Avionica is pleased to announce Boeing 737 STC availability for satLINK, the Iridium™ satellite-based voice and data communications alternative. FAA STC ST03386AT has been granted to Avionics Support Group (ASG), who now offer our mutual customers both kit fabrication and installation for this product. Soon to be available are STCs for the Boeing 757 (FAA Project No. ST9600AT-T) and the Boeing 767.

Launch customer Miami Air recently commenced installations, as will our newest satLINK customer, Continental Airlines.

Reliable, global, real-time voice and data communications are finally possible. Iridium is expected to gain its FAA safety certification in May, 2007, making it acceptable as an ATC communications alternative. "This is an excellent, affordable communications solution for airlines flying outside the range of HF stations, and even for Inmarsat-equipped aircraft flying polar routes", notes Avionica's president, Raul Segredo. "It also fills the gap left by Verizon's exit from the in-flight telephone business - satLINK is an excellent solution for emergency air-ground communications, like in-flight medical emergency management".

satLINK may be installed with either a dedicated audio handset, or integrated into the aircraft’s audio system using the audio panel , headset, and mic push-to-talk keys for control. The cabin handset option is a uniquely functional feature - it uses VoIP technology over the Cabin Wireless LAN (CWLU) option. And each aircraft can be addressed with a unique telephone number, ensuring it can not only place calls, but also be selectively called.

satLINK not only provides an Iridium connection, it also manages communications traffic, routing it based on network availability and criticality, ensuring the most economical transmission of data. Since over 60% of ACARS transmissions often occur on the ground, significant savings can be achieved by routing them over 802.11 wireless.

Unlike ACARS, Iridium data channels are dedicated. ACARS is shared, and as more and more customers are signed under flat-fee contracts, availability can only decline. "The Iridium constellation is the ATC messaging backbone of the future", notes Raul.

satLINK provides gateway connectivity between a variety of aircraft communications network types, including ARINC 429, ARINC 618, ARINC 619, Ethernet, and 802.11 wireless. satLINK bridges all these networks to Iridium and to each other. A shared or (optionally) dedicated audio channel is also included. satLINK can provide GPS position data to the Ethernet bus , as well as an 802.11 cabin wireless access point.

Avionica, Inc. specializes in complete flight data management solutions. Products include secureLINK, the airborne wireless Ethernet router, the miniQAR, the world’s first miniature quick access flight data recorder, the RSU II, a handheld flight-data recorder monitoring and download tool, AVSCAN.flight, a commercial and military flight data analysis tool, USB429win, a USB ARINC 429 databus analyzer, and LOAD615win, the USB-based ARINC 615 portable dataloader.