Optimization of the UMTS network radio coverage on-board an aircraft

Abstract

In a world where mobile connectivity has become a need, aircraft passengers still have limited access to communication services during the flight. Both industries and research communities have tried to solve this problem by applying a number of wireless access technologies within the cabin. However, these services are not currently available in commercial aircrafts, where the users have to spend hours isolated from the rest of the world. The Universal Mobile Terrestrial System (UMTS) has been considered as a candidate wireless access network for providing mobile connectivity. Since UMTS is not a near range technology, it was always assumed that one Node B is enough to cover the whole cabin. However, if only one UMTS Node B is adopted a relatively large transmission power would be required to guarantee an acceptable quality of service. As a consequence, this will interfere with on-board instrumentation and control transmission mechanisms. Moreover some of the signal may radiate outside the cabin possibly interfering with the terrestrial UMTS networks. This type of network topology has the disadvantage of having only one single point of failure and therefore the connection will not be available if the propagation path between the UMTS Node B and the receiving point are obstructed. This paper tries to solve these problems by applying a number of UMTS Node Bs strategically located around the aircraft, taking a typical configuration of the Airbus A340-600.