Choosing the Right Video Bus for Mission-Critical Aerospace Systems

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As military and aerospace systems incorporate increasingly sophisticated sensors, processors, and displays, selecting the right video bus is critical to overall system performance. Is Ethernet the best solution, or do mission-critical applications require a protocol specifically designed for high-performance video transmission?

In this interview with Military & Aerospace Electronics, Great River Technology's Tim Keller, Director of Airborne and Mission System Strategy, joins Sam McGrail to discuss the key considerations when selecting video protocols for aerospace and defense applications. Keller compares four Ethernet protocols (Best Effort, TTE, AFDX, and TSN) with four video protocols (ARINC 818, DVI, DisplayPort, and SDI), examining important factors such as bandwidth, certifiability, flexibility, jitter, and end-to-end latency.

Throughout the discussion, we explore why low-latency, deterministic video transmission is essential for mission-critical avionics applications, including head-up displays, enhanced vision systems, and hypersonic platforms. Keller also highlights how uncompressed, high-bandwidth video and precise timing requirements influence system architecture and protocol selection.