CERTIUM® VCS

Secure voice communications system

for safe air traffic control

Product Brochure
Version 07.00
AT A GLANCE
CERTIUM® VCS-4G is the most innovative full IP based VCS on the market, combining rich functionality with
excellent usability for seamless airspace operations. CERTIUM® VCS-4G utilizes all the advantages of IP
technology and provides strong security, innovative resilience and easy administration.

Ready for future full IP communications systems Security by design

ATC systems are evolving towards flexible and scalable IP During the development of all components of the
based network elements. CERTIUM® VCS-4G makes use CERTIUM® portfolio, Rohde & Schwarz focused s­ trongly
of all the advantages of IP technology, such as high resil- on security to ensure air navigation service providers
ience, security and flexibility. It provides outstanding and (ANSP) can reliably operate their critical communications
innovative functionalities for both air traffic controllers and infrastructures.
system operators.
The intrinsically secure VCS is protected with state-of-the-
Quad-redundancy unique on the market art security mechanisms such as firewalls as well as soft-
System availability is paramount for VCS operations. ware hardening and management traffic encryption. This
CERTIUM® VCS-4G implements technologies unique on ensures safe and ­secure operations within the critical infra-
the market such as system, m+n radio, center and net- structure environment.
work redundancy to ensure systems remain operational
even in case of e.g. natural disasters.

CERTIUM®
RADIOS
CERTIUM® Reliable software defined radios for air
ANALYSIS traffic control, including the brand-new
R&S®Series5200 featuring an innovative
Ensure regulatory compliance
security-by-design architecture.
with market-leading test and
measurement solutions for
VoIP networks, radios,
navigation, radar and
satellites.

CERTIUM®
VCS
CERTIUM®
The quad-redundant, IP based
voice communications system
NETWORK
CERTIUM® VCS-4G integrates Delay-free network encryption,
perfectly with the entire ATC session border controller and
portfolio to ensure safe, secure high availability network components
and efficient operation. ensure the reliability and security
of ATC networks.

CERTIUM® CERTIUM®
MANAGEMENT LOCATE
Easy-to-use centralized Increases situational awareness
management of VCS and radios by highlighting the communicating
provides real-time view of aircraft on the radar screen.
system and enables smooth
network operation.
CERTIUM®
SERVICE
70 service centers worldwide
CERTIUM®
provide customers with support GATEWAYS
close by, 24 hours a day,
Seamless integration of legacy
7 days a week, ensuring smooth
applications into IP infrastructure
operations for many years.
enabling phased migration scenarios.
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 BENEFITS
Completely IP based VCS
► IP technology
► Central management
Part of the CERTIUM® ecosystem ► ED-137 standard
CERTIUM® is an advanced ATC communications suite ► Connectionss
from a single source that surpasses existing safety ► page 4
and efficiency standards. All CERTIUM® products are
seamlessly integrated into single portfolio. Although the Security by design
­VCS can be used on its own, users benefit the most by ► Secure VCS for critical infrastructures
combining it with ­other CERTIUM® products. ► Hardened operating system and software
► Network isolation and secure transport
Combining CERTIUM® VCS-4G with CERTIUM® RADIOS ► page 5
and CERTIUM® GATEWAYS significantly improves system
integration and enables easy centralized monitoring and Exceptional resilience thanks to quad redundancy
management. CERTIUM® NETWORK products are har- ► Uninterruptible system operation
monized and tested within the CERTIUM® environment, ► Device redundancy
which maximizes operational safety and security. ► Control center redundancy
► System redundancy
The monitoring and service capability of ► Network redundancy
CERTIUM® ANALYSIS and CERTIUM® SERVICE make ► Radio site redundancy
­operation of the VCS more straightforward and efficient. ► page 6

Intuitive controller user interface

► Intuitiveuser interface
► Easy customization
► page 8

Trusted ­partner throughout THE project lifecycle

► System engineering
► Project implementation
► Testing and training
► Service level agreement
► Service partner program
► Obsolescence management
► page 9

