Airborne Networking

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Airborne NetworkingInformation Connectivity in
Aviation
Presented to RTCA SC206 Ralph Yost, Systems
Engineering (FAA Technical Center) April 3, 2007
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Discussion Items

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

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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

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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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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
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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)
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• 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 Purpose

• 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

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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)

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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.

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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

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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.

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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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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.

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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.