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Opportunistic navigation with cellular signals is studied and demonstrated on a high-altitude aircraft. An extensive campaign was conducted by the Autonomous Systems Perception, Intelligence, and Navigation Laboratory (ASPIN) in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to sample ambient cellular signals of opportunity (SOPs) at different altitudes in different regions in Southern California, USA. The carrier-to-noise ratio is characterized as a function of altitude and horizontal distance. It was found that signals from cellular transmitters can be reliably acquired and tracked for navigation purposes by receivers mounted on high dynamics aircraft flying at altitudes as high as 23,000 ft above ground level and horizontal distances as far as 100 km. The multipath channel is also characterized as a function of altitude, showing clean channels with a dominant line-of-sight component for altitudes up to 23,000 ft. To further assess the potential of cellular SOPs for aircraft navigation, a 51-km trajectory traversed over a period of 9 minutes was estimated exclusively using cellular SOPs (i.e., with no GPS or other sensors, except for barometric altimeter measurements), resulting in a three-dimensional position (3-D) 10.5-m position root-mean-squared error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Required navigation performance procedures are a cost-effective and accurate solution for aircraft instrument approaches, especially when combined with a final approach segment utilizing satellite based augmentation. However, transport category aircraft are currently not equipped with the satellite based augmentation for precision guidance. An existing converter technology can provide this final approach segment to aircraft equipped with the GPS landing system. Then, as an added bonus, an automatic landing at pilots discretion is possible after the presented approach. Here, we study Thessaloniki and Corfu airports, both accommodating a large number of transport category aircraft, with many ground infrastructure constraints. Both were recently equipped by the Hellenic air navigation service provider with RNP approaches. We successfully flight tested the satellite based augmentation to GPS landing system converter and show that both airports could benefit from a permanent installation of such a system by having fewer diversions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As current, large-scale research and development initiatives are reshaping the future of aviation and space operations, avionics systems are becoming cyber-physical and progressively evolving into a variety of autonomous, intelligent, and closed-loop human–machine systems. This article provided the IEEE Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Avionics Systems Panel (ASP) views on avionics systems evolutionary pathways, with an identification of key research challenges and industry-focused innovation opportunities. The ever-increasing density of air traffic and the rise of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are prompting a rapid evolution of communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) and avionics (CNSþA) technologies that will provide unprecedented enhancements in terms of safety and efficiency, thus unleashing additional airspace and airport capacity. Several of the underlying CNS technologies have already hit the market, while other more advanced capabilities and decision support systems are still being researched and developed. The methodological transition to performance-based operations (PBO) is also a quantum shift that will have profound impacts on aviation equipment mandates and standards with very tangible benefits in terms of airspace capacity, safety, access modalities, prioritization, and overall fairness. The PBO transition is well underway for navigation equipment standards and operational arrival/ departure procedures, whereas communication and surveillance equipment is still currently following legacy mandates/ equipage schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air traffic is doubling every 15 years, and aviation systems must modernize to address sustainability challenges. The need to balance capacity, efficiency, safety, and environmental requirements is reflected by the several air traffic management (ATM) and avionics modernization initiatives under way. The major collaborative research programs today are the European Union's Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) project and the United States' Next-Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) led by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Other modernization initiatives include the Collaborative Action for Renovation of Air Traffic Systems in Japan, SIRIUS in Brazil, OneSky in Australia, and similar programs in Canada, China, India, and Russia [1]. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has authorized a globally coordinated plan, published as the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) [1], to guide the harmonized implementation of communication, navigation, surveillance, and avionics (CNS+A) enhancements across regions and states. In the CNS+A context, aircraft safety is a shared responsibility between airborne and ground-based resources [1]. Hence, this is a safety challenge requiring changes to the current regulatory framework to properly capture the nature of this shared responsibility and the concept of integrated CNS+A systems. Certification of aircraft and ground equipment (hardware and software) and organizational approvals are essential elements to ensure continued and enhanced safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most large commercial aircraft use a flight management system (FMS) to provide aircraft state estimation, trajectory prediction, lateral and vertical guidance, flight plans, and target setpoints (e.g., optimal cruise speed), among other functionality [1]. With unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) gaining popularity in commercial and military applications [2], the integration of UAVs in shared airspace with current aircraft has become an important problem to address. There has been consideration for the use of unmanned aircraft for package delivery with