September 2022
Pushpendra Singh Sengar received his MS in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). His research work was supervised by Prof. Shatrunjay Rawat. Here’s a summary of his research work that studies existing personal electronic devices (ped) policies and provides an automatic solution to switch on airplane mode in flight:
The use of cell phones is embedded in our lives. We use it for various purposes by finding answers to our curious questions, ordering services for our homes and self, social media and many more. So when we are asked to stow away our mobile phones or use Airplane Mode when travelling by air, it feels like a violation of our freedom to use our devices. Such a policy exists because aviation authorities such as Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), Internation Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) etc. found that these devices could pose a safety risk to airplane systems and operations. Such devices are referred to as Personal Electronic Devices (PED). There are multiple malfunctions of aircraft systems that could be caused by usage of PEDs inside the aircraft which pose a safety risk to the flight and its passengers. Airplane Mode of cell phones was introduced to help aviation industry enforce the policy of no PED usage when in flight. In this thesis we focus on studying the existing policies for usage of cell phones inside an aircraft and provide a prototype solution where we could enable cell phone’s Airplane Mode automatically without any human interaction. We studied policies enforced by different aviation authorities in different countries, how they differ from each other and their common aspects. We found most of the aviation authorities have a policy of either stowing away PEDs or using Airplane Mode during takeoff and landing. We also studied reports presenting technical data on why such a policy is required. We also went through reports submitted by flight crew and cabin crew related to some instances where they observed disturbances during flight due to usage of PEDs inside the aircraft. We have also included individual experiences reported by passengers while travelling on how people react and behave when asked to turn on Airplane Mode or switch off their electronic devices. After establishing the problem, we discussed solutions which could be used to either switch off cell phones in flight or enable Airplane Mode automatically without any human interaction. Three solutions proposed were, use of PICO cells inside the aircraft, use of mobile phone jammer, and develop a cell phone application to enable Airplane Mode automatically based on a trigger. We discussed the pros and cons of each solution proposed. We decided to develop a cell phone application to enable or disable Airplane Mode based on a trigger. In this thesis, we also discussed technical challenges which we faced to develop such an application. We also studied social challenges which already exist due to existing policy as well as potential social challenges once our auto Airplane Mode system is used. In this thesis we also present data on how we created this application and its limitations. We have also identified some other scenarios and places where such an application can be used. At the end, we conclude our work and list out some future scope activities.