Radio Channel Measurements and Characterization inside Aircrafts for In-Cabin Wireless Networks

This paper presents a measurement campaign conducted inside a large Airbus A340-300 aircraft for the development of in-cabin wireless networks. The measurements were conducted in three different frequency bands in order to provide various services. It was found that the path loss factor along the aircraft corridors varies between 2.0 and 2.7 depending on frequency. The average K-factor in the aircraft aisles was found between 9.5 and 10.1 dB, for line-of-sight (LoS) conditions, and between 3.7 and 5.0 dB for non-line-of-sight (NLoS) cases. The average dynamic range of fading varies between 12 and 14 dB for LoS, and between 25 and 28 dB for NLoS situations respectively. The maximum Doppler spread was calculated between 15 and 17 Hz, whereas the coherence time was found between 25 and 29 ms for a reference level of -3 dB.