IN-FLIGHT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An in-flight communications system and method suitable for discrete use by, e.g., an Air Marshal, includes a personal digital assistant (PDA) device having wireless communications capabilities, an aircraft cabin wireless local area network (LAN) within which the PDA device can operate, a communications management unit (CMU) associated with the wireless LAN and operable to send and receive data via ACARS, and an operations center operable to receive data that is generated by the PDA, transmitted over the wireless LAN and passed to the operations center via ACARS.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1-13. -13. (canceled)
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14. A method of sending a message from an air borne aircraft, comprising:
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composing a message on a PDA device;
transmitting the message from the PDA device over an aircraft cabin wireless network to a communications management unit (CMU);
encrypting the message to create an encrypted message;
sending the encrypted message via an ACARS network;
receiving the encrypted message at a datalink service provider;
forwarding the encrypted message to an operations center; and
decrypting the encrypted message to obtain the message. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of sending a message from an air borne aircraft, comprising:
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composing a message on a PDA device;
encrypting the message to create an encrypted message;
transmitting the encrypted message from the PDA device over an aircraft cabin wireless network to a communications management unit (CMU);
sending the encrypted message via an ACARS network;
receiving the encrypted message at a datalink service provider;
forwarding the encrypted message to an operations center; and
decrypting the encrypted message to obtain the message. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27-33. -33. (canceled)
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34. A system of sending a message from an air borne aircraft, the system comprising:
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a means for composing a message on a PDA device;
a means for transmitting the message from the PDA device over an aircraft cabin wireless network to a communications management unit (CMU);
a means for encrypting the message to create an encrypted message;
a means for sending the encrypted message via an ACARS network;
a means for receiving the encrypted message at a datalink service provider;
a means for forwarding the encrypted message to an operations center; and
a means for decrypting the encrypted message to obtain the message. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A system of sending a message from an air borne aircraft, comprising:
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a means for composing a message on a PDA device;
a means for encrypting the message to create an encrypted message;
a means for transmitting the encrypted message from the PDA device over an aircraft cabin wireless network to a communications management unit (CMU);
a means for sending the encrypted message via an ACARS network;
a means for receiving the encrypted message at a datalink service provider;
a means for forwarding the encrypted message to an operations center; and
a means for decrypting the encrypted message to obtain the message. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification