Teledyne Controls has received FAA supplemental type certification for its GroundLink Edge Computing Platform on the Boeing 737 series and has introduced the companion AppLink cloud service. The approval allows the platform to be installed on certified 737 aircraft as a fleetwide modification, giving operators a new way to deploy and update onboard software without aircraft downtime or separate aircraft-level certification for each application.
The El Segundo, California-based unit of Teledyne Technologies describes GroundLink ECP as an open edge computing environment for aircraft, with support for 5G cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and ARINC 429/717 interfaces. It uses an application server compliant with ARINC 679 and the Open Container Initiative, allowing airlines to run software developed in-house, by Teledyne or by certified third parties.
Teledyne is positioning the system as a move away from traditional standalone avionics and Aircraft Interface Device architectures toward a software-defined aircraft data platform. The company has also indicated that approvals for additional aircraft types are planned, making the Boeing 737 certification the first step in a broader rollout.