Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS) Status Briefing

Federal AviationAdministration

Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS) Status Briefing

ACP WG-M, Bangkok, ThailandFAA/Brent PhillipsFebruary 1, 2011

AeroMACS Status Briefing to ACP WG-M 1 Feb 2011

Agenda of Topics

• Background FCS (AP-17) and resulting PLAs

• Overview and status of FY10 activities:

• Prototype AeroMACS network in the Cleveland Test Bed

• Spectrum interference results

• Channelization studies.

• Status of AeroMACS profile development under RTCA

• Plans for FY11 activities

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AeroMACS Status Briefing to ACP WG-M 1 Feb 2011 3

Background• Future Communications Study (AP-17),

ICAO Aeronautical Communications Panel, Recommendation #1:

– Develop a new system based on the IEEE 802.16e standard operating in the C-band and supporting the airport surface environment.

• NextGen Implementation Plans (FY09, FY10 & FY11) to improve collaborative Air Traffic Management includes “New ATM Requirements: Future Communications”

– Concepts of use, preliminary requirements, and architecture for C-band airport surface wireless communication system

– Test bed infrastructure to enable validation of aviation profile

3

AMACS-002rev1

CY 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Communication Roadmap (1 of 4)

LDRCLRCL

BWM

DMN

NADIN PSN

FTI-1

ANICS

NADIN MSN

SWIM

Tele

com

Supp

ortin

gA

ctiv

ities

SWIM-Core Services

ASTI

NMR

FID74

FID129

CRDR217 JARD

496

IID497

Note: Fixed User Ground Communications as a component o f a Mobile User Communications Network

NASA R&D onairport vehicles

(with ADS-B out)surface location

Inventory NavigationTime and Frequency

Requirements and Assess GPS Outage Impact

345

Approved

FTI-2

XX

X

X

XX214

215

SWIM Segmt. 3SWIM Segmt. 2SWIM Segmt. 1

X25 Service DiscontinuedUsers transferred to FTI IP

102

130

AirportWireless

CommunicationSystem

FID498

216

Airport WirelessCommunications

System (R&D Effort)344

Common Shortlist

Continental

B-AMCP34/TIA-902LDL AMACS

B-AMCP34/TIA-902

LDLAMACS

Continental

Oceanic /Remote

Inmarsat SBBCustom Satellite

Inmarsat SBBCustom Satellite

Oceanic /Remote

Airport IEEE 802.16e IEEE 802.16e Airport

EuropeUnitedStates

CustomSatellite

AMACS-001rev1

http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/nextgen/media/ngip.pdf


Potential AeroMACS Service Categories in U.S.

44

A ir Traffic C ontro lA dvisory Services

M obile

Surface C N SServices

Fixed

Air Traffic

A O C ServicesA A C ServicesA dvisory Services

M obile

TB D

Fixed

Airline

Port A uthority O psSafety Services

M obile

Port A uthority O psSecurity Services

Fixed

Airport

Potential AeroMACS Services

• ARINC, SITA, Airlines, Others? • Port Authority, Commercial?• FAA, FTI, Others?


AeroMACS Service Examples and Provision Options

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Air Traffic ServicesService Examples Air traffic control commands beyond Data Comm Segment 3

Surface communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) fixed assetsProvision Options Government-owned (licensed)/Government-operated (GO/GO)

Government-owned (licensed)/Commercially-operated (GO/CO) Non-competed service extension via FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure

(FTI) Open commercial competition by FAA

Airline ServicesService Examples Airline Operational Control (AOC)

Airline Administrative Communications (AAC) Advisory information System Wide Information Management (SWIM) Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) Meteorological (MET) data services

Provision Options Commercially-owned (licensed)/Commercially-operated (CO/CO) Non-competed service extension via exiting AOC service providers Airline service provision internally Open commercial competition by airlines

Airport Operator/Port Authority ServicesService Examples Security video

Routine and emergency operations De-icing/snow removal

Provision Options Local Government-owned (licensed)/Commercially-operated (GO/CO) Commercially-owned (licensed)/Commercially-operated (CO/CO) Open commercial competition by Operator/Port Authority


AeroMACS NASA-CLE CNS Test Bed

• CNS Test Bed at NASA Glenn and adjacent Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) already includes Sensis’ precision multilateration (MLAT) surveillance and unlicensed WiFi network

• ITT’s AeroMACS prototype implements features required to support mobile and stationary wideband communications for safety and regularity of flight services in an operational airport environment

• Full prototype network has been installed, including user verification and security with Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server function

• AeroMACS hardware and network installation completed in October 2009 with two multi-sector base stations providing wide area coverage and redundancy (one on Glenn property, one on CLE) and eight subscriber stations (two on Glenn, six on CLE)

• AeroMACS operational capability established in March 2010

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NASA-Cleveland Test Bed AeroMACS Network Layout

7

AZ = 55° °

AZ = 200°

AZ = 295° AZ = 45°

AZ = 185°

Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport

NASA GlennResearch Center

SubscriberStations

Base Stations

CoreServer


Two-Sector Base Station Located at NASA Glenn Hangar Building 4

BTS 1-1 ODU BTS 1-2 ODU

GPS ODU GPS ODU

11 GHz Backhaul ODU


Three-Sector Base Station Located at CLE Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) Building

ARFF Building and Observation Deck

GPS ODUs

BS ODUs (3)

11 GHz Data Backhaulto B110


Subscriber Station Installation Example on Sensis MLAT Equipment at NASA Glenn Building 500

