According to Topic O1, titled Space Communications, "NASA's communications capability is based on the premise that communications shall enable and not constrain missions. Communications must be robust to support the numerous missions for space science, Earth science and exploration of the universe. Technologies such as optical communications, RF including antennas and ground based Earth stations, surface networks, access links, reprogrammable communications systems, communications systems for EVAs, advanced antenna technology, transmit array concepts and communications in support of launch services including space based assets are very important to the future of exploration and science activities of the Agency. Emphasis is placed on size, weight and power improvements. Innovative solutions centered around operational issues associated with the communications capability are needed. These technologies are to be aligned with the Space Communications and Navigation Architecture (SCaN)." Therefore, SPI proposes to develop a novel, ultra-low SWAP, multichannel, photonic integrated circuit (PIC) based optical transceiver for data rates up to 10Gbps per channel. It will be designed specifically for the AS1393a networking architecture demonstration; but, may easily be modified, via a change in the protocol/processing FPGA VHDL core, to suit a multitude of high-speed optical networking applications relevant to the NASA SCaN Internet Architecture Vision.
