Latécoère, Signify and Huneed Technologies announce strategic partnership on LiFi in commercial airplanes

October 28, 2019  Toulouse, France – Latécoère, a tier 1 partner to major international aircraft manufacturers, is pleased to announce the industrial scale-up of its LiFi technology¹, thanks to a memorandum of understanding² signed with Signify, the world leader in lighting, on its Trulifi technology, and an MoU signed with South Korea’s aerospace and defence specialist, Huneed Technologies, for data communication electronics and software.

“The Paris Air Show 2019 gave Latécoère the opportunity to demonstrate the power of the LiFi speed. Our technology, which showcases our Group’s worldwide lead in innovation, raised a lot of expectation from the market and is now ready to progress to the next level,” said Yannick Assouad, CEO of Latécoère. “Partnering with two leaders in their respective sectors such as Signify and Huneed Technologies will enable new opportunities and horizons for Latécoère’s LiFi, to ensure its widespread use in airplane cabins.”

LiFi enables a superior onboard connectivity experience in terms of bandwidth, latency and stability. Another advantage of LiFi is that it doesn’t interfere with sensitive equipment and that the connection isn’t affected by the airplane’s movements. LiFi also results in less cabling, and together with an infrastructure upgrade to low-weight fiber solutions, will reduce the airplane’s weight and fuel usage.

Unleashing the LiFi power with Trulifi by Signify

Signify, launched its Trulifi systems earlier this year and has installed around 100 projects worldwide. Trulifi combines energy-efficient LED lighting with a reliable, secure and high-speed two-way wireless connection, with speeds of up to 250 Mbps for the downlink and the uplink.

“Through this partnership, Signify and Latécoère will transform the cabin experience for passengers by providing them the latest technology in connectivity,” said Olivia Qiu, Chief Innovation Officer at Signify. “Trulifi offers enormous potential and our ambition is, in addition to aircraft, to provide this technology to other forms of public transport as well, so people have access to a reliable, secure and fast Internet connection, wherever they may be.”

At first, Trulifi will be used for the connection of the media players in the headrests. In the next phase, LiFi will enable passengers to connect their personal devices to the onboard media and Internet, but also interact with each other and have the same connectivity experience on board as on the ground.

Starting the industrialisation phase with Huneed Technologies

Huneed Technologies, South Korea’s specialist in tactical communication and aerospace equipment, has become the third partner in the industrialization of Latécoère’s LiFi Cabin System. The Group will jointly develop Latécoère in the development and production of the passenger distribution unit and fibre optic router.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by Latécoère for our expertise in communication technology and manufacturing knowledge to be part of this ground-breaking partnership,” said Eugene Kim, Chairman at Huneed Technologies stated. “This opportunity seamlessly aligns with our growth strategy of globally scaling our aerospace business unit into commercial aviation. Huneed will ensure the delivery of LiFi data communication electronics and software to enable the widespread adoption of this technology that will play a critical role in the next generation of smart cabins in delivering best-in-class passenger experience.”