Dieter Eier

NextGen and SESAR moving towards ontology-based software development

The Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and EUROCONTROLs Single European Sky ATM Research Program (SESAR) are transforming the global Air Traffic Management (ATM) as we know it today and will break up with existing roles predicated by 50 year old technology [1, 2]. Similar to SESAR, NextGen right now runs the risk to specify ATM systems based on architectures already out-of-date. While current functionality is based on historical grown technical restrictions, a performance-based and most efficient approach requires new paradigms and eventually has to lead to a balanced approach to prevent over-optimizing one area at the expense of others [3]. The new approach should be based on semantically enriched service models allowing easier development and modular applications for multiple domains. This paper describes an ontology based multi-domain software development approach called Ontology-Based-Control-Room-Framework (ONTOCOR) featuring high software code re-usage and rapid development. It focuses on improving efficiency and increasing the code reusability in order to achieve SESARs and NextGens claim for a performance-based and cost-efficient system [2]. The main goal is using semantic technologies to enhance software development in ATM and further, to define tasks with enough similarity to allow applicability in different domains. ONTOCOR uses semantic standards and tools, and seamless information interchange. As described in the European Air Traffic Management Master Plan, “The Information Management Work Package (…) defines the ATM Information Reference Model and the Information Service model (…) by establishing a framework, which defines seamless information interchange between all providers and users of shared ATM information” [2]. A specific example to implement inter domain, is the European ATM Information Reference Model (AIRM). In general, domain independent implementation of components is a future goal and EUROCONTROL defines AIRM as a model, which contains all of the ATM information to be shared in a semantic way [4]. The paper will discuss a first case study for ontology-based modeling and development, a service for digital notices to airmen (NOTAM). Fast information distribution and retrieval are key elements together with service modeling and definitions according to Enterprise Architecture (EA) and SOA principles. Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) using ontologies, provides the benefit of fast ramp up of on-the-spot services, reduced development efforts and additional defined data as source for collaborative decision making within the System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) [5]. Such services deployed in NextGen and SESAR will optimize operations workflow, communication needs, and information sharing.

A D-MILS console subsystem for advanced ATM communication services

Air Traffic Management (ATM) in the FAAs NEXTGEN as well as the European SESAR has embraced the concept of System Wide Information Management (SWIM) as the means to improve data exchange between various applications in different domains such as flight data management, weather and aeronautical information management. Enabling SWIM is a challenging change for ATM. Although many building blocks are already available, a full SWIM deployment has yet to emerge. Current SWIM functionality is based on historical grown technical restrictions. A performance-based and efficient approach will require new paradigms to organize the commonly shared information and develop and deploy the associated changes in the different user systems and applications as ATM services are developing towards a global and seamless airspace. The continuously increasing bandwidth in wide area networks has allowed new technologies to emerge such as Cloud Computing and Web based integrated user interfaces. The safety critical nature of ATM requires secure and timely sharing of information between separate platforms and diverse user groups. ATM data producers, consumers as well as the information elements themselves reside in multiple domains and will require seamless integration at the user interface level. This paper introduces a concept for Multiple Independent Layers of a Security (MILS) Console Subsystem (MCS) for a dependable information and communication infrastructure for ATM voice and data services. Safety and security requirements intrinsic to ATM networks present an ideal application for Distributed MILS architectures. This paper focuses on the console subsystem that manages the interactions between a human user and one or more separation kernel (SK) partitions. The MCS, itself, runs on a separation kernel. Its clients are partitions on the same SK nodes in an enclave that are capable of communicating with the MCS in a trustworthy fashion. The MCS communicates with its clients (client application back-end) via SK information channels (e.g. IP communication configured on a single node). The human interface provided by the MCS consists of input/output devices exemplified by a display screen, keyboard, mouse, microphone and speaker that can be shared among partitions for voice and data applications at the same time. MCS use cases are derived from Communication Services representing a unique class of communications equipment serving special purposes in safety-of-life-critical and security sensitive areas. Distributed MILS methodologies are used to achieve the required system availability. Distributed MILS (D-MILS) allows selected information elements to reside in all instantiated structures while completely prohibiting the propagation of faults from one side to the other and as such providing for a valid business continuity design. In the case of separated user domains the solution must not only ensure separation but also the integrity of voice and data streams on an end-to-end basis. Hardware virtualization techniques provide a new way of designing business continuity solutions for ATM solutions. They reduce cost and simplify system designs through the separation of data and information elements from the underlying hardware. The hardware degrades to a commodity exchangeable and replaceable in size, and scales separated from the hosted applications via an abstraction layer. Typical virtualization characteristics include partitioning, isolation, immediate multi-instantiation, and hardware independence. A discussion of the technical challenges arising from the use of an MCS based on a distributed MILS approach in a safety-critical environment concludes this contribution.

