AMSS applications

Sistemas de navegación por satélite # GNSS. GPS (Global

Position System). GLONASS. VDL. ABAS. Navigation
gate to gate. INMARSAT. INTELSAT. IRIDIUM

AMSS Applications

Season 2004\05

Introduction

All forms of aviation need reliable communications, navigation and surveillance systems to
enable them to operate safely and efficiently. The primary means of communications for
civil aviation is VHF Radio Telephony (RT) and has been so for over 50 years. During that
time the basic features have changed little except for the channel spacing which has
gradually been reduced to provide more channels within the available spectrum. The latest
reduction to 8.33kHz is probably the last reduction that can be made.

In parallel with the introduction of 8.33kHz channels, the increased use of VHF data links
(e.g. Modes 2 and 4) operating in the same band could eventually decrease the amount of
voice traffic but only to be replaced with data traffic. In the transition period it is likely that
additional channels will be needed to support legacy installations until all aircraft have the
appropriate avionics, further increasing the pressure on the VHF band.

Despite the increased number of channels available in the VHF AM(R)S band with
8.33kHz and the increased use of data communications, the growth in traffic is forecast to
outstrip the available VHF spectrum by 2015. Therefore new communications systems with
scalable growth capabilities (e.g. CDMA type systems) are being considered. Amongst the
candidate technologies are satellite systems.

Satellite communications could play an important role in Europe and other parts of the
world to provide communications in areas where it is difficult for terrestrial based systems
to offer a service. Additionally satellite systems could provide an alternative
communications medium to augment terrestrial systems or to act as a back-up system.

Satellite technology is already being used in support of ATS provision. One example of this
is the use of satellite communications to support operational ATS in the Norwegian sector
of the North Sea. In this area there are many helicopter flights at low level, many of which
are beyond coverage of radar or VHF radio communications. Helicopter flights in these
areas are required to fit ADS-C equipment and their position is monitored by ATC. This
system (known as Modified ADS or MADS) uses the INMARSAT Aero-L system
compatible with the ICAO AMSS SARPS to enable the transfer of positional information
from the helicopters to the ATC centres. The FANS 1/A system also uses satellite
communications to support ATS primarily in remote and oceanic parts of the world.

 Objective

This project presents the role of the satellite systems in the current and future time in the
Air Traffic Management (ATM). It describes different parts of the Aeronautical Mobile
Satellite System (AMSS) and others satellite systems which could be part in the new ATM
concept , as well as some developing technology based on such technology.

This document is focused on to give a general idea about the possibilities of the future
applications of the AMSS and its importance in the aerospace infrastructure, therefore each
element is not deeply described, only to explain his performance and way of working, in
addition to its evolution.

The first part consists of an explanation about some concepts about ATM as free flight or
gate to gate, which are the goals of the air traffic development, in order to solve the
problems in the current airspace exploitation.

The second one (chapters 2, 3 and 4) describes the GNSS concept and all its elements, other
satellite systems and some developing technology based in such systems.

The fifth chapter sumarizes the current composition and probable evolution of each scope
of CNS with the technology and technics previously mentioned, besides the possibility to
develop and implement "gate to gate", "RNAV" and "free flight" concepts.

Last chapter is the conclussion of the project with a speculation about ATM beyond 2020
year and a comparison with the current system.

 Concepts

These concepts are part of the navigation strategy for the following years. Their intention is
not to define the necessary technology for the air traffic but to fix the goals to be reached in
the followings years which allowed to change the present use of the airspace, improving its
capacity and safety, and solving the problems that the current infrastructure has.

 CNS-ATM

CNS/ATM (Communications, Navigation, Surveillance / Air Traffic Management)

describes the technical concepts as well as the implementation of the infrastructure
necessary for the provision of air navigation services. This also covers future concepts such
as digital Data Links for transmission of operational data, the Automatic Dependent
Surveillance (ADS) concept and satellite-based navigation, the Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS).
ATM is the aggregation of airborne functions and ground-based functions required to
ensure the safe and efficient movement of aircraft during all phases of operation. ATM also
is used to describe airspace and air traffic management activities that are carried out jointly
by aeronautical authorities concerned with the planning and organization for the effective
use of airspace and its movements within their regions of responsibility. The ATM
operational concept must have a visionary scope and be referred to the concept of
endurance of flight, shared separation assurance and situational awareness in the cockpits.
The general objective of the ATM is to allow aircraft operators to comply with the
estimated times of departure and arrival and to follow preferred flight profiles with a
minimum of limitations and without jeopardizing agreed level of safety.

The communication element of CNS/ATM systems provides for the exchange of

aeronautical data and messages between aeronautical users and/or automated systems.
Communication systems are also used in support of specific navigation and surveillance
functions.

The navigation element of CNS/ATM systems is meant to provide accurate, reliable and
seamless position determination capability, worldwide, through the introduction of satellite-
based aeronautical navigation or global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Nowadays
based on ground systems provide this service, as DME, VOR or NDB.

