US-12621290-B2 - Method for interfacing passenger electronic devices with passenger controllable functions and aircraft cabin network

US12621290B2US 12621290 B2US12621290 B2US 12621290B2US-12621290-B2

Abstract

A method for interfacing passenger electronic devices with passenger controllable functions involves transmitting, by a PED, a seat-based identification token to a cabin server of a passenger aircraft; requesting, by the cabin server in response to the transmission of the seat-based identification token, completion of a challenge presented by the cabin server by the user of the PED; upon successfully responding to the challenge, admitting, by the cabin server, access for the user of the PED to passenger controllable functions belonging to the passenger seat associated with the seat-based identification token transmitted by the PED; and accessing, by the user of the PED, the passenger controllable functions via remote control of the PED.

Inventors

Bing Chen
Kai Möller

Assignees

AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240214
Priority Date: 20230228

Claims (17)

1 . A method for interfacing passenger electronic devices, PEDs, with passenger controllable functions, the method comprising: transmitting, by a PED, a seat-based identification token to a cabin server of a passenger aircraft; requesting, by the cabin server in response to a transmission of the seat-based identification token, completion of a challenge presented by the cabin server by a user of the PED; determining, by the cabin server, an access level of the PED based on a response to the challenge by the PED, the access level being a local mode when the response to the challenge was unsuccessful or a connected mode when the response to the challenge was successful; and upon the user successfully responding to the challenge, admitting, by the cabin server, access for the user of the PED to passenger controllable functions belonging to a passenger seat associated with the seat-based identification token transmitted by the PED associated with the access level.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the cabin server, whether the response of the PED has been successful based on verification information retrieved by the cabin server from a ground-based server.
3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the verification information includes at least one of a passenger name, a QR code bound to the boarding pass, a barcode bound to a boarding pass, a challenge code from an e-ticket, or a code sent via short messaging system to the PED.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the verification information is transmitted by the ground-based server to the cabin server prior to boarding of the passenger aircraft of the user of the PED.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the seat-based identification token is selected from a group consisting of: a printed barcode, a QR code, pictographic or alphanumeric identification representations, invisible codes or patterns embedded in smart fabrics or dyes, and any combination thereof.
6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the challenge presented by the cabin server includes at least one of an individual code displayed on a passenger service unit associated with the passenger seat, an individual code provided via a near-field communication interface at the passenger seat, and an individual code displayed on an in-seat display of the passenger seat.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the passenger controllable functions include at least one of in-flight entertainment system components such as a media display, loudspeakers and headphone interfaces, electric power supply components such as USB ports and power outlet sockets, seat control components for controlling electronic passenger seat functions such as electrical actuators for changing a seat configuration, and overhead passenger service units, PSU, including at least one of reading lights control, loudspeaker control, assistance call control or air condition vent control.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein accessing, by the user of the PED, the passenger controllable functions are performed using a web application or a native application.
9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the cabin server includes a web server having a plurality of web sockets for interfacing with the web applications of the PEDs.
10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the access level associated with the local mode is more restricted than the access level associated with the connected mode.
11 . An aircraft cabin network, comprising: a cabin server configured to, in response to a transmission of a seat-based identification token by a personal electronic device, PED, of a passenger of a passenger aircraft, request completion of a challenge presented by the cabin server by a user of the PED, check whether the user of the PED successfully responded to the challenge, determine an access level of the PED based on the response to the challenge by the PED, the access level being a local mode when the response to the challenge was unsuccessful or a connected mode when the response to the challenge was successful, and upon successfully responding to the challenge, admit access for the user of the PED to one of a plurality of passenger controllable functions belonging to a passenger seat associated with the seat-based identification token transmitted by the PED associated with the access level.
12 . The aircraft cabin network according to claim 11 , wherein the cabin server is further configured to determine whether the response of the PED has been successful based on verification information retrieved by the cabin server from a ground-based server.
13 . The aircraft cabin network according to claim 12 , wherein the verification information includes at least one of a passenger name, a QR code bound to a boarding pass, a barcode bound to the boarding pass, a challenge code from an e-ticket, and a code sent via short messaging system to the PED.
14 . The aircraft cabin network according to claim 11 , wherein the seat-based identification token is selected from a group consisting of: a printed barcode, a QR code, pictographic or alphanumeric identification representations, invisible codes or patterns embedded in smart fabrics or dyes, and any combination thereof.
