System, device and method for switching air-to-ground antennas

1. A communication system for an aircraft, the communication system comprising:

at least one air-to-ground antenna externally mounted on the aircraft;

an air-to-ground communication unit having a first set of ports for in-flight air-to-ground communication with a ground network and a second set of ports for ground communication comprising terrestrial communication with the ground network and for accessing fixed base operator services through a wireless network;

a computing device configured to receive inputs from at least one sensor for measuring an in-flight condition; and

a switching device for connecting the at least one air-to-ground antenna to one of the first set of ports and the second set of ports,

wherein the computing device is configured to detect the in-flight condition and output a control signal indicative of the in-flight condition to the switching device, and the switching device is configured to switch connectivity of the at least one air-to-ground antenna to the first set of ports upon reception of the control signal.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of the flight condition is derived from a weight-off-wheels condition of the aircraft is met.

3. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of the flight condition is derived from an altitude measurement sensor and the switching device is configured to switch connectivity of the at least one air-to-ground antenna to the first set of ports when the aircraft is in-flight and has an altitude that exceeds a given altitude.

4. The communication system of claim 3 , wherein the given altitude is 10,000 feet.

5. The communication system of claim 1 , further comprising an access point connected to the air-to-ground communication unit for providing wireless communication access to passenger devices.

6. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the second set of ports comprises terrestrial modem ports for terrestrial communication with the ground network and Wi-Fi™ ports for accessing the fixed-base operator services.

7. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the switching device is a commutator.

8. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the switching device comprises at least one coaxial relay.

9. The communication system of claim 1 wherein the at least one air-to-ground antenna comprises two antenna units each comprising four antennas, each antenna unit having four coaxial ports connecting the four antennas to the switching device, wherein the first set of ports comprises eight air-to-ground communication ports, and wherein the second set of ports comprises two terrestrial modem ports for terrestrial communication with the ground network and three Wi-Fi™ ports for accessing the fixed-base operator services.

10. A switching device for use with an air-to-ground communication unit of an aircraft, the switching device comprising:

a first set of ports for connecting to at least one air-to-ground antenna mounted externally on the aircraft;

a second set of ports for connecting to in-flight air-to-ground communication ports of the air-to-ground communication unit, the air-to-ground communication ports for air-to-ground communication with a ground network;

a third set of ports for connecting to ground communication ports of the air-to-ground communication unit, the ground communication ports for terrestrial communication with the ground network and for accessing fixed base operator services through a wireless network;

an interface to a computing device configured to receive inputs from at least one sensor for measuring an in-flight condition; and

a switching mechanism for connecting the at least one air-to-ground antenna to one of the in-flight air-to-ground communication ports and the ground communication ports,

wherein the computing device is configured to detect the in-flight condition and output a control signal indicative of the in-flight condition to the switching mechanism and the switching mechanism is configured to switch connectivity of the at least one air-to-ground antenna to the in-flight air-to-ground communication ports upon reception of the control signal.

11. The switching device of claim 10 , wherein the signal indicative of the flight condition is derived from a weight-off-wheels condition of the aircraft.

12. The switching device of claim 10 , wherein the signal indicative of the flight condition is derived from an altitude measurement sensor and the switching device is configured to switch connectivity of the at least one air-to-ground antenna to in-flight air-to-ground communication port when the aircraft is in-flight and has an altitude that exceeds a given altitude.

13. The switching device of claim 12 , wherein the given altitude is 10,000 feet.

14. The switching device of claim 10 , wherein the third set of ports are for connecting to terrestrial modern ports and Wi-Fi™ communication ports of the air-to-ground communication unit.

15. The switching device of claim 10 wherein the switching device is a commutator.

16. The switching device of claim 10 wherein the switching device comprises at least one coaxial relay.

17. A method for switching at least one air-to-ground antenna of an aircraft between in-flight air-to-ground communication and ground communication, the method comprising:

detecting an in-flight condition through a sensor measurement and outputting a control signal indicative of the in-flight condition;

receiving the control signal;

communicatively connecting, based on the control signal, the at least one air-to-ground antenna to a first set of ports of an air-to-ground communication unit when the in-flight condition of the aircraft is met, the first set of ports for in-flight air-to-ground communication with a ground network; and

communicatively connecting, based on the control signal, the at least one air-to-ground antenna to a second set of ports of the air-to-ground communication unit when the in-flight condition of the aircraft is not met, the second set of ports for terrestrial communication with the ground network and for accessing fixed base operator services through a wireless network.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the in-flight condition is a weight-off-wheels condition of the aircraft.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the in-flight condition is met when the aircraft exceeds a given altitude.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the given altitude is 10,000 feet.