Aviation Seeks Future Solution to Ground-to-Air Information Exchange

By Frank Buck and Dean Lamiano

Air travel has rebounded strongly from its post-September 11 slump, and it is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years. For the airline industry, that's good news—but also a source of concern for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other civil aviation authorities. Because there are more planes in the air, more communications capabilities between air traffic control systems and airborne systems are needed to coordinate the safe and efficient routing of flights. MITRE and the FAA are projecting that if there are no changes in the way air traffic controllers and pilots communicate, the growth of the National Airspace System (NAS) won't keep pace with the growing volume of air traffic. This could result in groundings and delays.

his outcome could be changed, however, through some of the new technologies that the FAA and research companies such as MITRE are studying. In the future, networked digital links could be used to efficiently exchange information (e.g., routes, four-dimensional trajectory information, weather notifications, and traffic advisories). This information exchange could make the communications spectrum, and the controllers that use it, more productive. According to a study done by MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), controllers spend between one-third and one-half of their time talking or listening on a voice channel. If controllers could be freed from routine voice communications tasks, such as handoffs and frequency changes, they could have more time to address more strategic air traffic management tasks, ensuring safe separation at all times with greater air traffic volume.

To make such improvements a reality, the civil aviation authorities in Europe and the United States initiated a Future Communications Study. The study is being conducted by major organizations charged with shaping the future of air travel, including the FAA, Eurocontrol, NASA, and CAASD.

The purpose of the study is to identify and evaluate possible solutions that would allow both the United States and Europe to accommodate all actual and anticipated growth in air traffic by 2030 and come up with a blueprint for the communications systems needed to handle it. The study's constituents are looking for an answer that will be affordable for the United States, Europe, and the airlines and will serve as a model for other countries.

The answer must be a globally accepted one because many airlines fly over many different countries' airspace. In search of a solution, MITRE is studying flexible avionics architectures to try to find cost-effective mechanisms to support multiband/multimode avionics that could operate with multiple communications technologies.

Aviation is a global industry, and changes in one country's procedures affect many other countries. To talk about improvements to existing communications systems, the aviation industry initiated the Future Communications Study, which is being conducted by many organizations, including the FAA, Eurocontrol, NASA, and MITRE.

CAASD is providing support to the FAA in a number of ways. First, we compared future concepts of operation published by U.S. and international bodies and helped define operational services necessary for the study. In addition, we have provided analysis and assessments of key technical issues and developed a joint understanding on the timing of the implementation of needed services in the air traffic management environment. We are also assessing capacity needs through modeling aircraft traffic and resulting communications needs.

There are many possibilities for consideration by the aviation community. In general, potential solutions fall into two broad categories: (1) using existing technology to make better use of remaining space on the spectrum, and (2) exploring emerging technology that can make a wider range of information available for pilots and controllers to exchange.

Meanwhile, technologies to expand the range of information available to pilots—such as VHF Digital Link Mode (VDL-2), which was developed in the early 1990s—are currently being deployed as a way of providing data communications to aircraft for the airlines' operational needs. This can help pilots make more informed decisions that allow them to reduce flight times, delays, and fuel consumption—which benefits all aviation stakeholders.

CAASD has also developed VDL-3, which allows both digital voice and data to be transmitted simultaneously over the same frequency using a single radio. MITRE worked with the FAA and the International Civil Aviation Organization to standardize VDL-3, and we also worked with avionics vendors to certify and develop a commercially viable product.

Other similar technologies being investigated include global broadband aviation solutions; wide area network standards, such as 802.16 and 802.20 (WiMax); and aviation-specific technologies, such as Broadband VHF. Any new technology will be required to support both voice and data communications and must be capable of supporting both existing and emerging operational concepts.

The hope is that MITRE's efforts can form the basis of a long-term strategy for enhancing air-to-ground communications to support growing traffic. To reach this goal, MITRE continues to contribute its technical expertise and experience to the aviation community worldwide.

For more information, please contact Frank Buck or Dean Lamiano using the employee directory.

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