15 . The aircraft cabin network according to claim 11 , further comprising: a number of passenger controllable functions belonging to a plurality of passenger seats in a passenger aircraft the passenger controllable functions including at least one of in-flight entertainment system components comprising a media display, loudspeakers and headphone interfaces, electric power supply components comprising USB ports and power outlet sockets, seat control components for controlling electronic passenger seat functions comprising electrical actuators for changing the seat configuration, and overhead passenger service units, PSU, comprising at least one of reading lights control, loudspeaker control, assistance call control or air condition vent control.
16 . A passenger aircraft comprising: a plurality of passenger seats uniquely identifiable via seat-based identification tokens; and an aircraft cabin network according to claim 11 .
17 . A method for interfacing passenger electronic devices, PEDs, with passenger controllable functions, the method comprising: transmitting, by a PED, a seat-based identification token to a cabin server of a passenger aircraft associated with a passenger seat, wherein the seat-based identification token includes invisible codes or patterns embedded in smart fabrics or dyes disposed on the passenger seat or in the vicinity of the passenger seat; requesting, by the cabin server in response to a transmission of the seat-based identification token, completion of a challenge presented by the cabin server by a user of the PED; determining, by the cabin server, an access level of the PED based on a response to the challenge by the PED, the access level being a local mode when the response to the challenge was unsuccessful or a connected mode when the response to the challenge was successful; and upon the user successfully responding to the challenge, admitting, by the cabin server, access for the user of the PED to passenger controllable functions belonging to the passenger seat associated with the seat-based identification token transmitted by the PED associated with the access level.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of the European patent application No. 23158976.3 filed on Feb. 28, 2023, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by way of reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to methods for interfacing passenger electronic devices (PEDs) with passenger controllable functions, an aircraft cabin network for providing access of PEDs to passenger controllable functions and a passenger aircraft having such an aircraft cabin network. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Personal electronic devices (PEDs) are nowadays ubiquitous. These PEDs are normally carried by the user wherever he travels, even on board aircraft. Considering the manifold communication interfaces of such PEDs it is desirable to provide passengers on board an aircraft with access to multiple services, for example an in-flight entertainment (IFE) system or a control network for controlling electronic passenger seat functions or passenger service units (PSU) including reading lights control, loudspeaker control, assistance call control and/or air condition vent control via the central wireless backbone. Mobile content distribution networks on board of aircraft allow extending comfort amenities and services such as internet access, on-board shopping opportunities and access to in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems. In general, aircraft cabin networks enable a passenger to interface with passenger accessible cabin functions, increasing the comfort and content for the passenger, thereby adding a lot of value for an airline. For example, the document God, R; Hintze, H.: “Drahtlose Kommunikation in der Flugzeugkabine für effiziente Arbeitsabläufe und Passagierdienstleistungen”, MKWI 2010 Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik, Göttingen, February 23-25, 2010, p. 2361-2374 discloses the use of non-contact aircraft cabin interfaces for network access of electronic devices employing smart card, RFID and near field communication (NFC) technology. One of the challenges associated with managing network access to networks on board an aircraft pertains to the wide range of PEDs requesting access which are a priori not always known to the network. A network access control system therefore needs to employ elaborate access control schemes to be able to reliably identify and authenticate PEDs in order to selectively authorize and approve operations of the PEDs in the network and hold the authenticated user of the PEDs accountable for such operations. Common measures for identification and authentication of an electronic device re-questing access to a network element involve the exchange of authentication codes between the device and the network element and the subsequent validation of the presented codes. Such codes may, for example, include knowledge-based passphrases (for example passwords, PIN codes or pre-assigned user information such as ticket or customer numbers), pre-validated information inherently tied to the device or tokens and fobs physically located in the vicinity of the device (for example a MAC address of the device or a digital authenticity certificate for the device), or inherent user-based coded parameters (for example, biometric user identification information such as fingerprints, retina patterns, DNA information or behavioral characteristics). Several different approaches for access control procedures of electronic devices to network elements of vehicles are known in the prior art: Document DE 10 2012 203 032 A1 discloses an authentication method for an electronic device of an aircraft passenger based on flight specific pre-assigned authentication data. Document US 2014/0187149 A1 discloses the use of dynamically created uniform resources identifiers to redirect an electronic device to a remote authentication system for verifying access credentials of the electronic device to access a network element of a vehicle. Document WO 2015/163774 A1 discloses a multi-factor authentication scheme for access control of a user to a system based on acoustically convolved audio pass-phrases of different origin. EP 3 296 205 B1 discloses methods for controlling and connecting to cabin services within an aircraft, particularly passenger cabin services. EP 3 182 667 A1 discloses methods for wireless network access control on the basis of acoustic challenges in an aircraft. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of the invention is to find solutions for more reliably providing connectivity of passengers' personal electronic devices to passenger accessible control functions in a passenger aircraft. According to a first aspect of the invention, a method for interfacing passenger electronic devices (PEDs) with passenger controllable functions includes transmitting, by a PED, a seat-based identification token to a cabin server of a passenger aircraft; requesting, by the cabin server in response to the transmission of the seat-based identification token, completion of a cha