Page 13 - 15th july 2024

FEATURE

ground. Tall order, but possible. Quite The satellite receives and routes the Image Courtesy : Aircraft Interiors International
apart from this, giving families hours radio transmission back to ground sta-
of curated content to while away those tions. Although communication satel-
hours especially on long haul flights, has lites often have geosynchronous orbits,
become a brand differentiator, where car- aircraft can transfer between several
riers vie with each other for a larger pas- satellites along the chosen flight path.
senger/market share. The requirement Such a connection (with a maximum
then is for cost-effective Internet should speed of merely 3 Mbps) can be made
be customised to suit demographics and only when the aeroplane is above the
choices of the passengers it serves. ground and not over the sea.
Lack of inflight connectivity amounts With either technology, key factors
to unproductive flying hours for today’s are the available network capacity,
professionals. Thus, with the inclusion of the number of available towers and/
inflight connectivity, and passenger con- or satellites covering flight routes, and
veniences and delight it brings in, would connectivity redundancy which ensures
build the airline’s reputation while facili- continuous connectivity.
tating secondary revenue generation. The network coverage available for
either ATG or satellite systems applica-
The Engineering Behind the Scene tion heavily influences the quality /
Behind the passenger delight and reliability of these connections.
safety feature ‘inflight connectivity,’ The maximum internet speed for Ku-
there lies complex set of engineering Band (12 to 18 GHz microwave) is 50
and planning marvels. The devices that Mbps, while for Ka-Band (26.5 to 40 GHz
are being connected are moving close microwave) is 70Mbps. The actual con-
to the speed of sound at an altitude of nection speed experienced onboard is
35,000 feet – this then is a paradigm lower due Internet sharing between mul-
shift in inflight connectivity. tiple aeroplanes flying at terrific speed.
Aircraft travel over vast regions at
lightning speed, and this means data The Hardware of It
link to adjust quickly in real time. A
signal must connect with an aircraft
multiple times and adjust to shifting,
orientation, speed, and direction. For
pilots and passengers, in-flight connec-
tivity needs to be constant.

Air–to–Ground (ATG) and Satellite Tech-
nologies Image Courtesy : Astronics Inflight Hardware
Important resources are air-to-ground
(ATG) and satellite technologies. An Edge Cabin Network Platform employs
aircraft communicates with a ground the power of a distributed comput-
station. With ATG, the ground station ing system architecture to eliminate
antennas help communicate with the weighty Servers.
aircraft that pass through their airspace. Unit acts as a server and a router to

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