Honeywell, teamed with Inmarsat Eclipse (an Inmarsat service provider), has developed new High Data Rate (HDR) capabilities that will double in-flight Wi-Fi speeds for aircraft and helicopters through an on-aircraft software upgrade. The team has completed flight and lab tests of HDR capabilities from Inmarsat’s L-band SwiftBroadband network over Honeywell’s HSD-40 and HD-710 on-board hardware. Eclipse is using its Aero+ Velocity IP aggregation program to combine four HDR channels to provide average speeds of 2.15 Mbps and peak speed of around 2.75 Mbps. The three partners will jointly offer the higher speed capabilities.

HDR builds on SwiftBroadband service that was launched in 2007 and upgraded with the X-Stream enhancement in 2010. “SwiftBroadband has a very strong future as part of Inmarsat’s portfolio,” said Kurt Weidemeyer. “We are fully committed to our global L-band services and will continue to develop our technology to provide more bandwidth and better services.”

At the same time Inmarsat continues to work with Honeywell and other partners as it rolls out it new GX Aviation Ka-band services. Inmarsat also is developing its new S-band network in Europe.

Separately, Honeywell will provide satellite communications equipment for Gulfstream’s new G500 and G600 aircraft. Honeywell is supplying its AMT-700 antenna and MCS-7120 high-speed data system. The equipment will enable voice calls, along with Internet connectivity, while traveling at 40,000 ft.

The AMT-700 antenna, which will be standard on G500 and G600 aircraft, provides access to Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband. The MCS-7120 system supports upcoming regulations such as Future Air Navigation System (FANS) 1/A+, controller pilot data-link communications and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C).