the use of small quadrotor UAVs for local demand [3] and large unmanned commercial aircraft for shipping goods internationally [4]. With the UAV industry poised to grow [2], one must consider how to integrate UAVs with the current systems for manned aircraft. Due to the importance of FMS to aircraft, a logical step would be to consider an FMS for UAVs that can adhere to current aircraft regulations and protocols. Flight management systems for UAVs can involve certification, collision detection, mission planning, and many other topics. One can find a number of simulated FMS for consumer flight simulators (i.e., Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane [6]) that try to replicate the interface and functionality of currently available flight management systems. The purpose of this article is to take this idea further by building an FMS in software that can interface with real aircraft and UAVs using industry standard communication protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, with time at a premium, people increasingly use aircraft for travel and for transporting goods from one place to another. This has resulted in greater chances of aircraft accidents. There are many reasons for these accidents, ranging from pilot error to instrument or machinery failure. Basically, there are five phases of air travel during which these accidents can occur: take off, initial climb, en-route, landing-approach, and touchdown. In the last few years, the accidents during the en-route phase are on the increase, e.g., from 2012 till 2014 they have increased from 3 in 2012 to 8 in 2013 to 13 in 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Global air transport demand is increasing steadily, with the global revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growing at an annual rate of 4% [1] and the number of passengers rising at an average annual rate of 10.6% [2]. By the end of 2016, it is estimated that 1,420 large commercial airliners will be produced, 40.5% more than was produced five years ago [2]. A consequence of this growth is an exacerbation of the existing global shortage of qualified pilots. Airlines have to hire more than 500,000 new commercial pilots until 2034 in order to meet this unprecedented air transport demand [3]. Additionally, the high costs associated with training and remuneration of pilots has been a substantial economic burden on air carriers, prompting active research into the concept of single-pilot operations (SPO) as an option for the future evolution of commercial airliners. SPO cockpits have already been developed for military fighters as well as general aviation (GA) aircraft, with small business jets like the Cessna Citation I obtaining approval for SPO as early as 1977 [4], however, the last decade has seen considerable interest in the implementation of SPO in commercial aviation. NASA has been conducting SPO-related studies since the mid-2000s [5], [6], while some recent research in Europe has focused on the technical [7] and operational [8] challenges of SPO. In the SPO concept of operations (Figure 1), a single pilot operates the flight deck with increased ground support from a dedicated ground human flight crew. The ground operators (GO) fulfil a role similar to that of a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) operator, providing a combination of strategic and tactical support to the single pilot in collaboration with the air traffic controllers (ATCo). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years, a number of studies have looked at the use of passive coherent location (PCL) radar systems for short-range surveillance applications [1]?[8]. In such applications, the transmitters for mobile personal communication and network connection have been successfully exploited as illuminators of opportunity; these include the base stations of the global system for mobile communications, universal mobile telecommunications system, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), and long-term evolution (LTE). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Today the main applications of ground based passive coherent location (PCL) systems are in the domain of air traffic surveillance?air target detection, tracking, and localization. Interest in using PCL radars in these applications is expressed primarily by military users, mainly because of the great advantages of silent and covert operation that passive radars provide. In this regard, passive radars benefit from the fact that they operate by using emissions already present (e.g. FM radio, DAB, DVB-T, GSM, Wi-Fi, etc.) rather than their own. Other advantages of passive radars relate to the possibilities of stealth target detection and gap filling in areas not covered by active radars. Another huge advantage of the passive radar lies in the fact that there is no need for requirements for spectrum allocation or powerful transmitters. Consequently, as the aforementioned points make passive radars great representatives of ?green? technology, one can install them in ?sanctuaries??specific or specialized places such as high-density urban areas, sites located in the vicinities of hospitals, and/or other places where electromagnetic emissions are limited by law because of the risk of interference or simply through the public's fear of electromagnetic fields. Also, it is worth mentioning that PCL systems can be cheaper than active ones as the passive radar does not have its own transmitter and typically consists of a simple radio receiver with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, and uses a commercially available PC as a computation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) become promising in different civilian and military applications due to their lower cost and greater flexibility in comparison to manned aircraft. However, the growing diversity of flight makes UAVs vulnerable to mid-air collisions. To ensure the safety for manned aircraft, human pilots are responsible for detecting intruders in airspace and performing appropriate maneuvers to avoid collisions [1]. Unlike manned aircraft with human pilots involved, UAVs must be equipped with Sense and Avoid (SAA) systems to guarantee the flight safety [2]. Thus, SAA systems play an important role in merging UAVs into the National Airspace System. As illustrated in Figure 1, an SAA scheme is composed of four units, which are sensing, conflict detection, collision avoidance, and flight controller, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent advances in sensing and computing technology has made unmanned aerial vehicles/systems (UAV/UAS) low cost but still increasingly capable of executing complex missions in challenging environments. They have gained popularity in a vast range of civilian applications, including search and rescue, disaster relief, and filming. Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on UAS certifications [1], indicating that a large number of UAS will be present in the National Airspace System (NAS) in the near future. The NASA UTM project is an effort on enabling low-altitude UAS flights [2]. Big value envisaged by Amazon Prime Air [3] happens only when the drone is able to fly itself tens of miles from the distribution center to people?s homes autonomously. One prerequisite for such flights is collision avoidance. Our research aims at drones that travel in class G airspace. This article is an exploration of the drone collision avoidance problem in urban areas. The main contribution is a safety control framework that enables a UAS to perform collision avoidance with manned aircraft during autonomous navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to claim a century of avionics we must declare a birth date. In 2003 it was easy to declare the first century of fight based on the Wright brothers' 1903 fight. A birth date would also include a birth place. Since the Wright's epic fight took place in North Carolina and the aircraft was constructed in Ohio, both states lay claim to a birth place. The Wrights were not the first to fly. Certainly man had been flying balloons and gliders and even some powered fights that ended in crashes rather than successful landings. But what the Wrights did, take off, fly a distance and land in a manned, powered, heavier-than-air craft, was the right combination to launch a successful aviation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Avionics (aviation electronics) has been evolving for over a century which had a surge during the late 1940s from both World War II and the founding of the Professional Group on Airborne Electronics (PGAE) in February 1955 [14]. Since that time, IEEE has been a source of literature contributions in avionics from the inaugural Aeronautical and Navigational Electronics (ANE) group followed by the name changes to the Aerospace and Navigational Electronics (ANE) to the current Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society (AESS). The society's name variations demonstrate the importance of electronics in support of aviation developments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For the most part, light aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles and trainer aircraft use piston aviation engines that run on aviation gasoline. Tetraethyllead is always added in aviation gasoline to increase octane and prevent the knock characteristic of gasoline engines, however, the discharge of leaded fuels pollutes the environment seriously, and aviation gasoline is scarce and expensive [1], [2]. Motor vehicle gasoline has been adopted by aviation gasoline engines with the help of technological improvement, but this has a potential safety hazard in high altitude fight, which can also be posed by the very low flash point of motor vehicle gasoline and an easily frozen inlet pipe at high altitude. Employing kerosene or diesel oil as the fuel for piston aviation engines has great significance for military and general aviation; therefore developing piston aviation diesel engines has aroused discussions between countries in recent years [3]. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To be a woman and a pilot was highly unusual in 1942 and represented a paradigm shift for American culture (Photo 1). World War II enabled America to try something new in 1942 : to train and utilize women pilots to support the war effort because of a shortage of male pilots. The desperate need did not mean all parties were supportive of the trial. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although air traffic's growth rate has slowed in the United States and Europe, a significant rise is forecasted for upcoming decades. This increases the pressure on airport operators and air navigation service providers to find new ways of reducing noise levels in the vicinity of airports without adversely infiuencing airport capacity. Especially for airports in densely populated areas, the implementation of curved or segmented approach procedures is promising, as discussed, for example, in [1]. Considering an approach scenario as depicted in Figure 1, at which aircraft approaching runway B inevitably overfly a noise-sensitive area (red pentagons), an alternative segmented routing that guides aircraft around these areas is advantageous. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GPS is known to be susceptible to interference, jamming, blockage, and attenuation especially in urban and indoor environments. The development of positioning systems in GPS-limited environments is of great interest for both military and commercial location-based applications. In such environments, signals of opportunity (SOOP) can be explored to supplement GPS and other navigation systems [5], [9], [10]. By SOOP, we mean those signals that are not originally intended (designed) for positioning but they are ubiquitous: freely available all the time and everywhere (within a certain range). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Navigation, for many years, has been one of the issues that preoccupied the human mind. The compass was the first instrument built for navigation by the Chinese. The compass determined geographical north instead of a magnetic one [1]. Gradually over time, humans found that it was possible to make orientations by celestial bodies. However, positioning was still impossible. In 1757, the first sextant able to measure angles of celestial bodies and the Earth's horizon was invented by John Bird [1], [2], [3]. Also, the first star catalog containing 992 stars was obtained by Hip-parchus in 1437. The star catalog and the sextant were used for simple navigation [4]. More elaborate star catalogs were developed by advanced sky observation devices, such as SKY2000 with 299,460 stars, introduced in 2006 [5]. