IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. XX, NO. X, SEPTEMBER 2008 1 A Review of Aeronautical Electronics and its Parallelism with Automotive Electronics J. Mu˜ noz-Casta˜ ner, R. Asorey-Cacheda, F.J. Gil-Casti˜ neira, F.J. Gonz´ alez-Casta˜ no, and P.S. Rodr´ ıguez-Hern´ andez, Member, IEEE Abstract—Aeronautical electronic and communications tech- nologies have evolved from the analog domain to the digital domain and, nowadays, planes are complex structures serviced by many standalone systems that communicate through data buses. Many of these systems have found applicability in other sectors. This paper reviews the most recent technologies in modern aircraft and identifies their application in the automotive sector. It also identifies automotive electronics applied in planes. Index Terms—Aeronautical electronics, automotive electronics, embedded systems. I. I NTRODUCTION T HIS paper reviews the current state of the art of elec- tronic systems in the aeronautic sector and their possible application in the automotive sector, and vice versa. The aeronautic sector has a long tradition in the development of advanced electronic systems, pioneering the replacement of mechanics by electronics to improve performance and achieve new functionality [1]. The number of systems that can be found in a latest-generation passenger plane is really impressive. These systems include components, hardware and software architectures, related development tools, applications, and so on. Although there exists literature about different technologies in the aeroespace and automotive industries [1]–[6], to the best of our knowledge there is a lack of analyses on the links between these two industries in the area of electronics. This paper aims to identify the links that have led, or may lead, to cross-technology transfer. It is obvious that technology transfer has typically taken place from the aeronautical industry to the automotive industry [7], [8]. However, there are exceptions to this rule and, in some cases, some technology advancements appeared first in auto- mobiles and, after their success, were transferred to aircrafts [9]–[13]. It is therefore likely that future advancements will appear almost at the same time in both industries. Manuscript received March 27, 2010. Accepted for publication August 14, 2010. Copyright c  2010 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to pubs-permissions@ieee.org J. Mu˜ noz-Casta˜ ner is with Gradiant, 36310 Vigo, Spain (email: jorgem@gradiant.org). R. Asorey-Cacheda, F.J. Gil-Casti˜ neira, F.J. Gonz´ alez-Casta˜ no, and P.S. Rodr´ ıguez-Hern´ andez are with the Department of Telematics Engineering, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain (email: {rasorey, xil, javier, pedro}@det.uvigo.es). In this paper we do not consider the advances in electric propulsion technologies. Nevertheless, the advances in the automotive industry in this field are remarkable [14], [15], and several research programs have started to drive the innovation in the aeronautical sector, such as the “More Electric Aircraft” initiative [16], [17]. There may be synergies of great interest between the automotive and aircraft industries as well. For example, Delta Air Lines has developed the WheelTug ground propulsion system to turn its Boeing 737NGs into hybrids. It employs the APU, which is powered by a turbine, to power an electric motor in the landing gear for ground movement. This is equivalent to a hybrid car configuration, ceasing to use the main engines for anything but take off, landing, and flight. Another interesting example is the Boeing Fuel Cell Demonstrator Airplane, which has a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell/lithium-ion battery hybrid system to power an electric motor, which is coupled to a conventional propeller. The fuel cell provides all power for the cruise phase of flight, leaving the conventional engine for takeoff and climb only. This document is organized as follows: In section II, we review the electronic systems that are used in aeronautics and their relationship with the automotive sector when applicable. In section III we identify and describe the main in-vehicle communication standards in both sectors. Section IV provides perspective on the evolution of technology transfer. Section V concludes the paper. II. AIRCRAFT ELECTRONICS AND AUTOMOTIVE EQUIVALENTS In addition to companies involved in implementations of a particular system, there are many companies engaged in virtually the entire range of embedded systems in a plane. In the automotive industry for example, sometimes the products are manufactured by small companies and sold under the brands of a larger enterprise. The major players are BAE Systems, Curtis-Wright, EADS, Goodrich Corporation, Hon- eywell, ITT, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, Thales Group, and United Technologies Corporation. In this section we will present some technologies from the aeronautical environment and their evolution towards being implemented in the automotive environment. 0000–0000/00$00.00 c  2010 IEEE