Simcenter Feko Winprop simulation of aircraft Wi‑Fi

In-flight Wi-Fi has become a baseline expectation for commercial air travel. But delivering consistent cabin-wide coverage across a large aircraft is far more complex than it appears. This white paper presents a simulation-based approach using Simcenter™ Feko™ and Simcenter™ Feko™ Winprop™ to model and validate Wi-Fi network performance across a full aircraft cabin at both 2.4 GHz and 5.3 GHz frequency bands.

Challenges in distributing Wi‑Fi effectively inside the cabin

A large commercial aircraft cabin spanning 72 meters in length with nearly 400 passengers on board presents a uniquely demanding electromagnetic environment. Complex geometry, overhead bins, windows and human bodies all affect signal propagation. Traditional simulation methods are too computationally intensive to be practical at this scale, leaving engineers without a fast and reliable path to validated network designs.

How simulation cut through the complexity

Simcenter Feko and Simcenter Feko Winprop address challenges head-on using the dominant path model (DPM), a proprietary propagation solver that delivered full-cabin coverage results in just seven seconds on a laptop. This white paper walks engineers through antenna design, placement strategy and network planning workflows that are adaptable to a range of aircraft configurations.

Discover how a simulation-first approach can accelerate your connectivity programs. Read the white paper today.