Business jet operators who want their passengers to keep in touch with the ground will be making their way to Honeywell (E816). The American firm today introduces its CabinLAN II, a modified cabin server designed to improve the efficiency of on-board network interface for satellite communication high speed data (HSD) systems.
"Acting as the communications gateway between the HSD system and the user devices on the aircraft, CabinLAN II provides a complete end-to-end solution for business jet high speed data systems," says Timothy Swords, Honeywell Cabin Management, Systems and Services site leader. "Passengers dramatically increase in-flight productivity with 128 kilobits per second (kbps) air to ground transfer rates and on-board wired or wireless file and equipment sharing."
Functionality
CabinLAN II supports dual 64kbps connections, allowing multiple ISDN interfaces to be bonded to provide the equivalent of 128kbps air-to-ground access. The system uses Inmarsat's satellite constellation and associated ground infrastructure. Using wired or wireless functionality, passengers will be able to send jobs to an on-board printer. They can also make use of conferencing applications such as Windows, NetMeeting and video conferencing to share files and hold meetings with remote users.
Additionally, CabinLAN II provides built-in network security functions. The server also automatically assigns Internet protocol (IP) addresses to computers on the network, so users do not have to load software or reconfigure their computers.
Passengers need only connect to the on-board Ethernet ports or insert a wireless access card to achieve complete functionality quickly.
CabinLan II will be available during the first quarter of 2004.
Source: Flight Daily News