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An unmanned fying vehicle (UFV) is generally used to search for and track an adversary and even designed to go down with the adversary's vehicle under the extreme conditions of modern wars [1]. The precision of a UFV's electromagnetic sensors generally infuences the accuracy of its guidance. To improve the accuracy of the UFV's guidance system, advanced guidance technologies based on bionic vision have been studied in recent years. Some developments based on bioinspired intelligence [2], [3] have also been investigated for aerial systems. Bionic vision, such as that inspired by the vision of Limulus species (i.e., horseshoe crabs), fruit fies, birds, and humans [4], has become a hot research feld, and some of these new technologies have been applied to missile homing guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the population size increases and more people travel by air, it is important that safety of the national air transportation system is maintained at current levels. A number of initiatives have been enacted in order to address safety and performance of the national air transportation system under an increased throughput. The most notable U.S. initiative is NextGen, which involves many aspects of air travel including but not limited to: reconsideration of aircraft travel routes, incorporation of new navigation and surveillance technologies, and new methods for detecting and resolving potential conficts before they occur [1]. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presented extended simulations in order to characterize the interference between multiple airborne and terrestrial mobile terminals. The interference analysis is performed considering three cellular networks: (i) GSM-1800 MHz, (ii) UMTS-2100 MHz, and (iii) UMTS-1800 MHz. In the radio interference study, the impact of the onboard base station emissions on the terrestrial mobile terminals was examined and evaluated. The compound interference (in decibels) with the terrestrial terminal was found to follow the Gaussian distribution. The results showed that there is visibility of the onboard networks in terms of noise floor increase, especially for GSM-1800 MHz networks, and the output of the base station should be adjusted around 0 dBm, if we want to avoid using an extra RF shielding in the aircraft cabin. The results for UMTS-2100 or UMTS-1800 networks showed that there is no need for extra attenuation unless the aircraft base station transmits more than 10 dBm. Finally, a general statistical analysis of SIR on a ground mobile station, taking into account the airborne and terrestrial shadowing parameters, was also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The joint RTCA SC-217/EUROCAE WG-44 committee completed the latest revisions of the AMDB user requirements and interchange specifications DO-272C and DO-291B in 2011. One of the major novelties is the introduction of the ASRN. The ASRN supports manual editing of taxi routes, data link transmissions of taxi routes, and highly detailed display of taxi routes in the cockpit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The SINS with IMU rotated is the high performances position measurement system based on the fiber optic gyroscopes. We have presented a theoretical and experimental study of the IMU rotation. Several experiments have proven that the combination of the SINS with IMU rotation achieves very high performance. SINS size and weight make it particularly suitable as the position measurement system of the small vehicles for which precise position with meter or sub-meter level is a critical issue. The experimental results showed that, the position errors which are calculated by SINS with IMU rotation, are much less than IMU static. Where, the position error which is caused by IMU double-axis rotation is 1.47 nm, which is much less than IMU single-axis rotation 6.06 nm. Therefore, the proposed position determination method is highly beneficial in providing accurate position of vehicle for several navigation applications, such as Missile boat and helicopter take off and landing platform on the aircraft carrier, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Herein we have outlined a framework for investigation into the feasibility of using an airship equipped with a GMTI radar payload to provide persistent wide area surveillance sufficient to monitor vehicle and personnel movement on the ground. A study and analysis needs to be performed in order to determine the system requirements and the feasibility of modifying a currently existing radar system to adequately perform the required functions. This has described a methodology for determining if and how, existing airborne or ground-based MTI radar systems could be modified to perform these functions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The increasing congestion of commercial airspaces necessitated more efficient air traffic control (ATC) methods. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) protocol is at the heart of the next-generation of ATC systems and is currently being rolled out in most countries. With ADS-B, an aircraft determines its own position by using global navigation satellite systems and broadcasts it periodically over the 1090-MHz radio frequency to ground stations or other aircraft in proximity. This approach increases the accuracy of aircraft localization and enables lower separation requirements and improved situational awareness for pilots and controllers. At the same time, it is supposed to significantly reduce the costs of air traffic surveillance compared with former independent surveillance radar systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The specialists at M.M. Gromov Flight Research Institute (FRI) have developed special techniques and facilities to evaluate the aircraft pilot - navigational equipment for conformance to specified requirements. On-board trajectory measurement complex equipment is used for data recording and determination of actual values of trajectory parameters. The parameter values are obtained using the differential mode of the