SwiftBroadband

SwiftBroadband is an IP-based packet-switched communications network that provides a symmetric ‘always-on’ data connection of up to 650 kbit/s per channel for aircraft globally except for the polar regions, using the Inmarsat satellite constellation.

Designed to compete in the business aviation communications market, it has been studied as an approach for Air Traffic Management by Eurocontrol (the pan-European air traffic management organization).

In Standard IP mode, the service is shared with other concurrent users of the system, providing a ‘best effort’ service. SwiftBroadband can also provide a pre-determined quality of service through Streaming mode. There are 200 spot beams per satellite with each beam supporting up to 90 channels of 432kbit/s. Three satellites cover the entire globe with the exception of the polar regions.

For Standard IP service, the throughput that an end-user experiences depends on the load on the channel as well as other factors such as antenna type and data compression.

SwiftBroadband uses the narrow spot beams of the Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellites. Features of the service include: Standard IP data – currently up to two channels per aircraft; Up to 432 kbit/s per channel over a high-gain antenna and up to 332 kbit/s over an intermediate gain antenna Streaming IP data on demand at 32, 64, 128, 256, 384, and 650 kbit/s which can be combined for higher rates; simultaneous voice and high-speed data; packet-switched data (TCP/IP) and ISDN; circuit-switched voice and VoIP.

In October 2013 Inmarsat announced the launch of its new SwiftBroadband High Data Rate (HDR) streaming service for the aviation market which provides a guaranteed bandwidth (QoS) of est. 650 kbit/s. It further supports four new streaming rates – including asymmetric services:

SwiftBroadband avionics are offered by:

In addition to installation of User Terminal avionics, aircraft operators contract with an Inmarsat service provider to provision access to the network. The service provider allows access to the I-4 constellation and charges either for the volume of data used for standard IP, or based on the time used for streaming IP and voice calls. Service providers such as AirSatOne offer customized solutions and packages targeting the specific needs of aircraft operators and their passengers, enhanced services such as compression, optimization and acceleration are available for Swiftbroadband.

Flightstream AOC & Flightstream SA are enhanced services for SwiftBroadband systems designed to enhance aircraft SatCom internet systems.

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Wikipedia