Active Optical Cable Transceiver for Helmet Mounted Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Helmet-mounted displays for military applications face issues with heavy, bulky copper cables that radiate heat, while commercial applications often rely on wireless solutions, lacking efficient data transmission options.
Innovation Solution
Active optical cables with customized transceiver modules and fiber optic cables, featuring board-mount, flexible, or flex-rigid connectors, that convert electrical data to optical data for transmission, offering a lighter, more efficient alternative to copper cables with quick-release connectors for emergency detachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If copper cables are used to connect helmet mounted displays to aircraft electronics, then reliable data transmission is achieved, but the cable becomes heavy and bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces copper electrical cables with an active optical cable system that uses optical signals for data transmission. The mechanical copper conductor is substituted with optical fibers and electronic components including transceivers, media converters, and cable assemblies, eliminating the need for heavy copper wiring while maintaining data transmission reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the transmission medium parameter from electrical conductors to optical fibers. This fundamental parameter change enables data transmission through light signals instead of electrical signals, significantly reducing cable weight and bulk while preserving transmission reliability through the optical interface
2Reliability
If copper cables are used to connect helmet mounted displays to aircraft electronics, then data transmission is achieved, but heat is radiated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes the electrical conduction system with an optical transmission system. By using optical fibers and light-based communication instead of electrical currents through copper, the system eliminates the resistive heating effect that occurs in electrical conductors, thereby removing the heat radiation problem while maintaining data transmission capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces optical signals as an intermediary medium for data transmission. Instead of direct electrical contact through copper cables that generate heat, the system uses optical fibers as intermediaries to carry data as light signals, eliminating the harmful thermal effect while preserving communication functionality
3Weight of moving object
If wireless solutions are used for commercial helmet mounted displays, then cable weight is reduced, but data transmission efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces wireless electromagnetic communication with a physical optical connection system. This substitution provides the mechanical stability and signal reliability of wired connections while achieving weight reduction comparable to wireless solutions, thereby maintaining high data transmission efficiency without the interference and reliability issues of wireless communication
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The active optical cables provide a lighter, less bulky solution with reduced heat generation, enhanced communication speed, and improved signal-to-noise ratio, supporting multiple data types and protocols, while ensuring reliable data transmission and emergency disconnect capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
an optical engine communicatively coupled to the one or more media converters to output the converted electrical data as optical data
Implementation Method 2
The cable assembly includes at least fiber optic cables with one end of the cable assembly communicatively couple to the transceiver module to receive the optical data output from optical engine
Data Source
AI summary
An active optical cable (AOC) for a helmet mounted display (HMD) includes a transceiver module having a rigid-flex or flex connector packaging to physically couple with an electrical data interface of the HMD. The transceiver module includes one or more media converters to receive electrical data of multiple formats from the helmet mounted display and convert the received electrical data to a common format, and an optical engine communicatively coupled to the one or more media converters to output the converted electrical data as optical data. The AOC includes a cable assembly including at least fiber optic cables with one end of the cable assembly communicatively couple to the transceiver module to receive the optical data output from optical engine; and another transceiver module having a quick-release connector packaging and communicatively coupled to other end of the cable assembly to receive the optical data.