Aircraft Equipment
To achieve an air-to-satellite link, an aircraft must be equipped with an antenna that can be steered to point at the selected satellite and an onboard transceiver/data terminal. For Ku-band systems, it was necessary to shrink the large antennas normally associated with terrestrial and maritime operation.
ViaSat Inc. has developed a mechanically steered, tail-mounted dish antenna that is less than 0.6 meters in diameter used to support the SKYLink Mobile Broadband service that Arinc Direct launched initially for business jets. The complete antenna and avionics package weighs less than 18 kilograms. A full aircraft installation comprises the antenna, antenna control unit, the onboard transceiver/router terminal and an aircraft subnetwork.
L-band antennas can be made smaller and lighter than their Ku-band counterparts, with phased array antennas such as the HGA-7000 from Chelton Satcom Inc., the CMA-2102LW from CMC Electronics and the AMT-3800 HGA from EMS Satcom having the advantage of no moving parts, inherent reliability and low profile. However, as planar devices installed on the fuselage, these antennas require significant real estate plus penetrations of the hull/pressure vessel for coaxial wiring.
Mechanically steered systems have moving parts and a higher profile, but their plan dimensions are smaller than phased array systems. The mechanical antennas are designed for mounting atop the vertical stabilizer, a protective radome being substituted for the normal stabilizer tip. The AMT-50 from EMS Satcom weighs about 8 kilograms and has an antenna less than 0.3 meters in diameter. The full system includes the antenna, antenna driver and diplexer/low noise
amplifier. Chelton competes with its tail-mounted HGA-6000.
CMC Electronics added the Airbus A320 to its tally of Airbus aircraft equipped with the CMA-2102LW SatLite compact Inmarsat antenna when the airframer selected this unit as seller-furnished equipment for its narrowbody family. SatLite weighs less than 7.6 kilograms, meets the Arinc 781 specification for low-weight, L-band satellite communications and will work with classic Inmarsat avionics, Swift64 and the new broadband generation. Bruce Bailey, commercial aviation vice president of CMC, expects to see 500 systems installed in A320 family aircraft throughout the next five years as well as scores more following earlier selections for A330, A340 and A380 aircraft. The antenna also has been chosen by All Nippon Airways for its long-range Boeing 737-700ERs.
High-speed data terminals are available from such manufacturers as Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, EMS Satcom, Thales Avionics and Thrane & Thrane. Recently produced terminals are readily upgradeable for SwiftBroadband operation. Collins’ latest HST-2110 and 2120 high speed transceivers, designed for use with the company’s established SAT-6100 satellite communications, offer one and two Swift64 channels, respectively, while both have provision for SwiftBroadband. When the service is turned on, a software service bulletin will be issued to enable this feature, says Tim Rayl, senior marketing director with Rockwell Collins business and regional systems. Honeywell’s HD-128 high-speed digital transceiver offers two channels of Swift 64 in a single box and, likewise, can be upgraded for SwiftBroadband.
EMS Satcom’s eNfusion HSD-400 high-speed data terminal will similarly provide two channels of SwiftBroadband. The unit delivers voice and data services. Used with an AMT-50 or AMT-3800 antenna plus a CNX cabin gateway networking device it forms the complete eNfusion Broadband high-speed data system, which has been selected by the French Marine Nationale (Navy) for six of its maritime patrol aircraft, with an option for two more, under the Aviasat program.
Thales Avionics, meanwhile, has launched its TopFlight terminal to meet the Arinc 781 specification for second-generation Inmarsat avionics. A typical package would cost about $100,000, compared with an estimated $500,000 for a Connexion installation, says Ranier Koll, general manager of Thales Avionics. TopFlight, packaged in a single box, weighs just 11.3 kilograms and will support two SwiftBroadband channels. Thales says the IP-compatible system will be able to work with secure phone equipment and is suitable for military and air traffic control applications.
Danish manufacturer Thrane & Thrane has produced a prototype SwiftBroadband-capable terminal based on the Explorer 700 design which works with Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network. The definitive system planned for launch this year will be designated Aero-SBB and will support two channels of SwiftBroadband, a backup Swift64 channel, up to four voice channels and a channel providing low-speed data for the flight deck.
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