ARINC 791P1-2

Purpose of this Characteristic

This standard sets forth the desired characteristics of AviationKu-band Satellite Communication (Satcom) and Ka-band Satcom Systemsintended for installation in all types of commercial air transportaircraft. The intent of this characteristic is to provide guidanceon the interfaces, form, fit, and function of the systems. Thisdocument also describes the desired operational capability of theequipment needed to provide a broadband transport link that can beused for data, video, and voice communications typically used forpassenger communications and/or entertainment. The systemsdescribed in this characteristic are not qualified, at thiswriting, for aviation safety functions.

The key goal of this characteristic is to promoteinterchangeability at a number of levels, as shown below, with theaim of minimizing airline life cycle costs:

• Aircraft Manufacturer Interchangeability: the same equipmentcan be fitted to aircraft built by different aircraftmanufacturers.
• Aircraft Type Interchangeability: the same equipment can befitted to a large number of different aircraft types.
• Equipment Manufacturer Interchangeability: equipment fromdifferent manufacturers can be fitted to standardized aircraftprovisions.
• Frequency Band Interchangeability: the same aircraft provisionscan be used for either Ku-band or Ka-band equipment.
• Satellite System Interchangeability: the same Ku-band AntennaSubsystem can be used for different Ku-band satellite systems andthe same Ka Antenna Subsystem can be used for different Kasatellite systems. That is, in the future, an airline could changetheir satellite provider (provided the frequency band is notchanged) and could reuse their Antenna Subsystem, although theywould need a new Modem and Manager (Modman).

Note: Outside Antenna Equipment (OAE), the Ku/Ka-band RadioFrequency Unit (KRFU) and the Ku/Ka-band Aircraft Networking DataUnit (KANDU) (which are collectively known as the AntennaSubsystem) and Modman are described in Sections 3 to 6.

• Antenna Subsystem and Modman Interchangeability: a consequenceof Satellite System Interchangeability is that the AntennaSubsystem can be sourced from one supplier and the Modman can besourced from a different supplier.
• Modman and Airplane Personality Module (APM)Interchangeability: The Modman and the APM are defined to be afunctional doublet. This means that the interwiring between themand their installation details are defined in this characteristic;but due to unique electrical signaling, protocol implementationsand memory size/architecture/content, the supply and acquisition ofthese units are manufacturer-specific. Functional doublets aredifferent from matched pairs in that each unit of the functionaldoublet may fail and be changed independently; whereas in matchedpairs, both units must be changed regardless of which unit hasfailed.

Edition:

14

Published:

08/29/2014

Number of Pages:

185

File Size:

1 file , 8.3 MB