ARINC

Last updated
ARINC
Industry Airports, aviation, defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and transportation
Founded1929 as Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated
FateAcquired
Headquarters Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States; Formerly Annapolis, Maryland, United States
RevenueIncrease2.svg$919 million USD (2006).
Owner Collins Aerospace
Number of employees
3,200
Website rockwellcollins.com

Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated (ARINC), established in 1929, was a major provider of transport communications and systems engineering solutions for eight industries: aviation, airports, defense, government, healthcare, networks, security, and transportation. ARINC had installed computer data networks in police cars and railroad cars and also maintains the standards for line-replaceable units.

Contents

ARINC was formerly headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and had two regional headquarters in London, established in 1999 to serve the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, and Singapore, established in 2003 for the Asia Pacific region. ARINC had more than 3,200 employees at over 120 locations worldwide.

The sale of the company by Carlyle Group to Rockwell Collins was completed on December 23, 2013, and from November 2018 onward operates as part of Collins Aerospace.

History

ARINC was incorporated in 1929 as Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated. It was chartered by the Federal Radio Commission (which later became the Federal Communications Commission) in order to serve as the airline industry's single licensee and coordinator of radio communication outside of the government. The corporation's stock was held by four major airlines of the day. Through most of its history, ARINC was owned by airlines and other aviation-related companies such as Boeing until the sale to The Carlyle Group in October 2007.

Not much later ARINC took on the responsibility for all ground-based, aeronautical radio stations and for ensuring station compliance with Federal Radio Commission (FRC) rules and regulations. Using this as a base technology, ARINC expanded its contributions to transport communications as well as continuing to support the commercial aviation industry and U.S. military.

ARINC also developed the standards for the trays and boxes used to hold standard line-replaceable units (like radios) in aircraft. This subsequently allowed electronics to be rapidly replaced without complex fasteners or test equipment.

In 1978 ARINC introduced ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), a datalink system that enables ground stations (airports, aircraft maintenance bases, etc.) to upload data (such as flight plans) and download data (such as fuel quantity, weight on wheels, flight management system (FMS) data), via an onboard Communications Management Unit (CMU).

ARINC has expanded its business in aerospace and defense through its ARINC Engineering Services subsidiary. With the sale of the company to Rockwell Collins, the ARINC Engineering Services subsidiary split into Commercial Aerospace and Defense Services. The Defense Services branch was then purchased by Booz Allen Hamilton, remaining part of the Carlyle group. [1]

The sale of a Standards Development Organization (SDP) to a corporate sponsor raised concerns of conflict of interest and resulted in the sale of the ARINC Industry Activities (IA) Division to SAE International in January 2014. It now operates under the SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC). [2] [3]

United Technologies completed its acquisition of Rockwell Collins in November 2018 and merged it with its UTC Aerospace Systems to form Collins Aerospace.

Activities and services

Though known for publishing "ARINC Standards", this role is independent of ARINC commercial activities.

Standardization and ARINC Industry Activities

ARINC Industry Activities involve three aviation committees: [4] [5]

ARINC services

ARINC services include:

Standards

The ARINC Standards are prepared by the Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC) where aviation suppliers such as Collins Aerospace and GE Aviation serve as contributors in support of their airline customer base. An abbreviated list follows.

400 Series

The 400 Series describes guidelines for installation, wiring, data buses, and databases.

500 Series

The 500 Series describes older analog avionics equipment used on early jet aircraft such as the Boeing 727, Douglas DC-9, DC-10, Boeing 737 and 747, and Airbus A300.

600 Series

The 600 Series are reference standards for avionics equipment specified by the ARINC 700 Series

ARINC 628 compliant wireless access point by Lufthansa Technik EBACE 2019, Le Grand-Saconnex (EB190653).jpg
ARINC 628 compliant wireless access point by Lufthansa Technik

700 Series

The 700 Series describes the form, fit, and function of avionics equipment installed predominately on transport category aircraft. [12]

800 Series

The 800 Series comprises a set of aviation standards for aircraft, including fiber optics used in high-speed data buses. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avionics</span> Electronic systems used on aircraft

Avionics are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to perform individual functions. These can be as simple as a searchlight for a police helicopter or as complicated as the tactical system for an airborne early warning platform.

