Multilink ATN-IPS solution aims to deliver an air–ground datalink infrastructure with multiple datalink services. The initial services under development include SATCOM, LDACS and AeroMACS. The solution will provide policy-based, seamless and automatic switching between these various satellite and terrestrial systems and will not preclude the addition of other datalinks in the future.

The solution will ensure the proper functioning of the aeronautical telecommunication network using internet protocol suite (ATN-IPS) backbone and the multilink solution in real time.

The users of the solution are airspace users on the airborne side and air navigation service providers on the ground. The solution increases the resilience of the air–ground datalink infrastructure by introducing multiple technologically independent datalinks. The IPS multilink solution also adds security features and message prioritisation mechanisms.

Current work under the solution only addresses two datalinks: SATCOM and VDL2. It does not yet include the other datalinks under consideration, namely LDACS, AeroMACS and additional SATCOM services, all operating under the ATN-IPS protocol stack. Furthermore, the current work is limited to integrating an IPS-equipped aircraft connected via ATN-IPS infrastructure to the ATN-OSI backbone on the ground, and does not yet represent full end-to-end IPS connectivity.