Application of the Connected Aircraft for Trajectory Information Exchange

The concept of the Connected Aircraft emerged in concert with the development of System-wide Information Management (SWIM), leveraging the use of Electronic Flight Bags (EFB) to provide SWIM information to and from the flight deck. Armed with such connectivity, various new applications become possible that require air-ground data exchange. One such application is explored in more detail: the exchange of aircraft system data to improve the trajectory used by ground systems. Further developments such as the Aircraft Interface Device (AID) have enabled the connectivity of the EFB with aircraft systems. This allows the exchange of the aircraft-derived trajectory for aircraft that are not equipped to provide the Extended Projected Profile (EPP). A method is proposed to improve trajectory prediction, even when the full set of EPP data is not provided, and the impact of the reduction in data is investigated. The accuracy of evaluated flights experienced the greatest degradation when altitude data was omitted at waypoints.