BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS FOR AERONAUTICAL NETWORKS: THE ATENAA OUTER OPTICAL LINK VALIDATION

Abstract

The ATENAA-Project[4] aims on the development and validation of several technologies that are able to offer broadband communication services to civil aircraft passengers. The proposed Mobile-Ad-Hoc-Network (MANET) in conjunction with broadband data links would allow high data rate services, like In-Flight-Entertainment such as Video-On- Demand or High-Speed Internet Connections. Besides that, flight-relevant information with high amounts of data, e.g. high-resolution weather maps, could be made available for airplane-captains and -crews. This paper is intended to give an overview about the optical data link system that has been investigated in the scope of ATENAA. It provides a broadband communication link to enable the mentioned services. The developed validation platform consists of a Fixed Terminal (FT) as well as a Mobile Terminal (MT) mounted on top of an airplane simulator. A reliable Fast-Ethernet service has successfully been demonstrated. Furthermore, the results of a measurement campaign, which was performed in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich at the End of January 2007, are presented and an outlook to the follow-up project MINERVAA is given.