COUNTRY FOCUS: QATAR
to exchange certain information.
This is largely performed in order
to ensure Inmarsat is able to
dynamically assign the appropriate
level of capacity and service to the
terminals on the network, but the
by-product is a significant amount
of data that can be reused in
other ways. As much of this data
is highly accurate positional data,
for this purpose of determining
and reporting aircraft positions, it
is ideal.
As this data is generated by the
aircraft systems that interface to
the Inmarsat satcom equipment
on the aircraft, it is highly
accurate and meets the relative
requirements of the various civil
aviation entities.
How many trials were carried
out on the tracking system
before it was proven to exceed
the flight recording standards of
the International Civil Aviation
Organisation?
reliable voice and high-speed
data communications to
governments, enterprises and
other organisations, with a range
of services that can be used on
land, at sea or in the air.
We spoke to Ben Griffin, Vice
President, MEASA, Inmarsat
Aviation, to find out more about its
satellite technology.
Can you explain how the system
succeeds in providing the
real-time location of aircraft
positions?
The Inmarsat network that
provides this service operates very
much like a cellular 3G network
– in that the network and its
associated terminals (in this case
aircraft) are in regular ‘dialogue’
www.intelligentcio.com
The tracking data itself is highly
reliable and is fed from the very
strictly certified aircraft avionics
– so the data itself is robust
and accurate. The trials and
evaluations were performed largely
to ensure the provision of the
data from Inmarsat networks and
associated systems to the airline in
a timely and consistent manner.
The evaluation and verification
was not of the actual data itself,
which is proven to be extremely
reliable and conforms to all of the
necessary international standards.
The reporting parameters, as
defined by ICAO, are exceeded
with this system in terms of
recommended frequency of
reporting minima.
What can you tell us about the
safety aspects of the system?
The system itself is a rather
simple reporting system; it merely
reports accurate positional data
“Inmarsat is
the backbone
of global
aviation safety,
delivering
over 35 million
aircraft position
reports last year
alone.”
to whichever contracting entity
has the requirement (and legal
rights) for the data. How the data
is subsequently used by the airline
operation or other entity is entirely
up to them.
Satellite communications have a
relatively low latency (or delay)
in communicating information
compared to some other long
range communications media,
such as High Frequency (HF) voice
or data, which makes the usability
of this information significantly
greater. For remote land areas, or
Oceanic masses, providing means
of communication via satellite is
key to ensure separation standards
can be achieved and make much
more efficient use of airspace –
this results in more aircraft being
able to use finite airspace or take
advantage of upper wind patterns,
which reduces fuel burn and a
myriad of other benefits.
How was the partnership
between Inmarsat and Qatar
Airways formed?
Qatar Airways and Inmarsat
have a long history of working
together. Qatar Airways uses many
Inmarsat Satellite Services on the
vast majority of their aircraft and
they engaged with Inmarsat to
understand how they might use
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