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| Swift-Broadband Safety (SB-S) EFB in-flight evaluation trials onboard a Hawaiian airlines flight. Photo: Cobham |
[Avionics Magazine 11-03-2016] Cobham Satcom’s Aviator 300D and Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband-Safety (SB-S) system have enabled in-air connected Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) for the first time on a Hawaiian airlines flight. The companies achieved the live EFB capability as part of an FAA-supervised technology evaluation with Hawaiian Airlines to monitor the transmission of communications data over SB-S on commercial flights to use Inmarsat’s next generation, IP-based broadband service on the flight deck. Rockwell Collins’ ARINC aviation communications network establishes the links and provides the managed service, enabling connectivity without interruption, according to the company.
Hawaiian Airlines has equipped its fleet of Boeing 767-300 aircraft with the current generation of Cobham Aviator avionics and Inmarsat SB-S service. With the airline already successfully collecting data during the on-going evaluation using the Cobham Compact Satellite Data Unit (CSDU) interface, the latest advancement confirms the Aviator/SB-S system can also be used to channel Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data via the Aircraft Data Management (ADM) technology, or Aircraft Interface Device (AID), to another interface as well: the pilot’s EFB.
This further supports the ultimate objective to use broadband technology and avionics for data transmission in support of Hawaiian’s new eFLIE EFB program.