Ontology-based CNS software development

The heart of Air Traffic Control (ATC) lays in the Control Room (CR) in the ATC en route center, Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), and ATC Tower (ATCT) facilities. However, CRs are also used in other mission critical domains such as 911, or Emergency control centers. In the past this led to the development of domain specific control rooms resulting in different solutions for each specific environment. This raises the cost for efficient software development and increases the time-to-market. A modern Ontology-Based Control Room Framework (ONTOCOR) could dramatically improve this Air Traffic Management (ATM) situation. Uniform and open standards build up ontologies described by the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Information Management (IM) and the development of uniform and open standards are key components of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and Europes SESAR Program. ONTOCOR increases productive code usage and reduces software development. It focuses on improving efficiency and gain effort by code reusability, thus contributing to reduction of deployment cost of such solutions. This paper analyzes and compares different ontology languages as well as relevant semantic tools for ontology development and management. The present paper will also give a brief survey on ontology-based software engineering, before the ongoing research of ONTOCOR is introduced.

Semantic information management in a SWIM enabled remote tower environment

Presents a collection of slides covering the following topics: remote virtual towers; EUROCAE working group WG-100; ontology-based data representation model; semRVT; ATM information reference model; AIRM; and RVT reference model.

LISP: A novel approach towards a future communication infrastructure multilink service

Future Communication Infrastructure (FCI) air ground data link services can use various technologies (radio links) to achieve the end to end data exchange objectives. Such functionality has been developed and standardized by ICAO under the Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN) activities and is also available in the Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) world, but is currently not yet operationally deployed for ATM purposes. Work comprised in SESAR P15.2.4 project provides an initial perspective of the “Multi Link Operational Concept”, i.e. the notion of using multiple data links to support the communication exchanges in the context of the future SESAR concept of operations. In the context of this task the perimeter of the FCI is limited to just the three future technologies (LDACS, AeroMACS, and SATCOM) and the ATN/IPS-based network layer. This contribution introduces LISP (Locator/Identifier Separation Protocol) as novel approach in order to enhance the ATN/IPS-based network layer. LISP is an open IETF RFC [5] describing a solution for the scalability problem of the Internet routing caused mainly by provider independent addresses and multi-homing of customer networks to different Internet service providers. The concept is based on the separation of the device identity from the physical device location in an IP network. The current approach in the IP world is overloading of IP semantics. Who and where are both represented by the same IP address. Change of location leads to a different IP address and hence changes identity causing existing sessions to be interrupted. LISP is a network-based solution supporting seamless communication while allowing roaming between different locations. LISP is an incrementally deployable architectural upgrade to anexisting infrastructure. An interesting application is the seamless migration from IPv4 to IPv6 due to its address family agnostic behavior. Early adopters will be able to use their existing infrastructure and applications and immediately benefit from LISP. This paper focuses on usage of LISP technology in aeronautical networks in order to achieve mobility, high availability and security for safety critical communication between aircraft and ground infrastructures. Fast convergence, make-before break in multilink environments, easy deployment and operation, manageable security, avoidance of scalability limits and independence of service provider infrastructure are the main topics of interest. Typical use cases demonstrate the network power of LISP support both, future aeronautical data, and voice applications. This makes LISP an interesting candidate technology to handle the mobility of the aircraft while maintaining communications when moving between different ground stations. We show how the LISP mobility system can be enhanced to include application type or QoS specific information into the data link selection. This allows path preference selection for individual data transactions transparent to the application and implementation of outgoing traffic engineering whilst utilizing the basic LISP mechanisms. Finally we discuss make-before break handover in order to improve required communication performance (RCP) figures such as availability of use or continuity.