Rohde & Schwarz CERTIUM® VCS 3
COMPLETELY IP BASED VCS
IP technology ED-137 standard
IP technology is used worldwide for state-of-the-art com- The EUROCAE ED-137 standard defines the IP protocols
munications systems due to its flexibility, redundancy and between the VCS, radio and recording system. It ensures
security. Rohde & Schwarz was one of the first manufactur- systems from different manufacturers are compatible
ers to understand the power of this technology and estab- with each other. CERTIUM® VCS-4G supports all versions
lished the fully IP based CERTIUM® VCS-4G on the market. of ED-137 A, B and C. It is fully compatible with both
CERTIUM® RADIOS and the solutions of other manufactur-
The basis for the VCS solution is the IP network. It con- ers. The functionalities and interoperability were extensive-
nects all the components: servers, controller working po- ly tested in various plug tests.
sitions (CWP) and radios. The distributed architecture en-
ables functionalities that improve resilience and security. Connections
CERTIUM® VCS-4G offers a variety of options for connect-
Central management ing to other VCSs and legacy r­ adios. Other VCSs can be
The VCS central management server (VCMS) provides directly connected via the integrated session border con-
centralized administration for easy configuration and troller or via CERTIUM® GATEWAYS (R&S®GW54xx VCS
management of the entire distributed system. The VCMS gateways). To connect to legacy r­ adios, Rohde & Schwarz
stores and distributes the configuration of all components also offers several ­radio gateways. The gateways offer
and receives system status data. Administration is per- many analog and digital interface options.
formed via a secure web interface and does not require
additional tools.

Completely IP based CERTIUM® environment

IP VCS Monitoring IP PBX Analog TDM PBX Classic VCS

probe phone

Session border controller Telephony gateway

Telephony server VCS gateway

Radio server Radio gateway

Management server

Monitoring probe
NTP server
Analog radio

Quality assurance manager

Secured IP network
Third party systems Recorder
UHF/VHF VoIP radio
Network encryptor
Monitoring probe

Management terminal (VCS and RCMS)

HF VoIP radio

VoIP phone

Standard controller working position Compact controller working position

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SECURITY BY DESIGN
Strong security for critical infrastructures

Secure VCS for critical infrastructure Network isolation and secure transport
Communications systems of ANSPs are highly sensitive, To minimize denial of service (DoS) attacks, all IP inter-
critical infrastructures. Attacks on them may lead to air- faces are protected by a very restrictive firewall. Only de-
space closure or even cause safety issues. fined communication paths are allowed. This restrictive ap-
proach effectively reduces attack vectors.
Rohde & Schwarz used its extensive experience in devel-
oping systems for critical infrastructures when creating The management interface is critical and must be secured
CERTIUM® VCS-4G systems. The level of security follows accordingly. If misused, it can affect the availability of the
the recommendations of international standards such entire system.
as Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), the
Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and the CERTIUM® VCS-4G therefore uses secure protocols such
EUROCONTROL VOTE Security Handbook. as https (WebGUI), SNMPv3 (remote control and manage-
ment) and SSL for secure configuration deployment to en-
Hardened operating system and software sure that the information sent cannot be intercepted and
The operating system of the components is designed in misused.
accordance with state-of-the-art software hardening tech-
niques. This result in an intrinsic architecture based on a
two-level approach that prevents cyberattacks as well as
containing them and minimizing their impact. For exam-
ple, a file integrity tool continually monitors file systems
and raises an alarm if it detects any unauthorized changes.

Rohde & Schwarz
Rohde & Schwarz CERTIUM®  VCS 5
CERTIUM® VCS
EXCEPTIONAL RESILIENCE THANKS
TO QUAD REDUNDANCY
ATC grade resilience for uninterruptible system operation
Uninterruptible system operation Control center redundancy
Safe airspace operations require steady and uninterrupt- Problems within the center itself significantly affect air-
able communications between the pilot and controller space operations. In exceptional cases such as a center
even in case of exceptional events such as natural catas- ­outage or mass absenteeism, the controllers would not be
trophes. Unique mechanisms in the Rohde & Schwarz VCS able to operate the airspace. Using Rohde & Schwarz vir-
provide outstanding availability even in case of multiple tual center technology, controllers from another center can
outages. This increases the safety and security of airspace immediately take over airspace control by simply having
operations. new roles allocated to them.

