Satcom Solutions - QEST

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“The core capabilities for in-flight broadband have existed for years, but until recently they were far too inefficient and costly for airlines to operate profitably,” said David Bettinger, chief technology officer of iDirect. Panasonic Avionics also selected the MIJET antenna from Israel’s Starling Advanced Technology, but has since sought performance enhancements and said the choice of antenna supplier was still open. Initial user fee targets on international flights were $11 per hour or $22 per flight. In February, Starling signed an agreement with the Defense & Space Systems division of EMS Technologies, of Norcross, Ga., whose antennas are used by JetBlue and other airlines to receive LiveTV broadcasts, to develop a new Kuband antenna for the U.S. airline market. Weighing 45 pounds and measuring 30 inches in diameter and six inches high, the antenna is designed to combine very high data rates with ease of installation aboard both wide- and narrow-body aircraft. “The agreement reflects the increasing demand in the United States for reliable and cost-effective airborne broadband antenna systems for airlines,”said Micha Lawrence, founder and CEO of Starling. That demand in the United States is prompting several companies to develop their own airborne satcom systems. Row 44, of Westlake Village, Calif., says its system will provide downlink data rates averaging 30 Mbps, with a maximum of 620 Kbps in the uplink direction. The system will support full Internet access, VoIP and cell phone roaming, plus live Internet protocol TV. The enabling equipment is designed to weigh less than 150 pounds and be installed in two overnights, with the aircraft back in service on the day in between. The vendor had lined up a single-aircraft trial with Alaska Airlines and a four-aircraft evaluation with Southwest Airlines. AeroSat, of Amherst, N.H., is developing the antenna and high-power amplifier (HPA). Mounted above the ceiling liner inside the pressure hull and connected to the antenna via two coaxial cables, the HPA amplifies the transmit RF signal emanating from a modem data unit (MDU), up-converting the 950-1450 MHz intermediate frequency (IF) signal to the 14.0-14.50 GHz RF signal, and delivers inbound data to the MDU in IF frequencies of 850-1000 MHz. Two other boxes are collocated with the HPA. A server management unit (SMU) switches Ethernet data from peripherals in the aircraft cabin to a set of off-board transceivers, and an antenna control unit uses position and movement data received via an aircraft interface to point the antenna at the appropriate satellite. AP Labs, of San Diego, which is supplying the MDU and SMU, started certification testing in January. The final element of the system is one or more cabin wireless LAN units ‘We are swiftly gaining market share and establishing Iridium service as the industry’s gold standard.’ — Don Thoma Iridium Satellite to provide the 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi environment. Row 44 says the system can also be integrated with wireless or seat-back IFE systems that support Internet browsing. A newer company in the field, QEST Quantenelektronische Systeme GmbH, of Holzgerlingen, Germany, unveiled a combined Ku-/L-band antenna in 2007. Intended to use the higher data rate Rendering of Iridium spacecraft, one of 66 low-earth orbiting satellites providing global coverage. medium for data to the aircraft and the L-band for return traffic, it weighs 33 pounds in fuselage mount configuration and 22 pounds in tail-mounted form. Satellite service providers have yet to implement the processing of mixed band signals, however, so QEST, a company of the automotive Draxlmaier Group, has followed up with a bi-directional Ku-band design intended for near-term applications. Both use a cryoelectronic ultra-low noise amplifier. “As all QEST antennas are based on a modular concept, the realization will be easier and faster than it typically would be for a new design,” said QEST chief technology officer Jörg Oppenländer. “This will also ease the adaptation of the antennas to the requirements of different satellite operators and system providers.” The other current supplier of aeronautical Ku-band antennas is ViaSat, of Carlsbad, Calif., whose hardware, including “ArcLight” spread spectrum modems, is used for the business jet-oriented SKYLink service that ARINC Direct launched in 2006. By June, 75 aircraft had been commissioned to use SKYLink, whose coverage extends from North America across the North Atlantic to Europe and south to the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. Last year, Rockwell Collins, which used SKYLink to replace the Connexion by Boeing service it had offered to busi- www.avtoday.com/av September 2008 Avionics Magazine 29 Photo courtesy Iridium
ness jet operators under the eXchange brand, acquired the SKYLink product line and now markets it as “eXchange with service by SKYLink.” Aimed primarily at large cabin business jets such as the Gulfstream G550, Dassault Falcon 7X and Bombardier Global Express, it has also been installed on at least one Cessna Citation X. The SKYLink service transmits data to the aircraft at up to 3.5 Megabit/sec and offers e-mail plus corporate intranet and Internet access, with options for global voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony and videoconferencing. In June, ARINC reported up to 50 aircraft were logging on simultaneously in North America, five-to-10 during the business day in Europe and more than 50 each month on the North Atlantic. “The real value [of the system] comes if you’re using it over time, and if you’re 30 Avionics Magazine September 2008 www.avtoday.com/av Photo courtesy ICG International Communications Group NxtLink 120A Iridium communications system supports FANS, CPDLC and ACARS requirements. The system incorporates two Iridium transceivers with an internal Cabin Telcommunications Unit. a high bandwidth user, you’re going to save money,” commented Andrew Mohr, Rockwell Collins director of cabin systems marketing. Inmarsat Broadband Like its rival SITA’s AIRCOM service, ARINC’s GLOBALink air transport service has been used with successive Inmarsat offerings — Classic, the 64 kbit/sec Swift64 and now the 432 kbit/sec Swift- Broadband — as the satcom element. Inmarsat is currently deploying its fourth generation of satellites. Two I-4 satellites were in service and a third was scheduled to launch in August. The satcom provider last year ordered an additional, higher-capacity Alphasat I-XL satellite from EADS Astrium to augment its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service. SwiftBroadband is the medium for a new cell phone service from the SITA/Airbus joint venture, OnAir, and ARINC/Telenor’s AeroMobile service. Both use Inmarsat as the link between aircraft and ground, with on-board pico cells to control cell phone power levels. AeroMobile customers Emirates Airline and Qantas have both committed to fleetwide fits, and the company also has announced programs with Saudia, Turkish Airlines and three other carriers. OnAir has been trialed by Air France, with further evaluations scheduled by bmi and TAP Portugal. Also, as of June, it was nearing a service launch with Rya-
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Satcom Solutions - QEST

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