Challenges of ''V " C Mmunication Systems For Air Traffic Management
Challenges of ''V " C Mmunication Systems For Air Traffic Management
Challenges of ''V " C Mmunication Systems For Air Traffic Management
ABSTRACT became more and more an actual fact due to the per-
manent integration improvement in Telecom technol-
Today's dense air traffic and the worldwide move to Future ogy and associated cost savings and potential new ser-
Air Navigation System (FANS) concepts demand a high level vices that they can offer.
of modem and reliable Air Traffic Control (ATC) equipment On the contrary, "Voice-on-the-LAN" techniques,
to accommodate customer requirements now and in the future.
such as Voice over IP (VoiP) allow for carrying pack-
The work tries to answer the questions that indicate the fact why
a new VCS generation (Voice Communication System) based
aged voice over the existing platform data networks.
on VoiP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has some essential Voice/data convergence has been technically
comparative advantages related to the conventional VCS. One driven by the technical improvement of Internet Pro-
of the key arguments featuring the VoiP technology is its low tocol (IP) networks offering a fully distributed archi-
price a~d wide application in modem communications. Be- tecture.
cause of the fact of the PC-based HMI (Human Machine Inter- These IP networks became the adopted solution
face) application, IP-VCS could easily be implemented in the for voice/data convergence, because IP is the standard
new A TM data network infrastructure. In the future, the VoiP for data exchange and users can easily add specific de-
technology development and VoiP VCS will have to prove that centralized services for dedicated applications.
they are ready to meet the requirements of more flexible, safer Moreover, Voice over IP (VoiP) technology al-
and cheaper way of air traffic management.
lows extensive use of Commercial Off The Shelf
(COTS) equipment leading to potential decrease of
KEYWORDS
price of VCS products.
ATM (Air Traffic Management), VCS (Voice Communication The following reasons explain today's interest in
System), VoiP (Voice over Internet Protocol) VoiP technology for ATM:
- Mature technology supported by OTS components
and equipment;
1. INTRODUCTION Integration of voice and data traffic offering po-
tential new Air Traffic Services (ATS);
Today's dense air traffic and worldwide move to - Single common network infrastructure providing
Future Air Navigation System (FANS) concepts de- reductions in total cost of operation and mainte-
mand high level of modern and reliable Air Traffic nance (less equipment, better standardization, op-
Control (ATC) equipment to accommodate customer timized logistics)
requirements now and in the future. In ATM-oriented VCS domain, most of the imple-
The work tries to answer the questions that indi- mented VCS are still traditional VCS which consist of
cate the fact why a new VCS (Voice Communication PC-based touch screens for data control associated
System) generation, based on VoiP (Voice over with audio control units directly wired to a centralized
Internet Protocol) has some essential comparative ad- switch for voice control. And most of the VoiP-based
vantages in relation to the conventional VCS. VCS are still proposed today for training and simula-
During the past years, voice/data convergence, tion applications only.
where all communications are switched and transmit- However, EUROCONTROL (European Organi-
ted together using a common networking architecture zation for Safety of Air Navigation) announced that
Radio Existing
PBX
IP-VCS should be implemented for operational ser- (access to radios and access to public and private tele-
vices soon. phone networks).
In ATM domain, before possibly adopting lP-VCS The "Integrated ATC Platform Network" IP-VCS
solution, the Air Navigation Service Providers replaces not only one traditional VCS but also several
(ANSPs) request to understand the real practical chal- vcs.
lenges that can be encountered when implementing
this new technology. 3. KEY ISSUES
2. IP-VCS ARCHITECTURE 3.1. Economic interest ofiP-VCS implementa-
The IP-VCS solutions are based on VoiP Local or tion on ATC platform
Wide Area Network (LAN/WAN) associated with
three types of gateways: The most obvious argument for lP-VCS is the re-
- COTS PBX Gateway- using H323 lP protocol- for placement of two separate voice and data infrastruc-
telephone interface; tures by a single converged data network, and so, the
potential use of a common Ethernet type LAN for
- dedicated radio Gateway for radio interface;
both FDPS (Flight Data Processing System)/RDPS
- dedicated position gateway for operator position. (Radar Display Processing System) and VCS subsys-
Based on this equipment, two types of IP-VCS can tems.
be considered: While this optimization seems nice in theory, in
- a "stand-alone" IP-VCS architecture; practice, for safety reasons and internal organization,
- an "Integrated ATC Platform network" IP-VCS even in new ATC infrastructures, most ANSPs would
architecture. prefer to invest in separate wiring networks and peo-
The "stand-alone" lP-VCS enables replacement of ple/skill sets for maintaining their various subsystems.
the traditional VCS and provides classical ports to ex- Therefore, FDPS/RDPS and VCS should keep sepa-
ternal AG and GG voice communication networks rate duplicated LAN, at least in the first stage.
