OCDM-Based All Optical Multi-Level Security

Faced with the demand for high capacity communication in avionics there is growing interest to deploy fiber optic networks. With the introduction of optics in avionics, an optical physical layer that can support multilevel security (MLS) is needed. Using different fibers (space division multiplexing) is an obvious choice. In wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks, different security levels are carried through different optical windows. However, WDM enabled MLS is susceptible to eavesdropping through inter-window cross talk. Recently we introduced a new concept of OCDM methodology based on a passive spectral phase encoding (SPE) scheme that is compatible with WDM networks and offers photonic layer security (PLS). This compatibility is achieved through the ability to access and modify optical phase of tightly spaced phase locked laser lines with high resolution. The next level of MLS beyond WDM is offered by providing the proper recipient its unique OCDM code, without which inadvertent leakage of signal cannot be deciphered. A higher level of security that is robust to both exhaustive search and archival attacks can also be offered through phase scrambling of the inverse multiplexed tributaries of the high data rate aggregate signal. In this presentation we summarize our all optical passive OCDM methodology that has been studied for terrestrial WDM networks and underline its size, weight and power (SWaP) figures of merit for MLS in avionics.