ARINC is in fact a large series of standards for communication mainly aboard aircraft, but also extended to transport applications in general.

The ARINC standards series was created in 1929, and ranges from ARINC 429, a simple two-wire twisted pair data bus in where most messages consist of a single data word, to the ARINC 828 "Electronic Flight Bag" (EFB) interface which include video, USB, and ethernet interfaces.

• 400 Series : guidelines for installation, wiring, data buses, databases, etc...
• 500 Series : analog avionics equipment (used for example on Boeing 727, Douglas DC-9, DC-10, as well as on early models of Boeing 737 and 747, and Airbus A300, aircraft)
• 600 Series : design foundation for equipment specified per the ARINC 700 Series
• 700 Series : digital systems and equipment installed on aircraft of digital avionics systems. Among the topics covered by Specifications are data link protocols
• 800 Series : enabling technologies supporting the networked aircraft environment. Among the topics covered in this series is fiber optics used in high-speed data buses
• 900 Series : avionics systems in an integrated modular and/or networked architecture