In-flight entertainment: Designers get on board with COMs and CompactPCI

In-flight entertainment was once a very basic airplane accessory much like peanuts or pillows. Until recently, in-flight entertainment architects did not aim to deliver a real wow experience to the passenger – and the options at hand definitely met that expectation. Passenger expectations, however, began to shift dramatically in recent years, building and growing along the same path as advances in home entertainment, along with the public’s almost universal acceptance of personal electronic communications. Passengers began to expect their own screens at the very least, and from there, a few more options in terms of their in-flight programming choices. Now those options are more expansive, interactive, and potentially more graphics-based than anybody could have imagined, all in mid-air. The airlines in turn are getting more and more creative in terms of the systems they want to deploy – going beyond being competitive and ultimately turning greater levels of passenger entertainment into new streams of in-flight revenue.

Today, all those program options live on a plane’s entertainment database and are delivered on command, seat by seat. And in addition to weighing the bandwidth options, designers must address some very specific considerations – size, weight, and power, shock and vibration, upgradeability, seat electronics, and even the configuration of the aircraft itself – as they affect installation complexity.

COMs and CompactPCI

3U CompactPCI, well established in avionics with powerful I/O, rugged features, and small form factor, is a prevailing choice of architecture for an airplane’s entertainment server. An extensive range of software is PCI-compatible, and even newer software engineers are familiar with PCI-based programming. So CompactPCI’s staying power is not only strong but growing, based on its ability to deliver rear I/O in a smaller 3U form factor, powerful industry support, and the latest processing technology available on CompactPCI boards.

COMs put an entire computer’s host-complex power on a small form factor module, essentially offering each airline seat all generic PC functions, such as graphics, Ethernet, sound, COM and USB ports, and other system buses. The COM works in conjunction with a custom-designed carrier board, complementing these features with any additional functionality required for a particular in-flight application.

COMs are highly appropriate for designs that include extensive application-specific customization and can afford a two-board solution (module plus custom carrier board). COMs help in-flight designers achieve scalability from generation to generation but also within a single generation. For example, customizations designed into a COM’s accompanying carrier board can last for generations with various CPU cores, simply by swapping out one for the next.

Ethernet-based in-flight entertainment

In what may be today’s traditional in-flight entertainment system, a single powerful 3U CompactPCI unit typically controls a plane’s entertainment database and delivers the various program elements as passengers make their entertainment choices. Programming is typically received by a box containing a COM solution that controls the passenger display. One box per row is on each side of the aisle, meaning planes typically rely on a single COM solution to control at least three displays.

This type of system including both COMs and CompactPCI is an example of Ethernet-based entertainment distribution. An ETXexpress-CD module is at each seat box controlling the monitors in the system and talking to the plane’s entertainment server. (See Figure 1, courtesy of Kontron.) For the designer of in-flight entertainment systems the goal is to create an entertainment environment for each passenger similar to what the individual would consider at-home entertainment.

Figure 1: An ETXexpress-CD module is at each seat box controlling the monitors in the system and talking to the plane’s entertainment server (image courtesy of Kontron). (click graphic to zoom by 1.9x)

COMs are at the heart of the personal control units and use Intel Core 2 Duo processing technology and the 945GME chipset. The integrated graphics capabilities of the chipset are excellent, however they must share the resources of the system memory. Graphics capabilities can be enhanced if the design moves up to the ETXe-PC platform, which includes greater graphics capabilities and uses a higher performance platform.

Additionally, the system could be upgraded to add the Universal Graphics Module (UGM)-M72 into the design to control more displays and alleviate the bottleneck of sharing the CPU modules’ system memory. UGM is a dedicated graphics module that offers significant improvements and benefits to the COMs’ management of graphics – including a simple connector, accelerated HD video, and no fan requirement, along with long-term availability as an embedded component.

To make these designs more low power in the future or allow the control box size to be reduced, integration of the microETXexpress form factor is an option as well. This is a result of its compatibility to the COM Express pin-out Type 2 already employed in the solution. As new multi-core solutions become available, options for utilizing hyper-threading and platform management for system security will also become broadly available as enhancements to these types of in-flight entertainment solutions.