The surveillance element of CNS/ATM provide the required level of safety, keep the
distance between aircrafts and other objects (other airplanes, ground vehicles, mountains....)
for avoiding accidents. Surveillance systems presently in use can be divided into two main
types: dependent surveillance and independent surveillance. In dependent surveillance
systems, aircraft position is determined on board and then transmitted to Air Traffic Control
(ATC). The current voice position reporting is a dependent surveillance systems in which
the position of the aircraft is determined from on-board navigation equipment and then
conveyed by the pilot to ATC by radiotelephony. Independent surveillance is a system
which measures aircraft position from the ground. Current surveillance is either based on
voice position reporting or based on radar (primary surveillance radar (PSR) or secondary
surveillance radar (SSR)) which measures range and azimuth of aircraft from the ground
station.

 RNAV

Random Navigation (RNAV) is a method of navigation which permits aircraft operations

on any desired flight path within the coverage of station referenced navigation aids or
within the limits of the capability of self-contained aids, or a combination of these.
Airborne RNAV equipment automatically determines aircraft position by processing data
from one or more sensors and guides the aircraft in accordance with appropriate routing
instructions.

Additional navigation parameters such as distance and bearing to a preselected waypoint

can also be computed from the aircraft position and the location of the waypoint, dependent
upon the capability of the RNAV equipment. Position can be displayed to the pilot in
various ways, most practically in terms of the aircraft position relative to the precomputed
desired track. Most RNAV equipment can employ any lateral displacement of the aircraft
from the desired track to generate track guidance signals to the auto-pilot. With other less
sophisticated RNAV equipments manual corrective action is taken by the pilot.

The benefits offered for this concept are:

 improved management in the flow of traffic by repositioning of intersections;

 more efficient use of available airspace, by means of a more flexible ATS route
structure and the application of the Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) Concept,
permitting more direct routes (dual or parallel) to accommodate a greater flow of
en-route traffic;bypass routes for aircraft overflying high-density terminal areas; and
alternative or contingency routes on either a planned or an ad hoc basis;

 reduction in flight distances resulting in fuel savings;

 reduction in the number of ground navigation facilities.

Required Navigation Performance (RNP) is a statement of the navigation performance

accuracy necessary for operation within a defined airspace. The different characteristic of
each kind of RNAV are shown in the following table:

Required Accuracy
RNP Type Description
(95% Containment)
Planned for CAT III Precision Approach and
Landing including touchdown, landing roll
0.003/z ± 0.003 NM [± z ft]
and take-off roll requirements. (ILS, MLS
and GBAS)
Proposed for CAT II Precision Approach to
0.01/15 ± 0.01 NM [± 15 ft]
100 ft DH (ILS, MLS and GBAS)
Proposed for CAT I Precision Approach to
0.02/40 ± 0.02 NM [± 40 ft]
200 ft DH (ILS, MLS, GBAS and SBAS)
Proposed for RNAV/VNAV Approaches
0.03/50 ± 0.03 NM [± 50 ft]
using SBAS.
Proposed for RNAV/VNAV Approaches
0.3/125 ± 0.3 NM [± 125 ft]
using Barometric inputs or SBAS.
Supports Initial/Intermediate Approach, 2D
0.3 ± 0.3 NM RNAV Approach, and Departure. Expected
to be the most common application.
Supports Initial/Intermediate Approach and
Departure. Only expected to be used where
0.5 ± 0.5 NM
RNP 0.3 cannot be achieved (poor navaid
infrastructure) and RNP 1 is unacceptable
 (obstacle rich environment)
Supports Arrival, Initial/Intermediate
Approach and Departure; also envisaged as
1 ± 1.0 NM
supporting the most efficient ATS route
operations. Equates to P-RNAV.
Supports ATS routes and airspace based
upon limited distances between navaids.
4 ± 4.0 NM Normally associated with continental
airspace but may be used as part of some
terminal procedures.
An interim type implemented in ECAC
airspace to permit the continued operation of
5 ± 5.0 NM
existing navigation equipment. Equates to B-
RNAV.
Supports reduced lateral and longitudinal
separation minima and enhanced operational
10 ± 10 NM
efficiency in oceanic and remote areas where
the availability of navigation aids is limited.
Supports limited optimised routing in areas
12.6 ± 12.6 NM
with a reduced level of navigation facilities
The minimum capability considered
20 ± 20.0 NM
acceptable to support ATS route operations.

Accuracy is not the only paremeter which describe each kind of RNP, the rest of them are
shown below in the capter concerning GNSS.

 Free Flight

The Radio Technical Committee for Aeronautics (RTCA) defines "Free Flight" as: "a safe
and efficient flight operating capability under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) in which
operators have the freedom to select this path and speed in real time. Air traffic restrictions
are only imposed to ensure separation, to preclude exceeding airport capacity, to prevent
an authorized flight through special use airspace, and to ensure safety at flight.
Restrictions are limited in extent and duration to correct the identifies problem." In the
same report RTCA states that "Free Flight is necessary to reduce the insufficient capacity,
limited access and excessive restrictions that have resulted in escalated operation costs,
increased delay and decreased efficiency for all users" .

