Next Generation of Passive and Reconfigurable Fiber Optic Components

Driven by the insatiable demand for communication bandwidth of the internet, fiberoptic communication is under going an industrial revolution in which new technologies are being adopted at an unprecedented pace. Today's optical communication networks not only transmit light of multiple waves in a single fiber optic cable thereby increasing communication bandwidth, they also redirect and reinsert optical channels remotely without using costly electronic conversions. To meet market demand, fiber optic components are fast migrating into dynamically reconfigurable architectures that include both light path and wavelength band agility. Fiber optic component designs are also moving towards athermal constructions that do not require active temperature compensation, due to the lower cost and tighter specs for consecutive component iteration requirements. This significant technical progress in optical network/communication can be leveraged for aviation applications, realizing the benefits of reducing weight, size, signal interference, and cost. Agiltron has successfully developed and produced reconfigurable fiber optic components that have been qualified for aviation applications.