1. sandeep0442@gmail.com
A TECHNICAL PAPER
ON
PRESENTED
BY
3rd E.C.E
v. sANdEEP REddy
email ID :- sandeep0442@gmail.com
P.mANOj kumAR
email ID :- manozzkumar.p@gmail.com

2. Abstract
Airborne Internet aims at providing
communication link between aircraft - ground,
ground - ground and aircraft – aircraft. This is
one of the major achievements in the aviation
history by NASA. It is undertaking the
development
of
the
Small
Aircraft
Transportation System (SATS). This paper
addresses some of the trends and issues involved
in developing Airborne Internet. SATS is
conceived to meet four major objectives: higher
volume at non-towered/non-radar airports,
lower landing minimums at minimally equipped
landing facilities, increased single crew safety
and mission reliability, and integrated
procedures and systems for integrated fleet
operations. A critical first step in attaining the
desirable capabilities of an airborne Internet is
a well-conceived architecture.
The principle behind the A.I. is to establish a
robust, reliable, and available digital data
channel. An airborne Internet to provide aircraft
to ground, ground to ground and aircraft to
aircraft communications in support of air traffic
management, fleet operations, and passenger
support services. A critical first step in attaining
the desirable capabilities of an airborne Internet
is a well-conceived architecture. The
architecture must be robust enough to enable the
concept of operations envisioned for the 2025
timeframe yet flexible enough to support
prototypes using technology and systems
available in the 2005 timeframe. This paper
addresses some of the trends and issues involved
in developing an airborne Internet capable of
achieving this goal.
I. Introduction
The Airborne Internet is a proposed network in
which all nodes would be located in aircraft. The
network is intended for use in aviation
Communications, navigation, and surveillance
(CNS) and would also be useful to businesses,
private Internet users, and government agencies,
especially the military. In time of war, for
example, an airborne network might enable
military planes to operate without the need for a
communications infrastructure on the ground.
Such a network could also allow civilian planes
to continually monitor each other's positions and
flight paths.
At least three different methods have been
proposed for putting communication nodes aloft.
The first method would employ manned aircraft,
the second method would use unmanned aircraft,
and the third method would use blimps. The
nodes would provide air-to-air, surface-to-air,
and surface-to-surface communications. The
aircraft or blimps would fly at altitudes of around
10 mi (16 km), and would cover regions of about
40 mi (64 mi) in radius. Data transfer rates
would be on the order of several megabits per
second, comparable to those of high-speed cable
modem connections. Network users could
communicate directly with other users, and
indirectly with conventional Internet users
through surface-based nodes. Like the Internet,
the Airborne Network would use TCP/IP as the
set of protocols for specifying network addresses
and ensuring message packets arrive.
The concept of the Airborne Internet was
first proposed at NASA Langley Research
Center's Small Aircraft Transportation System
(SATS) Planning Conference in 1999. The goal
of the SATS initiative is implementation of small
aircraft for public transportation. In one
conference session, it was suggested that such a
system
would
require
a
peer-to-peer
communications network among the aircraft. The
Airborne
Internet
Consortium
formed
subsequently to promote and aid in the
development of such a system. Consortion
members include Aerosat, C3D Aero, and United
Airlines.
II. Applications
2.1 ATN

3. As the Aeronautical telecommunications
Network (ATN) is converted over to use the
Internet Protocol (IP), Airborne Internet provides
a unique opportunity for the Controller Pilot
Data Link Communications (CPDLC) to become
operational in the most economic operational
form. Instead of using the proprietary radio
system initially used for CPDLC operational
trials, Airborne Internet could provide the
revenue enhancing platform that is co-shared
with CPDLC that could virtually eliminate the
former CPDLC message costs.
Public web page via a web browser that will
display flight paths, winds at different altitudes,
and soundings near airports.
The data can also be converted to plain text
format. Airborne Internet enabled aircraft will
have the ability to instantly access TAMDAR
weather information for their flight route. And
because TAMDAR data will be made available
to the public web site within fifteen minutes, it is
always relatively fresh to the Airborne Internet
aircraft.
