Rockwell Collins’ ARINC AIM platform has been selected by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District for the provision of physical and infrastructure security for the Rancho Seco facility.
AIM is a secure platform offering the nuclear facility solutions for cyber security, intrusion detection, surveillance and situational awareness and in turn, compliance with the changing NRC mandates.
Rancho Seco will join many of the country’s nuclear power facilities with the implementation of ARINC AIM.
World-leading aviation communications provider, Rockwell Collins, has announced the launch of a new disaster communications network – ARINC UrgentLink – to enable first-responders communications channels when local ground networks have been compromised, damaged or destroyed.
Rockwell Collins’ ARINC UrgentLink leverages current mission critical transmission technologies, successfully used and proven within the aviation industry, and uses licensed radio frequencies specifically disaster-authorised by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
As most of the aviation world looks to satellite communications, let’s spare a thought for High Frequency Data Link, commonly known as HFDL. Primarily used for long-haul and trans-oceanic flights, when VHF line of sight communications is insufficient, HFDL is a HF data link protocol, operated by ARINC as a GLOBALink ACARS service via a ground network of HF stations, whose coverage spans much of the Earth’s surface.
More robust than voice communications, HFDL transmissions are often used by the military and on board aircraft, HFDL integrates seamlessly with the flight management systems.
Recent developments in software for HFDL means that the service offers comparable message success rates to VHF and satellite datalink.
Korea Airports Corporation (
KAC) and Korea’s T’Way Air have signed two separate contracts for Rockwell Collins’ ARINC GLOBALinkSM for their air-to-ground data link communications networks.
KAC is a service provider for civil aviation and airline communications and T’Way Air is South Korea’s fastest growing airline. KAC will use ACARS for pre-departure clearance and D-ATIS messaging, utilising VDLM2 for faster, more accurate and reliable transmissions.
T’Way Air hope to enhance accuracy with their new system, using the real-time benefits of Rockwell Collins’ ARINC solution to increase operational safety.
These latest contracts now mean that all of Korea’s largest low-cost carriers are benefitting from Rockwell Collins’ ARINC GLOBALink for the transmission of communications between aircraft, ground crews and airline DCS.
Heament John Kurion, managing director of IMS for Rockwell Collins’ Asia Pacific said, “Our expertise in communications messaging combined with our understanding of the Korean market ideally positions Rockwell Collins to provide these two leading organisations with robust solutions for their aviation communications needs [and] marks another key milestone in our successful strategy to invest and grow our business in the country and throughout the region.”
Atkins Identity Management toolkit will be integrated with the ARINC vMUSE and VeriPax technologies from Rockwell Collins to produce a new suite of fully integrated and configurable airport identity management solutions, which will help to take automated passenger processing to another level, while maintaining critical airport security.
The combined technologies will capture passenger identities using biometrics, comparing the information with boarding passes and passport details, including finger print and facial recognition capabilities.
Nick Whitehead, head of strategic services in identity assurance at Atkins said, “Combining Rockwell Collins’ experience deploying CUPPS technology at airports worldwide with our proven capabilities in developing and implementing biometric applications has allowed us to create a fully integrated identity management solution for airports. Airports can use this service to validate a passenger’s identity, ensuring that the individual given the authority to fly is actually the one who boards the plane.”
The initial implementation of the technology will include highly configurable elements and standardised plug-ins to allow seamless identity management without making changes to an airline’s DCS.
Atkins is a leading global design, engineering and project management company with employees in the UK, Middle East, Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.
Rockwell Collins acquired ARINC Inc last year in its largest purchase in its history at $1.4 billion. In the last 10 months, Rockwell Collins have folded ARINC into an information management services organisation with the former Air Routing International – now Ascend Flight Information Solutions and Computing Technologies for Aviation (CTA) businesses. Combined and branded as ARINCDirect, the marketplace is presented with a robust suite of flight planning and international-trip software with communications technology for enhanced aircraft and ground communications solutions.
Combining Ascend and ARINCDirect online, with an integration of mobile applications and consolidated customer billing was the first job for the aligned sales teams and progress was measured in subscriptions to the newly-bundled offerings.
“When we started out here, our objective was to look at where are the Ascend customers that might have different connectivity than Arinc, where are the Arinc customers that might use different international trip planning—and synch those customers up so that we can provide a combined value proposition,” Jeff Standerski, senior vice president of information management services, said. “We’ve been able to do that on 60-plus tails already within a nine-month period.”
As one of the biggest names and forefront players in the business aviation sector, Rockwell Collins’ ARINCDirect promises further advancement in the industry with ‘bundled’ features and integration with leading avionics systems, such as Pro Line Fusion suites and the improved iPad planning application.
It has been announced that the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta International (ATL) has upgraded its airport management platform, bringing a range of new and advanced tools to airport operations.
An extended range display, the first of its kind, will provide a National Airspace System view of all flights which will enhance the airport’s capabilities for proactive air traffic management. Real-time flight cancellation notifications and reporting is set to improve management with greater visibility, allowing historical views.
