Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

High channel count sensor and actuator devices are needed to tackle bulky wiring bundles introduced by the growing number of functions in aircrafts. In new avionic systems, communications between devices across different application domains are needed, which drastically increases information flow within the aircraft. Wiring bundles and demand for a much higher communication bandwidth raise serious challenges requiring the development of new avionic data buses, smart sensors, and network interfaces. In responding to these technological challenges, this project aims at developing a new avionic communication network allowing a reduction of the complexity of cabling by adopting a lower wire-count solution, using state-of-the-art avionic data network technologies. Digital interfaces will be developed to connect legacy position sensors and actuators to data buses. Emerging Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and photonic technologies will be employed to develop new lightweight, contactless, and reliable position sensor in order to provide enhanced performance while reducing the cost of deployment and maintenance. A multi-protocol/ multi-rate architecture based on Avionics Full Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX) is chosen as the baseline network architecture, which would achieve a solution for avionics data networks combining throughput, architecture adaptability, and secure and safe digital data stream with reliable time determinism, bounded latency, guaranteed bandwidth, and fault tolerance suitable for safety-critical applications. This project will also address issues related to frequency selection and the effect of EMC and EMI for the development of safety-critical wireless communication systems of the future. As we recognize the imperative to develop new avionics technologies and to contribute to the effort of the industrial partners to enhance their world-wide technological leading position and market competitiveness, it can be expected that the successful completion of this project will not only provide a significant technological contribution, but also showcase the capabilities of Canadian industry and universities in the related sectors.