Research on Path Loss for an Airplane Wing Wireless Monitoring System

This letter presents the empirical path loss models for the environment of airplane wings. Two wireless prototypes of monitoring-of-airplane-wing (MOAW) at the frequencies of 433, 868, 780, 915, and 2400 MHz band are considered for monitoring wave propagation in a delta airplane wing. The path loss models for the five bands are proposed for spar-mounted, rib-mounted, front-stringer-mounted, and rear-stringer-mounted wireless link scenarios inside an airplane delta wing. Moreover, the packet loss rates of wireless prototypes at five bands inside an airplane wing are investigated. The results of wireless link budget calculations inside an airplane provide insights into how the MOAW devices are deployed inside an airplane wing for constructing better propagation, and give advisable reference to the deployment of devices inside more types of airplane wings in future.