ARINC Specifications
Much of the processing performed by the CMU as well as basic requirements of the hardware are defined by ARINC specifications. The following is a list of the major ARINC specifications that define standards that govern many aspects of ACARS systems:
ARINC documents and their specifications
| ARINC 607 | Design Guidance for Avionics Equipment. Includes definition of Aircraft Personality Module (APM), required for ARINC 758 CMU installation. |
|---|---|
| ARINC 429 | Specification for receiving and broadcasting ARINC 429 broadcast data (data transfer between avionics LRUs). ARINC 429 is the one way communication data bus (one pair of data bus use for transmit data and another pair of data bus use for receive data) |
| ARINC 618 | Defines the air / ground protocols for communicating between the ACARS / CMU and VHF ground systems. Also defines the format of the ACARS messages sent by the ACARS / CMU as well as received by the ACARS CMU. The format of this message is called a Type A message. This characteristic has been updated to define the future VDL Mode 2 AOA operation. |
| ARINC 619 | Defines the protocols for the ACARS / CMU to use to transfer file data between other avionics in the aircraft. ARINC 619 covers file protocols that are used to interface with FMS, FDAMS, Cabin Terminal, Maintenance Computers, SATCOM systems and HF Voice Data Radios. |
| ARINC 620 | Defines ground-to-ground communication protocols. This includes the message format of messages routed between a service provider and an airline or other ground system. This is referred to as a Type B message (the air/ground Type A message is reformatted to a Type B message for ground transmissions). |
| ARINC 622 | Describes the processing associated with sending ATC application messages over today’s ACARS links (including ARINC 623 ATC messages). |
| ARINC 623 | This characteristic identifies ATC related messages that can be generated or received by an ACARS MU / CMU system (does not include FANS-1 or FANS-A messages that are processed by the FMS) |
| ARINC 629 | Specification for a bi-directional data bus for sending and receiving data between multiple avionics LRUs. The specification was initially developed for use on Boeing 777 commercial airplanes, but was published as an ARINC industry standard in 1999. |
| ARINC 631 | Specification for VHF Data Link (VDL) Mode 2. This specification provides general and specific design guidance for the development and installation of the protocols needed to exchange bit-oriented data across an air-ground VHF Digital Link (VDL) in an Open System Interconnection (OSI) environment. |
| ARINC 724B | Specification for an ACARS MU for ARINC 724B wiring. |
| ARINC 739 | Specification for interfacing with Multi-purpose Cockpit Display Units |
| ARINC 740 | Specification for interfacing to cockpit Printers. |
| ARINC 744 | |
| ARINC 758 | Specification for a CMU relative to ARINC 758 wiring. This specification actually identifies various levels of functionality, these defining future growth phases for the CMU. Initial CMU systems which perform today’s ACARS functions are classified as Level OA. |
| ARINC 823 | Two-part specification that defines a security framework for protecting ACARS datalink messages exchanged between aircraft and ground systems. Security services include confidentiality, data integrity, and message authentication. Part 1, ACARS Message Security (AMS), specifies the security protocol, and Part 2, Key Management, specifies life-cycle management of the cryptographic keys necessary for secure and proper operation of AMS. |
Read more about this topic: Aircraft Communications Addressing And Reporting System