Attracting over 10 000 attendees, MRO Europe held in September 2023, is the largest event of its kind in the region and always the perfect opportunity to connect with aviation maintenance market. With attendees from 100+ countries, 480 solution providers on the exhibit floor and 50+ expert speakers, the event was celebrating his 25th birthday and was more than ever, the place to be, to share about modern maintenance challenges.
ALTYS Technologies attended the event and exchanged with key representatives from major MRO players. “MRO Europe is a unique event to showcase POCKET and demonstrate how exhaustive, accurate and easy-to-use this VDL/ACARS CPDLC test bench is.” said CEO Alexandre Simonin. “And for all our customers, efficiency is money.“
Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for CPDLC operations
Retrofiting Commercial, Regional and Business Jets for EU Regulation 2015/310
Retrofiting aircraft with datalink capability
EU Regulation 2015/310 amending Regulation 29/2009
Quoting EUROCONTROL: “Regulation (EC) No 29/2009 lays down requirements for the coordinated introduction of data link services based on air-ground point-to-point data communications.”
The regulation, and associated amendments, forces CPDLC operations for all aircraft flying airspace of all EU countries above FL 285.
As of new, all aircraft are concerned with this regulation. This is the reason why retrofit is needed for a number of airlines.
Can I run an STC for CPDLC when no datalink is available?
Yes. At locations where no VHF connectivity is available, POCKET acts as a Datalink Service Provider and generates VHF signals recognized by aircraft’ avionics, as any standard “base station” from SITA or ARINC network would do.
Once VHF connectivity is established with aircraft – ACARS POA or VDL Mode 2 connectivity – POCKET advertises ATN support.
A cockpit-initiated CM LOGON procedure can then be executed, and further PM-CPDLC exchanges can take place.
This is useful at Europe locations where VHF connectivity is not available (few sites remain uncovered), or when you run your
Can I use POCKET to test more than just CPDLC?
Yes. POCKET allows you to test CPDLC and other ICAO applications (such as CM or AFN, and ADS-C), but also to check Airline Operational Communications (AOC) and even aircraft ADS-B capability.
Can I use POCKET to test CPDLC when SITA or ARINC connectivity is available?
Yes. POCKET can establish a CPDLC communication with your aircraft even at locations where VHF communication is available, i.e. when your aircraft is in line of sight of an operational VHF Ground Station (VGS).
How does POCKET recognize my aircraft?
When started, i.e. tuned on a given frequency and directed to operate on a given mode – VDL2 or ACARS POA – POCKET automatically “listens” the frequency to “discover” aircraft in visibility.
When your aircraft shows on the list, just pick it up to initiate communications:
However, this discovery procedure may take little time. For those in a hurry, just declare your aircraft as a “known” aircraft (a communication with it will then first be attempted):
The only information you need are aircraft’ registration and 24 bits ICAO addresses.
Can I use POCKET to test FANS-1A CPDLC ?
Yes. POCKET supports both FANS-1A (i.e. non ATN) and FANS B (i.e. ATN) communications.
When you wish to FANS-A1 check your aircraft, including AFN and CPDLC application, the only thing you have to do before initiating your test session is turn the ATN off.
This is useful when operated fleet only flies US airspace, or any other airspace where ATN is not operational.
Can I test CPDLC communications with any ATC Centre ?
Yes. POCKET is preconfigured with most common operational ATC Centres (FANS 1A and FANS B).
Yet, if you want to exercise aircraft communications with an ATC Centre not yet declared in POCKET, just update the configuration file with desired information, and rerun!
Does POCKET supports multiple ACARS and/or VDL2 frequencies?
Yes. POCKET includes supports for all known operational frequencies:
And if one is of no use for you, just turn it off!
Can both ACARS and CPDLC communications be tested ?
Yes. POCKET supports communications both ICAO applications (CM, CPDLC and ADS-C) and Airlines applications:
