Networking

Flying computer centre

In the new Airbus A380, in future there will be a data network on board which is unmatched by that in any other commercial aircraft. What moves along this information highway and which rules apply, will be decided individually by the airlines. Lufthansa wants to help to write this chapter in aviation history and ring in a new age in information technology – for the benefit of customers, flight attendants and pilots.

The computer science specialists at Lufthansa call the new Airbus the “Flying computer network”. Because on board there are not only high-performance computers, in the bottom of the aircraft there are also miles of network cables.

In the information technology installed in the A380, Lufthansa is exploring new directions. Whereas up to now civil aviation developed its own IT world, in the Airbus A380, many standard components are included which have already been tried and tested many times on the ground. Like all security- relevant systems in the aircraft, the information technology system is el newslink special 12 Electronic monitoring of all systems in the aircraft on test flights. also installed in triplicate and is thus redundant. That means that if an IT system fails, there is always a second or even third level operating independently of each other.

Lufthansa is provided by the manufacturer Airbus with a basic network structure, on the basis of which the Lufthansa engineers develop their further, individual applications. A highperformance computer centre is created which would do credit to a mediumsized company. The configuration as a network offers a series of advantages: for example, the Lufthansa engineers can upload new software much more easily and install it faster.

With the new IT, the pilot has a better overview. In the cockpit there will be no more electro-mechanical safeguards. They will be replaced by specially developed software components and can now be operated individually via the displays in the cockpit. Contact with the ground systems during the flight will also be made easier by the networked structure. And this is also of benefit to the passengers. They can now already inform themselves during the flight about entry regulations or connecting flights.