SAN DIEGO, 3 March 2008. Systems designers at Aircell LLC in Itasca, Ill., needed flight-qualified rugged electronics enclosures and related components for their systems that provide broadband access to the Internet aboard commercial and general-aviation aircraft. They found their solution from AP Labs Inc. in San Diego.
AP Labs has finished building and shipping components and enclosures for Aircell's FAA- authorized inflight broadband equipment. AP Labs is delivering Aircell air-to-ground communications units (AACU), a subsystem of Aircell's overall solution.
AP Labs completed FAA certification of the AACU last fall and has started building the units. American Airlines will be the first U.S. airline to offer its passengers Aircell's mobile broadband service. The first system installation and flight tests have been completed. American plans to shortly install Aircell's system on all its Boeing 767-200 aircraft.
The Aircell AACU provides the air-to-ground (ATG) wireless link for inflight broadband access and an independent terrestrial modem to be used while the aircraft is on the ground. In addition, the AACU incorporates a GPS receiver, Gigabit Ethernet switch, and an embedded microcontroller board for housekeeping and system management.
For more information contact AP Labs online at www.aplabs.com, or Aircell at www.aircell.com.
