The Impact of Wiring on Network Reliability in the Aviation Industry

Advancements in networking and embedded systems have played a crucial role in transforming the inflight entertainment and avionics industries over the past few decades. Inflight entertainment relies on various networking applications via these embedded devices like live streaming, video and music streaming from a central server, payment for services, and passenger and crew communications. To understand the network complexity in these aircraft, we need to look at some of the commonly used networking protocols in these applications: ICMP, IP, UDP, TCP, IGMP, ARP, DHCP, and HTTP. A typical commercial aircraft contains many wires, around 150,000 to 500,000, depending on the airline type and size of the aircraft. A lot of modern aircraft use fiber optic cables for high-speed communication. However, copper cables still exist in these aircraft for various reasons. This paper examines the various types of cables used in aircraft and their specific applications. It also highlights potential issues that may impact these cables, focusing on how they can affect network performance. Finally, as a case study, we explore strategies for identifying and addressing problems related to cable bend radius, ensuring a smooth and reliable in-flight entertainment (IFE) experience for passengers. Keywords— Embedded systems, Networks, Network reliability, Cables, Bend radius, Copper, Coaxial, STP, UTP, Fiber optic, Signal integrity, ARP, ICMP, Signal degradation, EMI