By Andy Pasztor
Hawaiian Airlines and FedEx Corp. are trying novel airborne
technologies that promise to cut the cost, reduce the weight and
exponentially increase the capacity of communication systems
connecting aircraft with satellites.
But the moves also raise cybersecurity issues, because experts
say such links eventually could blur longstanding distinctions
between the way information is sent to cabin entertainment devices
versus transmission of safety-related data to cockpits.
Combining Inmarsat PLC's high-Earth orbit satellites with
advanced antennas and other onboard equipment supplied by Cobham
PLC, the in-flight demonstrations are intended to showcase the
speed, cost-effectiveness and reliability of the new connections.
Hawaiian seeks to use them to give pilots updated weather
information and automated messaging capabilities, while also
sending systems-monitoring data and air-traffic control position
reports from aircraft.
By relying on internet protocols instead of older,
more-restrictive digital formats, Inmarsat said the average speed
for delivering some messages to the ground now runs between two and
four seconds, compared with some 45 seconds using conventional
links. Capacity has increased at least 200-fold. The latest
antennas have shrunk to the dimensions of an iPad tablet versus a
typical surfboard, with overall weight of receiving and processing
equipment on planes now down to about 18 pounds from roughly 265
pounds.
Currently, cabin and cockpit communications on commercial
airliners are completely separate. They use different equipment and
different frequencies, plus there is a physical gap between
hardware that processes cabin signals and electronics reserved
exclusively for the cockpit.
But as jetliners steadily become more connected to the
internet--and carriers hunt for less expensive, more flexible ways
to ship various types of data--many experts envision those digital
firewalls eventually will erode. Frequencies now used for cabin
services, which are less expensive and boast substantially greater
bandwidth, may end up serving other applications.
Before that occurs, airlines will be able to improve flight
planning and trim fuel use with Inmarsat's enhanced Swiftbroadband
cockpit links, according to Mary McMillan, a former airline captain
and the global satellite operator's vice president for safety and
operational services. But she noted "there is still much work to be
done to develop the standards" spelling out "what data can be
safely pulled from aircraft cabin networks."
A spokesman for FedEx didn't have any comment. Cobham said the
Hawaiian system is "performing at or above the prescribed
performance standards consistently."
In a statement, Ken Rewick, Hawaiian's vice president of flight
operations, said that in addition to avoiding weather, "benefits of
the installation will include enhanced safety, improved passenger
comfort and reduced fuel costs."
If the Federal Aviation Administration agrees, Inmarsat's new
network will be authorized for routine traffic control
transmissions and surveillance. The Swiftbroadband-Safety system
also is intended to provide both voice and data links, offer
capabilities for telemedicine and replace or supplement
conventional "black box" recorders by instantaneously streaming
essential operating data off planes during emergencies or
crashes.
Some believe that ultimately current distinctions may disappear
entirely, with airlines largely relying on the same large "pipe,"
or space-based conduit, for virtually all messages sent to and from
aircraft.
Industry trends are "going to create convergence at some point
in time" between cabin and cockpit transmissions, according to
Patrice Caine, chief executive of France's Thales SA. There is
"much more frequent discussion" of the general topic now, he added,
"given the level of data that is required" by increasingly
connected aircraft.
Such a shift will require years of regulatory debate and
industry flight tests before both sides can feel comfortable about
the extent of protection from potential hackers or other
unauthorized users. Also, regulators still need persuading that
creation of a single data stream won't be negatively affected by
weather conditions, or extended signal delays due to the more than
20,000-mile altitude of the satellites.
But already Inmarsat, Airbus Group SE and other industry players
are looking at authentication safeguards--similar to digital
passwords and codes used to prevent hacking of typical corporate
computers--that eventually could make it feasible to have a single
protected network serving an entire plane.
Preliminary discussions about prospective cybersecurity
protections have involved possible assistance from Alphabet Inc.'s
Google Inc., according to one person familiar with the talks. A
Google spokeswoman didn't have any comment.
"Airbus is really at the forefront of looking at security
protections" for aviation links, according to Tom Schmutz, chief
executive of Flyht Aerospace Solutions Ltd., a Canadian data
services provider.
Rockwell Collins Inc., a leading cockpit equipment supplier,
also sees changes on the horizon. "For the near term, there will
continue to be two separate systems" for cabin and cockpit data,
Kent Statler, who heads up the company's commercial businesses,
said in an interview during the summer. But in coming years, he
predicts, at least parts of those systems are bound to merge as new
techniques "will allow for digital separation of the same data
stream."
Both cybersecurity and safety, Mr. Statler said, "will reside in
the encryption that comes off the aircraft." Thales and Honeywell
International Inc., another big cockpit-system maker, are expected
to offer their own satellite terminals.
Yet others see huge remaining challenges. Matt Desch, the chief
executive of Iridium Communications Inc., a rival satellite
operator with a different approach that uses a separate set of
broadcast frequencies, predicts combined data transmissions are
inherently problematic from a cybersecurity standpoint. He predicts
there won't be any such commercial offerings for at least a
decade--and likely longer.
"It's not a technical problem" to combine cockpit and cabin
data, Mr. Desch said in an interview last month, But considering
escalating cybersecurity concerns throughout aviation, "I don't
think you're going to see that come into operation in the near
future."
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2016 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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