Avionics News March 2022 - 23

H
ow often have you spent countless minutes programming
a flight plan or updating your avionics suite's databases
and wished to a higher power that someone would make
advanced avionics as intuitive and easy to use as today's commonplace
consumer electronics?
Well, thankfully, a higher power has heard your pleas and done something
about it. And by " higher power, " I mean the C-suite executives at Honeywell
Aerospace. As to what they've done about it, the company recently introduced
its revolutionary, new, always-on, cloud-connected Anthem avionics suite. But
it didn't just appear out of thin air.
" When you look at the evolution of avionics, it's a very long cycle of
any true innovation, " explained Amol Motivala, vice president of integrated
avionics for Honeywell Aerospace. " This (Anthem) is actually Honeywell's
sixth-generation cockpit system. The last was the popular EPIC, which was
also designed from the ground up to offer new innovations into the cockpits of
larger business aircraft.
" But EPIC was introduced in the early part of the century. And there's
been a tremendous amount of innovation in the consumer electronics
industry over the past 20-plus years. Display quality, user interfaces,
bandwidth, touchscreens, connectivity and reliability have all seen significant
advancements. "
Two decades is indeed a long time to go between innovations, but unlike the
consumer market, aviation has a lot of hurdles to contend with in the form of
Federal Aviation Administration approvals. If a new cellphone isn't up to snuff,
it's no big deal to make changes and offer up version X-dot whatever. It's not
so easy with certified avionics.
" Aviation has lagged behind for all the right reasons, " Motivala said.
" Safety and five-nines reliability are both paramount. Today, there are
significant innovations that can be brought to the cockpit and confidently
deliver both of those requirements. "
He explained that once all of the appropriate technologies and capabilities
had been identified, Honeywell Aerospace's team, along with a team of
industry and customer stakeholders, created a list of three primary goals for
Anthem's development.
1. To deliver a significant reduction in the hardware's physical size
and weight.
2. Its processors and software would be scalable, modular and easily
upgradeable.
3. It would provide always-on connectivity that is easy and more
intuitive for pilots, maintainers and operators to use.
In addition, Anthem's flexible software platform can be customized for
virtually every type of aircraft and airborne vehicle, ranging from general
aviation aircraft, turboprops, business jets, rotorcraft, all types of commercial
and cargo aircraft, and the rapidly-emerging class of urban air mobility aircraft.
Continued on following page
avionics news * march 2022 23
HONEYWELL
AEROSPACE'S NEW
ANTHEM AVIONICS
SUITE WILL USE
THE DIGITAL
CLOUD TO NOT
ONLY DELIVER AN
EXPANDED ARRAY
OF PRE-, POST-,
AND IN-FLIGHT
CAPABILITIES AND
CONNECTIVITY
SERVICES, BUT
ALSO MAKE THEM
ALL AS EASY TO USE
AS YOUR FAVORITE
PERSONAL DEVICE.
Avionics News March 2022

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