Collins Demonstrates High-speed Satcom Datalink

Rockwell Collins is behind Honeywell and EMS Technologies in the race to bring high-speed data to the cockpit, but the company is still vying to make it a three-horse race. Collins announced it has successfully demonstrated its high-speed satcom datalink using the Inmarsat Swift64 service. Scheduled for availability in September, the HST-900 will allow passengers to surf the Web and send and receive e-mail at speeds of close to 64 kbps. Designed as a companion to the Collins
SAT-906 satcom, the HST-900 is equipped with Ethernet, ISDN and RS-232 interfaces, allowing simultaneous access by multiple users in the aircraft cabin. Once installed, Collins claims the system can be upgraded for new generations of high-speed datalink with “minimal impact.” Honeywell and EMS Technologies have both said updates to their systems would require costly hardware upgrades.