Sky high WiMAX / Satellite ?

In Flight Entertainment (IFE) such as the provision of live TV, Video on demand is the big buzz in the airline industry, cellphone connectivity is almost here and now eberyone wants full broadband Internet connectivity - to provide that "Office in the Sky" for the busy , high spending business traveller on a scheduled flight or Executive Jet.

Disregarding the use of ground based cell phone linked WIMAX technology discussed in a post earlier, current technology relies on line-of-sight ground-based transmitters - such as Verizon use. Now with the creation of broadband antennas able to access and receive/transmit communications satellites in Earth’s orbit faster , reliable broadband connectivity is almost here.

Much of the new technology in this area owes its inception to the 2003 World Radio Communication Conference in Geneva, Switzerland when radio frequencies specifically for aviation-based satellite-based communications was allocated.

Using the KU band , receive-only antennas have been in use for a number of years for applications such as onboard live television (TV). This service is indistinguishable from commercial satellite TV for home use, and is generally limited to the continental US, Europe and Japan. JetBlue and other airlines use Ku-band transmissions for their inflight TV service.

To receive its signal, a Ku-band antenna has to be able to track a moving platform—a satellite—from another moving platform—an airplane.

Consequently it must be steered, either mechanically or using a
phased-array system not unlike those used in the military intercept radars. At the core of the current Ku-based system is a transponder with a capacity of 36–72 mbps, while individual satellites are able to push data at around 1–2 gigabytes per second (gbps). These satellites and the ground stations needed to support them are already in service, and no single company owns a monopoly on them.

Despite such promise, however, the relatively large size of antennae has been a problem. Connexion by Boeing was a service that promised high-speed Internet packages and with interfaces tailored to user preferences, the system used Intersputnik's Yamal-200 satellites. On June 26th Boeing announced they were reviewing the market.

On August 17th they canned it with a hit on the balance sheet of US$ 360 MN or 26 cents a share. No explanation was given other than to say .."the company has decided to exit the high-speed broadband communications connectivity markets."

As the weight for supporting antenna electronics and network connections to the seat is approximately 800 lb for a single-aisle aircraft and 1200 lb for a twin-aisle aircraft it has been said that the this was too much of an overhead for the business it might generate.It was intended that this system would allow cellphone provider Qualcomm with a platform.. and they have performed a test flights that successfully demonstrated the simultaneous use of CDMA and GSM mobile phone technology over an onboard aircraft network... although of course it is claimed many of the hi-jacked folks on the 9/11 planes pre-empted them, Barbara Olsen chatting away for some 20 minutes from the on board toilet.

London based Inmarsat has also been promoting it's Swift Broadband built around a cluster of 4 newly launched satellites so that Inmarsat BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) satellite dishes will be able to access data, voice and video at broadband speeds of about 432Kbps wherever they are..

Which is where a fascinating company called Starling appears to have some handsome leverage.

Starling’s antennas are based on unique, patented transmission/reception and signal processing technology that supports high-speed data rates using a very low-profile antenna design. The CoMPATM (Coherent Multi-Panel Antenna) heavily patented technology provides full broadband connectivity in the civil aviation market.

What they modestly call their flagship product, the MIJET Ku very compact antenna system enables two-way broadband communication, such as Internet, Email, Cellular phone, PDA, TV, VPN, VOIP and other advanced applications, for all types of commercial commercial aircraft.

The MiniMIJET is specially designed (ie scaled down) for smaller aircraft, such as those commonly flown in the business jet market. Based on the same technology and overall design as the MIJET, it is due to be commercially launched at the end of 2006.

Starling is based in Israel and claims on their website to be .." led by a cohesive, seasoned management team, with many years of experience in developing complex communications systems. Founded in 2003, the Company is backed by some of the world’s top developers of electronics and communications systems for military and commercial applications:

RDC (Rafael Development Corporation) – a business development-focused joint venture of RAFAEL and Elron.

RAFAEL is a leading developer of advanced systems for naval, air and ground defense.

Elron Electronic Industries is a multinational technology group focused on development of defense electronics, communications, semiconductors and medical imaging technologies.

The "Team" biographies make fascinating reading(which Lord Patel recommends) especially CEO and founder Micha Lawrence, who served in command positions in the Israeli Air Force. He was also at Elbit Systems, a global leader in military electronics and communications technologies for 6 years before founding Starling.

Presumably anyone using such equipment will be billed for services and no doubt Starling will be happy to provide very accurate billing services which need access to datastreams to identify different rates for telephony, video etc.,and no doubt security of the data for busy, wealthy and influential businessmen zooming around in their Executive Jets.