Internet in space goal of firm, 2 UA schools

BY BILL W. HORNADAY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

   If all goes well for Space Photonics Inc.'s latest research push, the light at the end of the tunnel should be visible within 10 years.
   That same light would also hold at least 80 times more data than radio waves now used for military and commercial use - a development that could revolutionize how people communicate with one another.
   Known as Project COWIN, or Collaborative Optical Wireless Information Network, the effort involves a partnership between the Fayetteville-based firm and the faculty and graduate students at the University of Arkansas' campuses in Fayetteville and Little Rock.
   The goal is to develop a laserbased "Internet in space " that moves data at least 100 times faster than a digital subscriber line, or DSL, technology that telecommunications companies now offer, said Chuck Chalfant, president and chief executive officer of Space Photonics.
   Currently under develop- ment for the Air Force, such a network would have obvious military value, such as real-time links between commanders and the battlefield, enhanced control of unmanned aircraft, improved reconnaissance and more secure communications, he said.
   "If a high-resolution image is taken over Afghanistan and they need to bring it back to Washington, that can take as long as 12 minutes," said Chalfant, a former satellite specialist for Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. who holds degrees in physics from Hendrix College and the University of Arkansas.
   Civilian uses could range from medicine to logistics management for global companies such as Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and even three-dimensional television with images equal or superior to today's high-definition technology.
   "Any type of home viewing on that scale would require this kind of bandwidth," said Sesh Mohan, professor and chairman of UALR's Systems Engineering Department with nearly three decades of experience in developing telecommunication technology. "That won't happen anytime soon - but maybe 15 years from now. There's a lot of things we have to do."
   With $250,000 in funding from Space Photonics, researchers and graduate students at UALR's Donaghey College of Information Science and Systems Engineering - also called the university's CyberCollege - will spend the next two years developing a protocol language through which optics-based communications would occur.
   During the same period, researchers and graduate students at UA-Fayetteville's Arkansas Space and Photonics Optoelectronics Qualifications Center will use $225,000 from Space Photonics to conduct thermal and vibration tests to see if such technology can endure the rigors of spaceflight.
   So far, such technology has only been used in earth-based applications, with companies using optical signals to transfer data from one building to another, Chalfant said.
   "The main challenge with this by far is developing it for space," he said. "First you have to minimize power requirements, as well as weight and size. Then you have to design it so that radiation won't interrupt it or upset it."
   Chalfant is hopeful that the Air Force will plan an experimental satellite launch to test the system in actual orbital conditions within three to five years.
   As the technology matures, he hopes to add more clients and continue to grow his privately held company, which employs about a dozen workers at the University of Arkansas Genesis Technology Incubator.
   Founded in 1999, Space Photonics, whose other customers include NASA and various aerospace companies, posted about $1 million in revenue in 2004 with projections of $2.3 million in 2005 and $3.5 million in 2006.
   "We hope to increase our [research] funding dramatically in the coming years as this technology continues to develop," Chalfant said. "Five years from now we hope to have $15 million to $20 million in revenue."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEVE KEESEE Chuck Chalfant (left), president and chief executive of Space Photonics in Fayetteville, and Sesh Mohan, a professor at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, discuss high-speed Internet for use in space.