Terminal flight data management for NextGen towers

In the next generation air traffic system (NextGen) terminal automation will be a focal point of improvements. Every flight starts at a Gate and ends at another Gate. Only fully embracing Gate-to-Gate optimization will maximize the NextGen cost-effectiveness and safety. At the beginning of these concepts stands the terminal flight data management (TFDM).

Aircraft Identification Tag Study Equipment And Implementation Scenarios

The EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC) developed an innovative concept called aircraft identification tag (AIT), which aims at: (i) Reducing voice communication errors by allowing the controller to visually identify the aircraft that is currently using the voice channel. (ii) Improving the security of controller-pilot voice communications by allowing authentication of received voice communications. In July 2006, EUROCONTROL launched an initial feasibility study on the AIT concept to provide EUROCONTROL with enough information to decide and give orientations for a full feasibility analysis of the AIT concept, in view of a possible operational implementation. This paper summarizes the findings of the second deliverable of this initial feasibility study - AIT equipment and implementation scenarios.

Complex UAS operations using algorithms based on the LOST protocol

Soon, our National Airspace will be flooded with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) from fixed-wing drones with aircraft-similar flight characteristics to multi-rotor UAS capable of 3-dimensional flight with ultra-small turn radius. Further down the road, single drones will make way for fleets of drones generating so-called drone swarms.

Location based communication services for UAS in the NAS

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are soon to cloud our skies in all areas of the national airspace, uncontrolled as well as controlled. Allowing UAS operation in controlled airspace is the responsibility of the National Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Being able to locate UAS and thus associate it with its respective ground control station(s) is a prerequisite for seamless integration into the National Airspace (NAS). This contribution describes the concept of using the GPS capability of the UAS to provide location-based services to the air traffic control systems, to automate the association with appropriate air traffic control (ATC) communications channels and data links. It is a common expectation now that UAS will soon operate not as individual devices, but as part of a highly networked UAS infrastructure. Small to large UASs will need to be properly addressable from the ANSPs ground control systems such as tower, TRACON, or en-route center. As defined in RTCA DO-320 all UAS pilot-in-control (PIC) are subject to the same regulations as pilots flying aircraft while physically residing on the aircraft, thus need to adhere to commands and directives by air traffic control personnel located in these facilities. Communications links to ATC facilities include data and voice links between air traffic control and the PIC in the UAS ground station. In addition, voice commands need to be broadcasted to all other users (i.e. aircraft, and other UAS — PIC) operating in the same ATC sector. When a UAS transitions the boundary of two sectors the corresponding responsibility changes from one controller to another residing within the same or different ATC facilities. The described Location Based Services (LBS) may be used to dynamically associate the communication service to its responsible ATC facility without PIC intervention. Current communications links between UAS ground control stations (GCS) and ATC are relayed via the UAS itself resulting in the need for a special transceiver on the UAS in addition to the control link transceiver. Especially in the case of small UAS (sUAS) this transceiver constitutes a significant reduction in maximum vehicle payload capacity. This paper proposes a solution that operates without the need for a retransmission transceiver on board the UAS. All communications links between UAS GCS and ATC utilize solely ground based communications assets, networks, and protocols. The LBS concept allows calls to automatically find their way to the correct ATC center, respectively the ATC controller in charge for the associated airspace block. Such a mapping between the user location and the service boundary can be implemented using a Location-to-Service Translation (LoST) system. The LoST system fetches the geographic data representing the boundaries of the airspace sector from its authoritative AIXM database and looks up the unique identifier of the responsible sector, and ATC center. This information is then used to identify the corresponding radio frequency, represented by its EUROCAE ED-137 based identifier, which in turn is used to establish the communications association/link between the PIC and the ATC controller using available Ground communication facilities. We further discuss the dynamic communications link establishment from the ATC controller to the UAS PIC using the LBS. In the UAS network we propose the LBS to be setup as a subscribe/notify service allowing the sharing of additional metadata ahead of a sector handoff. The paper ends with an outlook into the option of a make-before-break automatic link establishment, which may enhanced operational safety and security and could further reduce complexity in the UAS coordination effort for air traffic controllers in the NAS.

LISP: A novel approach towards an FCI multilink service

Presents a collection of slides covering the following topics: LISP technology; network routing; network security; multihoming; mobility; ATM; data link communication; FCI multilink service and locator identifier separation protocol.