MINUTES

Airborne Internet Working Group (AIWG)

June 19, 2003

Paul Masson of Starnet opened meeting and led a short discussion on the agenda and objectives of the meeting:

 OBJECTIVES FOR THIS MEETING:

• To define the charter of the AIWG: Possibly to promote the concept and national value of an airborne peer to peer communications; and be open to public and private sector participants

• To develop objectives and outcomes for the AIWG

• To begin a process leading to the clear identification and formation of the AIWG

• To refine the definition of the Airborne Internet:  "A private secure and reliable peer to peer aircraft commercial network that utilizes the same technologies as the commercial Internet."

• To begin to develop a work plan and identify future resources for the AIWG."

• Identify consensus for a next meeting to address the organizational issues of a collaborative effort for both technical and business purposes

  MEETING CONSIDERATIONS:

• Develop an Operational Concept?

• Alternative Systems Architectures?

• Long Term deployment Roadmap?

 Organizing issues: work plan Considerations

• Current system profile: NAS 

• National system requirements

• Market sector operational requirements

• Systems communications points

• Frequency allocation

• Legacy system integration

ORGANIZING ISSUE: RESOURCES 

• Government program support - facilities, presence, sponsorship 

• Incentive for private sector investment - facilities, presence, sponsorship

Organizing issues:  Outcomes

• Operational concept

• Alternative architectures

• Guidelines: Standards and Certification

• Technology roadmap support 

• Transportation policy support

• Private sector led consortia effort 

Ralph Yost of the FAA Technical Center, Pete McHugh, the FAA Program Manger for SATS  and Jim Meer of Microflight  provided their vision as to the above issues and to the work to be accomplished by the AIWG.  All stated a national need for this group to be formed as a place to gather and provide intellectual content to guide and develop future airborne internet developments and polices.  There was an expression that the group should promote the use of commercially available and off the shelf systems, technologies and components to reduce cost and provide the needed capabilities.

Paul Masson then led the discussion beginning with the objectives and outcomes of the meeting followed by the methods and means to form the AIWG.  Discussion of the objectives continued to the lunch break.  After lunch the work plan topic development was begun and concluded around 4pm.  

Summaries of the work plan, resources and formations process were conducted and the date for the next meeting was set as July 24, 2003 at CNS, Inc in Springfield, VA. 

Meeting Attendees

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