Soon, Wi-Fi access on commercial aircraft

BANGALORE, INDIA: Aricent announced its alliance with Aircell® on the development of key software and processing components for the company’s inflight broadband systems. The company’s new broadband system will provide inflight Internet access to commercial airline passengers in 2008. 

Aricent developed software components and functionality for Aircell’s on-board central control processor. This system provides data communication between inflight Wi-Fi users and the cellular air-to-ground communications module used to deliver Aircell’s inflight service, Gogo™ (www.gogoinflight.com) to passengers.

“Aircell chose Aricent for its extensive expertise in building complex communications infrastructures and its ability to facilitate our service to market in the US,” said Anand Chari, vice president of engineering, Aircell.

Using the Aircell broadband system, all travelers will be able to connect to the Internet in a fully integrated wireless cabin over a mobile broadband air-to-ground link. The result for commercial airline passengers is a broadband in flight experience that includes Internet, VPN access, email, multimedia capabilities, and extends to video on demand, games and additional entertainment choices. The Aircell network will initially cover the continental US and will be expanded to the rest of North America, including Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

“Connecting passengers to the Internet while flying at 500 miles per hour and 35,000 feet is extremely challenging, but taming complexity is what Aricent does best. We are proud to use our communications software expertise to speed the delivery of Aircell’s unique air-to-ground cellular network,” said Arputham Ganesan, head of data communications, Aricent.