First integrated air network successfully launched in Europe
Staff Writer |
The European Aviation Network (EAN) has taken to the skies. Inmarsat, Deutsche Telekom, Nokia, and Thales have successfully conducted a programme of test flights in the UK.
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This is a major milestone in the development of EAN, the world’s first integrated satellite and air-to-ground network dedicated to providing a true in-flight broadband experience for the European aviation industry and for millions of passengers travelling across Europe.
EAN will be introduced in mid-2017. The flights serve to test the performance of the EAN system including the onboard equipment being provided by Thales and the ground network provided by Deutsche Telekom and Nokia.
As a precursor to the test flight series, Deutsche Telekom and Nokia have jointly achieved the first EAN live over-the-air connection, in Nokia’s Stuttgart laboratory.
There, all components of the LTE ground network were thoroughly tested and validated. The first live connection in the field was accomplished within a broadband video conference in which both parties were connected via the dedicated EAN LTE mobile network.
To achieve EAN’s live connection of the LTE ground network, Deutsche Telekom and Nokia have adapted Nokia´s LTE base stations and Remote Radio Heads (RRH) to the frequency used for EAN, provided by Inmarsat, and build a specific base station antenna to cover the sky.
The LTE ground network for EAN differs from “normal” LTE networks as it needs to work at speeds of up to 1,200 km/h, at cruising altitudes requiring cells of up to 150 km. Nokia will manage the operations for this advanced network from its global delivery centre in Romania.
In addition to the live network, Nokia and Deutsche Telekom set up a full end-to-end ground network reference system in Stuttgart, Germany, including all components and integrated on-board equipment from partner Thales, to prepare for technical challenges, for example compensation of the Doppler effect due to high aircraft speeds.
The flight trial tested the performance of the onboard equipment being provided by Thales and the ground network provided by Deutsche Telekom and Nokia.
Tests were performed to see if the network could successfully attach to the ground system, which it did at all four test sites located in the south west of the UK. ■