EMMA KELLY / LONDON
The IFE industry is exploring the way forward for the use of mobile phones and personal electronic devices, but the challenges to implementation are considerable
Imagine getting on an aircraft and being able to make and receive calls on your mobile phone, watch entertainment programming on a palm-sized device and catch up with e-mails without having to worry about plugging in your laptop.
This image of in-flight entertainment (IFE) and communications could become reality if the World Airline Entertainment Association's (WAEA) latest technology group reaches its goal. The IFE industry has always tried to replicate in the air what passengers are used to on the ground. It now wants passengers to be able to use the same communication and entertainment devices they are used to - mobile phones, palm pilots and other portable electronic devices (PEDs) - in the air.
The WAEA's recently established Wireless Working Group (WWG) is intended to "advance the approval and use of consumer wireless devices - intentional radio frequency emitters - on board and in the travelling environment".
Bill Singley, WWG chairman and, until recently, director of business development at Nokia Networks says: "Our main purpose is educational, but we are working to assist certification agencies with testing results and developing papers that can be forwarded to standards groups to establish industry standards."
The wireless attraction to the in-flight market is its huge weight-saving benefits. "If any weight can be avoided we're interested," says Mary Rogozinski, manager onboard systems planning at United Airlines, which is currently faced with the task of reinforcing the floors of its early Boeing 747-400s to make them strong enough to take seatback IFE systems throughout the passenger cabin.
Wireless systems are also less complex than today's IFE systems, will eliminate wiring infrastructure, simplify or eliminate seatback equipment and promise reduced maintenance.
The IFE industry is looking at several candidate wireless cabin systems, including 802.11, Bluetooth, picocell, home RF, infrared and digital video broadcast (DVB), but 802.11B has the best potential in-flight, says Singley. The Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee has already established a standard for it in the cabin and for wireless communications to the gate - Gatelink 763.
Bluetooth wireless technology is a low-power, short-range radio link for mobile devices and for wide area network/local area network access points; picocell comprises a mini radio tower, which would be installed on the aircraft to instruct the handset to use the lowest power and to communicate only with that one tower; and home RF is a standard first established by Intel, primarily for use in the home, while 802.11 was developed for the office.
The WAEA's wireless studies are in response to the belief that passengers want to use their mobile phones and PEDs onboard. A number of in-flight communication service providers and hardware manufacturers have already started work on systems to support this perceived passenger need. With 80% of business travellers in North America, for example, carrying mobile phones, the industry's initial focus is on getting mobiles on board.
BAE Systems, for example, is seeking partners for its CabinCall system development, which is designed to allow passengers to use their mobile phones safely in-flight. CabinCall will manage radio frequencies (RF) in the cabin and inhibit calls during critical phases of the flight. The picocell-based system acts as a telephone exchange and manages the communication links to the ground, while monitoring the strength of RF emissions, minimising radiated power and barring calls when they are likely to cause interference to aircraft systems, says BAE.
Uplink capability
In-flight communication service provider Stratos (formerly BT) is gradually moving towards mobile use onboard. The Mobile Connect programme started with telephone calls made on the in-flight system being charged to passengers' mobile phone bills. Last year, Stratos and Virgin Atlantic Airways added an uplink capability - the in-seat telephone assumes the identity of a passenger's mobile phone, allowing the passenger to receive calls on the aircraft's phone system.
Similarly, SITA's three-phase Mobile in the Sky programme ultimately aims to enable passengers to use their GSM mobile phones on board aircraft. Phase one saw the introduction of a mobile charging card to allow passengers to pay for in-flight calls using the Inmarsat satellite-based SITA Aircom service through their GSM accounts. The second phase will see the introduction of ground-to-air calling, while the final phase will involve a picocell to allow the safe use of mobile phones. SITA plans to announce its partners for the third phase, and details of trials at the WAEA exhibition, which takes place in Brisbane, Australia, on 11-14 September.
AirCell and mobile phone manufacturer Motorola conducted the first in-flight Bluetooth test in July last year. AirCell's in-flight cellular-based telephony service is currently provided via wired handsets, but the Colorado-based company believes that combining the AirCell air-ground link with Bluetooth technology, will enable pilots and passengers to use mobile phones, laptops and other portable devices in-flight without interfering with other networks.
Nokia, meanwhile, is developing a webpad that can accept broadcast video using 802.11 local area network (LAN), while Scandinavian Airlines will be the first carrier to trial Tenzing services using a wireless solution, also based on 802.11, before the end of this year.