10

ITT AeroMACSSubscriber Station

ODU

ITT AeroMACSSubscriber Station

Electronics Enclosure

Sensis Multilateration

MLAT Remote UnitEquipment


AeroMACS FY10 Evaluations• Measure data throughput and packet integrity for the following

conditions:– 5 and 10 MHz channel bandwidths– Stationary and mobile subscriber stations at speeds of at least 40 knots– Line-Of-Sight (LOS) and Non-LOS (N-LOS) propagation links– Presence of adjacent channel activity

• Mobility tests with hand-off transition between base station coverage sectors and between base stations

• Determine minimum transmit power required to maintain a minimum level of link performance:– Single subscriber station antenna– MIMO antenna diversity

• Characterize link performance when transferring sensor data from MLAT sensors in test bed– Mixture of data traffic streams– Traffic priority setting with Quality of Service (QoS) settings


Initial Data Throughput Measurements Between Buildings 500 and 4

• Initial data throughput measurement results available for links between NASA Building 500 and two Base Station sectors at NASA Building 4

– > 6.5 Mbps in Downlink direction (BS to SS)

– > 4 Mbps in Uplink direction (SS to BS)

• Conditions– 5 MHz Channel bandwidth– TDD ratio 60% (DL), 40% (UL)– TCP data traffic

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BTS Sector

Measured Throughput DL, Mbps

Expected DL Throughput,

Mbps

Measured Throughput UL, Mbps

Expected Throughput UL, Mbps

BTS1_1 6.82 6.5 5.40 4.0 BTS1_2 6.54 6.5 4.19 4.0


Initial Channelization Methodology/Channel Plan• Select common channel bandwidths of 5 MHz or 10 MHz, not both

• Proposed channel plan consisting of 11 usable 5 MHz channels (with stringent channel mask) or 5 usable 10 MHz channels within the current 59 MHz AM(R)S allocation (5091-5150 MHz)

• Out-of-band (OOB) interference into adjacent aeronautical band (5030-5091 MHz) may be coordinated via ICAO for 11th 5 MHz channel

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5091 MHz 5150 MHz

Other Aviation

Allocation

Non- Aviation

Allocation

Current AM(R)S Allocation for AeroMACS


Spectrum Interference Initial Assessment• Establish limits on aggregated AeroMACS

transmissions to not exceed interference threshold for MSS feeder links

• Model based on Visualyse Professional 7 software from Transfinite Systems Limited

– Includes: antennas, stations, carriers, links, and interference paths to determined signal, interference, and noise levels.

– Preliminary model included all 703 US towered airports; Refined model benchmarks MITRE case for omni antennas at 497 major US towered airports

– Interference threshold (-157.374 dB) met with maximum base station transmitted power of 447 mW for 10-MHz channels and 224 mW for 5-MHz channels

• Plan to increase complexity and realism of interference models:

– Multi-sector antennas; multiple base and subscriber stations per airport; co-channel and adjacent band; proximity; frequency reuse; multipath signal propagation

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Power Flux Density at Low Earth Orbit from 497 US Airports

Acceptable Interference Threshold for 5 MHz Channels


Funded Research Activities in FY11

• Evaluate a selected ATC mobile application on the aeronautical mobile airport communications system (AeroMACS)

• Investigate and resolve remaining issues affecting the final AeroMACS profile inputs to the MOPS process

Evaluate and recommend mobile Source Station (SS) MIMO antenna configurations for mobile SSs

Optimize AeroMACS system-level performance (QoS, data throughput, latency, error rate) within ITU limitations on radiated power

Resolve channel BW and center frequency spacing plans to satisfy US and European objectives while preserving Spectrum Office flexibility and compatibility with WiMAX Forum practices

Validate that the proposed AeroMACS complies with interference requirements for the US proposed allocation at World Radiocommunications Conference in 2012.

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RTCA SC-223

• RTCA Program Management Council approved SC-223 in July 2009 for Airport Surface Wireless Communications standard development

– Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS) profile is based on IEEE 802.16-2009 standard

– Recent Meetings held:

– 17-18 August 2010 at NASA in Cleveland, Ohio (USA)

– 28-30 September 2010 as joint RTCA-223 and EUROCAE WG-82 at EUROCONTROL in Brussels

– 16-17 November 2010 at Washington D.C. (USA)

– Next meeting 22-23 Melborne, FL (USA)

– Draft AeroMACS profile complete. Document out for Final Recommendations and Comments (FRAC).

– Minimum Operational Performance Standard (MOPS) process begins in February.

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Approach for Technical Parameter Profile• System profile define AeroMACS

operation in the unique airport surface environment

• Profile based on IEEE 802.16-2009 broadband mobility standard

• Leverages commercial mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) for profiles, hardware, software, and network architecture

• Testing, analyses, and demos will validate that application needs are met

• RTCA SC-223 is developing FAA profile recommendations; EUROCAE WG-82 is developing common profile for EUROCONTROL in parallel

Profile Area Key Parameter Selections

RF/Radio parameters Frequency band Channel BWs Channel center

frequencies

5091 to 5150 MHz 5, 10 MHzCenter frequencies at 5 MHz increments

Power class Max DL TX power Max UL TX power

Unchanged from IEEE 802.16e

Duplex Mode TDD/FDD TDD

Physical Layer M-ary QAM range Coding options MIMO

Performance profiles – Min. performance defined in 802.16e and sensitivity values scaled for frequency

MAC Layer ARQ Security protocols Mobile protocols QoS options

Unchanged from IEEE 802.16e

Documents

Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS) Status Briefing