satellite navigation system. The flight test process is monitored at the flight test control center. The use of a test-bench and simulation complex allows reducing the scope and costs of flight tests. Flight test data are transmitted to the specialists for processing via local computer network on the day of flight tests. This covers the description of facilities used for testing pilot - navigational equipment of new aircraft at the M.M. Gromov Flight Research Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A description of the design, operation, and test results of a Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS)-based navigation system for the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) is presented. The MAV is a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) built by Honeywell. It is one of the first applications to use Honeywell's new HG1930 MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU). The raw IMU measurements are transmitted via a serial interface to a processor board where the inertial solution is blended in a Kalman filter with measurements from GPS, a barometric altimeter, and a magnetometer. The navigation is performed by Honeywell's ECTOS lie navigation software. The modular ECTOS architecture allows easy customization for use with various IMUs and aiding sources, creating a flexible navigation solution which can be customized to the user's requirements. The MAV has been extensively flight tested both on- and off-tether. Results are presented showing the performance of the MAV navigation system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and GPS-based swath guidance systems are used on agricultural aircraft for remote sensing, airplane guidance, and to support variable-rate aerial application of crop inputs such as insecticides, cotton growth regulators, and defoliants. Agricultural aircraft travel at much greater speeds than ground equipment (65 m/s, typically), so longitudinal (along-track) error in GPS-derived position is likely to be pronounced. Due to rapid ground speeds, determination of exact GPS-derived aircraft location requires special methodologies. To meet the need for determining ground position accurately, a ground-based spotting system using two strategically placed mirrors was designed to reflect sunlight to the belly of the aircraft when the plane passed over a ground reference point. The light beam was detected by a photocell on the airplane, causing a solid state relay to close through appropriate circuitry. When the relay closed, a record was placed in the data file for the airplane's Satloc GPS receiver, accurate to 0.01 s allowing exact position to be logged. Two stand-alone GPS receivers were evaluated along with the Satloc system, and their readings were compared with readings from the Satloc. For one day of testing used as an example, the Satloc lagged the ground reference point by an average of -4.53 m (S.D. = 0.68) in the east-west directions and led the reference point in the north-south directions by an average of +7.88 m (S.D. = 0.52). Positioning data from one stand-alone GPS receiver showed a distinct ground speed dependency, making it unsuitable for use in aircraft. Output from the other receiver (designed for aircraft use) was insensitive to ground speed changes but exhibited a look-ahead equivalent to 2-s at the ground speeds evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The small aircraft transportation system (SATS) concept envisions doorstop to destination transportation in a safe and timely manner. Data communications are a key component in achieving the aviation-related operational performance improvements that are sought. However, data communication doesn't start when you get into the aircraft; it starts back at the location where the flight is planned. In fact, data communications support the pilot in all phases of the flight: flight planning, pre-flight, departure, en route, transition, approach, landing, and rollout as well as for a missed approach. The Internet is being used to perform flight planning activities, and the mobile communications available today support Internet access en route to the departure airfield. On-board the aircraft, data communications provide surveillance and air traffic control (ATC) support to the pilot. The location of other aircraft is available to the pilot and ATC system through automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and traffic information service-broadcast (TIS-B) applications that transmit the location of other aircraft in the vicinity. Other aircraft locations are used to forecast potential conflicts and, thus, enhance flight safety. As the aircraft nears a SATS-equipped airfield, the pilot uses data link messages to request a landing sequence. The airport management module (AMM) provides a landing sequence assignment to the aircraft. As the pilot maneuvers the aircraft for a landing, he/she is using data-linked surveillance data to determine the location of other aircraft and maintain a safe separation distance between aircraft even in a low visibility environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A description of the design, operation, and test results of a miniature, low-cost, integrated GPS/inertial navigation system that uses commercial off-the-shelf micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometers and gyroscopes. The MEMS inertial measurement unit (EMU) is packaged in a small size and provides the raw EMU data through a serial interface to a processor board where the inertial navigation solution and integrated GPS/inertial Kalman filter is generated. The GPS/inertial software integration is performed using NAVSYS' modular InterNav software product. This allows integration with different low-cost GPS chip sets or receivers and also allows the integrated GPS/inertial navigation solution to be embedded as an application on a customer's host computer. This modular object-oriented architecture facilitates integration of the miniature MEMS GPS/INS navigation system for embedded navigation applications and is designed to handle the large errors characteristic of a low-grade MEMS IMU. Test results are presented showing the performance of the integrated MEMS GPS/inertial navigation system. Data is provided showing the position, velocity, and attitude