Federal Aviation Administration Apr3,2007RTCA_SC206.ppt Airborne Networking… Information Connectivity in Aviation Presented to: RTCA SC206 Ralph Yost,

Federal AviationAdministration

Apr3,2007RTCA_SC206.ppt

Airborne Networking…Information Connectivity in Aviation

Presented to: RTCA SC206

Ralph Yost, Systems Engineering

(FAA Technical Center)

April 3, 2007

Airborne Networking

2Federal AviationAdministration4/3/2007

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

Airborne Networking


Background• Airborne Networking began as a Tech Center idea

in support of the NASA SATS Project proposed in July 1999. (But not limited to SATS aircraft.)

• In December 2004, the JPDO published the NGATS Plan, validating this premise, and institutionalizing a plan for network enabled operations for the NAS (i.e. NGATS).

• We have been engaged in airborne networking research for several years based upon NASA SATS, NGATS support from ATO-P-1 (Keegan), and Congressional earmarking

Airborne Networking


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

Airborne Networking


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

Link Attribute Terrestrial Internet

Airborne Network Networking Impacts

Bandwidth Infinite – can add more fiber and routers as needed

Constrained by available spectrum in a geographic region

Function of distance, antenna gain, power levels, interference

Routing performance

Bit Error Rate 10-9 to 10-12, fairly constant

10-5 to 10-7, highly variable due to distance, fading, EMI

End-to-end reliable transport

Stability Generally long periods (days) of availability

Short periods (minutes, seconds) of availability the norm

Routing performance (convergence)

Threat Generally few (e.g., backhoe)

Highly exposed to EMI and intentional jamming

Network capacity

Directionality Bidirectional May be unidirectional (e.g., different power levels)

Receive-only nodes

Protocol algorithms

Latency Constant based upon link length

Variable over time as link length changes

Synchronized applications

Airborne Networking


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*

– 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 Remaining

OEs

High Severity

OEsWith data communications, most of these OEs could be eliminated

* Based on preliminary reports. Detailed analysis underway.

FY05 En Route OEs

Communication OEs

• Communication OEs are usually more severe– 30% of the high severity FY04

and FY05 OEs were communication related*

“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

(From briefing by Gregg Anderson, ATO Planning Data

Link Workshop, Feb 2006)

Airborne Networking


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)

Airborne Networking


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

Airborne Networking


• Facilitate the early adoption of NexGen netcentric aviation capability into the present National Airspace System

• Advance the basic netcentric capability for aviation (demonstrate Assured Communication and Shared Situational Awareness; a key enabling technology)

• Comply with Congressional mandate to perform three aircraft demonstration

Airborne Networking Multi-Aircraft Flight Demo Series: Purpose

Airborne Networking


Airborne Networking Multi-Aircraft Flight Demo Series: Aircraft Flight Demo Applications

• 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 (planned April 11)

• Security: VPN, encryption, etc.

• Pico cell: use of special encrypted cell phones (US AF AFCA)

Airborne Networking


Wx Application Level Characteristics

• Reliability of broadcast is questionable without dependency upon discovery and reachability information

• Our program tests and demonstrates the following:– Auto-segmentation and reassembly of large

products.– Acknowledge delivery of uplinked products.– Target (receiver) location used to optimize

delivery priority.– Aircraft knowledge permits transmission and

“stopping transmission” once appropriate delivery requirements have been met.

Airborne Networking


Assured Broadcast Product Distribution

– Auto-segmentation and reassembly of large products

– Ack (and selective reject) of fragments to optimize delivery

– Target location used to optimize delivery (e.g., aircraft on final MUST have latest arriving ATIS)

– Aircraft existence knowledge permits knowledge of “who” has received what and “who” needs what-when to dynamically manage broadcast product mix

Airborne Networking


Datafeed• Ground station retrieves information from internet

through one of a series of methods (either ground station pull or central server push)

• Ground station fragments product into smaller chunks and broadcasts chunks in reserved slots

• Air stations receive fragments and reassemble original product

• Air stations acknowledge both partial and complete products to optimize uplink schedule

• Ground station receives acknowledgments and refrains from transmitting fragments that have been acknowledged by all aircraft in the region.

Airborne Networking


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

Airborne Networking


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

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAirports

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleARTCC Airspace

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleVORs

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleTWEB (Transcribed Wx Enroute Broadcast)

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS: Icing

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS: Turbulence

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS: IFR

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS: MTOS (Mt. Obscuration)

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleAIRMETS: All overlaid

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleSIGMETS: Convective T-storms

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleIcing

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExamplePIREPS: Icing

Airborne Networking


Wx Graphical Overlay ExampleSIGMETS: Icing & Turb overlaid

Airborne Networking


Airborne Networking Multi-Aircraft Network Capability Demonstration: Two Systems, Three Planes

N35

N47

Airborne Networking Lab

PMEI AeroSat

PMEIPMEI

AeroSat

Position reporting, situational awareness

High Bandwidth

90 Mb/s

Ka/KU Band

45

45TCP/IP

, VHF

Low Bandwidth

19.2Kb/s

TCP/IP, VHF

FIREWALL

SWIM and AFCA

ISM/L-Band1-2Mb/s

N39

Airborne Networking


Play Flight Date Here

Run EFRMON Playback Here

Airborne Networking


Products• AeroSat:

– K-band, directional antennas each end.– ISM band omni air-to-air.– TCP/IP, network management software developing.– Approach is potential oceanic solution.

• PMEI– VHF, 25Khz channels.– Has Beyond Line of Sight relay capability (potential oceanic solution).– Potential terminal, enroute, Oceanic, CONUS solution.

• These are early approaches to network connectivity that meets basic criteria of network connectivity for air-to-air, air-to-ground, usable by all classes of aircraft, relatively low cost.

• They are learning opportunities, not product endorsement.

Airborne Networking


Summary• Wx and AIS are building netcentric information

services. Airborne Networking can easily connect to deliver information to the aircraft.

• NexGen requires airborne networking.• 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.

Documents

Federal Aviation Administration Apr3,2007RTCA_SC206.ppt Airborne Networking… Information Connectivity in Aviation Presented to: RTCA SC206 Ralph Yost,