PETAL-II Preliminary Eurocontrol Test of Air/ground data Link, Phase II Operational Validation

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PETAL-II Preliminary Eurocontrol Test of
Air/ground data Link, Phase IIOperational
Validation Early Implementation

• Rob Mead
• PETAL-II Trials Manager
• Eurocontrol, DIS/ATD

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Topics

• Trials Context
• PETAL-II
• Current operations and status
• AAL / ARINC ATN Extension
• Preliminary Results

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PETAL Operations first, then
technology.

• GOAL requirements validation capture
  Are we headed in the right direction?
• So, we implement
• ODIAC operational concept, services, procedures,
  abnormal modes
• international standards where ever possible
• with airlines, industry, service providers
• without backing a technology (triple stack)
• with the ops floor and cockpit skeptics

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PETAL-II Operational Package

• Operational trials, in situ, with users
• Clearly defined procedures and airspace
• Pilot and controller always in command
• Voice readback before clearance execution
• Fully silent for all other communications
• Limited CPDLC message set (32 up, 12 down)
• Routine R/T (transfer, level, route, heading,
  crossing conditions, vertical rate, speed, few)
• A little ADS and CM / AFN (log-on)
• ATN (and FANS-1/A) compliant events.
• Multiple a/g datalink-equipped aircraft

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PETAL-II Players, End-End
SAS, Lufthansa
AAL
Simulation
ANZ, UAL, DLH, COA, etc.
Downlink Parameters
ICAO CNS/ATM Op data and behavior
ARINC VDL-2 stations
Mode-S
PETAL-II Front-End Processors
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PETAL-II Review (current ops)

• NEAN Live Operations
  Apr 98
• 600 flights June - Oct '98
• 400 April - June '99
• FANS-1/A live operations
  Feb 99
• 24-29 August 23 of 36 total flights
• Key addition to results
• Connection-oriented
• Automated cockpit
• New cockpit cultures
• Over 1200 flights have used CPDLC in 9 months
• Multi-stack operations in place
• All day, all sectors (14)

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Maastricht Sectors
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Maastricht Controller HMI

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NEAN Airborne HMI
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NEAN Communications Log
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B777 Flight Deck
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Airborne HMI

• NEAN CDTI
• FANS-1
• B747-400 MCDU
• B777 Flat Panels
• FANS-A DCDU?
• ATN MCDU

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High Level Results

• Original objectives met at end 98
• Tremendous amount of validation material
• Total rewrite of one key service (transfer)
• Numerous defects identified (e.g. timers)
• Requirements gaps identified, e.g.
• log-on
• message pairs
• concatenated message rules
• Clearly added momentum to implementation

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Ground Architecture
Controller HMI
Controller HMI
Controller HMI
Controller HMI

Flight Data Processing System
- Flight plan / address association - ATN SARPS
version 2.3 (ICAO doc 9705), CPDLC, ADS, CM - All
datalink service logic (e.g. connection set-up /
transfer, timers, etc.)
IDD 4.0BER
P2FEP
NFEP - Aircraft address/state - ASE emulation
CM, CPDLC, ADS - Data conversion
FaFEP - Aircraft address/state - ASE emulation
CM, CPDLC, ADS - Data conversion
ALLA - Aircraft address/state - Data conversion
IDD 4.0PER
ProATN - ASEs CM, CPDLC, ADS - ATN Router
FANS-1/A Gateway
NEAN Server
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PETAL-IIe AAL Initiative

• US and European airspace
• Core set of common messages
• Interoperable, documented functional differences
• Interoperable, documented procedural differences
• ATS / Airline deadlock broken
• Harmonisation for airlines and ATS

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PETAL-II Review (ATN)

• Jan 99 PETAL-II End-End Specs frozen
• Spring '00 First flights can take place
• BAC1-11 trials ATN and Services, and satcom
• May 01 AA, Maas, Reims red label flights
• 4 B767-300ER (European operations)
• Jun 02 First flights at Miami (FAA Build 1)
• Jun 03 US Key Site Build 1A (national 2004)

