Airborne Networking Information Connectivity in Aviation

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Airborne NetworkingInformation Connectivity in
Aviation
Presented to Barry Scott Ralph Yost, Systems
Engineering (located at FAA Technical Center) May
8, 2007
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Discussion Items

• Problem Statement
• Objective
• Approach
• Multi-Aircraft Flight Demo Series
• Products
• Summary

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Joint Planning and Development Office
Network-Enabled Information Access The Next
Generation System will be network-centric,
meaning the right information will be given to
the right person at the right time. Aircraft
will become mobile "nodes" integral to this
information network, not only using and providing
information, but also capable of routing messages
or information sent from another aircraft or a
ground source. Information will be "pushed" to
known users and "pulled" by others.
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PROBLEM Currently Do Not Have System Wide
Network Connectivity For Aircraft

• Premise is that network capability to aircraft
  will improve the way operators of aircraft and
  the NAS handle information.
• Various commercial solutions are emerging
• Most are satellite-based technology
• Most do not provide aircraft-to-aircraft
  connectivity
• An early implementable network connectivity
  solution is needed that will allow all aircraft
  types to participate in and join the network
• transport, regional, biz jet, GA, helicopter
• Information flow will remain stove-piped unless a
  ubiquitous network solution for aircraft is
  determined
• Assumptions Made for Ground Networks Do Not Apply
  to Airborne Network Links

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Reducing Operational Errors

• The single most deadly accident in aviation
  history, the runway collision of two B-747s at
  Tenerife, begin with a "stepped on" voice
  transmission. (1977)

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Objective

• Develop a ubiquitous network capability for
  aviation, based upon managed open standards to
  make it safe, secure, reliable, scalable, and
  usable by all classes of aircraft.
• Demonstrate that network capability for aircraft
  generates value for the National Airspace System
  (NAS) (at minimal equipage for all stakeholders)
  and begins to put into place the building blocks
  required to achieve NexGen in 2025
• Identify equipage incentives that provide the NAS
  (FAA) and the aircraft operator both benefits and
  economic value that can be measured and received
  on an aircraft-by-aircraft basis

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Airborne Networking Multi-Aircraft Flight Demo
Series Accomplishment

• 4-D Trajectory Flight Plan sent from ground to
  aircraft aircraft acknowledges and accepts
• Aircraft position reporting displayed on EFB
• Weather low/high bandwidth apps
• Text messaging cockpit-to-cockpit and to/from
  ground
• Web services, white board, VoIP
• Live video images telemetered to the ground
• Security VPN, encryption, etc.
• Planned for May 22 Pico cell use of special
  encrypted cell phones (US AF AFCA)

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Airborne Networked Weather Data and apps already
demonstrated

• Prog Charts Surface, 12 hr, 24 hr
• Airmets Turbulance, Convective
• Pireps (Northeast)
• Icing Potential
• Satellite Albany, BWI, Charlotte, Detroit
• Radar Sterling, VA Mount Holly, NJ
• Custom app to bring RVR to the cockpit

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Weather To the Cockpit Graphical

• US Map with selectable product overlays to show
• Terrain, States, ARTCC, VORs, Airports, TWEB
• Airmets Icing, MTO, IFR, Turb
• Sigmets WS, WST
• Pireps Icing, Turb
• Misc METARs, Radar Reflectivity
• Satellite

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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAirports
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleARTCC Airspace
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleVORs
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleTWEB (Transcribed Wx
Enroute Broadcast)
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS Icing
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS Turbulence
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS IFR
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS MTOS (Mt.
Obscuration)
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS All overlaid
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleSIGMETS Convective
T-storms
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleIcing
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExamplePIREPS Icing
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Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleSIGMETS Icing
Turb overlaid
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Airborne Networking Multi-Aircraft Network
Capability Demonstration Two Systems, Three
Planes
N39
PMEI
PMEI
N35
TCP/IP, VHF
AeroSat
N47
ISM/L-Band 1-2Mb/s
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High Bandwidth 90 Mb/s Ka/KU Band
TCP/IP, VHF
Position reporting, situational awareness
Low Bandwidth 19.2Kb/s
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PMEI
AeroSat
Airborne Networking Lab
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Play Flight Date Here

• Run EFRMON Playback Here

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Summary

• NexGen requires airborne networking.
• Wx and AIS are building netcentric information
  services. Airborne Networking can easily connect
  to deliver information to the aircraft.
• Reliability of broadcast is questionable without
  dependency upon discovery and reachability
  information
• Airborne Networks can deploy any data or
  application that can be deployed on ground
  networks, as long as standard protocols are used.
• Weather applications will run the same as
  normal applications will run on any networked
  computer system.

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• BACKUP SLIDES

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Impact of Air-to-Air Link PerformanceAssumptions
Made for Internet Links Do Not Apply to AN Links
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Reducing Operational Errors

• Several analyses indicate that approximately 20
  of all en route operational errors (OEs) are
  communications related
• 23 found in CAASD analysis of 680 OEs in 2002
  and 2003
• 20 found in 1,359 OEs in FY04 and FY05

• Communication OEs are usually more severe
• 30 of the high severity FY04 and FY05 OEs were
  communication related

• Categories of communications-related OEs include
• Readback/hearback
• Issued different altitude than intended
• Issued control instruction to wrong aircraft
• Transposed call sign
• Failure to update data block

FY05 En Route OEs
High Severity OEs
Remaining OEs
With data communications, most of these OEs could
be eliminated
23 of all operational errors at Miami Center
for the five year period from January 1998 to
September 2003 could have been avoided by data
link Miami ARTCC
Communication OEs
Based on preliminary reports. Detailed
analysis underway.
(From briefing by Gregg Anderson, ATO Planning
Data Link Workshop, Feb 2006)