Five Ways 5G Is Transforming the Aviation Industry

What is the role of telecommunication in avionics?

Since its first flight at Kitty Hawk, the airplane has become an integral part of human life. The familiar drone of jet engines passing overhead has become a part of the cacophony of urban living. From reducing the distance between neighbours to enabling overnight deliveries from distant parts of the world, the airplane has defined the 21st century. 

 Five things that have become synonymous with airplane travel 

• One, the long-winding queues before the check-in counter. 
• Two, the demand to arrive two-three hours before boarding. 
• Three, the lack of personalized entertainment facilities on air. 
• Four, unexpected delays, especially during the monsoon season. 
• And five, baggage claiming time and the very real risk of losing baggage.

In the history of engineering, finding a single solution to multiple problems is uncommon. But could a single invention potentially solve problems plaguing the airline industry today?  

The answer is 5G.

And these are the ways 5G will transform aviation.  

 

Aviation Industry-Friendly Features of 5G

The fifth generation of broadband wireless technology boasts higher speed, increased bandwidth, and lower latency. The natural successor to the current 4G networking technology, 5G operates within three broadly defined frequencies—the low, mid, and high bandwidths. A rule of thumb is that frequency directly relates to bandwidth. The adoption of higher frequencies, in the range of 50 to 400 MHz, increases the amount of data transferred in any given instance. This frequency range is also referred to as the millimeter wave and requires extensive infrastructure to work as intended truly. 

5G has three features that significantly improve the aviation industry. 

1. Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB): Provides increased speed and area coverage. 
2. Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC): This can facilitate the operation of business-critical applications that require instant fail-proof real-time connectivity.
3. Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) Will facilitate a large user base. 

Airline operators and government aviation authorities leverage these inherent qualities of a 5G network to improve the quality of service offered to passengers. Listed below are the roles of telecommunication in avionics.

The Smart Airports of the Aviation Industry

Security reasons are the rationale behind asking passengers to arrive at least a few hours before their printed boarding time. The security personnel must ensure that your belongings do not constitute a security risk. Even though your secured check-in luggage is scanned and catalogued by a robot, it requires human intervention when an anomaly is flagged. Of course, your carry-on luggage will be checked and sorted by an experienced airport professional. 

5G-enabled airports, like the ones currently in Delhi and Hyderabad, benefit from the increased bandwidth offered by this new-generation network. These airports can deploy 4K/8K ready security cameras, which process the images captured in the cloud. Facial recognition technology enabled by 5G technology will use deep learning algorithms in real-time to accurately identify passengers individually. This will significantly reduce the time taken process passengers shaving off a significant chunk of travel time.  

One of the features of 5G is its ability to support a large user base simultaneously while providing uninterrupted service. This feature allows multiple users with 5G-enabled wearable devices to connect to the same network and transfer data between them, the sender, and a central database in the cloud. These connected IoT wearables can immediately check-in passengers when they enter the airport and forward their details to the airlines' database, reducing the time to start a journey. 

The high user density offered by 5G networks helps the aviation industry improve the security offered to passengers. Cameras enabled with deep learning algorithms run by Convoluted Neural Networks will be able to identify human behavioural patterns. This will rapidly improve the ability of security forces to capture people engaging in nefarious activities. 

 

The Robots Are Cornering the Avionics Market

Civilisation has always been advancing towards automation, from the first ploughshare that increased agriculture productivity to the deep-learning algorithm unravelling the structure of a protein. But, the poster child of automation in the 21st century has been the self-driving car. The anti-collision and airbag sensors have been the incremental steps towards realising level 5 or complete automation. 

Automation of vehicles has a significant role to play in the aviation industry as well. While we are quite far from an operational self-flying aircraft, there are advances in ground crew-enabling robotics. And the adoption of 5G will only accelerate the complete dominance of robots over the tarmac. 

Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, and Tokyo's Haneda airport have all experimented with automated buses that ferry passengers between the airplane and the boarding counter. 

