ARINC was formerly headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and had two regional headquarters in London, established in 1999 to serve the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, and Singapore, established in 2003 for the Asia Pacific region. ARINC had more than 3,200 employees at over 120 locations worldwide.
ARINC was incorporated in 1929 as Aeronautical Radio, Incorporated. It was chartered by the Federal Radio Commission (which later became the Federal Communications Commission) in order to serve as the airline industry's single licensee and coordinator of radio communication outside of the government. The corporation's stock was held by four major airlines of the day. Through most of its history, ARINC was owned by airlines and other aviation-related companies such as Boeing until the sale to The Carlyle Group in October 2007.
Not much later ARINC took on the responsibility for all ground-based, aeronautical radio stations and for ensuring station compliance with Federal Radio Commission (FRC) rules and regulations. Using this as a base technology, ARINC expanded its contributions to transport communications as well as continuing to support the commercial aviation industry and U.S. military.
ARINC also developed the standards for the trays and boxes used to hold standard line-replaceable units (like radios) in aircraft. This subsequently allowed electronics to be rapidly replaced without complex fasteners or test equipment.
In 1978 ARINC introduced ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), a datalink system that enables ground stations (airports, aircraft maintenance bases, etc.) to upload data (such as flight plans) and download data (such as fuel quantity, weight on wheels, flight management system (FMS) data), via an onboard Communications Management Unit (CMU).
ARINC has expanded its business in aerospace and defense through its ARINC Engineering Services subsidiary. With the sale of the company to Rockwell Collins, the ARINC Engineering Services subsidiary split into Commercial Aerospace and Defense Services. The Defense Services branch was then purchased by Booz Allen Hamilton, remaining part of the Carlyle group.[1]
The sale of a Standards Development Organization (SDP) to a corporate sponsor raised concerns of conflict of interest and resulted in the sale of the ARINC Industry Activities (IA) Division to SAE International in January 2014. It now operates under the SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC).[2][3]
Though known for publishing "ARINC Standards", this role is independent of ARINC commercial activities.
Standardization and ARINC Industry Activities
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ARINC Industry Activities involve three aviation committees:[4][5]
AEEC (Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee): Develop the ARINC Standards,
AMC (Avionics Maintenance Conference): Organize the annual Avionics Maintenance Conference,
FSEMC (Flight Simulator Engineering & Maintenance Conference): Organize the annual FSEMC conference.
ARINC services
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ARINC services include:
ACARS – a digital datalink system for transmission of short, relatively simple messages between aircraft and ground stations via radio or satellite
AviNet Global Data Network - formerly known as the ARINC Data Network Service (ADNS)
Air/Ground Domestic Voice Service
Air/Ground International Voice Service
Airport Remote Radio Access System (ARRAS)
vMUSE – Multi-User Systems Environment for shared passenger check-in at airports
Complies with the Common-Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and Common Use Passenger Processing System (CUPPS) standards
SelfServ – common use self-service passenger check-in kiosks for Airports
OnVoy – Internet-based passenger check-in system for use at off-airport locations such as hotels, cruise ships and convention centers
AirVue – Flight Information Display System (FIDS) for airports
Also called Electronic Visual Information Display System (EVIDS)
AirDB – Airport Operational Database Base (AODB)
AirPlan by ARINC - Resource Management System (RMS)
VeriPax – Passenger Reconciliation System (PRS) validates passengers at security checkpoints
Centralized Flight Management Computer Waypoint Reporting System (CFRS)
Satellite Navigation and Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems (SATNAV and ATCALS)
ARINC Wireless Interoperable Network Solutions (AWINS) – connects all types of radio and telephone systems including standard UHF and VHF analog radios, mobile digital, voice over IP systems, ship-to-shore, air-ground, standard phones, and push-to-talk cellular.
ARINC Border Management Solutions (ABMS) – delivering a full stay management capability, screening all travellers before travel, and managing visitors throughout their stay.[6]
In Flight Broadband – offering in-flight connectivity to passengers and crew in conjunction with SwiftBroadband.
The ARINC Standards are prepared by the Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC) where aviation suppliers such as Collins Aerospace and GE Aviation serve as contributors in support of their airline customer base. An abbreviated list follows.
400 Series
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The 400 Series describes guidelines for installation, wiring, data buses, and databases.
ARINC 404 defines Air Transport Rack (ATR) form factors for avionics equipment installed in many types of aircraft. It defines air transport equipment cases and racking.[9]
ARINC 407 is a manual for Synchro uses in aerospace systems
ARINC 424 is an international standard file format for aircraft navigation data.
ARINC 429 is the most widely used data bus standard for aviation. Electrical and data format characteristics are defined for a two-wire serial bus with one transmitter and up to 20 receivers. The bus is capable of operating at a speed of 100 kbit/s.