Rockwell Collins is exploiting for IFE its wireless LAN experience, which has been gained from its Integrated Information System (I2S) programme. Rockwell's I2S, which is based on 802.11 and ARINC 763 standards, involves the installation of a cabin wireless LAN to provide data communication links on and off the aircraft to support flight crew, cabin crew, passengers and maintenance personnel. The system has been installed on German carrier Condor's Airbus A320s for several years.
The technology is also set to play a role on new Airbus aircraft, with Rockwell recently having been selected as a major partner on the Airbus Flight Information System (AFIS), which aims to create the "connected aircraft", according to Airbus. Rockwell is supplying the avionics for the programme, which will kick off with the A340-600 and will connect flight crew, maintenance staff, cabin crew and passengers to the ground.
"We see the primary benefit to airlines when they simply want to add a connectivity solution without also installing a new or upgraded IFE system, or where the primary requirement is to enable connectivity with devices that are inherently wireless," says Dave Frankenbach, director of advanced product planning at Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems.
Initially the passenger carrying a PED will be targeted, but other passengers will not miss out on wireless developments, says Singley. "It is possible a future seatback system could use 802.11B to communicate with an onboard server which will allow passengers to surf onboard cached internet information, airline web sites and e-commerce systems at no cost. For a fee passengers would be able to surf the internet and send and receive e-mail using satellite links. The same seatback system would receive DVB signals which allow passengers to view IFE video presentations, request from a number of IFE choices and then transmit that request via 802.11B to an onboard server/DVB transmitter."
IFE system manufacturer Matsushita is already exploring the possibilities of a wireless passenger cabin. "A lot of what we do is to take what's popular in the commercial market and try to put it in aircraft," says Phil Watson, director of Matsushita's software engineering group. "Eventually we want to offer a seamless environment from what's on the ground to in the aircraft."
The major appeal of wireless technology to IFE system suppliers is exactly what its name suggests - its lack of wires. "Wiring is always an issue. Huge cost issues are involved, especially in modifying the seat," says Watson.
IFE wiring has been in the spotlight since the crash of a Swissair Boeing MD-11 off Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1998. Although the IFE system installed on the aircraft - Interactive Flight Technologies' In-Flight Entertainment Network - was never identified as the cause of the fire which brought down the aircraft, wiring anomalies were uncovered during the investigation. The discovery prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to take a closer look at IFE systems, resulting in a number of recommendations earlier this year to ensure that IFE and telephone systems, which previously remained powered throughout flight, could be switched off by the crew. Unusually the FAA is now participating in the WWG activities.
Rockwell believes that wireless potential for seatback systems is some way off. "For the time being we don't see a major application for wireless within the context of traditional in-seat video IFE systems. The data throughput required to deliver IFE applications such as AVOD [audio- and video-on-demand] is beyond the capabilities of cost-effective wireless solutions for the time being. In addition, we don't see major benefits in terms of installation complexity because it's clear that even with some wireless data distribution it isn't possible to eliminate all the wires that go into the seat group," says Frankenbach.
Matsushita's interest is in wireless LAN based on the 802.11 specification, which will be an upgrade path for its new System 3000 IFE system and which it plans to demonstrate at this month's WAEA show. An 802.11 infrastructure is expected to be a standard option on the System 3000 from the Airbus A340-500/-600, says Watson. Matsushita is also investigating Bluetooth technology, although its limited range makes it less attractive.
Numerous hurdles
But before the wireless, or less wired, cabin becomes a reality there are numerous hurdles to overcome, involving technology, certification, safety and social issues. There are two certification issues with wireless systems, says Dan Hawkes, head of avionic systems in the UK Civil Aviation Authority's Safety Regulation Group. Firstly, there are the wireless networks which are being designed for use on board aircraft, such as 802.11 and picocell, that can be certificated and controlled by the authorities. "One issue here though is that it must cover all phones that come on to the aircraft. The system needs to be reliable as well," says Hawkes.
The UK's CAA is one of the few certification bodies that has conducted a study on the interference levels from mobile phones. In May 2000 the CAA conducted tests on a British Airways Boeing 737-200 and a Virgin Boeing 747-200 at London Gatwick Airport, prompted by increasing reports of suspected interference.
The first phase measured the levels of interference on the flight deck and in the avionics equipment bay when transmissions at mobile phone frequencies were made in the cabin. The study found that in an aircraft cabin, complex propagation paths arose due to reflections from the metal aircraft structure which led to signal cancellation or reinforcement. The number of passengers onboard also affects interference levels, while internal doors of made from carbon composite had no effect. The tests determined that the interference produced by a mobile phone used near the flight deck or avionics equipment bay exceeded the demonstrated susceptibility levels for equipment qualified to standards published before July 1984.