Device redundancy The Virtual Center solution from Rohde & Schwarz can be

Rohde & Schwarz develops high-quality components to also used on a daily basis for workload optimization be-
maximize the mean time between failures (MTBF). Each tween centers. This is used e.g. in North Atlantic airspace,
component also has multiple power supplies so it can be which is operated jointly by two centers.
connected to separate electric circuits. This significantly
reduces the risk of outage due to power issues.

Quad redundancy of CERTIUM® VCS-4G

Control center redundancy

ATC center 1 ATC center 2 ATC center 3 Main IP network

Backup IP network

System redundancy

VCMS server 1/1 VCMS server 1/2

IP network

VCMS server 2/1 VCMS server 2/2

Network redundancy

CERTIUM® RADIOS CERTIUM® RADIOS

Radio site redundancy

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System redundancy
All server components are deployed as redundant systems
consisting of two nodes, where one node can take over if
the other becomes unavailable. The handover between the
nodes is completely seamless and users do not notice it.
Communications – even active calls – are not interrupted.
The nodes can be used in georedundant datacenters with-
in the same region.

To achieve exceptional resilience against irregularities,

Rohde & Schwarz implemented a unique quad ­redundancy
option. The primary redundant system is backed up by
a secondary redundant system with almost no distance
restrictions on the distance between the systems. Both
systems have the same configuration and are fully inter-
changeable. In case there is an issue with the components
of one system, the other system takes over within a few
seconds, so that the airspace remains fully operational.

Network redundancy
A network outage can cause significant issues.
Rohde & Schwarz uses proven redundancy protocols. In
case of network issues, the VCS components immediately
switch over to the backup network. Smart routing allows
the controller to use multiple paths to connect to the radio
site. Backups via satellite can also be used for complete
ground network independence.

Radio site redundancy

Typical scenarios use 1+1 radio redundancy at the radio
sites. CERTIUM® VCS-4G achieves higher availability at a
lower cost. Using m+n redundancy, a set of m radios can
be backed up by a set of n radios. This results in much
higher availability of a single frequency compared to 1+1
redundancy. The radios can also be distributed over mul-
tiple sites. If the entire radio site becomes unavailable, an-
other radio site takes over immediately without interrupt-
ing airspace operations.

CERTIUM® VCS-4G provides many redundancy techniques

for uninterruptable airspace operations.

Rohde & Schwarz
Rohde & SchwarzCERTIUM®  VCS 7
CERTIUM® VCS
INTUITIVE CONTROLLER USER
INTERFACE
Easy operation for the air traffic controller
Intuitive user interface Easy customization
The clear, well-structured user interface simplifies the Air traffic controllers usually demand a customizable user
work of the air traffic controller. The screen on the control- interface to keep the system similar to the one they are
ler working position (CWP) is divided into multiple func- used to operating. The flexibility of CERTIUM® VCS-4G al-
tional areas, making operation intuitive. lows user to easily adapt to it. The size of the buttons, col-
or scheme, fonts, icons and layout are freely definable by
Multiple colors inform the controller about the status of the system administrator.
the radio resources, number of controllers connected
to the same resources, receive signal strength indicator The easy customization of the GUI reduces the necessity
(RSSI) information, and best signal selection (BSS). Within for extensive GUI training for the air traffic controller.
the GUI, the controller can set up e.g. audio management,
get more detailed information on the radio and reconfigure
the frequency.

Samples of customized user interfaces

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 TRUSTED System engineering
Based on your input, our experts develop a ­tailored system

­PARTNER design to optimally address your operational requirements.

Project implementation

THROUGHOUT Experienced project managers and integration experts

­ensure project completion on time and on budget

THE PROJECT Testing and training

Comprehensive acceptance testing and hands-on training
for engineering and maintenance teams ensure a smooth

LIFECYCLE system handover.