accuracy when operating with GPS aiding and also for periods where GPS dropouts occur and alternative navigation update sources are used to bound the MEMS inertial navigation error growth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As part of the ICAO navigation systems panel ground-based regional augmentation system (GRAS) validation process, issues arose concerning the transition between VHF data broadcast (VDB) stations. The GRAS sub group was invited to demonstrate that hand-over occurs only after successful lock onto a new VDB after 60 seconds of tracking the new power level and that the use of the new data does not affect the availability, accuracy, and continuity of service. Airservices Australia was invited to provide a description/depiction of receiver power; position accuracy referenced to the truth system, and the horizontal protection error (HPE) and vertical protection error (VPE) on hand-over scenario. This paper shows results from 73 transitions and demonstrates that the change between VDB stations does not affect the availability, accuracy, or continuity of service. Additionally, an evaluation was made on the effects of spatial decorrelation on the GRAS broadcast message when broadcast from a site geographically displaced from a reference station. The results show that GRAS remains well within the horizontal and vertical alarm limits prescribed for approaches with vertical guidance (APV). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Global positioning system (GPS) has clearly emerged as a fundamental utility with widespread private and commercial civilian applications. Many of these applications are directly related to safety-of-life uses such as all-weather aircraft precision approach and landing, ship navigation in restricted waters, and emergency response vehicle tracking and management. GPS has significantly improved efficiency in commercial applications such as truck, train, and even, individual container tracking and dispatch. There is a similar dependency within the military - not only in vehicle navigation ut also in areas such as precision weapon guidance and "blue force" tracking. This dependency on GPS has brought significant attention on the potential for an asymmetric vulnerability on this low signal power radio navigation system. Threat systems to GPS exist, are commercially available, and have been used in combat. The technology is not complex, and even simple, low-cost systems could cause significant GPS denial. Furthermore, as other global navigation satellite systems gain maturity and widespread use, one can easily imagine the threat expanding to cover those systems as well. Herein, we describe a project directed by Congress, starting in 1997, to develop the capability to detect and locate sources of unintentional interference and intentional jamming, and to assess the effectiveness and utility of such a system. Under this project, SPAWAR and FALON, Inc. have successfully developed and demonstrated a prototype system small enough to be compatible with unmanned aerial vehicles named location of GPS interferers (LOCO GPSI). The LOCO GPSI system employs short baseline antenna interferometry and a highly sensitive, rapidly scanning receiver to detect and precisely direction find (DF) the interference source. Interference source location is determined by triangulating successive DF lines of position. Ground and flight demonstration results suggest that performance objectives have b- een met. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two important elements in the avionics suite of modern aircraft are: the flight control system (FCS) and the flight management system (FMS). The FCS provides the capability to stabilize and control the aircraft, while the FMS is responsible for flight planning and navigation. A clear trend in the aerospace industry is to place greater reliance on software systems, and many FCS and FMS subsystems are implemented primarily in software. For example, within the FCS is the flight guidance system (FGS) that generates roll and pitch guidance commands. Similarly, within the FMS is the vertical navigation (VNAV) function that acts like a third crew member in the cockpit, ordering mode change requests and resetting target altitude values to enable the aircraft to track the vertical flight plan. We have developed formal, executable models of the requirements for the mode logic of a FGS and for portions of the VNAV functionality. We have also conducted a comprehensive software safety analysis on the FGS mode logic model, and are completing the analysis of the VNAV model. This analysis uses as its starting point several "traditional" safety analysis techniques such as a functional hazard assessment (FHA), a fault tree analysis (FTA), and a failure mode effects analysis (FMEA). However, we are also using formal methods techniques known as model checking and theorem proving to verify the presence of safety properties in the model. This paper summarizes the (now completed) safety analysis that was performed on the FGS model, and highlights the similarities and differences with the (still on-going) safety analysis of the FMS model. In particular, we summarize progress made to date in the use of formal methods to verify the presence of the required safety properties in the models themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The attitude heading reference system (AHRS) provides data for primary flight instruments, head-up displays, autopilots, and moving map navigation systems. Advances in solid-state MEMS rate sensors, coupled with Kalman filter algorithms designed to mitigate high drift rates, provide the basis for low-cost, high-performance AHRS for general aviation. This paper describes the performance of a low cost, miniaturized AHRS using automotive-grade MEMS sensors. The performance of the system is detailed. The implications for certification of this class of system and fault tolerance are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For the next 10 years new worldwide communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) requirements are being incrementally imposed upon commercial aircraft avionics, and upon the Air Traffic Control community, by the Aviation Administrations of most nations, including the FAA and the JAA. These