The future of in-flight connectivity (IFC) is multi-band, multi-beam and multi-constellation. ThinKom Solutions (ThinKom) is at the forefront of making this vision a reality—one that will be enabled by Quvia, the first AI-powered QoE platform for commercial aircraft. Through this partnership, the companies will integrate ThinKom’s best-of-breed satcom antenna hardware and Quvia’s network management software to optimize quality of experience (QoE) in the commercial aviation market.
The resulting solution will combine ThinKom’s ThinAir® Plus terminal with Quvia Grid, an AI-powered network management solution, to ensure airlines can support multiple concurrent data links with full visibility and control of the IFC experience. Airlines will be able to get future-ready with technologies designed to orchestrate and optimize hybrid connectivity across multiple links and satellite orbits, enabling robust, reliable, and affordable connectivity for their customers.
ThinAir Plus serves the multi-orbit demands of today while enabling the multi-band, multi-beam, multi-constellation needs of tomorrow. The field-proven, highly efficient ThinAir Ka2517, supporting GEO, MEO and LEO connectivity, is augmented by an integrated LEO-only ESA in a standards-compliant mounting. The multi-aperture solution supports concurrent connectivity across multiple constellations.
ThinKom’s ThinAir Plus solution will be packaged with Quvia Grid as a fully integrated solution. Grid’s intelligent traffic management functionality sits between the aircraft and ground networks. It uses AI and machine learning to classify traffic types and route data across multiple available networks based on latency sensitivity, link capacity, bandwidth costs, application requirements and other factors to deliver an optimal QoE for passengers.
“One of the biggest risks for airlines is becoming locked into a single technology or commercial agreement, leading to limitations in service and higher costs,” explains Bill Milroy, CTO and co-founder at ThinKom. “By combining our network-agnostic, simultaneous, multi-constellation ThinAir Plus hardware with Quvia’s industry-leading Grid traffic management tools, we empower airlines to take control of the in-flight connectivity experience, optimizing performance, reliability, and cost.”
Quvia Grid allows airlines to define desired levels of performance and cost, maximizing the passenger connectivity experience. It also helps to ensure network resiliency by transparently shifting traffic to an alternate network if a satellite service is offline for technical or contractual reasons.
“The aviation industry is quickly entering the era of multi-provider IFC,” said Benny Retnamony, founder and CEO at Quvia. “We’ve already proven our Grid solution in multiple markets, and now we’re bringing that same flexibility, control, and focus on quality of experience to aviation. Through our partnership with ThinKom, we’re integrating reliable, high-performance hardware with AI-based network orchestration to deliver a solution that is truly differentiated in the market.”
ThinAir Plus is a modular, flexible hardware platform, enabling airline customers to choose which LEO ESA to integrate. As new constellations come online, the ESA can be easily installed or swapped, as part of this future-proof system architecture.
