DESIGN OF A GIGABIT DATA ACQUISITION AND MULTIPLEXER SYSTEM

Abstract

Gigabits and hundreds of megabit communication buses are starting to appear as the avionic buses of choice for new or upgraded airborne systems. This trend presents new challenges for instrumentation engineers in the areas of high speed data multiplexing, data recording, and data transmission of flight safety information. This paper describes the approach currently under development to acquire data from several types of high-speed avionic buses using distributed multiplexer and acquisition units. Additional input data may include PCM, wideband analog data, discrete, real-time video and others. The system is capable of multiplexing and recording all incoming data channels, while at the same time providing data selection down to the parameter level from input channels for transmission of flight safety information. Additionally, an extensive set of data capture trigger/filter/truncation mechanisms are supported.