Air traffic surveillance and communication system

Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g. – Air traffic control – Secondary surveilance radar

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Details

342 32, 342 36, G01S 1393, G01S 1374

Patent

active

057987262

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Central to the provision of Air Traffic Control (ATC) services within the National Airspace System (NAS) are three major functions; these are navigation, surveillance and communications. Navigation allows aircraft to navigate along assigned routes. Surveillance allows the collection of information as to aircraft position. Air-ground communications facilitates the delivery of ATC instructions to airborne pilots, and the receipt of data and requests from pilots. The NAS has an extensive existing infra-structure to support these major ATC functions.
To support navigation the nation is covered with a network 959 VHF Omnidirectional Ranges (VOR). VORs provide the signals in space which are the principal support for aircraft navigation in the enroute and terminal environments. VORs are supplemented with Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), LORAN C, and to an increasing extent the Global Positioning System (GPS). To support instrument landing approach navigation, the nation's airports are equipped with 797 Instrument Landing Systems.
Surveillance needs are met by the maintenance of a network of primary and secondary radar systems. This network is made up of 298 primary radars and associated secondary radar sensors and approximately 30 secondary radar-only surveillance sites.
The air-ground communication function is supported through a network of VHF and UHF radios with terminations at the enroute, terminal, tower, and flight service station control positions requiring direct communications with pilots.
The ATC system supported by the navigation, surveillance, and communications infrastructure described above is the primary system used to establish and maintain safe separation between aircraft participating in the ATC system and between these aircraft and the ground. As a backup to this system, the FAA has developed and aircraft are equipping with the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This system uses data received from airborne transponders responding to secondary radar interrogations and is the last line of defense against unsafe air traffic situations.
While effective, the existing NAS ATC infrastructure has many problems. These problems include: maintain the vast network of navigation, surveillance and air-ground radio equipments. requirements. Currently, this spectrum is used by air-ground radios, VORs, and the localizer component of instrument landing systems. Lack of available frequencies is becoming a limiting factor in the expansion of ATC services. air-ground radio components. control allowed in analog communications technology. purposes of advanced ATC algorithms. rates and data not readily supportive of resolution algorithms. air-ground frequency congestion, high controller workload, and error prone air-ground communications.
The object of this invention is to provide an integrated ATC communications, navigation, and surveillance infrastructure to eliminate the above cited problems.
The invention is directed to an integrated communications, navigation surveillance system which overcomes the problems in the current NAS described above. A major feature of the invention is a new air-ground radio infrastructure operating in the existing VHF band: a pair of frequencies is associated with each air traffic control position. One of the frequencies will support party line voice for the air traffic sector consistent with the current ATC operational concept. The second frequency will support a data channel to be used for downlinking dependent surveillance data and for both uplink and downlink data communications consistent with current FAA two-way data link operational concepts. Frequencies will be paired so that each time a frequency change is commanded by the ground, both the voice and data channel will be tuned to the new air-ground frequency pair. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, supporting radios are to be all digital, operating with 10.0 kHz spacing. VFR aircraft not receiving ATC services will be supported with a common access

REFERENCES:
patent: 3495260 (1970-02-01), Laughlin et al.
patent: 4060805 (1977-11-01), McComas
patent: 4359733 (1982-11-01), O'Neill
patent: 5459469 (1995-10-01), Schuchman et al.

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