Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
Rockwell Collins has entered into a strategic partnership with ICG (International Communications Group, Inc.) to offer its eRouter (ERT-100 and ERT-120) smart cabin routers to the company’s ARINCDirect business aviation customers.
“Offering a smart router as part of our solution provides access to on-board content and allows us to create value-added services for our customers,” said David Stanley, staff vice president, ARINCDirect for Rockwell Collins. “We can now provide end-to-end solutions that integrate our ground and air applications to save business aviation operators time and expense, while improving the overall passenger connectivity experience. The ICG eRouter provides superior capabilities at a very affordable cost.”
For business aviation, smart routers are now a necessity for aircraft connectivity enablement. They provide data and voice routing services for aircraft applications and are developed specifically to meet aviation standards and requirements. In addition to managing on board networks like Ka, Ku, L-Band, ATG and GSM within the cabin, the router enables more flight departments and crews to access ARINCDirect service offerings such as Follow Me GSM over Wi-Fi, media content, international trip planning and weather services by acting as the communications gateway for any number of connected devices onboard.
The smart router also supports cabin crew, flight deck and aircraft system data communication requirements, enabling flight crews using the ARINCDirect Flight Planning app to access their account and update flight plans, weather, charts and trip documents while en route.
“The ICG eRouter has a robust set of features to include 3G/4G LTE connectivity for on-ground data transfers as well as channel bonding capabilities and next generation acceleration/compression software for faster data speeds in the air,” said Darren Emery, ICG’s director, Connectivity Products and Program Management. “Rockwell Collins customers will benefit from features such as routing based on the lowest cost given the available networks and bandwidth allocation disseminated in the right amount to the right places, making for a positive passenger experience.”
“In addition to all of its features and functionality, the ICG eRouter has one other important distinction,” notes Stanley. “It is service agnostic and gives operators the freedom to choose their satcom provider. Having a choice in providers is beneficial to users by keeping the service costs competitive as well as driving innovative value-added solutions.”
