Purpose of this Characteristic

This document sets forth the desired characteristics for information exchange and networking for a Mark I or Mark II Aviation Ku-band and Ka-band Satellite Communication (Satcom) Systems intended for installation in all types of commercial air transport aircraft, referred to as an ARINC 791 or an ARINC 792 satcom system respectively.

ARINC Characteristic 793 describes the third generation, fiber-optic based, satcom system. This document has not fully accounted for any specifics related to fiber-optic Ethernet interfaces. However, where possible, this document should provide guidance for ARINC Characteristic 793. A supplement for this document will be developed, if required, once ARINC Project Paper 793 is adopted.

The satcom system use for any required aviation safety functions can only be provided in a supplementary manner with appropriate required monitoring and without regard to availability or reliability beyond what can be demonstrated using Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) services. Future multibeam satcom systems with dedicated Aeronautical Operational Control (AOC)/Air Traffic Services (ATS) radio channels may have more utility.

Network slicing, VLAN ID, and ethernet ports are used to enforce segmentation by domain for all users and between groups of users within a domain.

The key goal of this characteristic is to structure the integration of the satcom system with the onboard applications and networking routers and switches.

Each airplane network configuration involves many considerations which can easily lead to conflicts and reduced capabilities. By dividing up the traffic flows into granular VLAN ID, each satellite radio network can adapt their specific networking discriminating features and performance, to support both simple and sophisticated architectures.