3U CompactPCI and fiber optics

Another design option involves 3U CompactPCI working in conjunction with fiber optics throughout the aircraft. A centralized system combines multiple CompactPCI units – each working with as many as 15-20 seats – into a server, which then feeds back entertainment data into fiber optics run to each seat. This server can also allow Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and other I/O boards to be connected to each processor blade. In turn, these blades are networked via Gigabit Ethernet to allow secure communication for traffic such as credit card transactions. Larger planes may have 200 or more seats, and so would require seven or eight CompactPCI systems functioning together as one entertainment server.

For example, a system using Kontron’s CP307 CompactPCI board (Figure 2) as its foundation would have low power consumption through its Intel L2400 Core Duo processor and high memory density with up to 4 GB dual channel DDR2 667 MHz memory. With the broad and growing range of processors on the market, a system can have as much or as little computing power as needed. And with multiple systems connected as a single entertainment server switch unit, hardware is kept to a minimum, and passengers have access to super high bandwidth at more than a gigabit per second per seat. High-performance CompactPCI blades provide the computing resources that give users faster access to all entertainment options available. This means passengers wait less time between changing channels and loading movies, music, or video games – allowing for a better overall experience.

Figure 2: A system using Kontron’s CP307 CompactPCI board. (click graphic to zoom by 1.9x)

Today’s CompactPCI systems deliver notably improved graphics performance and a 25 percent higher data transfer rate compared to previous platform designs. Direct soldered processors accommodate the higher levels of shock and vibration found in an aircraft. Also, the comprehensive I/O connectivity supports future-oriented interfaces (Gigabit Ethernet and fiber optics) beyond the typical desktop environment interfaces, which include USB, VGA, DVI, SATA, CompactFlash, and onboard PCI Express. With this large range of onboard features, systems can be easily upgraded to accommodate the latest entertainment options. Further, from a design perspective, CompactPCI is very widely supported, with a broad range of rugged chassis available for the form factor.

This solution offers excellent size, weight, and power management by using little or no hardware at each seat – only touchscreeens. Airlines save fuel based on these calculations, and that equates to a significant bottom-line benefit, especially from a system that also generates customer revenue in mid-air.

The centralized location of this type of system allows easy maintenance of a specific area designed to handle necessary shock and vibration, and functions as a rugged enclosure for the system. Bandwidth is exceptionally high through the use of fiber optics, so very high-level entertainment can be offered – even high-definition video for example, which has powerful revenue-generating potential for today’s airlines. The system provides enough bandwidth to handle games, pay-per-view movies, or functions such as ordering meals or snacks.

What’s on the horizon

Ultimately, in-flight entertainment is likely to follow a path similar to gaming, where personalization forms the foundation for loyalty programs and traveler incentives. Personalization not only makes loyal flying customers, but again means that airlines can consider entertainment as a part of their revenue picture today and moving forward into more and more exciting applications.

In-flight messaging, for example, means travelers can communicate with their friends who opted to skip first-class or keep working with their business associate a few rows back. To be sure, the social media model is coming soon to an aircraft near you. Along with in-flight movies, personal television, moving maps in a range of languages, Wi-Fi, high-definition video games, and pay-per view features are on the way.

Of course the rugged communications required for in-flight entertainment applications present unique challenges and demands in choosing an embedded architecture. But perhaps even more importantly, travelers are defining what they want and expect, and technology is working hard to keep up. No matter the design’s architecture, seamless embedded solutions are what it takes to make high availability entertainment a simple part of the journey.

David Pursley is an Applications Engineer with Kontron. He is responsible for business development of Kontron’s MicroTCA, AdvancedTCA, CompactPCI, and ThinkIO product lines in North America and is based in Pittsburgh, PA. Previously, he held various positions as a Field Applications Engineer, Technical Marketing Engineer, and Marketing Manager.

David holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering from Bucknell University and a Master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Christine Van De Graaf is the Product Marketing Manager for Kontron America’s Embedded Modules Division located in Silicon Valley. Christine has more than seven years of experience working in the embedded computing technology industry and holds an MBA in Marketing Management from California State University, Hayward, CA.

Kontron

www.kontron.com

david.pursley@us.kontron.com

christine.vandegraaf@us.kontron.com