Communication capacity assesment for the Iris satellite system

The Iris/ARTES 10 programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) aims to develop a satellite system for air traffic services (ATS) and aeronautical operational control (AOC) complementing the existing and future aeronautical communications infrastructure. This paper presents the approach to and the results of the Iris communication capacity assessment conducted in the first phase of the programme. The approach discussed within this paper is based on a combination of the message exchanges defined in the ldquocommunications operating concept and requirements for the future radio systemrdquo document (COCR) of EUROCONTROL and FAA and realistic air-traffic scenarios. The generated voice, data and air traffic is intended for two major purposes: first to identify capacity and protocol requirements for the design of the Iris communication system and secondly as input for the system performance evaluation.