Fiber-optic Avionic Low-SWaP-C Coherent Optical Network (FALCON)

Modern military aircraft and advanced sensor payloads increasingly rely on high-bandwidth, robust optical datalinks to support direct digitization, high-resolution video, and sensor data transfer. Current avionics fiber-optic links, based on VCSEL technology and multimode fiber, are constrained by modal dispersion, temperature-dependent performance degradation, and limited scalability due to low bandwidths and high fiber counts. While high-speed commercial data center transceivers exist, their link budgets and environmental tolerance are insufficient for demanding military platforms.This project proposes the development of a low-SWaP-C, expanded-link-budget coherent optical interconnect based on Lucideanís Mixed-Domain Coherent (MDC) architecture. The MDC link leverages commercial silicon photonics and advanced DSPs, integrating self-homodyne coherent detection, polarization multiplexing, and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) to deliver 4 ◊ 100 Gb/s over a single fiber with a 15 dB margin under wide temperature ranges and in the presence of vibration. This approach is highly scalable and builds on advances from the commercial data center market. It does not require advanced CMOS development, as it leverages existing high-volume, commercially available DSP ASICs, and maintains power efficiency by using uncooled lasers. Phase I will validate feasibility through detailed link simulations across the environmental envelope, a benchtop demonstration using available SiPh and III-V-on-SiPh components, and a comprehensive plan for Phase II prototype development.