Avionics News July 2016 - 73

lite network installation and Send Solutions' supplied hardware.
The hardware costs $9,750 and consists of a small paperback-sized and
FAA-approved box weighing about 1
pound. It's connected to the existing
Iridium system, which is then switched
from voice to data mode for messaging. Airtext uses Bluetooth Low
Energy technology routinely available on smartphones. Passengers
may access the service via an installed
app. With the Airtext system, multiple users can simultaneously send
and receive SMS text messages while
aboard the airplane, on the ground or
in the air.
Data costs vary, depending on usage and which of the three available
service packages are chosen. The
company said it has been testing the
system on a Cessna Citation X, and its
manufacturing conformity approval is
complete. So is DO-160 testing, with
additional aircraft flights scheduled
to achieve final FAA STC approval. An
FAA parts manufacturing approval
also is in the works and will follow the
STC award.
"This is for customers that have
been complaining about the cost,"
David Gray, founder and CEO of Send
Solutions, told attendees. "This is for
customers that have smaller airplanes.
It's also good for customers that have
large airplanes that have bandwidth
issues, that want to move part of the
passengers off to texting only."
For more information, visit
send.aero.

aviation-specific modifications to the
emerging 4G wireless communications standard, SmartSky said it's engineering an "advanced air-to-ground
network, designed from the ground
up specifically to serve the aviation
industry."

"Our network will be the first to
have real, two-way streaming-capable
speeds, using beam forming to securely target each aircraft with its own
radio beam," SmartSky's president,
Ryan Stone, told attendees at the 2016
AEA Convention. "All that's enabled by
our network spectrum advantage."
The company expects to have national coverage at or above 10,000 feet

over the U.S. by mid-2017. A recently
purchased Cessna Citation Excel business jet is being used as demonstrator,
and development of its ground-based
beam-forming antenna network
is underway. Stone told attendees
SmartSky Networks is partnering with
Satcom Direct as its exclusive customer
service, subscription and support provider. Other partners include Textron
Aviation, the equipment launch manufacturer, while Duncan Aviation will
handle MRO needs.
Stone also announced SmartSky Select, an open-source project the company hopes will result in third-party
development of apps and services,
and new, innovative ways to use all the
bandwidth its networking technology
Continued on following page

SmartSky Networks
SmartSky Networks is built around
the idea that off-the-shelf commercial
airborne connectivity solutions are
less than satisfying. Optimum performance, according to the company,
meant traditional network designs had
to be discarded and an entirely new
approach to high-bandwidth aircraft
connectivity was needed. Based on
avionics news

july

2016

http://www.send.aero http://www.kgselectronics.com

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