Adaptation of land mobile systems for onboard operation

The operation of Personal Communication Systems' (PCS) during air travel time, has already been recognized as a formal user requirement. However, the existing and planned onboard communication systems for public services, the Aeronautical Passenger Communications (APC), have not been originally designed to support onboard operation of PCS. Further, a number of functional restrictions are imposed when such systems get airborne. In this paper, the authors discuss potential solution(s) for extending PCS mobility into the demanding environment of air travelling. The possibilities offered by the Aeronautical Telecommunication Network architecture are investigated, and practical alternatives are proposed. In addition, adaptation of existing PCSs, as well as extra requirements for the coming 3rd generation ones, for achieving interoperability with avionics subnetworks, are examined.