AIME 2010:AlsterAero addresses the airlines

“Our combined IFE/communications system is installed, certificated and flying in an Airbus A318 and an A319,” says managing director sales Bettina Mühlenberg-Lange. “And we’re talking to a number of full-service airlines about retrofits in their existing fleets.”    

The brainchild of some ex-employees of cabin systems leader Lufthansa Technik, AlsterAero has a staff of just 15 people – “though we’re constantly looking for more as our workload builds up,” says Mühlenberg-Lange. This small team has come up with a package that has attracted the praise of Airbus cabin specialists for its combination of versatility, performance and compactness. 

The complete AlsterAero offering comprises passenger communications and IFE subsystems and a cabin management capability. Customers can opt for all three, or for one or two of them. The data backbone is Ethernet arranged in a tree structure designed to minimise cable runs. Flexible connection schemes and power transmission via the data cabling further simplify installation and have allowed the elimination of traditional seat electronic boxes.

The system boasts a software architecture that allows functions traditionally handled by analogue hardware – audio/video switching, multiplexing, mixing, the addition of audio channels for tasks such as passenger address – to be handled entirely in software.

The passenger communications capability is based on the all-digital IPTCU (IP cabin telecommunications unit) server and the Ethernet switch, which together can support Inmarsat and other satellite bearer systems and applications such as wired and wireless Internet and VPN access, VoIP to cordless handsets, and ISDN data.

The IFE subsystem centres on a cluster of 2MCU servers, each capable of delivering audio, video, moving-map, games and other content to up to 50 seats. The AlsterAero architecture also makes possible less ambitious installations based on a DVD drive distributing its content over the same digital network. Any subsequent upgrade to a server-based arrangement is straightforward, the company says.