Requirements for Communication Systems in Future …Requirements for Communication Systems in Future Passenger Air Transportation ... B737 85 - 215 29.71 3.71 75.15 9.39 B777 301 ±

Requirements for Communication Systems in

Future Passenger Air Transportation

Joe Zambrano

École de technologie supérieure – LASSENA

AVIATION 2014, 16–20 June 2014, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

2

Agenda

• Passenger Air Transportation

• Communications in Passenger Air Transportation

• Current scenario

• Capacity requirements

• Multimode operation approach

• Conclusion

• References

Passenger Air Transportation

3Scheduled airline traffic in 2009

Objective

• Offer a fast and secure transport of passenger from one place to

another place.

Passenger Air Transportation

Commercial aviation forecast

• Passengers/year: 5 billion 12 billion by 2031

• Aircraft movements/year: 77 million nearly double by 2031

4Source: Boeing, 2013

Communications in Passenger Air Transportation

5

In-flight entertainment (IFE)

•1921 – The First in-flight movie (Aeromarine Airways)

•1932 – The first in-flight television called “media event” (Western Air Express)

•1935 – Atari video games were introduced on-board flights (Braniff International

Airways)

•1936 – Piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar (Airship Hindenburg)

•1937 – The first recorded A/G radiotelephone service on a scheduled flight

(Northwestern Airlines)

•1963 – The the first pneumatic headset used on board (AVID Airline Products)

•1979 – Pneumatic headsets were replaced by electronic headsets

•1982 – The moving-map system information (ASINC, Inc.)

•1985 – The first audio player system based Tape Cassette technology

•…


6

In recent years, IFE has been expanded to include in-flight connectivity.

In-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC)

•2000 – High-speed connectivity to commercial aviation (Boeing)

• Satellite telephony

• In-flight broadcast

• Data Communication

• Wi-Fi

• GSM Network

• …

7


"Sky-to-Earth Phone Service Offered On Air Liner"

Popular Mechanics, September 1937

http://arabiansupplychain.com//pictures/gallery/Companies/300x200/Emirates_Infight.jpg

1. Infotainment

2. Office (in-flight)

3. Telemedicine

4. Flight security

5. Logistic & maintenance

Current scenario

8

• At the present time, a

typical scenario in

aeronautical

communications is the

ATN and sub-network

• ATN and sub-networks

are operated between

three principal segments

• These sub-networks

include enhanced

SatCom networks,

CPDLC, FANS, ADS-C,

AIRCOM, etc.

Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN)

Ground Segment

APC

GES

Next Generation Broadband Data

Links / AMSS

ATN G/GRouter

ATN G/GRouter

ATN A/GRouter

ATN A/GRouter

PassengerCommunicationsService Provider

ATC Center AOC Center

HFDL

Mode S VDL2

APC AOC

ATSC

ATSC

ATSC / AOC

ATSC / AOC

User Segment

Space Segment

ATN

ATN data communication environment

Current scenario

9

A/C Earth Station (AES)

Ground Earth Station

(GES)

GES

Service cloud

GES

ATM

AES

SATCOM

Air Traffic Management (ATM)

Wi-FiGSM

A/G BROADBAND

UplinkDownlink

Downlink

Uplink

Terrestrial cellular network with broadband backhaul

links

Service provider network

• Increase in supply and demand of passenger air transportation market,

forces airlines to offer more and more onboard and in-flight services

Overall end-to-end system architecture for A/G broadband and SatCom

Capacity requirements

10

Time

Time

Time

Time

Idle Time

Connection Duration

Session Session Interarrival Time

Reading

Time (Dpc)

Packet

Call

Packet

Interarrival Time

(Dd) Packet Time

Con

nect

ion

Ses

sion

Pac

ket C

all

Pac

ket

(Npc) Packet Call

(Nd) Packet

TSOFFTSON

Packet model for Internet traffic

Npc : mean number of pages

per session,

Dpc : interarrival time between

web pages,

Nd : mean packet number of

packets per page,

Dd : mean value of gap time

between two consecutive

packets

TSON : session active time

TSOFF : session inactive time.

size of each packet.

The estimation of future capacity requirements for a single A/C is based on the ETSI packet

model for Internet traffic


11

Another important factor into consideration is Sd, which stands for the size of each packet (datagram).

Where P is normal Pareto distributed random variable (α=1.1, k=81.5 bytes) and m is maximum

allowed packet size, m=66,666 bytes. The probability density function of the datagram becomes:

Where β is the probability that Sd > m :


12

Then the mean packet size can be calculated as:

With the parameters above the average size is:

Today’s average web page has surpassed the 1.5 MB mark, arriving to 1.71 MB in February 2014.

At this rate (average increase of 32% per year), the average page size will reach 8 or 9 MB by

2020.


