Communications & IT
“The aviation industry as a whole has seen the value
of IP-based communications in other parts of their
business,” says Dan Pendergast, senior marketing
director for commercial aviation and network services at
Collins Aerospace. “There are advantages to IP. It’s
universally supported by all kinds of operating systems,
the networks are mature and global. It’s becoming the
norm everywhere.”
MIGRATION ROADMAP
It is being envisaged that IPS will support air-ground
communication, specifically data link. Also known as
controller-pilot data link (CPDL), this messaging service
between aircraft and air traffic controllers, first
developed in the 1970s is a way to provide an alternative
to voice communications.
Currently data link communications for long-haul
oceanic routes rely on satellite communications and
most use the FANS (Future Air Navigation System). This
system was developed by Boeing and Airbus. This uses a
messaging system known as the Aircraft
Communication and Reporting System (ACARS). Within
Europe, Eurocontrol’s data link service operates using
“Aviation has seen the value
of IP-based communications in
other parts of their business”
Dan Pendergast, senior marketing director for commercial aviation and network services at Collins Aerospace
54 DECEMBER 2019 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
new data link technologies - LDACS,
SATCOM and AeroMACS.
AeroMACS will be mainly used for
airport communication, says Pouzet, who
compares it to a wifi network but
“operating in an aviation protected
spectrum”. He says, “It’s already partially
deployed in the USA and there is some
partial deployments in Europe, for
instance in Portugal.”
The first of the air-ground
communications to come online will be
the SATCOM systems, says Pouzet. After
that will be LDACS or the L-band Digital
Aeronautical Communication System,
the VDL Mode 2 network, which was developed from an
ICAO standard.
“For air to ground we have a roadmap in conjunction
with the USA for the migration to ATN IPS protocol post-
VDL mode 2,” says Jacky Pouzet, head of the
communication and frequency coordination unit at
Eurocontrol. “We don’t see any advantage to switching
from the current protocol when it comes to the current
VDL-2 technology.”
The current protocol used in ATM is called
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), an open standard
that was developed 30 years ago as a competitor to IP.
Although OSI was abandoned by the IT industry in the
early 1990s, the standard is still used in aviation. The
shift away from OSI and VDL Mode 2 will embrace three
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM