Increasing attention has been paid to the wireless avionics intracommunications (WAIC) on aircraft. The frequency band of 4200-4400 MHz is recommended to WAIC by the International Telecommunication Union Radio Communication Sector (ITU-R), which thereby comes with a new challenge of using the available frequency band effectively to cater for the massive communication needs in aircraft. To address this challenge, we propose the first channel design framework named mixed-numerology channel division (MNCD) specifically for WAIC. Furthermore, a general interference model has been proposed to better utilize the recommended frequency band. Extensive evaluations show that the proposed framework can be a promising solution for massive wireless communications in aircraft.

This article presents a conformal multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna array for wireless avionics intra‐communications (WAIC) system application. The MIMO array consists of five probe‐fed rectangular patch antennas, which are conformal with a hemispherical platform. Each antenna element of the antenna array radiates toward different angles, forming a wide signal coverage in aircraft cabin. To further enhance isolation between close‐spacing antenna elements and improve MIMO performance, metallic slots are included in the ground plane. The MIMO array is analyzed with design details and a prototype is fabricated for verification. Experimental results show that the MIMO array has good isolation and radiation characteristics in the WAIC band of 4.2–4.4 GHz. The low‐cost and conformal configuration with compact size of the designed MIMO array make it a promising candidate for future WAIC applications.