Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1472772
9 CONNECTED LIFE Connected Aircraft: Efficient, Safe, and Enjoyable Air Travel Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are continually searching for ways to make commercial flight safer and more efficient — and to offer a superior customer experience that attracts loyal flyers. Passengers want Wi-Fi connections and entertainment choices that mirror what they're used to at home. Pilots and ground crews need more information, faster, to manage increasingly complex aircraft systems. Airlines want planes with self-diagnostics that are easier to maintain and fly to maximize their investments. Toward this end, today's aircraft are more connected than ever before. Aircraft are being enabled to capture and share inflight data about the management, health, and maintenance of critical aircraft systems. In a bid for greater reliability and efficiency, manufacturers are replacing traditional hydraulics and pneumatics with electrical systems — in fact, electronic content in airplanes has grown from about 10 percent of the value of the aircraft in the 1980s to 40 percent today. Connected electronic systems also allow manufacturers to reap the benefits of smaller, lighter-weight components that can improve fuel economy and free up space for more cargo and passengers. To meet the demand for connected systems and more electronification, manufacturers need sensors, connectors, relays, and fiber-optic systems that are up to the task to work reliably in the airplanes in harsh environments, such as temperature extremes and exposure to high vibrations. Five key areas are found in commercial aircraft showing how today's aviation industry is meeting the new demands, and new challenges, of connectivity. 1) In-flight Entertainment (IFE) Aircraft and IFE systems manufacturers need connectivity partners that can respond quickly to technology innovations, to create technology solutions that can evolve at the pace required by an increasingly connected flying public. The drive is to increase information speeds and bandwidth adapted to the challenges of Wi-Fi and entertainment services while in flight. Passengers, especially on long-haul flights, have high expectations that the entertainment and online services they access at home will be just as reliable during their trip. In turn, airlines want to meet this demand, since Wi-Fi and entertainment services are a source of revenue. 2) Avionics As avionics systems exchange more data, greater bandwidth is required to deliver high-speed data transfers. Global airline flight traffic is expected to double over the next 20 years, and fast data transfer will be critical as new aircraft navigation and communication systems will evolve to support navigation in congested commercial airspace. In addition, air traffic control systems will be upgraded, creating more demand for improved connectivity. Data collection and sharing are critical components of these systems — for example, information about an airplane's position.