Teledyne Wireless LAN Unit Certified at Boeing

A fifth-generation Aircraft Wireless LAN Unit (AWLU) from Teledyne Controls, an aircraft data and information management business based in El Segundo, Calif., has been successfully certified by Boeing as a Buyer Furnished Equipment (BFE) option for installation on all new 777 production aircraft.

 

The AWLU enables the secure, reliable, and cost-effective transfer of data to and from the aircraft. In this 777 application, the AWLU provides the wireless transfer of Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) and/or Onboard Networking System (ONS) applications data.

 

The new AWLU is a compact, lightweight networking solution that provides high-speed ground based off-board wireless connectivity for any systems onboard the aircraft, using 3G/4G cellular and optional WiFi technology. It is designed to be easily upgradeable to newer cellular standards as they become available.

 

"The AWLU provides a critical component of any airlines e-enabled aircraft strategy," said Larry Levine, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales at Teledyne Controls. "Using cellular and/or 802.11 WiFi technologies, the AWLU provides a secure, reliable, and cost-effective link to connect the aircraft to the airline network to support current and future applications as they are developed."

 

Teledyne's wireless solutions include the Wireless GroundLink Comm+ System (WGL) and the fifth-generation AWLU . Previous generations of these products have been flying in commercial service for over a decade and have given Teledyne a wealth of experience in the wireless transmission of data for the airline industry. Additionally, Teledyne has recently signed a Technical Services Agreement (TSA) with Boeing to develop and certify in 2014 its Terminal Cellular System (TCS) for the Boeing 787, bringing communications capability similar to the AWLU to that airplane model.

 

In October 2013, the Boeing Co. awarded Teledyne Controls a contract to develop and supply the next generation of aircraft data acquisition systems for the Boeing Next Generation 737 and 737 MAX and the new information management system for the 777, Next -Generation 737, 737 MAX, and 747-8 production aircraft.

 

As an integral part of the contract, the data acquisition and information management solution includes two newly-developed avionics units: the enhanced Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit (eDFDAU) and the Network File Server 2 (NFS2), designed to further improve flight safety, efficiency, and maintenance.