Inflight internet provider Anuvu wants to boost Ka-band connectivity. The company is launching its Dual-Panel Ka-Band Inflight Connectivity Antenna System (DPSAA) solution at APEX EXPO, offering increased capacity to the aircraft, especially at higher latitudes, thanks to an extra aperture installed under the radome.
The antenna, developed in partnership with QEST, is a key component of Anuvu’s Airconnect Ka multi-orbit connectivity platform. The company sees it as a strong offering on both GEO and LEO networks, providing the best possible performance on each network.
We are thrilled to be able to showcase our latest hybrid-network, multi-orbit innovation with our longtime partner QEST. – Mike Pigott, Anuvu EVP Connectivity
The dual-panel solution takes the latest generation Ka-band antenna technology and adds a second, receive-only aperture under the radome. Mike Pigott, Anuvu’s EVP Connectivity explains, “There are certain flight paths where we would love to have more surface area for receive. And that’s what the second panel does. It is a very innovative, low incremental weight add-on to our first generation antenna. And we get a great increase in performance.”
The company sees it as a big jump for the link, while avoiding many of the developmental pitfalls the ESA market has hit over the years. Indeed, Anuvu calls out the “many years in which Electrically Steerable Antennae, or ESA’s, have consistently failed to mature,” and positions the DPSAA as a future-proof solution built on proven technology and available today.
To Pigott, the new DPSAA is about “not promising some great giant leap forward, when we’ve all looked at the market and it’s just not there yet.” Instead, he believes the new platform can help the company “continue to give comfort to our customer base that we are going to support them through this evolution.”
Anuvu’s confidence in the DPSAA’s ability to support LEO constellations and even exceed ESA performance in some cases through that evolution, is also notable.
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More news from APEX EXPO 2022
- Panasonic Avionics, OneWeb team for inflight internet service
- Anuvu boosts Ka-band connectivity with dual panel antenna
- Virgin Australia picks 2Ku for Wi-Fi boost
- Dimmable windows coming to the A350 with Starlux
- Panasonic Avionics highlights Stellar Blu antenna for OneWeb LEO service
- A first look at Spirit’s new seats
- Bringing the moving map online: Panasonic’s Arc gets a data feed
- Pairing, casting and streaming: The next generation of inflight entertainment emerges
- Starlink/JSX STC slips
- SLAs suck: Seeking a service specification shift
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