2.3 Quality of Service
By utilizing an Airborne Internet infrastructure
that is designed for both income generation and
aircraft operations, the net cost of CPDLC
operations would be more than Offset by the
income side of the Airborne Internet investment.
CPDLC is a relatively low bandwidth application
that only uses short bursts of text messaging and
could more than likely be utilized even in
narrowband Airborne Internet installations
2.2 TAMDAR
Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data
Report (TAMDAR) is a program whose goal is
to install an inexpensive instrument in aircraft
that would measure meteorological variables
from commuter aircraft flying to small and
medium size cities. It is anticipated
That TAMDAR will result in more accurate
weather forecasts and reduce aircraft accidents
and delays. Airborne Internet will provide an
opportunity for the data from TAMDAR sensors
to be collected and routed to the ground network
in real time. TAMDAR data from Airborne
Internet enabled commuter aircraft will provide
needed data for improvements in computer
models used in weather forecasting. The data
will also be directly useful to flight crew, and to
meteorologists in the National Weather Service
and airline weather and operations offices.
TAMDAR data will be available on a
Quality of Service (QoS) is the capability of a
network to provide better (or priority) service to
selected network traffic. In a shared network in
which flight deck or security functions are using
the same network infrastructure and bandwidth
as passenger services,(As Airborne Internet
proposes to do), it is essential to be able to
prioritize the network for flight deck and security
functionality.
The goal of Airborne Internet QoS is to
provide priority (including dedicated bandwidth
and reduced latency) for specified network user
functions. It is also important to ensure that
when an Airborne Internet QoS priority is
provided for a function that the network does not
make other passenger services fail. Airborne
Internet would utilize congestion and queue
management for functions on the same network.
Airborne Internet architecture could be designed
to guarantee a specified throughput level for
higher priority functions. This in turn would
allow end-to-end latency to not exceed
predetermined levels.
2.4 SWIM
Airborne Internet could provide the secure
airborne data platform for the development of
the System Wide Information Management
(SWIM)
infrastructure.
SWIM
is
a
transformation
from
point-to-point

4. communications
to
information-centric
operations.
Airborne Internet network enabled aircraft
can become a more integral part of the
information-centric system. These operations are
characterized by widely shared information that
can be exploited. The three primary elements of
SWIM could benefit by using Airborne Internet:
as augmentation to the surveillance data
network, enabling better weather products to the
aircraft, and facilitating the airborne element of
the Aeronautical Information Management
(AIM) network. With network-enabled air traffic
operations and network enabled aircraft,
collaborative decision-making is more possible
and could enable more rapid responses to
unforeseen events such as aviation weather or
security threats.
Airborne Internet enabled aircraft could
have early detection sensors on board the aircraft
that would immediately inform the other aircraft
in the area and the essential government
authorities on the ground network. Network
connectivity to aircraft provides an opportunity
for the flight crew and the Federal Air Marshals
(FAMs) to privately be digitally connected to the
ground counterparts and provide information at
the soonest opportunity about activities in the
aircraft. CPDLC.
2.5 Electronic Flight Bags (EFB)
Electronic Flight Bags (EFB) are rapidly
changing the information is being consumed and
brought to the cockpit. EFBs are replacing the
old, large, heavy flight bag that so many pilots
used to carry on board that contained their
charts, approach plates, and other
Flight related paper products. Airborne Internet
is now providing network and information
connectivity to EFBs that will save airlines lots
of money as they move towards a paperless
cockpit. An obvious first step to get to a
paperless cockpit is to replace the paper
operating manuals with the EFB. Airlines will
save precious weight but will also see significant
savings in document reproduction and
distribution costs. Because the documents are in
electronic form, they can then electronically load
and update information. Updating EFB
documents can be done over the Airborne
Internet using secure network techniques.
2.6AutomaticDependent
(ADS)
Surveillance
Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) is
another function that Airborne Internet network
connectivity between aircraft could provide.
Network connectivity between aircraft and
between aircraft and the ground networks could
allow aircraft to automatically send navigation
and guidance data derived from its flight
management system and onboard navigation
sensors, such as the Global
Positioning System (GPS) , to air traffic control
facilities for the purpose of accurately
determining aircraft position and internet.
