HCL developed a next generation in-flight entertainment system for an aerospace major to address growing customer expectations and frustration with lack of connectivity. HCL helped enhance the client's twin aisle product offerings through concept development, architecture, software management, maintenance and field support. This established a center of excellence and long-term relationship where HCL now manages multiple product lines for the client. The new system reduced time to market by 50% and costs through 70% offshore leverage while improving stability, reliability and cost optimization.

4. HCL develops a next generation In-
Flight Entertainment System for an
aerospace major
BACKGROUND
 Headquartered in Iowa, USA, our client is a leader in the communication
and aviation electronics industry. The company offers communication,
navigation and display solutions to governments and manufacturers of
defense products. For commercial aircrafts the company is a leading
player in avionics and cabin electronics systems including flight display
systems, Cabin information systems & In-flight entertainment [IFE]
systems
 The client was looking for a strategic partner to manage its Twin Isle
product line so that its core team could focus on Single Aisle and
Business Jet Entertainment systems
CHALLENGES / OBJECTIVES SNAPSHOT
 Horizontal: Engineering and R&D Services
 Growing customer expectations in IFE services coupled with the inability to  Micro-vertical: Aerospace
offer live video, telephony and internet connectivity was a cause of growing  Service Areas: Application Design & Development; Set up
of a Dedicated CoE
frustration among frequent flyers
 Technologies: Multi development platform: Emb WinNT
 Our client wanted to enhance its Twin Isle product offerings with an enhanced , WinCE, OS9000, VxWorks; Multi Processor: TI, Hitachi,
ARM, Intel; Protocols: ARINC 429, ARINC 485, IEEE
IFE product that incorporates the latest features and which also provides for 1394, TCP/IP, IIC, DOCSYS, ARCNET, FTP, TFTP, SNMP;
future technologies BSP & Device Drivers: Audio, Touch Panel, LCD,
Ethernet, USB, Serial, MPEG, RF Tuners, QAM 64/256;
 Escalating obsolescence and maintenance costs were declining revenues Middleware DSP: Sampling rate conversion filters,
from this product line – requiring a change in strategy Dynamic range conversion, Equalization, DTMF
encoder/decoder, DPLL, Eco Canceller, Comfort Noise
generator

5. THE SOLUTION
HCL commenced a journey of collaboration with this client 10 years ago with just three resources. Today, we’ve built a
relationship that’s grown into one of the largest engagements in the Aerospace & Defense vertical. In 2007, this
relationship was further cemented with the formation of a dedicated Offshore Design Center (ODC) for this client, and
since then, the design centre has been serving as an extension of the client’s Engineering & IT team. This was HCL’s
first aerospace client, and with more than 415 engineers today, it continues to be our largest aerospace engagement.
 For the IFE project, HCL was involved right from the concept of operation, to product architecting, to multi airline
product release management
 System design – Architecting the IFE system
 Software release management – Requirements analysis, Top Level and Detailed Design, Coding and Unit Testing,
Integration, Acceptance Testing, Airline Program specific testing
 Maintenance & Sustenance – Change requests, Multiple airline release, Problem resolution and field issue
resolution
 During the course of the engagement, HCL invested in a Centre of Excellence [CoE] for IFE, which is a niche area
in aircraft systems. Today, we manage complete IFE solutions for this client, including providing field support
services to its customers
 Currently, HCL is managing multiple product lines in the cabin systems domain including Single Aisle, Twin Aisle
and Business Jet Entertainment systems for this client, enabling its core team to focus on other key areas
RESULTS / BENEFITS
 HCL identified and prototyped 10 new features, which helped in reviving the product line
 The new hardware system has been designed to ensure that new features don’t warrant any hardware changes
 50% reduction in time to market
 HCL supports the maintenance of the product from offshore, thus reducing recurring costs
 Offshore leverage at 70%, led to substantial reduction in cost
 Faster testing cycles led to a stable and reliable software, with further cost optimization

6. Hello, I’m from HCL! We work behind the scenes, helping our customers to shift paradigms and start revolutions. We use digital engineering to
build superhuman capabilities. We make sure that the rate of progress far exceeds the price. And right now, 88,000 of us bright sparks are busy
developing solutions for 500 customers in 31 countries across the world.
How can I help you?
www.hcltech.com