ABSTRACT
Avionics was originally coined by contracting Aviation and Electronics, and this term has gained widespread usage over the years. Pilots of aircraft have three primary necessities; to Aviate (fly the aircraft), to Navigate, and to Communicate. Avionics addresses all three of these needs, but the navigation and communications aspects are where the radio frequency (RF) and Microwave applications lie. Avionics applications typically require functional integrity and reliability that is orders of magnitude more stringent than most commercial wireless applications. The rigor of these requirements is matched or exceeded only by the requirements for space and/or certain military applications. Avionics must function in environments that are more severe than most other wireless applications as well. Extended temperature ranges, high vibration levels, altitude effects, including corona, and high-energy particle upset (known as single event upset) of electronics are all factors that must be considered in the design of Avionics products. Quantities for the Avionics market are typically very low when compared with commercial wireless applications, for example, the number of cell phones manufactured every single working day far exceeds the number of aircraft that are manufactured in the world in a year. Wireless systems for Avionics applications cover an extremely wide range in a number of dimensions, including frequency, system function, modulation type, bandwidth, and power. Owing to the number of systems aboard a typical aircraft, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) between systems is a major concern, and EMI/EMC design and testing is a major factor in the flight certification testing of these systems.