13

Therefore, we can use these values to the mean input rate during an active session (Rs) as follows

With the parameters above, the average size is:

A/C Number of passengers

Minimum expected

mean data rate (Mbps)

Minimum expected

mean data rate (MB)

Maximum

expected mean data rate (Mbps)

Maximum

expected mean data rate (MB)

A320 150 - 180 52.43 6.55 62.91 7.86

A330 253 - 440 88.43 11.05 153.79 19.22

A350 270 - 550 94.37 11.80 192.23 24.03

A380 555 - 853 193.98 24.25 298.14 37.27

B737 85 - 215 29.71 3.71 75.15 9.39

B777 301 – 550 105.20 13.15 192.23 24.03

B787 210 – 330 73.40 9.18 115.34 14.42

B747 467 - 605 163.22 20.40 211.46 26.43

Table 1. Number of passengers, minimum and maximum expected mean data rate per A/C type


• Another aspect to take into account is the evolution of ACARS.

• ACARS system is limited to 2.4 Kbps.

• At a higher data rate, communications will become impossible.

• To support ACARS traffic growth, the capacity constraints as well as

the Air Traffic Services (ATS), the use of data link and A/C equipage

with (Electronic Flight Bags/Electronic Log Books) EFB/ELB, ACARS

will be replaced by AIRCOM by SITA.

• The key challenge to A/C transition from ACARS to new generation

communications systems is the cost of modifying A/C systems.

• This practically means that A/C will continue to use ACARs until at least

2020 but will increasingly use other data communications links in

parallel. 14

15


ATN: Aeronautical Telecom. Network

GEO: Geostationary Earth Orbit GES: Ground Earth Station IRD: Iridium Gateway & message Processor LEO: Low Earth Orbit RGS: Remote Ground Station VGS: VHF Ground Station

Iridium LEO Constellation

Inmarsat / ViaSat GEO Constellation

ATN A/G Router

RGS

GES IRD VGS

Mega Switch (Direct Host Processor)

Airline users and applications

ATN and other

services

AIRCOM Data Link System Architecture

16

Multimode operation approach

Inmarsat Iridium ViaSat

Orbit GEO - Geostationary Earth

Orbit (35,786 Km)

LEO- Low Earth Orbit

(780 Km)

GEO - Geostationary Earth

Orbit (35,786 Km)

Multiple-access scheme FDMA / TDMA FDMA / TDMA MF-TDMA

Modulation types O-QPSK / pi/4-QPSK / 16-

QAM

QPSK / DE-QPSK / DE-

BPSK

QPSK / 8-PSK / 16-APSK /

32-APSK

Latency 1.2 – 3.5 sec 427 ms – 1.7 sec 1.2 – 3.5 sec

Service link L-Band / Ku-Band /Ka-

Band (Global Xpress, 2014)

L-Band / Ka-Band

(Iridium Next, 2015) Ka-Band

Feeder links C-Band / Ku-Band Up: Ka-Band

Down: K-band

Up: Ka-Band

Down: K-band

Services

Voice / Fax / Low-speed

and high-speed data / VoIP

/ Flight Tracking / Safety

services

Voice / Fax / Low data /

Flight Tracking / Safety

services

Voice / Fax / Low-speed and

high-speed data / VoIP

Providers of satellite networks are enormously orienting to utilize Ka-

band for their next generation of satellites

Table 2. SatCom network providers’ features


• In this regard, Software Defined Radio (SDR) are an

ideal platform for prototyping and evaluating airborne

platforms.

• Software routines are perfectly suited for :

Switching to other wireless protocols,

Integrate new standards in A/Cs without substantial cost,

Developing monitoring tools to guarantee QoS, processing

signals for more efficient use of spectrum, and

Ensuring the scalability and configurability of system

17


Considering that in a near future the bulk of the

satellite network will work in Ka-band, we can

propose an approach using SDRs, cognitive

techniques and collaborative avionic network

• Switch between different modulation types

(Multi-modulation / Adaptive modulation).

• Switch between different SatCom networks

(Reconfigurable).

• Demodulate the down converted signals

(Reprogrammable).

• Simulate reception scenarios (Flight

phases).