requirements are the result of a decade of study by the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to improve aviation safety and efficiency. In 2001, the USAF mandated compliance to the CNS requirements for its military aircraft, which is called Navigation Safety/Global Air Traffic Management (NS/GATM) by the USAF. By complying with these requirements, the C-17 will maintain its ability to fly internationally without CNS restrictions, such as requiring special handling. The Phase I study reported herein is the first phase of a three-phase study effort that will result in the C-17 achieving NS/GATM compliance for a specific set of NS/CNS requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Navigation and landing for the first half century of aviation fundamentally relied on radio-based electronic aids. The military began serious investigation of radio navigation during World War I. Up until WW II map reading, dead reckoning, and various means of radio direction finding were the primary methods of determining aircraft position. Since WWII a number of other navigation techniques, such as Doppler radar, radio inertial, pure inertial, aided inertial, and today's integrated GPS inertial, have been developed. Most of the inertial systems evolved from the military ICBM and subsequent space programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The high speed anti-radiation missile (HARM) is an air-to-surface tactical missile designed to seek and destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems. Unfortunately, the HARM is "no respecter of persons," and it has been known, most notably during the Gulf War, to attack "friendly" targets. The international HARM upgrade project is a tri-national missile technology project sponsored by the United States, Italian, and German governments. The HARM precision navigation upgrade (PNU) program has as its goal, the development and installation of a PNU into the HARM that will improve the weapon's effectiveness, while nearly eliminating the likelihood of fratricide. The precision navigation system consists of a modern selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM) based Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), consisting of state-of-the-art fiber optic gyros and a modern micro-machined accelerometer triad. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The synthetic vision implementation discussed in this paper comprises elements in the navigation display, the vertical profile display, and the primary flight display. The design rationale is provided based on an overview of the intended functions, options to implement these functions, and the justifications used in the selection of a specific option. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A look into some future developments is presented. These are: the concept of an air vehicle that can stay aloft for days, weeks, even months; free flight; satellite navigation; intelligent transportation systems; automobile autopilot; personal airmobile; STAP; systems of systems; nanotechnology and MEMS [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes an application of the Total Airspace and Airport Modeller (TAAM)2 tool for determining the impact of new Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) ground-based and avionics technology on the efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS). TAAM presents an opportunity to attack this problem by simulating aircraft movements using rules that mimic actual operations. The rules can be tailored to represent local procedures, restrictions, and conflict resolution strategies, producing a realistic picture of aircraft movement. This paper describes a novel method for manipulating TAAM output to produce a measure of the voice channel occupancy (VCO) in a sector. This method can be applied for current conditions, where all communications use the voice channel, and for the future case in which Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) is used to issue controller/pilot instructions. TAAM could then be used to examine the benefits of CPDLC in terms of relieving restrictions or reducing vectoring and holding. Overall system benefits such as reduction in delays or distance traveled could be estimated from the TAAM results [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We must face the fact that conventional methods of air traffic management (ATM) that have served us well cannot continue to cope indefinitely. We need-therefore, to decide what the new operational concept should be and agree on the transition path. Air traffic management is the term we apply today to the totality of the activities involved in the handling of air traffic. The quest for a new concept led to what was first called "free flight," an idea that has, in the meantime, acquired some notoriety and is today more commonly referred to in Europe as "air/ground cooperative ATS." Simply put, the original free flight concept, stipulated that given the right on-board equipment (display of traffic information, conflict detection, and resolution tools) aircraft could navigate and avoid each other completely on their own, without the need for ATC. That a new ATM operational concept will be needed to take the industry further by the time traditional methods run out of potential is difficult to question. Equally clear is that the only new concept available is free flight a.k.a. air/ground cooperative ATS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is about the development of a 3 mm wave range pulse radar designed for short-range navigation and collision avoidance. The basic technical specifications of the radar are given, and the functional scheme and construction features are described [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Radar systems using multiple antenna elements that coherently process multiple pulses offer significant benefits, such as overcoming the directivity and resolution limits of a single sensor. Specifically, joint adaptive processing in the spatial and temporal domains called space-time adaptive processing (STAP) creates an ability to suppress interference signals, while simultaneously preserving gain on the desired signal. For STAP implementation, the interference statistics, in particular, the covariance matrix of the