AeroMACS: A new perspective for mobile airport communications and services

Broadband wireless technologies are becoming more and more pervasive in several fields of application to supply new services and to satisfy operational constraints. Among them, this article deals with the use of WiMAX technology in future air traffic management system. This technology is expected to increase the safety and to allow the exchange of large volumes of data among heterogeneous users, including aircraft. In particular, Eurocontrol and ICAO identified a WiMAX-based technology for communications on the airport surface, named Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communication System (Aero- MACS). The scope of this article is to provide an overview of AeroMACS, with a description of its main features, requirements, PHY and MAC profile choices, and related network architecture. Finally, the article highlights some open issues for AeroMACS that represent critical aspects and require, at this time, additional investigation.