• Cognitive radio capabilities (Resource

arbitration)

• Scalable design and implementation. 18Software Defined Wideband Radio (SDWR) on

board an A/C Flowchart


Collaborative Avionic Network (CAN)

19

APC

GES Next Generation Broadband Data

Links / AMSS ATN A/G Routers

Passenger Communications Service Provider

ATC Center AOC

Center

HFDL VDL2/3/4

APC AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC ATN

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

A/A Router

ATSC : Air Traffic Security Coordinator

APC : Airline Passenger Communications

AOC: ATN Operational Communications

ATN: Aeronautical Telecomm Network

A/A: Air-to-Air

A/G: Air-to-Ground

G/G: Ground-to-Ground

AMSS: Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service

HFDL: High Frequency Data Link

VDL2/3/4: VHF data link mode 2/3/4

ATN G/G Routers

Guest connection

request

Avalability

Yes

No

A/Areject

connection

Traffic, BW,QoS

No

Yes

A/Aestablish connection and

bandwidth allocation

Yes

Traffic, BW,QoS

No

A/Akeep

connection

Communication link Aircraft-ATN A/G router via A/A router and A/A connection Flowchart

0

5

10

15

20

25

Time

Datatran

smission(Mbps)

APC

ATSC/AOC



20

APC




ATC Center AOC

Center

HFDL VDL2/3/4

APC AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC ATN

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

A/A Router





A/A: Air-to-Air

A/G: Air-to-Ground

G/G: Ground-to-Ground

AMSS: Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service

HFDL: High Frequency Data Link

VDL2/3/4: VHF data link mode 2/3/4

ATN G/G Routers

Guest connection

request

Avalability

Yes

No

A/Areject

connection

Traffic, BW,QoS

No

Yes



Yes

Traffic, BW,QoS

No

A/Akeep

connection




21

Guest connection

request

Avalability

Yes

No

A/Areject

connection

Traffic, BW,QoS

No

Yes



Yes

Traffic, BW,QoS

No

A/Akeep

connection


0

5

10

15

20

25

Time

Datatran

smission(Mbps)

APC

ATSC/AOCATSC/AOC

APC

APC




ATC Center AOC

Center

HFDL VDL2/3/4

APC AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC ATN

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

A/A Router





A/A : Air-to-Air

A/G : Air-to-Ground

G/G : Ground-to-Ground

AMSS : Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service

HFDL : High Frequency Data Link

VDL2/3/4 : VHF data link mode 2/3/4

ATN G/G Routers

0

5

10

15

20

25

Time

Datatran

smission(Mbps)

APC

ATSC/AOC

APC

APC




ATC Center AOC

Center

HFDL VDL2/3/4

APC AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC ATN

ATSC / APC / AOC

ATSC / APC / AOC

A/A Router





A/A : Air-to-Air

A/G : Air-to-Ground

G/G : Ground-to-Ground

AMSS : Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service

HFDL : High Frequency Data Link

VDL2/3/4 : VHF data link mode 2/3/4

ATN G/G Routers


22Communication link Aircraft-ATN A/G router via A/A router and A/A connection Flowchart

0

5

10

15

20

25

Time

Datatran

smission(Mbps)

APC

ATSC/AOCATSC/AOC

APC


Conclusion

• We have presented minimum and maximum expected mean

data rate per A/C type and the number of passengers for

RCSFPAT.

• In future works, these values (29.71 – 300 Mbps) will be useful

for design of avionics communication cognitive networks in terms

of QoS, capacity and data rate.

• In response to the increase in air traffic volume (5% per year),

operational efficiency and environmental issues as well as

enhancing safety, we have presented a solution based on SDR

multimode capable of complementing the services provided by

SatCom network providers in Ka-Band.

23

References

• ACI. 2013. Airports Council International - Global Traffic Forecast 2012-2031. Geneva, Switzerland: DKMA.

• Bard, J., and V. Kovarik. 2007. Software Defined Radio: The Software Communications Architecture. Chichester, West Sussex,

PO19 8SQ, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate.

• Boeing. 2013. «Commercial Aviation Market Forecast 2013-2032». Poster. <http://airfax.com/blog/wp-

content/uploads/2013/06/BoeingForecast-med.jpg>.

• Ding, Lei, Tommaso Melodia, Stella Batalama and Michael J. Medley. 2009. « ROSA: distributed joint routing and dynamic

spectrum allocation in cognitive radio ad hoc networks ». In Proceedings of the 12th ACM international conference on Modeling,

analysis and simulation of wireless and mobile systems. (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain), p. 13-20. 1641810: ACM.

• EUROCONTROL. 2005. SwiftBroadband Capabilities to Support Aeronautical Safety Services - WP3: Airborne Architectures.

TRS064/04: EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR THE SAFETY OF AIR NAVIGATION, 55 p.

• Hossain, M. K., A. A. El-Saleh and M. Ismail. 2011. « A comparison between binary and continuous genetic algorithm for

collaborative spectrum optimization in cognitive radio network ». In Research and Development (SCOReD), 2011 IEEE Student

Conference on. (19-20 Dec. 2011), p. 259-264.

• Liu, Zhiyong, Nidal Nasser and Hossam Hassanein. 2013. « Intelligent spectrum assignment and migration in cognitive radio

network ». EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, vol. 2013, no 1, p. 200.

24

25

Documents

Requirements for Communication Systems in Future …Requirements for Communication Systems in Future Passenger Air Transportation ... B737 85 - 215 29.71 3.71 75.15 9.39 B777 301 ±