CPDLC, ADS, and GPS, coupled with enhanced
controller automation tools would form the basis
to achieve an eventual oceanic free flight.
2.7 Voice over Internet Protocol
The network connectivity that Airborne Internet
will provide to aircraft will also provide the
opportunity for the flight deck and passengers to
use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Companies providing VoIP service are
commonly referred to as providers, and protocols
which are used to carry voice signals over the IP
network are commonly referred to as Voice over
IP or VoIP protocols. They may be viewed as
commercial realizations of the experimental
Network Voice Protocol (1973) invented for the
ARPANET providers. Some cost savings are due
to utilizing a single network to carry voice and
data, especially where users have existing
underutilized network capacity that can carry
VoIP at no additional cost. VoIP to VoIP phone
calls are sometimes free, while VoIP to public
switched telephone networks, PSTN, may have a
cost that is borne by the VoIP user.

5. Currently voice communications from aircraft to
ground is expensive, costing more than a $1 per
minute. In addition, there is no direct method to
call a VoIP user in another aircraft. Airborne
Internet can change that. VOIP makes easy some
things that are difficult to impossible with
traditional phone networks. Incoming phone
calls are automatically routed to your VOIP
phone where ever you plug it into the network.
VoIP users can take their hone with then on a
flight, and anywhere the Airborne
III. Airborne Internet
Airborne Internet (A.I.) is an approach to
provide a general purpose, multi-application data
channel to aviation. In doing so, A.I. has the
potential to provide significant cost savings for
aircraft operators and the FAA, as it allows the
consolidation of many functions into a common
data channel. A primary application for A.I. is to
track aircraft for the air traffic control system.
Many other applications can utilize the
same A.I. data channel. The applications
available are only limited by the bandwidth
available. A.I. began as a supporting technology
for NASA’s Small Aircraft Transportation
System (SATS).
The principle behind the A.I. is to
establish a robust, reliable, and available digital
data channel to aircraft. Establishing the general
purpose, multi-application digital data channel
connection to the aircraft is analogous to the
connection of a desktop computer to its local
area network, or even the wide area network we
call the Internet. But aircraft are mobile objects.
Therefore, mobile routing is required to maintain
the data channel connectivity while the aircraft
moves from region to region.
The desktop computer, whether used in
the office or the home, runs many different
applications that can all use the same data
channel. The applications are designed around
the Internet Protocol (IP) standard to take
advantage of the existence of the network
connection to the computer. Airborne Internet is
built upon the same model. A.I. will provide a
general purpose, multi application data channel
that numerous applications can use. By
combining application and data functionality
over a common data channel, aviation has the
potential to significantly reduce costs for
equipage on the ground and in the aircraft. If
aircraft utilized IP as network computers do,
functions in the cockpit could be enabled not
currently being provided. It could open up a
whole new set of operating capabilities, cost
savings, safety and efficiency for tomorrow’s
aviation industry. The functions provided today
that require the use of multiple on-board systems
could be reduced to two simple systems.
First, a rigorous and dependable method
to maintain the airplane’s connection to the
ground based IP network is needed. This
function is feasible using a combination of VHF
radio (as is used for today’s aircraft
communications) and an alternate, backup
communication
method.
A
satellite
communication system could be employed for
aircraft that fly in sparsely populated areas that
are beyond VHF coverage of the existing NAS
infrastructure, or for any aircraft that might lose
VHF coverage (even temporarily). Satellite
communication is currently being used for
transoceanic flight today in which aircraft are
clearly beyond range of the VHF radio system in
the NASA
3.1 GPS
But there is no reason that A.I. should be
limited to SATS-class aircraft. All of aviation,
and even transportation, has the potential to
benefit from A.I.
Second, a means of accurately determining
an aircraft’s position is required. Current
technology in GPS receivers provides position
information reliably and accurately. WAAS and
LAAS are aviation systems that utilize GPS and

6. provide error correction to allow aircraft the
accuracy needed for navigation and landing.
