Connectivity provider SmartSky Networks has received its 150th patent supporting the development of its advanced air-to-ground (ATG) network and data technologies. Approximately 20 per cent of its employees named as inventors on most of the patents in the company's extensive portfolio. The company has more than 90 additional patents pending domestically and internationally.

“We are proud of our history of innovation, new thinking, disruption and creative approaches to solve technology issues in aviation, particularly as we near the commercial launch of our network in the second quarter of 2020,” said SmartSky chairman and CEO Haynes Griffin.

Titled ‘Position Information Assisted Network Control’ (US Patent number 10,517,097) SmartSky's latest and 150th patent is part of the company's constant push for innovation in connectivity and related technologies, driving efficiencies and revenue growth in aviation.

The company has several patent families covering network architecture and shared spectrum usage in North America and beyond, which enable an advanced ATG network to operate in harmony with terrestrial users of identical frequencies in the same geography. SmartSky's development pipeline will deliver the high-performance network that passengers want and need aboard their business and commercial flights.

“Our patented single-beam-per-aircraft ATG network, which applies the concepts contained in many of our patents, will serve a long line of interested aircraft owners, operators and managers that have been demanding better technology and better passenger experiences,” explains Ryan Stone, SmartSky president. “Many of the inventors who facilitated SmartSky's success with these 150 patents are the same leaders who will help grow both our ATG communications and Skytelligence digital services business lines for the company in the years to come.”