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Launch Stories provides warfighters, sponsors, partners, and taxpayers with an inside look at the technologies and research developed by small businesses working with the Air Force.
Sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), this new forum highlights the advanced tools and innovations that drive US competitiveness and make service members safer, better informed, and more efficient than ever. These are their stories.
(If you are interested in partnering with the Air Force to develop a new technology or explore new markets, you can find more information here.)
Congress established the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program in 1982 to strengthen the role of smaller businesses in federally-funded research and development. This program stimulates technological innovation, uses small businesses to meet Federal R&D needs, and increases private sector competition, productivity, and economic growth.
The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, a sister program to SBIR, was established by Congress in 1992 to encourage small business partnerships with Universities, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, and qualified non-profit research institutions.
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Launch Stories Submission
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Lighting the Path Through Silicon Photonics
7 Ratings
Imagine you are accessing a high-performance computer system on a military aircraft, one that receives vital information meant to help inform strategy. With so many systems working together—from those on the aircraft to satellites in space—any delay in the relay of information can be the difference between safety and peril or failure and success in a critical mission.
THE CHALLENGE
Communication networks installed on satellites and avionic platforms require many subsystems. As a vehicle embarks on a mission, it must be prepared to deal with sudden, unexpected changes, adapting quickly to the task at hand. Current iterations of these technologies use large modules composed of fiber, which contribute to the Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) metric, reducing a vehicle’s flexibility to carry a heavier payload. This burden can be alleviated in a major way with EM Photonics’ chip-scale optical communication network.
Advanced technology limits communication delays, ensuring a higher chance of safety and success for military missions.
With EM Photonics on board, vehicles can carry heavier payloads.
The ability to carry heavier payloads works to reduce mission time.
WHY IT MATTERS
On the battlefield, a delay of only a few seconds in the transmission of pivotal data is significant, compromising both security and strategic advantages. As communication systems require more power and space on vehicles, both the size of payloads and total mission time suffer from the negative consequences of outdated technology. Competitive technologies utilize optical-to-electrical conversion-based optical cross-connects, which limit both the speed of data transfer and reconfiguration speeds.
THE SOLUTION
EM Photonics built upon the strong foundation of silicon photonic devices to design a high-performance optical communication component.
"Chip-scale photonics is crucial for communication on next generation compact military platforms. It offers reconfigurable transmission of high data rates in a compact package." — Mathew Zablocki
HOW IT WORKS
The development of optical cross-connect allows multiple systems to communicate efficiently at high data rates. State-of-the-art semiconductor fabrication reduces size and power requirements for the network. On the inside sits a fully configurable switch array, creating a network that proves to be adaptable from its dynamism.
IMPACT FOR THE FUTURE
The SBIR project helped EM Photonics demonstrate a prototype that defines EM Photonics as a lead developer for the next generation of chip-scale silicon photonic components.
EM Photonics
www.emphotonics.com51 E. Main Street, Suite 203 Newark, DE 19711
EM Photonics develops high-performance computing and simulation systems for image processing, scientific computing, and optical device simulation. We specialize in designing system-level components and software, and realizing the designs in first-concept prototypes.
Matthew Zablocki
Director of Photonics Applications
James Bonnett
Senior Engineer
Eric Kelmelis
CEO
TOPIC TITLE:
Satellite Optical Backplane
TOPIC NUMBER:
AF103-097
CONTRACT NUMBER:
FA9453-13-C-0013
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