EB, a developer of embedded technology solutions for automotive and wireless industries, announces its ASO testing solution for the aerospace, aviation and defense markets. The solution of this global technology leader is designed for measuring, modeling and emulating radio channel environments to enable testing of wireless communication links in such applications as aerospace, commercial airlines, defense aircraft flights, missile and satellite communication. Building on the company’s EB Propsim radio channel emulators, the ASO software tool (Aerospace and Satellite modeling tool Option) allows the creation of realistic radio channel models for air or space environments.
With the ASO testing solution, the developers can define and emulate communication links of their flight routes. The developers can now test the wireless connection on an aircraft in a laboratory with link emulations based on virtual link or recorded link database. They can create the radio channel environment once and re-play it in the laboratory in order to improve performance and functionality of the live wireless network e.g. at the cruising altitudes. The engineers do not need to go out and perform expensive and time-consuming field testing every time they change the network settings.
For example, if an airline wants to introduce Internet connection on a route from Los Angeles to New York City, the airline will not need to perform extensive field testing at the flight route. Instead, the wireless technology needed for the Internet connection can be developed and tested in laboratory conditions taking into consideration many factors, including Doppler, range, handoff, terrain and elevation with the ASO testing solution before the technology is being implemented into an aircraft.
“As we begin to give passengers the ability to use their own laptops and smartphones at full mobile broadband speeds in-flight, it is imperative that we ensure that the service stays connected as the aircraft flies across the US,” said Yong Liu, senior RF engineer of Aircell LLC, the world’s leading provider of airborne communications. “Bringing the mobile broadband into an aircraft is extremely difficult due to the high speed of the aircraft and much longer dynamic link distances than in a terrestrial environment. EB’s ASO testing solution allows us to test different radio channel environments on aircrafts without ever leaving the ground. Now we are able to offer our clients the quality of service in aircrafts that they are used to having on the ground.”
The first version of the ASO modeling tool was developed in co-operation with NASA. It allows scientists at NASA to test multiple wireless high speed data communication links between a spacecraft and a ground station and satellites.
“The ASO tool allows us to recreate environments in the laboratory to test the performance of communications systems during the critical stages of launch, flight, space station docking procedures and landing of a spacecraft,” said Chatwin Lansdowne, engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center. “This helps us to ensure the functionality of critical communication systems prior to the launch.”
“By solving the customer’s testing challenges, we have created this much needed testing tool for aerospace, aviation and defense applications that goes beyond the limitations of what has been available before,” said Juha Auer, general manager of EB Wireless Communications Tools. “To bring mobile broadband and today’s wireless technology to these environments, a testing solution must meet tremendous requirements. We believe that the ASO testing solution provides developers with the most high-end, high-performance solution available.”
The highest performance available in the market for channel emulation and 100 percent repeatability of test scenarios are the key features of EB Propsim products that guarantee realistic radio channel emulation for wireless communications applications in commercial and military aerospace, missile and satellite communication areas.
