Avionics are the electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites, and spacecraft. 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.
In automotive engineering, a vehicle bus is a specialized internal communications network that interconnects components inside a vehicle. 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 AFDX include the B787, the A400M and the A380. In train, implementations of Ethernet Consist Network (ECN) becomes most use, due to the grower of information. 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.
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.
Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO and nations allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links.
The airline teletype system uses teleprinters, which are electro-mechanical typewriters that can communicate typed messages from point to point through simple electric communications channels, often just pairs of wires. The most modern form of these devices are fully electronic and use a screen, instead of a printer.
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.
ARINC 429, "Mark33 Digital Information Transfer System (DITS)," is also known as the Aeronautical Radio INC. (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.
DO-219 is a communications standard published by RTCA, Incorporated. It contains Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for aircraft equipment required for Air Traffic Control (ATC) Two-Way Data Link Communications (TWDL) services. TWDL Services are one element of Air Traffic Services Communication (ATSC). ATSC addressing requirements are supported by the Context Management (CM) Service. The Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN) provides the media and protocols to conduct data link Air Traffic Services Communication.
Air Traffic Services Message Handling Services (AMHS) is a standard for aeronautical ground-ground communications based on X.400 profiles. It has been defined by the ICAO.
FlightAware is an American multi-national technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight data and flight-tracking products. It is currently the world's largest flight tracking platform with a network of over 32,000 ADS-B ground stations in 200 countries. FlightAware also provides aviation data and predicted ETAs to airlines, airport operators, and software developers. FlightAware is privately held, with headquarters in Eleven Greenway Plaza in Houston and sales offices in New York City, Austin, Singapore, and London.
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.
PikeOS is a commercial, hard real-time operating system (RTOS) that offers a separation kernel based hypervisor with multiple logical partition types for many other operating systems (OS), each called a GuestOS, and applications. It enables users to build certifiable smart devices for the Internet of things (IoT) according to the high quality, safety and security standards of different industries.
Controller–pilot data link communications (CPDLC), also referred to as controller pilot data link (CPDL), is a method by which air traffic controllers can communicate with pilots over a datalink system.
Airline reservation systems (ARS) are systems that allow an airline to sell their inventory (seats). It contains information on schedules and fares and contains a database of reservations and of tickets issued. ARSs are part of passenger service systems (PSS), which are applications supporting the direct contact with the passenger.
Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS–B) is a surveillance technology in which an aircraft determines its position via satellite navigation or other sensors and periodically broadcasts it, enabling it to be tracked. The information can be received by air traffic control ground stations as a replacement for secondary surveillance radar, as no interrogation signal is needed from the ground. It can also be received by other aircraft to provide situational awareness and allow self-separation. ADS–B is "automatic" in that it requires no pilot or external input. It is "dependent" in that it depends on data from the aircraft's navigation system.
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).
The Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN) is an internetwork architecture that allows ground/ground, air/ground, and avionic data subnetworks to interoperate by adopting common interface services and protocols based on the ISO OSI Reference Model.
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.
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.
A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics and synchronization of communication and possible error recovery methods. Protocols may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of both.
