USING OPNET TO EVALUATE FIBRE CHANNEL AS AN AVIONICS INTERCONNECTION SYSTEM

Avionics architectures are evolving from “Federated ” systems consisting of highly specialized black boxes connected together via MIL-STD-1553 and ARINC 429 data buses to “Integrated ” and “Distributed ” architectures. These new architectures contain high data-rate sensors, parallel processors, and shared memory with high levels of integration. These systems require a new interconnection system that overcomes the limitations of older standards. Fibre Channel is a family of ANSI standards that define an interconnection system well suited to this task. This paper evaluates Fibre Channel as an avionics interconnection standard. It begins b