A line-replaceable unit (LRU), lower line-replaceable unit (LLRU), line-replaceable component (LRC), or line-replaceable item (LRI) is a modular component of an airplane, ship or spacecraft that is designed to be replaced quickly at an operating location. The different lines (distances) are essential for logistics planning and operation. An LRU is usually a sealed unit such as a radio or other auxiliary equipment. LRUs are typically assigned logistics control numbers (LCNs) or work unit codes (WUCs) to manage logistics operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockwell Collins</span> Defunct US-based electronics company (2001-2018)

Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Company, facing financial difficulties, was purchased by Rockwell International in 1973. In 2001, the avionics division of Rockwell International was spun off to form the current Rockwell Collins, Inc., retaining its name.

A vehicle bus is a specialized internal communications network that interconnects components inside a vehicle. In electronics, a bus is simply a device that connects multiple electrical or electronic devices together. Special requirements for vehicle control such as assurance of message delivery, of non-conflicting messages, of minimum time of delivery, of low cost, and of EMF noise resilience, as well as redundant routing and other characteristics mandate the use of less common networking protocols. Protocols include Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN) and others. Conventional computer networking technologies are rarely used, except in aircraft, where implementations of the ARINC 664 such as the Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet are used. Aircraft that use Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX) include the Boeing 787, the Airbus A400M and the Airbus A380. Trains commonly use Ethernet Consist Network (ECN). All cars sold in the United States since 1996 are required to have an On-Board Diagnostics connector, for access to the car's electronic controllers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACARS</span> Aircraft digital message communication system

In aviation, ACARS is a digital datalink system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. The protocol was designed by ARINC and deployed in 1978, using the Telex format. More ACARS radio stations were added subsequently by SITA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flight management system</span> Component of aircraft avionics

A flight management system (FMS) is a fundamental component of a modern airliner's avionics. An FMS is a specialized computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that modern civilian aircraft no longer carry flight engineers or navigators. A primary function is in-flight management of the flight plan. Using various sensors (such as GPS and INS often backed up by radio navigation) to determine the aircraft's position, the FMS can guide the aircraft along the flight plan. From the cockpit, the FMS is normally controlled through a Control Display Unit (CDU) which incorporates a small screen and keyboard or touchscreen. The FMS sends the flight plan for display to the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Navigation Display (ND), or Multifunction Display (MFD). The FMS can be summarised as being a dual system consisting of the Flight Management Computer (FMC), CDU and a cross talk bus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airborne collision avoidance system</span> Avionics system to avoid aircraft collision

An airborne collision avoidance system operates independently of ground-based equipment and air traffic control in warning pilots of the presence of other aircraft that may present a threat of collision. If the risk of collision is imminent, the system recommends a maneuver that will reduce the risk of collision. ACAS standards and recommended practices are mainly defined in annex 10, volume IV, of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Much of the technology being applied to both military and general aviation today has been undergoing development by NASA and other partners since the 1980s.

Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX), also ARINC 664, is a data network, patented by international aircraft manufacturer Airbus, for safety-critical applications that utilizes dedicated bandwidth while providing deterministic quality of service (QoS). AFDX is a worldwide registered trademark by Airbus. The AFDX data network is based on Ethernet technology using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The AFDX data network is a specific implementation of ARINC Specification 664 Part 7, a profiled version of an IEEE 802.3 network per parts 1 & 2, which defines how commercial off-the-shelf networking components will be used for future generation Aircraft Data Networks (ADN). The six primary aspects of an AFDX data network include full duplex, redundancy, determinism, high speed performance, switched and profiled network.

ARINC 429, the "Mark 33 Digital Information Transfer System (DITS)," is the ARINC technical standard for the predominant avionics data bus used on most higher-end commercial and transport aircraft. It defines the physical and electrical interfaces of a two-wire data bus and a data protocol to support an aircraft's avionics local area network.

The Future Air Navigation System (FANS) is an avionics system which provides direct data link communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller. The communications include air traffic control clearances, pilot requests and position reporting. In the FANS-B equipped Airbus A320 family aircraft, an Air Traffic Services Unit (ATSU) and a VHF Data Link radio (VDR3) in the avionics rack and two data link control and display units (DCDUs) in the cockpit enable the flight crew to read and answer the controller–pilot data link communications (CPDLC) messages received from the ground.

