System level radiation response of a high performance fiber optic data bus

We present experimental determinations of the total ionizing dose response and the proton-induced Single Event Upset (SEU) sensitivity of components comprising a 200 Mbps star coupled fiber optic data bus. These results are compared with the in-situ response of the operating system under proton bombardment, resulting in excellent correlation of the system error rate with proton-induced bit errors in the receiver photodiode. Modeling and error rate predictions for orbital performance indicate robust tolerance to even harsh natural space environments.