Enabling High-Speed Connectivity in Modern Sensor Systems
Channel: The Open Group
Date: 2020-10-16

The SOSA™ Electrical/Mechanical Subcommittee has documented a series of connectors that have been proven to meet the identified needs of today’s sensors. The Sensor Open Systems Architecture™ (SOSA) Consortium creates a common framework for transitioning sensor systems to an open systems architecture, based on key interfaces and open standards established by industry-government consensus.

This presentation summarizes those connectors and provides guidelines for their use. A chart is presented that examines the transition between copper to fiber optics. Ongoing efforts to identify suitable higher performance fiber optic links are also discussed. This presentation also provides background about the requirements and benefits of creating standards for the interconnects between the components of a SOSA-based system that can support performance and achieve improvements in reliability and cost. The information presented in this paper will help system integrators and end-users develop a greater appreciation for the challenges of connectivity.

Today’s sensor systems are mission-critical and need seamless connectivity to operate effectively in their intended environments. The number of sensors is increasing rapidly, with each type delivering increasing amounts of data and further accelerated by tools such as artificial intelligence. Systems designers and software engineers are working to meet these needs and must consider the role of connectivity to create a functioning platform. This connectivity must deliver large numbers of signals at higher data rates with appropriate fidelity and timing.

With the world’s ever-increasing technical and economic demands, modern rugged sensor systems must employ connectivity featuring multiple winning attributes. Interconnects must be suited to the environment and offer performance beyond base-level expectations. For optimum economics, this means enabling a path to upgrade, enhanced longevity, and application flexibility by integrating scalable, open architecture components.

The cabling and interconnect technology detailed in the paper illustrates the roadmap available today, supporting connectivity from 10/100 MbE to 400+ GbE in a rugged, modular, scalable, and open-architecture form. It enables very flexible and high-performance sensor systems. It also instills community confidence that it can be successfully deployed with a broad, sustainable supply chain standing behind the equipment, and industry cohesion in common platform environments. The result is a winning technical and economical combination for the industry, and a credible roadmap to incredible data rates in rugged sensor system networks.

Speaker:
Herb Van Deusen is an Engineering Consultant for Aerospace & Defense at W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., since 2012. Prior to that, he was an engineer with the company for 35 years. Herb specializes in the design and practical application of various high-speed copper cables for aircraft systems, including Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, and HIPPI6400. Mr. Van Deusen earned a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Van Deusen