Aerodrome mapping databases supporting taxi routing functions

An electronic airport moving map is standard on today's aircraft, starting with the Airport Moving Map (AMM) on the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) of the Boeing 777. Airbus followed with the Onboard Airport Navigation System (OANS) on the navigation display of the A380, and Boeing with integrated Airport Map with the navigation display on the 787 and 747–8. One of the next steps for AMM displays will be the display of assigned taxi routes. Input, management, and display of taxi routes in the cockpit have been covered in various studies in the past. However, regular use is not possible yet as Aerodrome Mapping Databases (AMDB) as specified in the industry standards RTCA DO-272 (User Requirements)[1], DO-291 (Exchange Format)[2], and ARINC 816 (Embedded Format)[3] do not contain the required connectivity information. The joint RTCA special committee SC-217 / EUROCAE WG-44 worked on this issue over the past two years and updated data requirements, data model, and capture rules accordingly. The approach was driven by various depiction concepts (highly-detailed vs. generalized) and taxi route input methods (i.e., SC-214 D-TAXI data links), but also data availability and the characteristics of taxi instructions from official sources (i.e., airport facility directives and the Notices to Airmen Publication). The result is a graph network with nodes and edges modeling taxiway and runway connectivities within an airport, called the Aerodrome Surface Routing Network (ASRN). Intersections are modeled by nodes of the graph. Other node types are used for holding positions or parking positions. Feasible connections between two nodes are modeled by edges of the graph. This paper provides an overview of the new elements of RTCA DO-272C and DO-291B and in particular about the specifications for the ASRN. The new standard documents (DO-272C/DO-291B) are scheduled for publication by end of 2011.