By combining the GPS provided position
information of any moving aircraft (or other
vehicle) with reliable mobile network
connectivity, the aircraft’s position could be
constantly reported to the ground network for
processing. Further, this data could be
intelligently parsed to provide position and
tracking information back to aircraft so its flight
crew could be aware of other aircraft movement
in its proximity. Air-to-air position reporting is
possible (such as Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast or ADS-B) if the proper
radio method is used.
3.2 Virtual Network
In the end state, it is possible that enough
aircraft could utilize the A.I. architecture to
create a virtual network in the sky. At any given
moment, there are between 4500 and 6000
aircraft in flight over the United States.
Air transport aircraft could not only use A.I.
for their own purposes, but they could provide a
network router function that could sell excess
bandwidth to other less bandwidth-demanding
aircraft. This network in the sky not only reduces
equipage and saves system costs, it could create
a revenue stream for air carriers that does not
currently exist. It becomes a win-win situation
for aviation. For more information, the reader is
encouraged to visit Online and Airborne One
day; this is what you might hear on an airplane:
“Buckle your seatbelt. Turn off all cell phones
and pagers. And, log in to the Internet.” There
may be something else. You may be flying the
plane! NASA is working to build a system for air
travel. It will use a lot of small planes. People
won’t have to fly on big jets. They will be able to
make a direct flight with no stops. Flying will be
faster. But, this is not ready to happen yet. There
are a few things that need to be worked out. The
new system will mean that there will be a lot of
small airplanes in the air. Each plane will have to
know where the other planes are. The pilots will
have to stay in touch with each other. That is
where “Airborne Internet” comes in. It won’t
make planes take the place of the family car.
But, it would make flying a plane more like
renting a car. But, there are things that have to be
fixed. A lot of new pilots will be in the air. They
won’t be used to a lot of air traffic. The way
traffic is taken care of will have to be changed.
That is why NASA is working on the Airborne
Internet. It will not be like the Internet we use.
Pilots will not shop or look up their favorite Web
sites while they are flying! But, it will work a lot
like the way the real Internet does.
Technology will help the Airborne
Internet work. It will be a fast way for pilots talk
to each other. Pilots could also use it to talk to air
traffic controllers. They would tell the pilots
where to fly. This could keep planes from
crashing. The system could also be used to send
the latest news to planes. The Airborne Internet
has already been tested. It will work. Now, it has
to be tested to see if it will help small planes fly.
One day, flying a family plane might be as
common as driving a car is today. NASA is
working to make this happen safely.
The Airborne Internet/Collaborative
Information
Environment
(AI/CIE)
was
conceived because of recognizing several trends
in society. Although these trends were
acknowledged to be rapidly maturing and were
completely independent of each other, each one
makes a substantial contribution to the creation
of
the
Airborne
Internet/Collaborative
Information Environment. This paper explains
AI/CIE, and discusses each trend and its impact
and/or contribution on the viability of AI/CIE.
Airborne Internet/Collaborative Information
Environment is a concept that overlays computer
network theory and principles into the
transportation realm. The goal is to create
information connectivity by providing a general
purpose, multi-application data channel for

7. people in transit. The first trend is that many
functions in our society are being digitized to
make use of new electronic digital circuits,
especially computer networks. Increasing speed
and breadth of information connectivity and
sharing is a growing trend across the world.
More and more networks have been
created to connect people who want more than
the information at their desk top. High speed
broadband network connectivity has been a fuel
to feed the hunger for information connectivity,
allowing more content rich information to be
delivered to the end user, such as video, music,
and animation. The thirst for connectivity carries
over into transportation. When people travel,
they experience “connectivity down time” in
which they are detached from the information
that their network provided. Wireless networks,
the second trend in society, are rapidly emerging
to help fill this void. People that travel with
laptops or personal digital assistants can obtain
short term network connectivity from a business
establishment when they stop for a coffee,
hamburger, or to read a book.
3.3 Hot Spots
Airport terminals are becoming popular “hot
spots’ for wireless connectivity as people have
time before and between flights to connect to the
wireless network.
The “human connectivity imperative” shows
us a glaring absence of network connectivity
during travel. While in motion on an aircraft, for
example, people again lose the ability to connect.