The 600 Series are reference standards for avionics equipment specified by the ARINC 700 Series
ARINC 600 is the predominant avionics packaging standard introducing the avionics Modular Concept Unit (MCU)
ARINC 604 is a standard and guidance for the purpose of designing and implementing Built-In Test Equipment. The standard also describes the Centralized Fault Display System.[10]
ARINC 610B provides guidance for use of avionics equipment and software in simulators.
ARINC 608 Design Guidance for Avionics Test Equipment: describes a standard avionics test system concept that will reduce the cost of test and repair of avionic systems.
ARINC 615 is a family of standards covering "data loading", commonly used for transferring software and data to or from avionics devices. The ARINC 615 standard covers "data loading" over ARINC 429.
ARINC 615A is a standard that covers a "data loading" protocol which can be used over various bus types such as Ethernet, CAN, and ARINC 664.
ARINC 618 is a standard that covers a data transmission protocol called "Character Oriented Protocol".
ARINC 619 is a standard that covers a data transmission protocol over ARINC 429 called "Bit Oriented Protocol".
ARINC 620 is a standard that covers a data transmission protocol called "Datalink Ground System".
ARINC 624 is a standard for aircraft onboard maintenance system (OMS). It uses ARINC 429 for data transmission between embedded equipments.
ARINC 625 is an Industry Guide For Component Test Development and Management. It provides a standard approach for quality management of Test Procedure Generation within the commercial air transport industry.
ARINC 628 is a standard for Cabin Equipment Interfaces
ARINC 629 is a multi-transmitter data bus protocol where up to 120 terminals can share the same bus. It is installed on aircraft such as the Boeing 777, Airbus A330 and Airbus A340.[11]
ARINC 633 is the air-ground protocol for ACARS and IP networks used for AOC data exchanges between aircraft and the ground.
ARINC 635 defines the protocols for the HFDL network of radios used for communication and messaging between aircraft and HF Ground Stations.
ARINC 653 is a standard Real Time Operating System (RTOS) interface for partitioning of computer resources in the time and space domains. The standard also specifies Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for abstraction of the application from the underlying hardware and software.
ARINC 660 defines avionics functional allocation and recommended architectures for CNS/ATM avionics.
ARINC 661 defines the data structures used in an interactive cockpit display system (CDS), and the communication between the CDS and User Applications. The GUI definition is completely defined in binary definition files. The CDS software consists of a kernel capable of creating a hierarchical GUI specified in the definition files. The concepts used by ARINC 661 are similar to those used in user interface markup languages.
ARINC 767 defines a combined recorder unit capable of data and voice
ARINC 771 is the standard for the second-generation L-Band satellite data unit, also called Certus Broadband for the low Earth orbit (LEO) Iridium NEXT by operator Iridium
ARINC 781 is the standard for a third-generation L-band satellite data unit, also called SwiftBroadband (SBB) by operator Inmarsat
ARINC 791 defines a first generation of Ku and Ka band satellite data airborne terminal equipment.
ARINC 792 defines a second generation of Ku and Ka band satellite data airborne terminal equipment.
800 Series
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The 800 Series comprises a set of aviation standards for aircraft, including fiber optics used in high-speed data buses.[13]
ARINC 800 is the first industry standard intended for characterization of aviation-grade high-speed (Gbps) Ethernet links. CABIN CONNECTORS AND CABLES Part 1 to Part 4
ARINC 801 through 807 define the application of fiber optics on the aircraft.
ARINC 810 is a standard for the integration of aircraft galley inserts and associated interfaces Title: Definition of Standard Interfaces for Galley Insert (GAIN) Equipment, Physical Interfaces.
ARINC 811 provides a common understanding of information security concepts as they relate to airborne networks, and provides a framework for evaluating the security of airborne networked systems.
ARINC 812 is a standard for the integration of aircraft galley inserts and associated interfaces
^"Booz Allen Hamilton to Acquire Defense Engineering Services Division of ARINC | Booz Allen Hamilton". Archived from the original on 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
^"Arinc's new owner to sell off two subsidiaries - Baltimore Business Journal". Archived from the original on 2013-12-30.
^"SAE International Completes Asset Purchase of ARINC Industry Activities – Expands Aerospace Portfolio".
^"Aviation committees". ARINC. Archived from the original on 2010-07-31. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
^"AEEC, AMC, & FSEMC:Aviation Industry Activities Organized by ARINC" (PDF). ARINC. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
^"ARINC Border Management Solutions". Collins Aerospace. Archived from the original on 2024-09-01. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
^"AIM data sheet" (PDF). Rockwell Collins. May 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
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"Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity". Rockwell Collins. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
^"Air Transport Equipment Cases and Racking - ARINC 404". Archived from the original on 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
^"FAA Standards, Category: Aeronautical". Archived from the original on 2007-06-29.
^"ARINC 629 Digital Data Bus Specifications". 18 January 2021.
^"ARINC Store, 700 series". Archived from the original on 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
^"ARINC Standards store, 800 series". Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2010-06-10.