disturbance or interference, must be estimated from target-free training data. Therefore, the disturbance covariance estimation plays a pivotal role in radar target detection for radar STAP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For the better part of the past century, avionics has evolved as a critical field of technology advancement in terms of direct impact on our lives, including air transportation, delivery of resources in emergencies, and platforms for environmental analysis. The Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society (AESS) has a long-standing history of providing members with contemporary information in aviation and electronics (simply referred as avionics). Innovative avionics capabilities developed, tested, and implemented by many dedicated engineers and scientists around the world have directly helped shape transportation as we know it today, which has led to many far-reaching economic advances in business and individual livelihood. Within an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), AESS carries the banner of avionics technology advancement and its continuing development and evolution through its dedicated members, who in many ways lead the profession in the important research and development necessary for its continued pursuit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Passive radar (passive coherent location, PCL) has been monitored and discussed repeatedly over the last decade by the aerospace and electronic systems community. Within the last few years system concepts, experimental systems, and technology demonstrators have been developed by research institutions, universities, and industry. The use of different types of illuminators, ranging from analogue FM-radio, analogue TV over digital broadcasters like digital audio broadcast (DAB), digital video broadcast-terrestrial (DVB-T) to cell-phone base stations, and WiFi and satellite-borne transmitters has been considered. The different illuminator systems are characterised by individual strengths and weaknesses with respect to radar requirements, and fields of application have been identified for the different sensor types. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The developed test bench of tightly coupled GPS/INS integrated navigation system for an airborne vehicle was analyzed herein. From the obtained result, the performance of developed integrated navigation and workflow of the scheme is found correct. Particular attention was focused on the ability of the navigation filter to identify and remove the IMU errors. Along the UAV trajectory the performance of integrated navigation is found to be consistent. Velocity corrections exhibited to be somewhat inefficient, however in the medium accuracy IMU and low-grade GPS, the measurement did not permit the desired level of accuracy. Future work for solving the above-mentioned problems to further improve the performance of integrated navigation is required. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ARCAA DSA program has recently demonstrated full closed-loop aircraft sense-and-avoid using vision-based sensor technology. Real-time onboard detection and tracking was accomplished by harnessing the parallel processing capabilities of GPU-based hardware. ARCAA's DSA program aims to develop a cost-effective collision avoidance capability to facilitate the routine operation of UASs in the national airspace as well as enhance manned aviation safety by complementing human pilot “see-and-avoid.” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Herein we provide an operational sequence indentifying a set of future roles and responsibilities for Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) and flight operator staff. It also identifies procedures and technologies necessary to support activities proposed withing future operational concepts for an Integrated Arrival/Departure Control Service, Dynamic Departure Routing, and airport surface management, with a focus on near- to mid-term (2015–2018) technical capabities. This operational sequence is then utilized to identify critical human factors considerations at an abstract level. The operational sequence is organized according to a timeline and the assumed context for the scenario. All times are reported in Zulu (Greenwich Mean) Time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Herein, the avionics system design of a mini Vertical Take-Off And Landing (VTOL) capable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), namely a Quadrotor, will be described. The Turkish Air Force Academy personnel together with a team of cadets have been working on the design and development of an autonomous Quadrotor vehicle for educational purposes. The main emphasis was to study the flight dynamics of such a vehicle but the development of on-board electronics that consists of a sensor payload, embedded computer, and other hardware, along with the embedded software was such a critical work package under the project that required special emphasis and an innovative approach. A new avionic architecture that is derived from the rationale of Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) architecture of today's larger platforms is proposed and currently being implemented within the framework of our project. The advantages of this approach for the development of mini/micro UAVs along with the academic education of our cadets will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Up to now, combat aircrafts are titted with Fire Control Radar (FCR), Electronic Warfare Systems (EWS), and some radio links. Each of these systems Is dedicated to a particular task and cooperation is reduced to a minimal exchange of information between them, so far. Major system performance enhancements are to be expected from close cooperation to other sensors. The future cooperations can be ordered in four stages: the first three stages lead progressively to a multi-function sensor. The last is the deployment, on a given platform, of compact multi-function sensors on a network basis. Another area of cooperation is the realization of RF functions currently provided by other devices using other antennas. A typical example is the implementation of data links using radar or the EWS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]