Lighten Up! EMS Formation Delivers lighter, higher capacity IFE Server to Lumexis

VP Business Development and Marketing KIN SETO considers the challenges

The need for greater capacity, smaller footprint and reliable performance; such was the challenge taken on by Moorestown, New Jersey-based EMS Formation. Could EMS Formation build an avionics server with greater capacity in a smaller footprint that could operate reliably in a harsh avionics environment? A lot was riding on the answer to that question.

"Costa Mesa, California-based Lumexis Corporation pioneered the use of fiber optics for a new in-flight entertainment (IFE) system poised to revolutionize the IFE industry. The Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen™ (FTTS™) IFE system replaces traditional copper wire-based IFE systems that are heavy, bulky, and offer limited bandwidth. “Our system uses advanced fiber-optic technology, which requires less hardware and reduces the system’s weight by as much 50 percent,” says Rich Salter, chief technology officer at Lumexis. “For airlines, this means lower out-of-pocket costs and less fuel consumption.”

Raising the bar

Lumexis was gearing up for a full-fleet deployment of its FTTS IFE system and needed to identify a manufacturing partner for the systems’ Server Switch Unit (SSU) optical video server. “FTTS plays entertainment content through seat-back screens,” Salter adds. “The server is the brain for the whole system and stores and runs the content.”

Lumexis had run a trial for its technology on a US Airways Airbus A320 aircraft that went exceptionally well. However, the data was stored on mechanical hard disks and ran on eight servers. “We wanted the next generation to use high-density solid-state drives for greater storage capacity and performance in a smaller footprint,” Salter added.

Partner Identified

Lumexis issued a request for proposal and received bids from multiple suppliers. “We evaluated the bids against specific criteria,” Salter explains. “We knew of EMS Formation and its expertise in packaging disk drives to withstand the rigors of an avionics environment.” After reviewing the proposals and speaking with contenders, Lumexis selected EMS Formation. “We thought EMS Formation was the best choice to maximize system reliability and performance while minimizing product life-cycle costs,” Salter adds.

Avionics Expertise Leveraged

EMS Formation is an innovator in the design and manufacture of avionics servers. The company has applied this expertise to ruggedize mass storage for the avionics environment in its ToughDisk® product line. “By combining fiber optic knowledge and ToughDisk, we were able to collaborate and develop a system that is smaller, more dense and lighter, with greater capacity,” says Sam Carswell, EMS Formation’s chief technology officer. “Solid state serves more streams because there are no mechanical latencies.”

The Lumexis and EMS Formation engineering collaboration has resulted in the SSU, a four MCU (modular concept unit), multi-processor server integrated with terabytes of ToughDisk solid state disks. Each SSU delivers personalized audio, video on demand, and other data to more than 150 passengers. "Only two SSUs, as opposed to an original eight, will be needed to serve a single or twin-aisle aircraft of up to 270 seats,” Salter noted.

Aging Systems Updated

The Lumexis system has come in the nick of time. “Some airlines are still relying on tape-based IFE systems that are wearing out or are no longer supported,” Salter explains. “Airlines know they can increase performance and save weight by going with a fiber optic system, but it’s a matter of economics.”

Lumexis believes it has found the answer for these airlines with its FTTS system. In addition to doing more in less space, the FTTS IFE system is better able to handle high-definition video. “High-definition video requires the delivery of a larger number of bits per second and there’s only so fast you can send that data across copper wires,” Salter explains. “Fiber optics produces almost unlimited bandwidth to handle whatever new technology comes along. The airline should never have to rewire the airplane.”

The architecture for the FTTS servers has been locked down and design reviews are underway. Next, EMS Formation will start manufacturing the units. So far, the collaboration has been right in line with Lumexis’ expectations. “We run an ultra-lean management team so we depend greatly on our partners,” Salter says. “Therefore, it’s extremely important for us to have a partnership that’s very open and transparent. We’ve found that with EMS Formation.