Revolutionizing aviation: How Saab, Purdue and Ericsson’s private 5G network are shaping the future of airports

At most major airports throughout the United States, planes are currently being tracked by sensors made by Saab, ensuring passengers travel safely to and from their destinations. In fact, Saab has long been a powerhouse in aerospace and aviation – particularly around the advancement of security technologies.

As the industry embraces digital transformation, the need for real-world testing of innovative, integrated solutions leveraging the latest technologies, including AI and automation, has never been greater. Lab trials are valuable but proving that these solutions hold up in the complexity of an actual airport environment is the ultimate test. Testing new technologies in a real airport with real uses cases, deployed over a private 5G network provided by Ericsson, is what sets the “Lab to Life” apart. 

That’s why Ericsson and Saab, Inc. have partnered with Purdue University to deploy a private 5G network at Purdue University Airport. This collaboration has transformed the airport into a “living laboratory,” where the next generation of smart airport technologies is being tested, refined and scaled for the future. In the coming year, the lab plans to have an industry day, where the public can see use cases in action and get an up-close look at the future of aviation.

Transforming airport operations with innovation

In just over a year, the ambitious partnership between Ericsson, Saab, Inc. and Purdue University has delivered remarkable results, harnessing private 5G to unlock the advanced use cases shaping the future of aviation.

SAFE Event Management Platform for Drone Detection

The ability for an airport to maintain situational awareness across its operations, adapt to emergent events, and proactively address, or even predict threats or anomalies is a key requirement for running smoothly and keeping airplanes, passengers and cargo moving safely. The SAFE platform integrates all control room functions within a single, powerful tool to enhance day-to-day operations and efficiently manage incidents and crises.

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), like drones, pose significant safety and security threats for airports. Even the smallest units can cause significant disruptions to travel, resulting in aircraft damage, flight delays, emergency landings, and lost revenue – impacting airports and passengers alike. 

Running the SAFE platform on a private 5G network delivers exceptional value by enabling the use of wirelessly 5G-connected cameras within the SAFE system. These cameras provide high-speed, high-definition video streams across vast airport environments without the limitations of wired connectivity. This allows for seamless, real-time situational awareness and enhanced mobility, even in remote or hard-to-reach areas, enabling faster threat detection and response. Private 5G ensures a secure, dedicated network, protecting sensitive video data and enabling consistent performance even during high-traffic or emergency scenarios. 

Additionally, the SAFE platform delivers real-time data and resource management tools to monitor and respond to threats. The platform also provides data-driven insights into key business metrics to monitor and support the long-term operational health of airports.

Aerobahn™: Collaborative decision making 

The Aerobahn Platform is an advanced flight management system, enabling airlines, airport operators and air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to collaborate seamlessly. Its real-time data enhances decision making, reduces delays and improves overall coordination – ultimately providing real-time information about operations. 

As new technologies are brought into airports, having private 5G wireless in place enables the reliable, secure connection needed to plug into the Aerobahn platform for seamless integration.

Deploying Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) Sensors 

Saab’s ADS-B sensors track aircrafts in real-time, from takeoff to landing. These sensors feed data into the Aerobahn platform for centralized, precise monitoring. Ericsson’s Enterprise Private 5G ensures high-speed, low-latency connectivity for uninterrupted data transmission, improving situational awareness and safety. 

Powered by private 5G

Private 5G is the foundation of the solutions that are modernizing airport operations. 

With low latency and high bandwidth, 5G connectivity enables real-time data and analytics, providing reliable insight into airport operations, from baggage and passenger flow to security and flight status. In this initiative, Ericsson’s private 5G deployment led to real results, including cost reductions, safety improvements, and productivity gains of up to 30 percent. 

Legacy connectivity solutions supporting sensors and security at airports have often relied on requiring physical connections via copper lines or fiber-optic cables, or even point-to-point radio frequency links, which are far less reliable. And unlike public cellular networks or Wi-Fi, private 5G provides enhanced security and privacy with robust encryption protocols to protect sensitive data. It also offers more flexibility than traditional options, ensuring a future-proof platform that can evolve alongside the next aviation innovations.

Ericsson Private 5G is a 4G and 5G dual-mode core private network tailored to drive digital transformation for industries and enterprises. Ericsson Private 5G is a high-performance, easy-to-use, cellular connectivity solution built to power innovation for Industry 4.0.

Setting the standards for aviation innovation

For 30 years, Saab’s partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has provided critical air traffic control tools to ensure safe flights – and was recently selected by the FAA to deliver solutions to the busiest airports in the United States through its Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI). 

Today, Ericsson, Saab, and Purdue University are advancing aviation innovation by transforming Purdue University Airport into a real-world learning laboratory and hub of aviation innovation and research. As Purdue University Airport grows with the addition of a new terminal and larger, commercial flights, staying ahead of the curve and safely incorporating the latest tech is crucial.

Having all these solutions in a tested, functional environment will save time for airports as they are eventually rolled out more broadly, because the technology will be tested and validated – a critical leg up in the highly-regulated world of aviation. And it’s not just about validating that it works – it’s also testing to ensure new technologies are safe, which is extremely hard to validate in a lab environment. 

The initiative is setting a new standard for airport operations, serving as a global blueprint for scaling advanced technologies in the connect airports of the future. Through the power of private 5G, the project is paving the way for next generation of aviation solutions that enhance operational efficiency and elevate safety throughout every step of air travel. 

Together with Saab, Ericsson and leading stakeholders across the smart airport/aviation 4.0 ecosystem, Purdue University Airport’s Lab to Life continues to develop new opportunities for the industry to tackle longstanding operational challenges with powerful new digitally connected solutions, and validate that these solutions can be realized successfully in a modern airport running an Ericsson private 5G cellular network. This collaboration is revolutionizing aviation by harnessing state-of-the-art connectivity and a community of innovators to drive industry progress/advancement and redefine what’s possible in the skies.

Want to know more? 

Explore more information about the Lab2Life and Saab, Inc., Ericsson and Purdue’s partnership here. 

Aviation Innovation - Lab2Life