Gogo Business Aviation is making significant progress with the development of two key initiatives: Gogo Galileo and Gogo 5G.
At the end of March Gogo announced it had reached a major milestone with its Gogo Galileo global broadband service by completing an end-to-end connection using its HDX antenna on the Eutelsat OneWeb Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network. Gogo also announced in March that it was conducting virtual flight simulation testing of its 5G software.
Gogo Galileo HDX Prototype Making Connections
In February, Gogo received the first engineering prototype of the HDX antenna from is manufacturer, Hughes Network Systems. After installing the prototype in late-February on the roof of its headquarters in Broomfield, Colo., Gogo began software integration and validation testing.
“Gogo Galileo HDX stands to revolutionize business aviation inflight connectivity by delivering a solution fit for aircraft of all sizes, especially small jets, which have limited options today, and no broadband options outside North America,” said Sergio Aguirre, president and COO for Gogo. “We will begin flight testing with the HDX terminal this summer and remain on track to deliver this game-changing technology later this year.”
The completion of the first end-to-end antenna to satellite connection is the first major step required for Gogo to prove the functionality of the antenna technology and ultimately the entire Gogo Galileo ecosystem.
“This successful test of the Gogo Galileo HDX on the Eutelsat OneWeb network is a meaningful milestone, and extremely timely ahead of our launch of aviation connectivity services later this year,” said Jason Sperry, head of business aviation for Eutelsat OneWeb. “Our LEO constellation is fully deployed, and we are finalizing the ground infrastructure to deliver seamless, low latency and high-performance broadband connectivity to business jets no matter where they fly.”
Following more rigorous testing and verification, Gogo anticipates flight testing with the prototype HDX terminal will begin this summer. Gogo Galileo is expected to provide an order of magnitude improvement in the speed of service Gogo is providing today to meet the high expectations for fast inflight connectivity among business aviation professionals and travelers worldwide.
“Today’s passengers demand exceptional connectivity while traveling, even while flying,” said Reza Rasoulian, vice president, Hughes. “The ability to provide secure and reliable connectivity globally is a critical need in the industry and Hughes is proud to be a partner in bringing Gogo Galileo to market.”
Gogo 5G Progress
Utilizing an advanced virtual flight simulator constructed by Gogo’s radio frequency (RF) engineering team, the company announced it is emulating the radio channel in the airborne environment to verify its Gogo 5G software. Gogo says it can verify performance to a more than 90 percent confidence level using the flight simulator.
The technology Gogo has developed enables end-to-end 5G system testing ahead of schedule and helps to mature the software at a faster pace before flight testing begins.
“The virtual flight simulator is a customizable way of testing that allows us to continue the development and integration of all the parts of the 5G system using the very same algorithms as the 5G chip,” said Heinz Miranda, RF engineer for Gogo. “Specifically, it allows our development partners to complete the implementation of the 3GPP 5G protocol stack and allows us to integrate and verify it as an end-to-end system.”
By leveraging proprietary information and flight data, Gogo can check performance of the radio frequency, taking into consideration factors like doppler, altitude, flight routes, angle of approach, beam-forming technology and other parameters, all critical factors to understand as Gogo optimizes the 5G service and onboard connectivity performance.
“Although we are verifying all parts of the system, we are focusing on three major areas of the 5G system: ground-base stations, algorithm customizations for our wireless environment, and the modem on the plane,” Miranda added. “Our proprietary virtual flight-testing environment can simulate variations in geographical position and altitude, and many other changing factors of an aircraft enroute.”
Once lab testing is completed, the 5G software will be flight tested using Gogo’s Challenger 300 testbed and the already-deployed Gogo 5G network.
“The virtual flight simulator our team has constructed is an example of what we do best: innovate,” said Aguirre. “Our teams have designed a phenomenal method for validating and maturing our 5G software and hardware to a critical degree before the final 5G chip is in our hands.”
You can hear more in videos from Gogo’s product and RF engineering teams who are conducting state-of-the-art virtual flight simulator lab 5G testing and those putting the Gogo Galileo HDX antenna through its paces.