Real-time vehicle tracking with portable Wi-Fi hotspots will enable vehicle operators to access a view of airport activity and the facility will additionally enable expanded vehicle data collection, improving efficiency through dispatch and communications support network.
The airport management system at ATL will assist the operators and ground personnel to streamline operations, increasing an already efficient system even further.
“Atlanta has continually seen a decrease in delays and improved overall operational performance since deploying Aerobahn in 2010,” said Paul Meyer, Airport Assistant General Manager for Operations. “These achievements are possible due to the airport-wide collaboration fostered by the airport community through the use of a common surface management system.”
In an ever-growing industry, airport management solutions can help airports of all sizes to achieve cost-cutting targets and improve operational productivity.
Sao Paulo International Airport (GRU) is undergoing a big change to their passenger reconciliation system as Rockwell Collins implement its leading ARINC VeriPax system. Although the entire installation is in progress, the first phase of the project went live ahead of the 2014 World Cup tournament on June 12.
ARINC VeriPax reads boarding passes using automated security screening with 2D barcode scanners and checks passengers against flight information in real time. The system has streamlined the entire process of check-in and has already proved its worth with the attendance of elevated numbers of passengers for the World Cup tournament, speeding up the passenger screening process at security checkpoints.
“Hosting the 2014 World Cup has brought soccer fans from around the world to Brazil so we needed a solution that would provide our passengers with a better, faster check-in experience,” said chief information officer for GRU, Luiz Eduardo Ritzmann. “By automating the screening process, we believe that VeriPax has enabled us to improve GRU’s passenger flow by 15 to 20%.”
Although the ARINC VeriPax solution is utilised in some of the world’s busiest airports, and has been since 2009, GRU is the first airport in South America to use the bar-coded boarding pass gates and the VeriPax solution. The new security screening system is currently in use in the airport’s new terminal 3, but will soon go live in subsequent phases planned for terminals 1, 2 and 4.
“We’re proud to be playing a critical role in making GRU one of the most modern airports in the world in terms of passenger processing capabilities,” said staff vice president of airport systems, Information Management Services for Rockwell Collins, Michael Picco. ”This program marks yet another key milestone in our commitment to invest and grow in Brazil. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with GRU and other airports throughout the country.”
ARINC Inc, acquired last year by Aeronautics giant, Rockwell Collins, developed and introduced ACARS messaging during the earliest years of commercial flight and insist that the technology is available today for real-time aircraft tracking. The debate continues in the wake of the tragic disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370, now into the fourth month with no news.
In-flight connectivity providers and satellite companies are currently competing for business with Inmarsat, the British satellite company that provided additional information about the ill-fated flight and Iridium both supporting flight deck communications and aircraft tracking solutions as they have done for years.
More than 300 airlines and 15,000 aircraft have relied upon the industry-standard ACARS and ARINC GLOBALink for mission critical transmissions. Rockwell Collins’ CEO, Kelly Ortberg said, “We may have to write some software, we may have to do some different things; upgrade the aircraft to implement this capability, but we don’t need to invest in new technology.”
With VHF datalink extending throughout Central and North America, most of Europe and Asia, Inmarsat’s satellite network providing coverage to expand VHF capability to encompass real-time data reporting and weather updates and Iridium’s network reaching the remote oceanic expanses and Polar Regions, it is clear that the technology is indeed available to bring global coverage within reach of the world’s airlines and operators.
Aviation messaging is under scrutiny at the moment, particularly by IATA and ICAO, who are working together to investigate the options for airlines in terms of global tracking to avoid another MH370 crisis at all costs.
This years’ EBACE show to be held at São Paulo Congonhas Airport, will be operating under tough conditions as facilities are limited and a large tent at the show entrance will need to be erected. Organising the event has been a catalogue of delays for the Brazilian industry group, Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral (ABAG) during a period of remodelling for the venue.
“We’re working with the expectation that the fair will be smaller this year than in 2013, which was smaller than in 2012. If it’s bigger, it will be only slightly bigger,” said ABAG executive director, Ricardo Nogueira.
Attendees for the show have declined over the past few years, with 13,823 visitors last year compared to 16,722 attendees in 2012, which at the time, was largely attributed to bad weather during the show’s opening days.
This year it is hoped that figures will rise due to the location of the World Cup tournament, which will bring a boost to local business aviation.
“All our airplanes are chartered for the World Cup, there’s a lot customer aircraft activity, and we’re doing a lot of FBO work for international visitors,” said a spokesman for TAM Aviação Executiva.
There is already a shortage in ramp space available during the tournament with 83% of business aviation slots reserved – equating to approximately 89,640 movements out of 108,000. Slots for 1,000 business aircraft have been reserved for the tournament traffic, which is expected to decrease as teams are eliminated.
The building that has been used during previous shows for LABACE conference sessions and registration has been commandeered as a remote terminal for business aviation during the World Cup tournament. Infraero airport authority Investments in this facility should benefit LABACE when it is finally handed over for use by ABAG.
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