Nextgen ATS Communications, Navigation, And Surveillance Test Bed

Following an approximate 12 month planning and definition period, implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) Test Bed began in earnest during mid-year 2006. This Test Bed, focused on the evaluation of promising CNS technologies and systems, presently encompasses three airports in the Cleveland, Ohio region and a Test and Demonstration Center located at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC).The Test Bed coverage will be extended before the end of 2007 to include a 200 mile radius around the Cleveland metropolitan area thus creating a wide area air-ground test and demonstration capability. The three included airports (Hopkins International, Burke Lakefront, and Lorain County Regional) are representative of various classes of airports across the country close to population centers that will be central to accommodating forecasted air travel growth over the next 20 years. Sensis, in partnership with the Cleveland Airport System, the Lorain County Regional Airport Authority, and the FAA, has installed an advanced version multilateration surveillance system and wireless communications infrastructure at each of these airports. Implemented as well is a prototype of a Remote Tower System (a.k.a., a Staffed Virtual Tower) that "shadow controls" operations at Burke Lakefront Airport from the Test and Demonstration Center some 13 miles away. The Test Bed is integrated as a system via a prototype of a regional information sharing and management system. Sensis Corporation, GRC, and their Test Bed partners are collaborating to define and test possible solutions for some of the most significant challenges to the success of NextGen. In addition to remote monitoring and control of airports, the issues under investigation by this team include validating the promised efficiencies of negotiated 4-D arrival and departure trajectories, assessing advanced integrated surveillance capabilities, helping solve the continuing safely problem of runway incursions, and improving the efficiency of airport and airline surface operations. GRC is planning to explore the potential for an IEEE 802.16e standard-based wireless airport surface communications network operating in the 5.1 GHz band, soon to be allocated for safety critical air-ground communications services. This paper summarizes the mid-2007 status of this Test Bed and shares plans for the next twelve months.