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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1719.PDF
In-flight entertainment SCREEN TEST In-flight entertainment manufacturers are getting their latest systems ready for their biggest test yet - the Airbus A380 EMMA KELLY / PERTH The major in-flight entertainment (IFE) equipment manufacturers are stepping up to their latest chal lenge in developing interactive IFE systems for the newest and largest aircraft platform, the Airbus A380. After the early days of interactive IFE when systems caused airlines and airframe manufacturers teething problems and longer-term reliability issues, manufactur ers are now conducting much more pre- service entry testing. They have also focused on addressing customers' weight and size requirements while boosting system bandwidth to sup port ever-evolving entertainment and communication applications. Two of the three leading manufacturers of in-seat interactive IFE equipment, Matsushita Avionics Systems and Thales, are preparing new hardware for the biggest test yet - flight tests on 550-seat A380 air craft next year. Matsushita's latest offering is the eX2, a development of its market-leading System 2000/3000/3000i with elements of its eFX equipment for narrowbodies. The manu facturer has reached a certain level of maturity with the eX2, says Chris Lundquist, general manager product plan ning and business development, with "firm system design nailed" and reaching the red-label equipment stage. The manufacturer is now moving into the integration and testing phase and a 550-passenger system test rack will be up and running with Airbus in Hamburg in October, with a similar test rack opera tional at Matsushita's laboratories in Lake Forest, California. In the second quarter of 2005, Matsu shita will deliver eX2 systems for A380 serial number MSN007 for route-proving to be conducted from September 2005, says Lundquist. The system will be ready for A380 deliveries to customers from March 2006. This level of system development and testing means major problems with entry into service of interactive IFE are a thing of the past, says Lundquist. "There are a lot more things in place to improve reliability before a system ever gets into service or the design is completed," he adds. "The indus try has learned that what happened in the past cannot happen again." Billion-dollar deal Matsushita is now "heavily into the sales process" and already has eX2 orders, announcing a $1 billion deal with Emirates at this year's Farnborough air show. Emirates will put the hardware on the first of its 45 A380-800s due for delivery in October 2006, plus 20 Airbus A340- 600HGWs for delivery from June 2007. Matsushita has three airline customers for eX2, with orders for 60-plus aircraft, says Lundquist, who declines to name its other customers. "We've had an extremely posi tive response," he adds. The manufacturer is working from a strong customer base, with 2,700 aircraft flying with Matsushita IFE, of which 40% are widebodies. Lundquist believes a number of factors have helped it secure an early eX2 cus- Matsushita has three airline customers for its eX2, with orders for 60-plus aircraft tomer base. "Our history of delivering video-on-demand [VOD] systems serves us well," he says, in addition to the eX2's media management capabilities, vast net work and reduced size and weight com pared with earlier systems. Reducing the size, weight and power consumption of the hardware has been a key focus, pushed by airlines and the air- framer. Lundquist says Matsushita set itself a 30% reduction target on earlier systems, but has achieved 40%. Reductions came from more in-seat inte gration, which significantly reduced the wiring; an integrated distribution of all entertainment over an ethernet network; reduced size seat boxes; distributed electron ics incorporated in the display; and a four- seat box configuration. At the same time, system bandwidth has been increased. "There is no limit to what an airline can put on the system," says Lundquist. The eX2 will offer a number of new capabilities that the manufacturer declines to discuss, but it will greatly expand appli cations and link the passengers to off-air craft applications. Features will include those that passengers are getting used to with interactive systems, such as audio- and video-on-demand, shopping, games, SMS/e-mail, interactive maps and destina tion information. It will also include inte grated noise cancelling, personal electronic device power and menus for IFE customisa tion. "It will be stunning," says Lundquist. Matsushita believes the eX2 will grow to form the backbone of system development over the next 10 to 20 years. "We believe that the way we have designed the archi tecture means we will be able to use new technologies incrementally," he says. Further new developments will be driven by the next new aircraft developments, such as the Boeing 7E7, he predicts. Thales passed a major milestone in the quest to get its new TopSeries i-5000 IFE system installed on the A380 in August when the prototype in the manufacturer's Irvine, California laboratory met with the airframe manufacturer's approval. The i-5000 system is due to be installed on Airbus flight-test aircraft MSN002 next year for flight tests. The system has been in final develop ment at the Irvine laboratory where a 550- seat test system is up and running, says Joe Patti, director of marketing. Represent atives from the airframe manufacturer per formed testing and evaluation of the sys tem and accepted the laboratory unit after the tests went well, he says. Three minor issues were revealed, which will be fixed with a software update in October. The tests were followed by the shipment of 50 i-5000 units to Airbus for further test ing by the manufacturer, with 550 seat sets 28 14-20 SEPTEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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