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A project to put the wireless Web in the air is under way!

The WirelessCabin project is developing wireless access technologies for a aircraft cabins. He says: "The concept of the wireless cabin access will be demonstrated in flight via satellite using an Airbus long-haul aircraft. The cabin services will provide mobility, VPNs and AAA functions which need to be developed for the mobile users."

A German technologist, Dr. Axel Jahn of the German Aerospace Center Institute of Communications and Navigation, has started a project called Wireless Cabin, aiming to calm the fears of airline operators and provide airborne high-speed Internet services. [

Jahn says that several access technologies in the cabin are envisaged for passengers: UMTS for personal telephony and packet data, Bluetooth and W-LAN for IP access. The Bluetooth interface will also be used for transport of UMTS services.

The project will define a system architecture for wireless access (UMTS, W-LAN and Bluetooth) in an aircraft cabin. The passenger will be able to use their own personal equipment (mobile phone, laptop).

"For this, the project will develop a service integrator that maps the cabin services on a satellite bearer to be connected to the terrestrial infrastructure," says Jahn.

The concept of the wireless cabin access will be demonstrated in flight via satellite using an Airbus long-haul aircraft. The cabin services will provide mobility, VPNs and AAA functions which need to be developed for the mobile users.

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Dr Jahn can be contacted via email, or by phone at +49 8153 282847

See our earlier article calling for airline sanity about wireless.