IHF Radiometer Results Published
NASA’s Global Hawk UAV carries an Ethernet network for its instruments to transmit data between each other and to the satellite communications link. This switch is a standalone, aircraft-quality, gigabit unit that and an upgrade over previous switches used on the aircraft. This unit provides 50% more Ethernet ports in 33% of the volume of previous units. The heart of the unit is a COTS switch originally intended for Alaska airlines passenger entertainment networks, with added custom hardware to make it suitable for high-altitude NASA applications. Specifically, the enclosure, thermal management (heat sinking), and impedance-controlled, connector PCB are custom.
