Preliminary Study On CAN-bus Transmission Over Optical Wireless For Satellite Applications

We present preliminary results demonstrating that Controlled Area Network bus (CAN-bus) signals can be transported over Optical Wireless Communication (OWC), in the near-infrared region (850 nm). The CAN-bus can not be directly transmitted in free-space and it needs to be adapted. Therefore, we developed a solution that allows the optical transmission of this standard transparently, with no need for modification of the protocol. The proposed system is based on analog components with no need for any kind of Digital Signal Processing (DSP), it is realized only using Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) components and has sensitivity consistent with typical intra-spacecraft communication scenarios. This opens the way to move data networks based on CAN-bus from cable to wireless, thus improving integration time, cost-effectiveness, and volume occupancy. The intrinsic security of OWC makes the system robust to any sniffing/jamming attack.