The term "optoelectronic active device" covers a variety of devices used in the conversion of electrical to optical data and vice versa. Transmitters, receivers, transceivers, and transponders are all examples. This document covers any active device that could be used in conjunction with the passive physical layer described in ARINC Specifications 801 and 802, and Report 803.

Active devices can vary in their level of functionality and in the number of sublayers supported within the physical and data link layers (as defined in the ISO OSI reference model). These factors will influence the electrical interfaces for the device. Anything from an LED in a TO-can to a transponder incorporating multiplexing and de-multiplexing functions in a 300-pin package can be described as an optoelectronic active device.

The avionics environmental requirements are key, given the nature of the technology, for the active device manufacturer and end user. The guidelines included in this document are written taking the avionics environment into consideration.

The inherent limitations of this technology must be understood to determine how to manage these components in the avionics application. Many COTS components may be found to be suitable for avionics applications when suitably managed through an ECMP process such as that of IEC TS62239. However, some avionics applications may require customization of the COTS component or a complete custom solution to fully comply with the avionics application requirements.

COMMENTARY: The following component types are excluded from the scope of this document:

• Optoelectronic active devices for plastic optical fiber (POF) - the physical layer described in ARINC Specifications 801 and 802 does not currently include plastic optical fiber.

•Optoelectronic active devices for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) - ARINC Specifications 801 and 802 are not yet supporting WDM passive components (filters, couplers) so active devices for WDM are similarly left for future expansion.

•Optoelectronic active devices for ribbon fiber - on the same basis, parallel optical active devices are omitted until ribbon fiber is included in ARINC Specifications 801 and 802.

For the purpose of this document it is important to distinguish between guidelines and requirements. All information in the main body of the document (environment, qualification test procedures, lifetime, optical interface, electrical interface, packaging, dealing with COTS, references to other standards) is presented as guidance with the caveat that the requirements of any particular aircraft platform or customer would take precedence.

It is necessary to treat the information contained in the appendices as optical interface requirements, as opposed to guidance, to allow for interchangeability of compliant devices. The active device definition contained in the appendices is required by others using ARINC Specifications such as ARINC Specification 664.