Enabling multiantenna wireless communication in aircraft: channel modeling, interference and noise analysis, and antenna and detector optimization

Wireless data transfer in aircraft has been identified as a 'transformative' technology for aviation. Numerous sensors for improving safety and reliability have been proposed for aircraft, and wireless communication is desired to increase the flexibility of their deployment and minimize weight and maintenance. The aircraft channel has moderate to rich multipath which can be exploited by a multiantenna system to increase data throughput. The aircraft channel can be modeled using a site-specific 3D ray-tracing model and statistical models such as the Gaussian, Nakagami-m, and Weibull models. When combined with the front end parameters including directivity, polarization, matching, and efficiency, very accurate results are obtained. These models have been validated by performing measurements in three aircraft - Beech Baron BE 58P, Rockwell T-39 Sabreliner, and Diamond DA 42 Twin Star. Accurate prediction of practical system capacity requires consideration of external interference sources as well as adjacent users. Along with interference, noise must also be considered in realistic systems, because it reduces the capacity by increasing the ambiguity at the detector.