IEEE Communications Magazine • July 2003 2 0163-6804/03/$17.00 © 2003 IEEE COMPOSITE RECONFIGURABLE WIRELESS NETWORKS: THE EU R&D P ATH TOWARD 4G INTRODUCTION Today, airplanes seem to be the last remaining islands where mobile communications and Inter- net access are not available. While security and passenger safety have always been of prime con- cern, recent acts of international terrorism have clearly demonstrated the need for major improvements and new initiatives in in-flight communications. Such developments can be brought about by the use of the latest communi- cations technologies. The R&D effort to estab- lish broadband aeronautical communication (AirCom) has received overwhelming feedback by announcements of global players introducing “email and Internet above the clouds.” Inspired by enthusiastic estimations envisaging a multibil- lion-dollar market a few years ago, several steps have already been taken to bring aeronautical communications systems toward a broadband infrastructure for airline passengers. For instance, the introduction of new global broad- band systems by Inmarsat to provide broadband access in the sky or the collaboration between Lufthansa and Connexion by Boeing in the Fly- Net project to provide Internet connectivity aboard aircraft reflect this market potential. Since Inmarsat introduced its first aeronautical satellite communications systems in the early 1990s the development of AirCom has been exciting. While in the past aircraft operators could only rely on quasi-global communications service with only a few kilobits per second used for voice and low-rate communications, now links of several hundred kilobits per second up to some megabits per second are available to allow new variety in services and applications. Thus, a promising new market is opened for communications service providers/operators and airline operators. Design studies for airlines and market surveys of in-flight network providers show the necessity for high-data-rate communi- cations services for airliners, with an obvious trend toward in-flight entertainment (IFE), Internet applications, and personal communica- tions. Moreover, people are becoming more and more used to personalized equipment, such as mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs, all accom- modated in their personal environment. From a user perspective, there is a clear demand for a wireless access solution for multimedia and per- sonal communications services through users’ own equipment. Besides, a wireless network may also support airline personnel (cabin crew, main- tenance crew) during their daily work (e.g., for mobile data access) and at the same time save the cost of installing a massive wired network inside an aircraft. Axel Jahn and Matthias Holzbock, DLR — German Aerospace Center Jan Müller and Robert Kebel, Airbus Deutschland GmbH Massimo de Sanctis, Ericsson, Italy Andrew Rogoyski, ESYS plc Eyal Trachtman, Inmarsat Oliver Franzrahe, KID-Systeme GmbH Markus Werner, TriaGnoSys GmbH Fun Hu, University of Bradford ABSTRACT The demand to make air travel more pleas- ant, secure, and productive for passengers is one of the winning factors for both airlines and the aircraft manufacturing industry for which aero- nautical communications is one of the enablers. This article describes current trends in the area of aeronautical passenger communication toward personal and wireless in-cabin communications and multimedia data networks. Technological challenges are summarized as well as market potentials and regulatory issues. Evolution of Aeronautical Communications for Personal and Multimedia Services