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Case
Stories
ITT Advanced Engineering & Sciences Provides
Communications Systems Support to FAA
For
over two decades, engineers and scientists from ITT Advanced
Engineering & Sciences have worked closely with the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to help continually modernize the
communications and navigation capabilities of the organization that
runs the nation's air traffic control network.
Established in 1958, the FAA is the agency of the U.S. Government
with primary responsibility for the safety of civil aviation. The
agency operates a network of airport towers, air route traffic
control centers, and flight service stations. It also develops air
traffic rules, allocates the use of airspace, and provides for the
security control of air traffic to meet national defense
requirements.
As
the United States enters the 21st century, the nation is poised for
an historic era of airspace development. Just as highways brought
prosperity to every corner of the U.S. in the 20th century, air
transportation is a key economic driver in this century. To help
bring this vision to a reality, the FAA continually works on
upgrading and modernizing its communications capabilities. With
thousands of airports and facilities in operation and tens of
thousands of employees, the communications requirements for the FAA
are enormous.
Long History of Communications
Systems Integration for FAA
According to John Kefaliotis, AES Vice-President of Network and
Transportation Systems, "AES engineers and technical staff first
began working on research and development engineering with the FAA
over 25 years ago." AES personnel participated in early Air Traffic
Control (ATC) concept studies that included engineering and
analysis, simulation support and design concept development in most
technical disciplines within ATC.
AES
staff continued working with the FAA to modernize the national air
traffic control system - the National Airspace System Plan -
providing services in the areas of automation, communications
systems engineering and implementation and transition engineering.
Successful Prototype and Test
Leads to Improved Navigation
A
significant activity undertaken by AES for the FAA was pioneering
work in developing software for the National Satellite Test Bed (NSTB)
and using the NSTB to demonstrate that an augmented GPS satellite
system would allow commercial and private aircraft to navigate
safely via GPS.
Successful test flights against that test bed led to the formation
of the FAA program known as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS).
WAAS is a safety-critical navigation system using GPS to provide a
quality level of positioning information never before available to
the aviation community.
Kefaliotis notes that, "Our ability to develop the software,
integrate the system, and the resultant test showed the FAA that AES
was a very high-end engineering organization that could develop ATC
concepts as well as prototype and test them."
In
parallel to WAAS, AES began work for the FAA on communications and
network systems analysis and in advanced telecommunications and
communications systems engineering. These projects included
air-to-ground radio architecture studies, air-to-ground wave-form
analysis, and next generation communication radio engineering
studies (NEXCOM). Kefaliotis recalls that the "FAA received very
high quality engineering analysis and studies services and received
results that aided in the formulation of production communications
systems".
Current Telecommunications Support
The
legacy of R&D and engineering support supplied to the FAA for over
two decades has led the FAA to award AES the FAA Telecommunications
Support Contract (FTSC). The FTSC program calls for providing full
engineering and technical support for the entire FAA
telecommunications infrastructure including telecommunications
requirements and network engineering. In support of the FTSC, AES
has developed an extensive tool set to support and analyze FAA
requirements and an extensive set of databases that provide
information to quickly and easily solve FAA communications issues.
As
an example, Kefaliotis explains that, "The FAA may require
communications connectivity to every operational facility for the
distribution of Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) data. AES will go to work
to map out all technical requirements. AES technical staff will then
perform an analysis of the best way to establish connectivity within
the existing set of communications services and developing
alternatives that find the least risk and the best cost. After this
work is completed, this analysis will be handed off to an
implementation group, also supported by AES."
With
about 3,000 facilities that require communications connectivity, AES
is also supporting the FAA's look into the future. This work
includes extensive support to a 10-year program to modernize
telecommunications services that would, over time, replace all
existing FAA communications networks. "When program is complete",
notes Kefaliotis, "the FAA have a modernized, cost effective,
secure, integrated communications infrastructure."
AES
is also providing information security analysis, risk assessment,
risk mitigation plans, test plans, and disaster recovery plans for
the FAA.
This
work includes security analysis for existing systems and helping to
define security requirements for the modernized telecommunications
infrastructure.
Next
Generation Air-to-Ground Radios
AES
is also working with ITT to help modernize the FAA's Air-to-Ground
communications.
ITT
has been selected to provide the FAA with the new Air Traffic
Control (ATC) radios. These multi-mode digital radios (MDR) will
assist the FAA in providing communications services to the largest
airspace system in the world.
The
MDR incorporates the latest technological advances including the
ability to simultaneously transmit voice and data communications.
With
thirty-seven thousand radios to be built and installed throughout
the FAA system over the next nine years, AES is working to develop,
integrate and demonstrate management software for the radio and
provide on-site program management support. These support services
will include technical engineering support, engineering analysis
including test planning, spectrum engineering, and overall system
engineering of FAA air-to-ground data and voice over the next
decade.
Communications Systems Integration
In
describing the value added that AES brings to its work in
communications system integration, Kefaliotis says that, "Within AES,
we have an amazing end-to-end systems analysis, design development,
and integration capability.
“We
develop hardware - for instance a radio flying now on the space
station. We develop software-controlled radios. We understand
satellite navigation and communication work." Kefaliotis continues,
saying that, "One thing that makes AES unique is not just our
communications expertise. There are very few places on earth where
people can do a better job of concept development, analysis, and
prototyping for advanced air traffic control concepts."
Ralph Meoni, General Manager of AES notes that, "AES is a
high-technology engineering organization with an extensive knowledge
of communications including wired, wireless, terrestrial or
satellite navigation as applied to ATC and ATC automation. We also
have the unique capability to support the conceptualization,
prototyping and full-scale development of advanced ATC concepts as
shown by two recent patents in this area."
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