Axinom is extending its On-Board Cloud platform across the aircraft cabin, bringing seatback screens and mobile devices into the same Cloud infrastructure that previously reached only as far as the on-board server.
On-Board Cloud builds on open standards, including ARINC 853, the Cabin Secure Media-Independent Messaging (CSMIM) standard, which allows devices from different manufacturers to work together. Applications are treated the same way, whether built by the airline or by a third party, running on the same platform and managed from the Cloud.
Airline customers decide what is built on the platform, from a seatback display that dims the reading light and reclines the seat, to a coffee maker that reports a failing heating element during a flight.
Examples of onboard features include an app launcher for the seatback IFE screen, a CSMIM broker for cabin messaging, passenger authentication that pairs a personal device with the seat, and Edge-caching that keeps files close to the devices using them.
Live flight data can reach the moving map, the crew tablet and a passenger’s phone at the same time, while additional services, such as a multiplayer game on long-haul routes or a partner’s application for premium cabins, can be added from the ground.
“A seatback screen, a crew tablet, the oven in the galley: these are all just devices running services, and there is no reason for each of them to sit in a separate system,” said Ralph Wagner, chief executive of Axinom. “But a unified platform is not enough by itself. It has to be open, so that devices from any manufacturer work together and any application can run, whether the airline built it or a third party did. That is how an airline takes back the decisions about what happens in its cabin.”
The already established features of On-Board Cloud, including secure and efficient synchronisation between cabin and ground, central management of fleet and devices, and deployment of services on the server, continue as before and now extend to the seatback screen and to passengers and crew.
The platform remains hardware-agnostic, working with equipment already installed in the cabin, including legacy infrastructure, and supports partial deployments, so an airline can begin with part of its cabin or fleet and extend from there.
According to Axinom, the expansion positions On-Board Cloud as the foundation for an open, Cloud-based seatback platform, giving airlines a digital surface for entertainment, commerce, loyalty, and crew and disruption services.
Axinom will present On-Board Cloud at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon, from 13-15 October, and at APEX FTE Expo Asia in Singapore, from 18-19 November.