We design transportation systems to
interconnect to complimentary forms of
transportation. But these designs have ignored
the information connectivity needs of the people
who use it. The time people spend in transit
could be turned into more productive time if
network connectivity were available. Having
access to more real-time information is also
desired in aviation.
The problem is that we have created a
myriad of systems that crowd the flight deck.
Each time we want to provide some new
information to the flight deck, we create a new
system to do it. This “stove pipe” approach
generally means that a new ground system is
created, a new avionics system is installed in the
aircraft (including another antenna), and
probably a new radio frequency is assigned
This revolutionary approach has been
founded in the analog technology that existed 50
years ago, when a new system was the only way
practical to provide new information to the flight
deck. But today we have a digital world to draw
from. Old and new flight deck functionality can
be digitized, consolidated in common digital
systems, and use a common digital network
connection to transfer the information to and
from the aircraft. By using a general purpose,
multi-application data channel, flight deck
functions can be consolidated resulting in cost
savings all around.
3.4 AI/CIE
This is the third recognized trend – that
businesses are reducing their costs while yet
trying to increase profitability. The aviation
industry is no exception. The flight deck avionics
consolidation proposed by AI/CIE will save the
aircraft operator money. When today’s analog
flight functions are combined and replaced with
a digital delivery system, the operator of the
National Air Space (NAS) system, the FAA, will
save money. And if enough bandwidth can be
provided, the AI/CIE data channel could provide
aircraft operators with a totally new revenue
stream.
Aircraft operators could provide network
connectivity to passenger services. They could
also sell off excess network bandwidth capability
to smaller, less bandwidth-needy aircraft in their
vicinity. As these new flight deck designs have
evolved, so has a new generation of small jet
aircraft. This fourth trend is projected to create a
fleet of several thousand new small jet aircraft
beginning in about two years. These small jets
are costing less than half of that of their
predecessors, use 3000-feet runways, and will
operate at less than $1 per mile. They are
currently the business focus of numerous air taxi
operators who will use them in small rural
airports to quickly and efficiently transport
people without the need to use the large hub
airports dominated by the major air carriers.
The customers who will use these air taxi
services will want to remain connected to their

8. networks as they travel. The value of their
personal time will be far greater than the cost to
install and operate the AI/CIE. Airborne
Internet/Collaborative Information Environment
will be such a highly desirable capability for the
operators of air taxi service to offer their clients
that these operators could be the earliest adopters
of the Airborne Internet.
demand for increased bandwidth to our
businesses and to our homes. Airborne Internet
will start out with a few obvious applications,
but as bandwidth capability increases, so will the
number of application or will it be that the
number of applications will increase and in turn
will create a demand for greater bandwidth? This
achievement by the NASA has turned the entire
world towards them. Soon or later this
technology would surge into the entire world and
the former aspect of control may disappear.
V. References
[1]Logistics Transformation: Restarting a Stalled
Process
by
DIANE
Publishing
ISBN
1428910093
[2]
www.searchmobilecomputing.techtarge
t.com
The operators could use the AI/CIE to facilitate
maintenance monitoring of their aircraft. The
fifth trend is the technology of mobile routing,
which is the ability of a network user to move
from one network to another without losing
network connectivity. It has been developed and
has matured to the point that it is ready to be
applied to aviation. The current internet protocol
(IP) is being replaced with a new version that
includes provisions for security and mobile
routing. It is specifically designed to
accommodate the proliferation of wireless
network devices that are easily transportable
between networks.
The invention and growth of personalized
information services, for example, XML
services, is the sixth trend. It is changing the
landscape of the World Wide Web as we know it
today. Information connectivity is undergoing a
complete shift in how information systems are
integrated as a result of the advent of XML
services, a standard way in which software
interacts.
IV. Conclusion
As Airborne Internet enabled aircraft begin
flying and the aviation community realizes the
power of aircraft networking, the number of
applications that can utilize Airborne Internet
will greatly increase. There will be an increased
demand for greater bandwidth from Airborne
Internet in aircraft just as there was greater
[3]
www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/airline_
web.html
[4] www.airborneinternet.com