together with enabling high-temperature sensors and standardized interfaces will be able to provide a future-proof platform for next-generation systems. Photonics technology, including standardized fiber-optic wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), is becoming increasingly prevalent in many commercial systems including aircraft. Many systems, including avionics, now use 10-gigabit fiber-optic Ethernet. Also in use in aircraft systems are Fiber Channel and Firewire. IFOS proposes to address the problem with the development of a fiber-optic communications and control architecture based on Dense WDM (DWDM) and providing standardized optical network interfaces on a highly-reliable bi-directional optical network. In Phase I, IFOS will (1) develop a backbone architecture design concept appropriate for aero-engine control systems supporting many sensors with standardized interfaces, including IFOS’ high-temperature multiplexed sensors, and demonstrate its feasibility through performance calculations and simulations, (2) ensure the system design meets all requirements for engine control systems