Aviation Data Link - Security, Segmentation, QoS

Beginning in 1978, aircraft data link emerged using a VHF network named ACARS (Aircraft Communication, Addressing and Reporting System).  ACARS is a purpose-built, store-and-forward, character-based, messaging service.  Within just over ten years, ACARS was extended to Inmarsat L-band satcom and HF radio.  Five years later (1995) ACARS was delivering Air Traffic clearances. Today Iridium SBD (short-burst data) and even cellular radios communicate ACARS messages. How is the industry migrating to embrace and secure IP networks, and will ACARS ever go away? How are broadband radios being applied to support airplane health monitoring or EFB?

Air Safety Investigation

The first and foremost response to any incident is rapid rescue and for sympathy to victims, survivors, and those that loved them.

Timely alerting and accurate aircraft position is the key to rapid response.

Moving beyond rescue becomes recovery.  At this point the motivation is to collect the remains of those lost and as much of the airplane itself.  Assembly of the airplane parts into a skeleton gives a foundation to check and verify various failure scenarios.

Regardless of the cause of catastrophe, airplane structure and systems are designed to be fault tolerant.  Crash survivability is a paramount endeavor.  Materials are evaluated for their contributions to post-crash fire and smoke.  While the first objective is to understand what led to the catastrophe, just as important is to understand what can be improved to enhance prevention and survivability.

Data Link Available

Ken Simmons, Ed Porisch, Peter Lemme,
Mary Nakasone (Sato), Dave Allen
QANTAS 747-400 FANS Certification Flight Test
June 19, 1995

In-Flight Telemetry

Is it technically feasible for a flight data acquisition unit parametric feed, normally directed to the crash-survivable digital flight data recorder, to be also transmitted in real time?

ACARS needs to embrace modern data links using IP

If only ACARS could look beyond VHF and L-Band

Inmarsat Satellite Communications (1994)

Four years after the first satcom on 747-400,  here is a snapshot of the technology, the interfaces, and the applications.