Service level agreement

With a service level agreement, you define the scope of
A key pillar of CERTIUM® VCS-4G service that best matches your business and technical
Rohde & Schwarz supports customers by offering requirements.
its expertise and advice through all phases of the
project lifecycles – from systems engineering to Service partner program
project implementation and aftersales service. Our The service partner program offers various concepts, from
technology experts draw on their vast experience the verification of device functionality to manufacturer-­
from ATC projects around the world to provide independent repairs.
­advice on updates and on migration and enhance-
ment of existing systems. Obsolescence management
Obsolescence management monitors the availability of
all your system components as well as the presence of
­in-house software and service skills.

Rohde & Schwarz CERTIUM®  VCS 9

CERTIUM® VCS COMPONENTS
CERTIUM® VCS-4G consists of multiple components that work together seamlessly and act as one
integrated system. Controller working positions are the ­interface to the controller. Application servers are
available for different ­operational needs, e.g. for centralized ­system configuration and monitoring. All server
components run on standardized COTS servers with long-term ­support. Other devices are specially designed
for the unique requirements of the ATC market.

R&S®GB5400 standard controller working position

The controller working position acts as an interface to the air traffic controller. It is a standalone rack mountable d
­ evice
that handles all the processing of audio and video signals. For the graphical interface, it connects to a touchscreen that
can be integrated into the console or installed on the controller’s desk.

The audio signals are processed in up to four external Audioboxes. Specially designed devices can manage up to two
stereo channels each in extremely high quality. The Audioboxes can be connected to headsets or loudspeakers.

R&S®GB5450 compact controller working position

The compact controller working position (cCWP) is ideal for use in small-scale deployments and backup systems.
It is an all-in-one device with integrated touchscreen, loudspeaker and two headset connectors. Due to the smaller
screen, the graphical user interface was slightly adapted.

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R&S®DB5400 VCMS server
The centralized management server enables central configuration of all CERTIUM® VCS and CERTIUM® GATEWAYS
components. It also monitors the status of all devices and radios and provides this information to the controller and
administrator.

R&S®RS5400 radio server

The radio server acts as a conference bridge between CWPs and radios. It distributes traffic coming e.g. from one radio
to multiple CWPs or from one CWP to multiple radios. It also includes advanced functions such as Climax best signal se-
lection (BSS) and m+n redundancy.

R&S®VS5400 telephony server

The telephony server acts as an interface between the VCS and the other voice networks. Its session border controller
functionality protects the VCS infrastructure and smartly distributes incoming and outgoing voice traffic. The telephony
server also allows the registration of SIP phones and act as a small pbx with conferencing features.

R&S®GW54xx gateways
CERTIUM® GATEWAYS allow easy integration of legacy systems into IP infrastructures. Rohde & Schwarz provides
­gateways to connect to other VCSs, radios and telephony systems. There is a huge variety of interfaces and gateways to
meet the needs of every customer.

Rohde & Schwarz CERTIUM®  VCS 11

 Rohde & Schwarz
Service that adds value The Rohde & Schwarz electronics group offers innovative
► Worldwide solutions in the following business fields: test and mea-
► Local und personalized surement, broadcast and media, secure communications,
► Customized and flexible cybersecurity, monitoring and network testing. Founded
► Uncompromising quality
► Long-term dependability more than 80 years ago, the independent company which
is headquartered in Munich, Germany, has an extensive
sales and service network with locations in more than
70 countries.

www.rohde-schwarz.com

Sustainable product design

► Environmental compatibility and eco-footprint
► Energyefficiency and low emissions
► Longevity and optimized total cost of ownership

Certified Quality Management Certified Environmental Management

ISO 9001 ISO 14001

Rohde & Schwarz training
www.training.rohde-schwarz.com

Rohde & Schwarz customer support

www.rohde-schwarz.com/support

5214501012

R&S® is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG

5214.5010.12 07.00 PDP 1 en

Trade names are trademarks of the owners

PD 5214.5010.12 | Version 07.00 | May 2020 (as)
CERTIUM® VCS
Data without tolerance limits is not binding | Subject to change
© 2010 - 2020 Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG | 81671 Munich, Germany