The operation of a robust automated vehicle network requires certain prerequisites. One, the network should be able to carry a large volume of data. Two, the network should carry large amounts of data very quickly. Three, the network has to transfer data in real time. The only network that can serve as the foundation of Cellular-Vehicle to Everything is 5G. 

5G-enabled networks will allow the fleets of vehicles on the tarmac to communicate with each in real time. For instance, when connected to an arriving aircraft, the IoT-enabled vehicles will arrive at its gate as soon as it lands. The processed rucksacks are based on QR tags and will await the passengers based on their exit order. 

The Chengdu airport in China is experimenting with an automated boarding bridge that connects with the aircraft's door. 

Automated vehicles are just some of the beneficiaries of the increased low-latency, high-bandwidth capabilities of 5G. Passengers will be able to hire mobile robots that can carry out various functions, including; serving as a self-help kiosk, carrying baggage, helping the elderly with transfer, and multiple other niche roles. These robots will have IoT features that allow them to talk with the rest of the robots at the airport to create a stress-free travelling environment. 

 

Changing Perceptions Within the Avionics Industry

The higher bandwidth and near-zero latency service features of 5G also open a brand-new avenue of passenger comfort. The airlines and other advertisers in the aviation industry will be able to engage with passengers through Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. For example, passengers will be able to experience a virtual tour of their plane, or advertisers could create Augmented Reality content that captures the attention of the travellers. 

The low-latency networking capabilities of 5G also help develop parts in the avionic industry. The turbine blades of an aircraft's engine cut through the air pulled into the engine's combustion chamber. These blades have to be razor sharp and should not have any defects or will risk material failure through wear and tear. The ultra-low latency of 5G allows the generation of a real-time virtual clone of the manufacturing process. Analysing this virtual clone allows engineers to stop the manufacture of the component and resolve the error. 

Internet in the Sky: What Is the Role of Telecommunication in Avionics?

In just a decade, humanity has seen a remarkable evolution in the technology that empowers us daily. Not long ago, passengers were instructed to power down their devices before the flight took off. Later on, this warning was replaced by the 'set devices to airplane mode' instruction. Today the advancement in technology allows passengers to connect to the internet even while flying. And with the introduction of 5G, air passengers will no longer need to download entire seasons of their favourite web series before boarding their flight.  

The technical feature of 5G wireless broadband which allows telecommunication operators to provide internet to airplane travellers is called beamforming.  Simply put, it focuses the data signal on finding the most direct route for delivering the data, reducing the energy required to transfer data by simply slashing it everywhere, as was the case with the 4G networks. 

 

The Problem With Avionics and 5G

While adopting 5G in the aviation industry will transform the status quo, it is imperative to understand that 5G is still a brand-new technology; one whose impact on the avionics of an aircraft is still unclear. The FAA, the committee that regulates all civilian aviation in the United States, and the airline companies argue that 5G can be potentially fatal to aircraft safety. While the FCC, the committee that regulates all civilian communication in the United States, and the telecommunication companies argue in favour of the safety of 5G communication. 

When airplanes land, they use Radar Altimeters to gauge the distance to the land, and these altimeters operate at a frequency of 4.2 to 4.4 GHz. The problem is civilian 5G telecommunication operates between the 3.7 and 3.98 GHz bands. This holds the potential of interfering with the Radar Altimeters, the consequences of which are catastrophic. 

This is where we require enterprising new engineers working on the bleeding edge of science and technology, pushing the engineering envelope forward. Only by employing efficient engineers who think outside the box and provide inspiring solutions to these perplexing questions can 5G evolve into the future. 

To create our state-of-the-art 5G telecom programme, we have collaborated with some of the best experts in the industry. Students in our curriculum will gain a working knowledge of cutting-edge tools in the aviation industry while practising related tasks. These projects serve as simulations of actual issues and aid students in comprehending the skill sets needed to be successful in the 5G telecom industry. Find out how you can bring about change as a skilled engineer in the global aviation industry by consulting our career consultants, today.