Invention Makes Cell Phones Safe for Use On Airplanes
July 29, 2006 12:50 PM | Technology | Comments (0)
| ASI Entertainment, Inc's. wholly owned subsidiary ASiQ Pty Ltd announced today that it has applied for a patent for a new concept that allows cell phones to be operated in-flight, without interfering with the aircraft's avionics and the ground networks and eliminates the problem of annoying voice calls. Ron Chapman, ASiQ's President, stated: "There is a wealth of data documenting the three major issues with using cell phones in-flight. The first is they can interfere with the aircraft's avionics which could be potentially dangerous, the second is they can poll a 250 mile radius, disrupting multiple ground networks, and the third is passengers talking loudly on their cell phones could be very annoying. "Unlike the Airbus and Boeing in-flight cell phones programs, the ASiQ invention has been designed to prevent the cell phone transmitting, thereby eliminating the problem of interference with aircraft avionics and the ground network. |  |
Although the transmitter is shut down, only the ability to make a voice call in-flight is disabled. The cell phone will still function for SMS, emails and games."
The ASiQ unit is attached to the cell phone via a standard Bluetooth or cable connection. What makes the invention unique is that it is designed to work with all cell phone networks, GSM, CDMA, UMTS and EDGE. The unit communicates via the existing certified aviation communications networks and reduces data delivery cost as it does not rely on the cellular roaming network for transmission. The unit will be inexpensive and is designed to comply with aviation standards. As the cell phone cannot transmit on its normal frequencies it also addresses the approval and safety concerns.
The benefit to the airline is their passengers will have cell phone access to a low cost data service, without the airline having to install and certify expensive and complicated Pico Cell equipment. For the cabin crew the concerns of privacy will also be addressed.
ASiQ surveyed 491 cell phones and found that 418 had data connection capability and since 2005 virtually all modern cell phones have Bluetooth. Considering that the worldwide estimated Global Mobile Phone subscriber base in 2006 is 2 billion users and that 7.3 billion SMS messages were sent in June 2005, then providing the ability to send and receive data on a cell phone while in-flight should be a basic feature.
ASiQ plans to release the prototype at the upcoming World Airlines Entertainment Association (WAEA) Conference to be held in Miami September 12 to 15th. WAEA showcases the latest airline communication and entertainment technology.
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