Aeroflex and CASSIDIAN announce successful installation of RF expansion module for ATEC Series 6 at All Nippon Airways

Major capability enhancement was result of 3-year joint engineering effort

The Aeroflex RFEM, based on Aeroflex’s successful PXI 3000 Series modules, represents a major capability enhancement for the ATEC Series 6 platform. The product was the result of a three-year joint engineering development effort between Aeroflex and Cassidian, with the support of Honeywell.
Honeywell provided line replaceable units (LRU) for the development, in order to offer its aftermarket air transport customers “Return to Service” test capability using the new RFEM.
The initial product launch involved full design verification and test, witnessed and approved by Honeywell and the launch customer All Nippon Airways. On-site installation at the ANA Service Center in Haneda International Airport in Japan was accomplished without a single problem.

Features of the new RF expansion module for ATEC® Series 6
The design, engineering, and manufacturing for the RFEM was performed by the avionics business unit of Aeroflex in Wichita, Kan. Aeroflex is one of the world’s major suppliers of RF test instruments and system test platforms for avionics and wireless communications.

Many key RFEM features will benefit Cassidian ATEC Series 6 customers. Aeroflex provides full software integration of the RFEM into the ATEC Series 6 operating system. The operator will access the RFEM through the main automated test equipment (ATE) operator console using the modern Cassidian test executive, hosted on a Microsoft Windows® platform.
The RF Expansion Module is conveniently packaged in a tower identical in design to the ATEC Series 6 main platform. It has a simple Ethernet interface connecting the two test systems, allowing operators to add RF test capability to their existing installation by simply rolling up the RFEM and connecting it via a single data cable.

The RFEM instrumentation package features the new Aeroflex PXI instrument modules for signal generation and analysis. Aeroflex PXI 3000 Series instruments offer high performance with compact size, permitting greater density in the RFEM tower.

A family of test program sets and adapters is under development. These will cover an extensive library of RF avionics, including NAV, COM, GPS, TCAS, and Transponder LRUs. Initial platform coverage is for the Boeing 787 airliner. Based on OEM and airline company requirements, Aeroflex and Cassidian plan to add test capability for additional existing and new systems, including SATCOM and weather radar.