TriaGnoSys has developed a cost-effective way to test new communications applications over Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband (SBB) aeronautical service.
SBB enables in-flight connectivity on aircraft. But testing new cabin and cockpit applications over the satellite system is expensive, and satellite performance can be unpredictable during tests "and is certainly not the same as lab conditions", notes TriaGnoSys managing director Axel Jahn in the firm's latest newsletter.
The solution, suggests Jahn, is to use TriaGnoSys' SBB Arinc 781 Emulator. "It cuts out the need for a SBB modem and satellite airtime, cutting the cost of testing new applications by up to 90%," he says.
"The other main advantage of our SBB Emulator is that it recreates all the potential difficulties of using a satellite link in a controllable and replicable way. This allows application developers to run thorough tests, targeting any particular areas of difficulty in a way that is simply impossible using a live satellite link."
The satellite link characteristics replicated include: protocol problems; delay; jitter; dropped and duplicated packets and bandwidth limitation.
Separately, TriaGnoSys has been tapped to head a consortium selected by the SESAR Joint Undertaking to investigate the technologies required to support air traffic management concepts and communications infrastructures for the next 20 years.
The first element of the so-called Wireless Communication Study (WiComS) consortium's remit is to refine the future need for communications services for all phases of the flight, in support of the future SESAR Concept of Operations (ConOps).
The second is to verify that the technologies currently identified to support the multi-link concept - namely direct air-to-ground and air-to-air connections, satellite-based connectivity, and the ground-based airport segment- are the correct ones and the third is to identify any other technologies that could be appropriate. The final stage is to investigate potential suppliers, both from the aviation sector and outside, says TriaGnoSys.
The work on WiComS started in January and will be concluded this September, with the first element being delivered in April.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
