[Embedded System Application] Flight Information Display System

Project

As growing Asian airports of increasing importance, both Shanghai’s Pudong Airport in China and Seoul’s Inchon Airport in Korea recently required reliable, low-maintenance FIDSs. To manage heavy and ever-increasing passenger traffic, the two airports each needed a comprehensive system to assist its passengers by broadcasting information from a constantly updated database to multiple LCDs placed strategically throughout passenger facilities. These systems supply timely information regarding flight arrivals/departures, gate assignments, waiting halls, baggage area assignments, and even destination weather forecasts. Considering Pudong averages almost 29 million passengers per year, and Inchon 31 million, top-notch solutions were deemed mission-critical. Any potential onsite technical problems could cause a series of consequences that might influence the operation of many other airports. Advantech’s ARK-3400/ARK-3420 were selected to meet the challenges in the two airports, respectively.

System

To provide passengers and visitors with instant information, the ARK-3400 & ARK-3420 receive data from the airport’s central FIDS server regarding flight schedules, luggage claim locations, weather reports, and other public-related information. Depending upon location, embedded computers display information on 16:9 or 4:3 LCDs placed in vertical or horizontal orientations. Because of their compact and integrated designs, both the ARK-3400/3420 are easily installed behind each LCD display, thereby concealing and protecting cables and wires. In the Pudong Airport application, the ARK- 3400 was selectively expanded with a PCI graphic card to support up to 1920 x 1080, high definition resolution -- for larger displays, such as in the airport lobby. For smaller displays, such as at the boarding gates, the ARK-3400 built-in VGA interface was more than adequate. Each Compact Embedded IPC supports simultaneous dual displays, which helps to reduce total system cost. Featuring real time display, the FIDS database, input terminals, and display monitors are all connected via a TCP/IP compliant LAN. The ARK-3400/3420 fanless and energy efficient designs ensure utmost reliability, keeping passengers constantly updated with flight information and announcements at a glance.

Conclusion

High performance, fanless, compact embedded IPC, the ARK-3400/3420 proved to be ideal solutions for the FIDS at the airports. The dual independent VGA/SVGA/ DVI displays and anti-vibration features (cushioned HDD bay, rubber expansion card holder), plus a rich selection of I/Os, and support for up to 1 or 2 GB RAM, all made these models the answers to the airports’ current and future requirements. The ARK-3400 demonstrated its flexibility with the addition of the PCI expansion board. Capable of operating over a wide power range, and equipped with mounting brackets to complement their compact designs, the ARK-3400/3420 adapted well to the two airport environments.