Integrated modular avionics (IMA) are real-time computer network airborne systems. This network consists of a number of computing modules capable of supporting numerous applications of differing criticality levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillham code</span> Binary code

Gillham code is a zero-padded 12-bit binary code using a parallel nine- to eleven-wire interface, the Gillham interface, that is used to transmit uncorrected barometric altitude between an encoding altimeter or analog air data computer and a digital transponder. It is a modified form of a Gray code and is sometimes referred to simply as a "Gray code" in avionics literature.

ARINC 653 is a software specification for space and time partitioning in safety-critical avionics real-time operating systems (RTOS). It allows the hosting of multiple applications of different software levels on the same hardware in the context of an Integrated Modular Avionics architecture.

Allied Standards Avionics Architecture Council, or ASAAC, is an effort to define and validate a set of Open Architecture Standards for Avionics Architecture, particularly in the field of Integrated Modular Avionics.

The VHF Data Link or VHF Digital Link (VDL) is a means of sending information between aircraft and ground stations. Aeronautical VHF data links use the band 117.975–137 MHz assigned by the International Telecommunication Union to Aeronautical mobile (R) service. There are ARINC standards for ACARS on VHF and other data links installed on approximately 14,000 aircraft and a range of ICAO standards defined by the Aeronautical Mobile Communications Panel (AMCP) in the 1990s. Mode 2 is the only VDL mode being implemented operationally to support Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC).

ARINC 818: Avionics Digital Video Bus (ADVB) is a video interface and protocol standard developed for high bandwidth, low-latency, uncompressed digital video transmission in avionics systems. The standard, which was released in January 2007, has been advanced by ARINC and the aerospace community to meet the stringent needs of high performance digital video. The specification was updated and ARINC 818-2 was released in December 2013, adding a number of new features, including link rates up to 32X fibre channel rates, channel-bonding, switching, field sequential color, bi-directional control and data-only links.

High Frequency Data Link (HFDL) is an ACARS communications medium used to exchange data such as Aeronautical Operational Control (AOC) messages, Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) messages and Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) messages between aircraft end-systems and corresponding ground-based HFDL ground stations. Using the unique propagation characteristics of high-frequency radio waves, the ground stations provide data link communications to properly equipped aircraft operating anywhere in the world. As a result, pilots can always communicate with someone on the ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CANaerospace</span>

CANaerospace is a higher layer protocol based on Controller Area Network (CAN) which has been developed by Stock Flight Systems in 1998 for aeronautical applications.

Bus monitoring is a term used in flight testing when capturing data from avionics buses and networks in data acquisition telemetry systems. Commonly monitored avionics buses include

The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment was formed in 2010 to define an open avionics environment for all military airborne platform types. Today, it is a real-time software-focused professional group made up of industry suppliers, customers, academia, and users. The FACE approach is a government-industry software standard and business strategy for acquisition of affordable software systems that promotes innovation and rapid integration of portable capabilities across programs. The FACE Consortium provides a vendor-neutral forum for industry and government to work together to develop and consolidate the open standards, best practices, guidance documents, and business strategy necessary to result in:

References

  1. "Booz Allen Hamilton to Acquire Defense Engineering Services Division of ARINC | Booz Allen Hamilton". Archived from the original on 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  2. "Arinc's new owner to sell off two subsidiaries - Baltimore Business Journal". Archived from the original on 2013-12-30.
  3. "SAE International Completes Asset Purchase of ARINC Industry Activities – Expands Aerospace Portfolio".
  4. "Aviation committees". ARINC. Archived from the original on 2010-07-31. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  5. "AEEC, AMC, & FSEMC:Aviation Industry Activities Organized by ARINC" (PDF). ARINC. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  6. "ARINC Border Management Solutions". Collins Aerospace . Archived from the original on 2024-09-01. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  7. "AIM data sheet" (PDF). Rockwell Collins. May 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  8. "Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity". Rockwell Collins. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  9. "Air Transport Equipment Cases and Racking - ARINC 404". Archived from the original on 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  10. "FAA Standards, Category: Aeronautical". Archived from the original on 2007-06-29.
  11. "ARINC 629 Digital Data Bus Specifications". 18 January 2021.
  12. "ARINC Store, 700 series". Archived from the original on 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  13. "ARINC Standards store, 800 series". Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2010-06-10.