 Gate to Gate

Gate to gate is a new way to manage a flight, it consists in the total control of all parameters
which involve an aircraft during the route, since it starts the engines till their stopping. In
this way it is possible to choose the more reliable configuration to obtain the lowest fuel
consumption, the shortest path, the highest level of safety and sumarizing the best
advantage of the available resources.

The implementation of all aforementioned concepts is the solution adopted by ICAO

(Internation civil Aviation Organization) to solve the current and foreseen problems of the
present air traffic system, and they are the goals to reach for the developing techonology.

 GNSS

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is the name given by ICAO to include all
elements of satellite navigation and its augmentations, both present and future. The creation
of that concept is due to the necessity of change the current system of navigation.

The rate of growth per year of the air traffic in Europe is almost a 5%, and the present
distribution of air space has a limit capacity which is supossed to be exceeded over the year
2010. The aircrafts fly following paths predetermined by some based on ground aids, as
DME,NDB or VOR, so they cannot choose the shortest way to fly from one place to
another having to adapte the routes to the existing aids; therefore there are a kind of
"highways" which concentrate all the traffic movements, it means the air space is being bad
exploiting,and it supposes big costs of money for the air companies.

Besides this, in some areas like oceanic or remote ones, it is impossible to stablish a net
with ground based systems and the safety distance has to be strongly increased. Such
reasons made ICAO to consider the possibility to create a global navigation system based
on satellite, taking advantage of the existing systems, GPS, GLONASS and INMARSAT.

The study about the implementation and feasibility of such type of navigation system began
at the beginning of the 90´s. Nowadays, the purpose is to develope the necessary
technology to allow GNSS cover all CNS tasks, not only to provide navigation service but
surveillance and comunication also; and perhaps, beyond the 2020 year, to be the sole
system for the air navigation, although this question is debatable.

The disadvantages presented by this system are:

 The vulnerability of the satellite signals to get interferences.

 The accuracy of the position determination is variable in time and space setting
statistical limits on its performance.

 the institutional issue of GNSS signals being controlled by only a few nations and
there is no performance guarantee provided by the current constellation operators.

In the other hand it has the following advantages over conventional ground aids:

 GNSS receivers work globally, they are not restricted by the range of a ground
transmitter.
  Satellite navigation is more accurate in most respects compared to other methods.

 GNSS receivers offer flexibility, they do not restrict the user to a fixed route
structure.

 GPS receivers are low cost and readily available; a global mass market of
applications has driven down their price.

 Satellite navigation is less expensive for aviation to use. The U.S. and R.F.
taxpayers carry the current costs through their respective defence budgets, whereas
conventional air navigation systems recover their costs from the aviation
community. Galileo's cost will be, at most, only partially carried by aviation.

 GNSS is the only technology offering the capability to support gate-to-gate

navigation. Currently several different navigation aids must be carried, one or more
for each phase of flight and region.

To summarize; GNSS plays an important role in the development of the new ATM, making
feasible the implementation of such concepts as free flight, free route, 4DRNav and even
"gate to gate". However it couldn´t achieve the features required of continuity, availability,
integrity and accuracy for all the phases of flight using only the satellites constellation
aforementioned, therefore it is necessary to improve with other technology. Required
performances are shown in the following graphic:
To reach this features GNSS covers a wide variety of systems: GPS, GLONASS, SBAS
(EGNOS, WAAS, MSAS), GBAS (LAAS), RAIM, ABAS and in future GALILEO, GPS
III, GLONASS-K. Its final composition will depend on the requirements for air navigation.
It is assumed that ICAO will continue to write amendments to standardize GNSS up to the
point where it could be adopted as a sole-service. Next table shows the differents future
components of GNSS and the time of their implementation.
Today's GNSS components are:

 GPS,

 GLONASS;partially operational, with doubts on its availability in the future)

 ABAS; Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) algorithms, Inertial

Navigation Service (INS) hybridisation with GPS.

These system reach the lowest features allowed by ICAO for aircraft navigation. It is
inadequate for supporting precision approach.

The implementation of GNSS has been divided in parts, nowadays the 2 first parts are
defined and known as GNSS-1 and GNSS-2; the configuration of the third part is still under
discussion.

GNSS-1 is mainly formed by the two constellations currently working, GPS and
GLONASS and by the SBAS systems, as is shown in the graphic below .
Using SBAS the features of the navigation signal is enhanced and an integrity signal is
added. This allows to use that system for almost all phases of flight, however it is still
necessary to set local systems for approaching phases of flight.

The expected performance for the GNSS-1 in Europe is shown in the following table:

The second generation, GNSS-2, enhance all the previous features incorporating the
european global navigation system, GALILEO, and the next generation of GPS. It will
offer a service for almost all the phases of flight without any kind of augmentation, except
in precission approachings where ground augmentations are necessary to reach the
standards of ICAO.
In the following graphic are shown the difference between each navigation system
perfomance and when both are used at the same time.