3.3.1. Last resort operation system Therefore, JP-VCS suppliers could decide to only
implement the basic AG/GG operational functions
In Air Traffic Management domain, any ANSP that are mandatory, such as DA (Direct Access) and
perfectly agrees that AG (Air-Ground) and GG IDA (Indirect Access) telephone calls.
However, this possible decision unfortunately staffs for operation of their ATC subsystems (FDPS/
would cause many ANSPs to wonder why they had to !RDPS, VCS, radios, navaids, radars). It can be also
switch on the new VCS product which may involve noted that data network administrators have a differ-
risks and constraints while providing fewer functions ent concept of system availability than voice system
than with their existing VCS. administrators.
Voice Communication Systems, and especially
3.5. Remote installation limitations ATC-oriented VCS, must not be considered as just
another network application that can be installed and
Most of the traditional VCS fitted with digital maintained along with e-mail, web, and database pro-
2B+ D/144 Kbps type interfaces or analogue CB inter- grams.
faces, allow ANSPs to locate operator positions and VCS has its own rules, words, technology and
traditional telephone sets as far as one kilometre (and safety requirements. As far as current VCS suppliers
sometimes more) away from the digital VCS, using the are concerned, they are obviously more comfortable
existing copper cabling wired network. with voice technology and understand the resiliency
It is important to point out that some traditional and high reliability needed for any VCS.
VCS fitted with 30B+ D/2Mbps do not allow easy in- VCS suppliers have a long history of service, main-
stalling of remote positions and they need extra equip- tenance and support of their existing VCS, but it is go-
ment, such as modem. Because they are standard ing to take some time before they can offer the same
Ethemet devices, Ethernet positions and phones are level of expertise for lP-VCS solutions.
limited to 100 meters far from the hub/switch. This ATC system companies able to design today all the
could be a limiting factor for widespread deployment ATC subsystems and so mastering both data and voice
of IP-VCS systems in large ATC platforms where processing, have a definitive advantage over other
TWR, APP and ACC rooms as well as secondary dedicated VCS suppliers or data network suppliers.
rooms (meteo, briefing) are all located in various
buildings. 3.8. Non-blocking system
3.6. VCS reconfiguration and management sys- While LAN PBX may provide several Qualities of
tem Service (QoS) with the use of priority and may punctu-
ally provide operational unavailability due to a num-
With lP-VCS systems, there will be no concept of a ber of simultaneous calls, VCS must provide, at any
physical port. Indeed, "VCS subscribers" to be man- time, instantaneous voice connectivity with high voice
aged will need to be associated with a particular "user quality. The system is "non-blocking", which means
name" or some other parameters, such as the lP ad- that it guarantees access to all communication chan-
dress. An lP- VCS could be managed based upon nels by any operator at any time regardless of the sys-
uniquely defined user names. With such a system, an tem load.
operator as "VCS subscriber" would have the same Therefore, the users will never note the "busy" in-
telephone number and access rights whatever the type dication because of the insufficient system capacity.
of equipment used. In such a way the technical super-
visor as "system administrator" would be able to glob- 3.9. LAN quality of service
ally manage every "VCS subscriber" from a central lo-
cation. Compared to most data applications, voice packets
Another potential solution could be to only man- are much more susceptible to any kind of delay. These
age each VCS subscriber based on their lP address. transmission impairments will be readily noticeable
Managing VCS subscriber based on their lP address and result in degraded voice quality. Thus, while a
would require the use of static addresses. This could pre-existing network may be acceptable for data trans-
complicate the administration of the entire lP ad- mission, it may not be adequate for sending voice
dressing scheme for common data and voice LAN packets.
used for multi-purpose applications. How do ANSPs determine whether their existing
LAN infrastructures provide acceptable quality of ser-
3.7. VCS suppliers' credibility and experience vice for voice? This is not something that can be easily
tested, since problems may only occur during the un-
Information Technology (IT) networking staff do usual or peak data traffic periods. Instead, ANSP
not have specific knowledge about Voice Systems technical managers need to consider how their net-
(VCS, PBX, radios), and telephony technicians do not works will respond during such periods.
usually know much about data networks. This is one of There is a perception that if average LAN use is
the reasons why most ANSPs today employ separate sufficiently low (or conversely, there is an abundance