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Maastricht Reims Sectors
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Global Timelines
PIT
Base-1
Base-2
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Preliminary Results
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Data SourcesOperator and Designer Experience and
Logs

• Questionnaires and Interviews
• Controllers and Flight Crews
• Problem System Improvement Reports
• Controllers and Flight Crews
• Project Office
• Design Authorities
• Statistics, e.g.
• Transmission and dialogue times
• Message use
• FDP system states, e.g. log-on, connect, transfer
• all analysed for comm performance debug

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Integration Teams are Essential

• Develop End-to-End Specifications
• FAA Builds 1 and 1A (key site, Miami ARTCC)
• Maastricht and French UACs
• End-end procedures, automation, messages
• interoperable use of SARPS, now to DO/ED
• Plan and coordinate initial fielding cert
  (air, ground, comm)
• Monitor and manage initial operations
• Formalise issues via RTCA/Eurocae, ICAO

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Mixed Equipage

• Simultaneous datalink aircraft / sector
• Up to 30 aircraft (all types) in sector at one
  time
• Flight time / sector 5 - 30 minutes
• Max number datalink aircraft (June '99) 3
• Overlap time 1 - 16 minutes
• Datalink use heavy to not at all
• Mixed equipage preliminary results
• Equipage ratio 1-3 datalink / 5-30 total
• Controllers unaware of NEAN or FANS-1/A
• Not considered a serious problem but
• Will limit benefits
• Minimum one flight per control session required

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Response Times and CPDLC Use

• PETAL-I dialogue delivery times confirmed.
• Max dialogue time, 10s 55
• Observed performance acceptable 84
• Actual averages about 30s
• CPDLC good for strategic comm
• CPDLC not good for tactical acft separation
• regardless of transmission speed
• tactical use, not message type
• CPDLC good for climb, cruise, descend
  (climb-out approach???)

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FANS-1/A Observations

• ARINC 424 vs. ground nav databases
• CPDLC connection for close departures
• If automated event, may occur at poor time
• Aircrew HMI should consider not alerting
  "connect" at same level as clearance
• Resume Own Nav without a "to"
• Concatenation and Conditional Clearances require
  additional restrictions
• All applicable to ATN

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ATN Interoperability Issues

• You have message pairs. Standardise them!
• Log-on
• What's a "positive log-on"?
• Mandatory (optional) log-on data
• Static ground CM addresses / airborne data bases
• Which aircraft address used by the ground?
• Logical Response (LACK)
• How does aircraft know whether to use them?
• How do you resolve the cockpit differences?
• Who connects CPDLC, air or ground?
• New airspaces gt different needs (e.g. timers)

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Operational ResultsReported Usefulness
(controllers)
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Message Sets

• Cut the message set, at least for initial ops
• Eases HMI and training (300 messages??)
• Too many options (e.g. meter data types)
• Some dont fit ops (e.g. deviate N/S/E/W)
• No guidance on how to handle "bad" options
• Trick is to find a common core, and
• Define interop handling for data types involved
• Design HMIs to have these "on top"
• Implement those first
• International set now being standardised

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Builds and Baselines
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PETAL-II Datalink Capability
Live operations, all 12 sectors, all day (539
CPDLC flights, 6/98 - 9/98)
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What Is This All Accomplishing?

• Bringing requirements into touch with reality
• Bringing standards into contact with designers
• Uncovering expensive interoperability issues
  before initial operations
• Bridging the Transatlantic divide
• for procedures and systems
• for operations
• Breaking the "you go first" deadlock
• Bringing together comm providers, airlines, ATS,
  and suppliers to build a single system

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Conclusion

• We have broken the "I will if you will" deadlock
• Monthly report or newsletter distro?
• Individual or organizational input?
• rob.mead_at_eurocontrol.be
• www.eurocontrol.be/projects/eatchip/petal2/