The CAA concluded that the current policy on banning the use of mobiles needs to remain, and suggested that the minimum qualification levels for radio frequency susceptibility should be reviewed.
The second phase of the study is designed to assess margins of susceptibility and is planned before the end of this year, says Hawkes. In this phase, aircraft equipment is exposed to increasing levels of simulated mobile phone transmissions in a controlled environment until the equipment ceases to function.
The second and more difficult certification area, says Hawkes, involves the wireless personal area network developments, whereby wireless devices are being installed in PEDs such as laptops. "Passengers can bring these on board but they cannot be controlled and certificated," he says. The WAEA appreciates the difficulty in this area. "The challenge is to change, or work around, a long-standing regulatory paradigm - to gain universal approval to operate intentional emitting devices provided by the general public, which have not necessarily been designed, manufactured or maintained to a specific set of aviation standards, aboard transport, air taxi or general aviation category aircraft during flight," it says.
The WAEA believes gaining regulatory approval for the airframe-mounted devices will be relatively straightforward; approval for the use of intentional emitting consumer devices will not be. Satisfying the public, operators and regulatory authorities regarding the safety of such devices will be a major challenge. "We have established a subgroup whose task is to work to solve the certification/regulatory issues... They are working to establish that there is no safety issue with wireless in the cabin and then establish certification/regulatory guidelines that airlines will be able to use," says Singley.
But if Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities' paper on the in-flight use of PEDs is anything to go by, the industry has a long way to go to convince certification agencies that PED use is safe. In its just-completed paper the JAA points out: "The use of PEDs on board aircraft presents a source of uncontrolled electromagnetic radiation with the risk of adverse interference effects to aircraft systems."
The rapid growth in mobile phone use has represented the most significant risk to aircraft safety from PED interference, says the JAA. In-flight cellphone use has been linked to degraded communications, false baggage compartment smoke warnings, spurious cockpit warnings, corrupted instrument display and pressurisation systems malfunctions.
The JAA recommends that aircraft operators install detectors in their aircraft to locate unauthorised transmissions from mobile. It also suggests that if an operator allows passengers to use PEDs onboard, procedures will need to be in place to control their use, but advises that they should not be used in-flight.
The interference risk from PEDs with a Bluetooth transmitter is sufficiently low to permit their use during non-critical phases of flight, says the JAA. This view follows tests conducted by Intel late last year which concluded that Bluetooth is safe for aircraft. The tests involved a Boeing 727 and a Gulfstream V and found that the worst-case interference from Bluetooth devices to VHF communications and navigation systems is 20-40dB below the interference threshold for these systems, while for high-sensitivity UHF systems, traffic alert and collision avoidance systems, GPS navigation and satellite communications, the Bluetooth signal is just below the interference threshold.
Generic certification
To overcome the certification challenge, the WWG's certification subgroup has a number of tasks, including recommending a generic certification path specific to wireless systems, looking at frequencies, power levels, cabin placement, worst-case usage scenarios, operational limitations and controls, conducting a safety assessment process and a test plan. It also intends to start talks with the US Federal Communications Commission - which prohibits the use of mobile phones while an aircraft is airborne, along with worldwide communications regulators, licensing bodies and aviation standards authorities. It also plans to assess onboard detection or control devices which it believes may be a condition of wireless approval.
A completely different challenge involves social issues. While passengers may like the idea of using their mobile phones onboard, the reality of being surrounded by passengers making calls throughout a flight and shouting above the cabin noise to be heard, is likely, for many, to be less appealing.
If mobile phones on board become reality, the establishment of phone-free compartments in passenger cabins is one option, suggests United's Rogozinski. Other issues involve the cabin crew's role in policing the onboard use of PEDs, with the airlines aiming to keep their crew out of this role, she adds.
With United's average flight length at two hours and passengers able to use their mobiles until the aircraft doors close, Rogozinski concedes that its passengers are not clamouring to use their mobiles onboard. Permitting mobile use onboard will increasingly become an issue for airlines, however, as aircraft telephone systems become less economically viable with usage dropping while maintenance and costs remain, she suggests.
Despite the problems associated in getting wireless devices onboard, many in the IFE industry believe that it will happen. "Gaining approval for the use of consumer wireless devices while in-flight is not insurmountable, but it will require the co-ordinated, co-operative effort of the industry, sanctioning bodies and regulators," says the WAEA.
Source: Flight International
