Serial Networking Inflight Entertainment System Network Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dedicated fiber optic in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems face high costs and complexity due to the need for extensive aircraft-grade fiber and connectors, as well as a single point of failure in head end servers, which can lead to reliability issues and increased maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A serial networking dedicated fiber optic IFE system architecture that uses a shared loop-free data path with redundant connections between passenger seat VDUs and head end servers, employing novel network configuration protocols to improve reliability and reduce fiber component requirements, including the use of processors to manage port blocking and topology changes based on packet hop comparisons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a star wired network topology with dedicated optical fiber home run to each head end server is used, then reliability is improved by eliminating single point of failure, but device complexity and implementation cost increase due to extensive fiber requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network into multiple head end servers connected in a ring topology rather than using a single centralized server. This segmentation distributes the system across multiple nodes, reducing the fiber component requirements per node while maintaining overall system reliability through redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple head end servers into a ring topology where each server connects to two neighbors. This merging approach allows shared fiber infrastructure between adjacent servers, reducing the total fiber requirements compared to completely dedicated connections while maintaining reliability through multiple paths.
2Device complexity
If head end servers are interconnected in a ring topology, then fiber component requirements are reduced, but single point of failure remains at each head end server
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by giving each head end server multiple independent fiber connections to different neighbors in the ring. This creates locally redundant paths so that if one connection or server fails, other servers can still communicate through alternative routes in the ring topology.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring topology provides beforehand cushioning by pre-establishing alternative communication paths between head end servers. If a single server or connection fails, the ring structure already has redundant paths in place to maintain connectivity, cushioning against the failure before it impacts system operation.
3Reliability
If extensive aircraft grade fiber and connectors are used for dedicated fiber optic connections, then system reliability is improved, but implementation cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the fiber infrastructure universal by using the same fiber connections to serve multiple functions - each fiber link between head end servers carries traffic for multiple servers simultaneously. This multi-functionality reduces the total amount of expensive aircraft-grade fiber and connectors needed compared to fully dedicated connections for each server pair.
Data Source
AI summary
Serial networking dedicated fiber optic inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, methods therefor and components thereof, that exhibit improved configuration and failover attributes through implementation of novel network configuration protocols. In some aspects of the invention, such an IFE system comprises a plurality of head end line replaceable units (HE-LRUs) and a plurality of serial networking line replaceable units (SN-LRUs), wherein each of the SN-LRUs individually detects that a closed system network has been formed between the plurality of HE-LRUs and the plurality of SN-LRUs based on a plurality of packets sourced by at least one of the HE-LRUs and received on a plurality of ports of each of the SN-LRUs, and wherein in response to detecting that the closed system network has been formed one of the SN-LRUs blocks one of its ports based on further detecting that the SN-LRU is a middle SN-LRU.