EEC-ATI (V2)1

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+

LINK2000+ European ATS Provider Benefits

Real-time Simulation ResultsATN2002 Conference

London, 24-25 September 2002

Rod McGregor

EEC-ATI (V2)2

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • LINK2000+ Programme

– Datalink Implementation forEurope 2002-2007

– Services selected because of identified effective operational benefits

– Implementation at centres andairports where the need exists

– Affordable infrastructure - ATN over VDL2 (exploiting airline investment)

UK

FINLAND

CZECH REP.

SWEDEN

CANARY

ROMANIAAUSTRIA

DENMARK

GERMANY

PORTUGAL SPAIN

CYPRUS

FRANCE

ITALY

MOLDOVA

UKRAINE

NORWAY

IRELAND

MAAST

RICH

T

SWITZERLAND

Operational UseLetter of Commitment / Concrete PlansIntentSupport

EEC-ATI (V2)3

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • LINK2000+ Real-time Simulation

Project– followed other datalink projects such as EATCHIP

IIIb/EOLIA and PETAL IIe– concentrated on operational aspects

not technical aspects of datalink implementation– focused on an early implementation

and non-time critical datalink services that had been previously evaluated

– explored the implementation of datalink from the controllers perspective

– developed a complex real-time datalink simulator to replicate ATN datalink functionality

EEC-ATI (V2)4

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Simulation Conduct

– Conducted at the EUROCONTROLExperimental Centre near Paris

– Involved project teams from theAix-en-Provence and Rome ATCCentres, as well as the EEC and the LINK2000+ Programme

– A major effort for the EEC with over50 individuals committed to thesystem build and experimental conduct

– Used operational controller teams to provide authentic feedback on the use of datalink in future datalink scenarios

EEC-ATI (V2)5

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • LINK2000+ Experiment Objectives

– Confirm the feasibility of conducting voice and datalink in a mixed-mode environment

– Determine good practice when considering datalink over voice (and vice-versa)

– Identify potential changes to controller working methods– Identify ATC Procedures required for datalink operations– Assess the safety implications of non-nominal situations– Define the need for improvements to the datalink interface– Assess the operational and technical response times

EEC-ATI (V2)6

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Real-time Simulation

– February 2002, 3 weeks including training and measured exercises (28 measured exercises of 1 hour)

– 14 Controllers (7 from Aix-en-Provence and 7 from Rome)– Traffic based on busiest regional day

in 2001(plus 10% and 25%)– Airborne datalink equipage at

0%, 25% and 50% (representingthe implementation period)

– Scenarios1 - Nominal (variation in traffic and datalink equipage)2 - PC Transfer (routine transfer task moved to the PC)3 - ACM Monitor (datalink aircraft did not check on frequency)4 - Non-Nominal (degradation of performance)

EEC-ATI (V2)7

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • LINK2000+ Controller Interface

(Two Controllers per sector each with a 28” screen)– No ‘Paper’ Flight Strips – Interactive Aircraft Label with 3-Button Mouse

as sole input device (no keyboard)– Extensive use of colour coding– SYSCO silent electronic co-ordination– Graphical and list display of flight data– Safety Nets and System Reminders– Integrated datalink functionality with messages

represented in track labels and Message In/Out windows

BAW1234 NW

290 350350 BEKOSh045 m81 r25

EEC-ATI (V2)8

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • LINK2000+ Datalink

Implementation– DLIC - Datalink Initiation Capability - (between

Equipped and Non-Equipped ATC Centres)– ACM - ATC Communication Management -

Silent transfer of Data Authority and Aircraft Frequency Change Instructions, with indication that the Aircraft was ‘Monitoring’ the new frequency

– AMC - ATC Microphone Check - Via simulated “Stuck Microphone” message to all aircraft

– ACL - ATC Clearances – including Cleared Flight Level, Heading, Direct Route, Speed, and Rate of Change

EEC-ATI (V2)9

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • LINK2000+ Datalink

Implementation– LACKS - Logical Acknowledgements – for all

messages (defined timeouts for LACK response, Operational Response and Standby Offset)

– Delay Value based on fixed (6 second) delivery time and defined Failure Rates for datalink messages

– Pseudo-pilot responses to uplinked messages including WILCO, STANDBY, UNABLE, and scripted downlinks of REQUEST DIRECT and REQUEST LEVEL

EEC-ATI (V2)10

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Real-time Simulation

Analysis– Subjective analysis based on:

• Simulation Observation• Controller Debriefing Sessions• Questionnaires (Pre-simulation,

Exercise, and End of Simulation)• Controller Workload Recordings

– Supported by objective analysis based on recorded system data (including time-stamped HMI actions and datalink messages)

Datalink Benefits

EEC-ATI (V2)11

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • During the experiment

– 1953 flight hours recorded for all sectors over the measured exercises

– Sector throughput (1 hour) from50 - 108 (depending on sector)

– Maximum number of aircraft on frequency ranging from 18 - 35 aircraft

– 424 Pilot datalink requests downlinked to the controllers

– 2719 Controller instructions uplinked to simulated datalink aircraft

EEC-ATI (V2)12

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Results - Controller comments

– The Air/Ground concept was easy to understand– Air/Ground datalink procedures

were easy to work with– Using Air/Ground datalink reduces

routine communication tasks– It was not difficult to decide when

to use datalink or voice tocommunicate

– It was easy to learn to work with the Air/Ground datalink

EEC-ATI (V2)13

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Results - General

– Voice channel occupancy significantly reduced

– 0% Datalink (39%)– 25% Equipage - 32% (-18%)– 50% Equipage - 26% (-33%)– Further gains (35%-50%)

when combined with datalink aircraft ‘Monitoring’ not calling on frequency

EEC-ATI (V2)14

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Results - Working Method

– Controllers took less than 3 weeks to integrate datalink in to a new effective working method

– Two separate control techniques developed for Datalink and Non-datalink aircraft (as non time-critical messages could become time-critical)

– CPDLC clearances were (apparently) less suited to highly tactical environments (controllers reported two minutes required for action)

EEC-ATI (V2)15

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Results - Task Reallocation

– Planning Controller must be active (focussed on the screen) notpassive as today

– ACM with PC Transfer withDatalink Aircraft Monitoringwas reportedly very successful

– ACL service more complex totransfer clearance tasks to the PCdue to issues of control responsibility, teamwork, and situational awareness

EEC-ATI (V2)16

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Results - Controller Interface

– Clear distinction between equipped and non-equipped aircraft essential

– Equally efficient HMI inputs for both equipped and non-equipped aircraft required

– Revert-to-voice procedure and system update, in case of datalink error (DLError or No Reply) as short as possible

– History of datalink messages required to support better team situational awareness

EEC-ATI (V2)17

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Results Time-outs and Response Times

– Timeouts for LACK response and No Reply as short as possible (30 seconds and 60 seconds)

– Mean controller response time to a pilot request was 40 seconds (including delivery time)

– (Pseudo-pilot response time was 25 seconds)– Controller composition times for datalink messages

75% less than 2 seconds and 99.5% less than 10 seconds (EATCHIP III datalink interface)

– Non-nominal degraded datalink performance had little impact for controllers (due non-time critical use)

EEC-ATI (V2)18

ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Summary - ATS Provider Benefits

– Results suggest that a safer, more efficient, ATM system through Datalink implementation is achievable

– Effective R/T reduction and task re-distributionwas demonstrated “With datalink it should not be a problem if you never talk to an aircraft the whole time it is in your sector”

– Next - further interface improvements andmore research into teamwork and situational awareness issues

– Finally, datalink was shown to have the potential to revolutionise ATM, perhaps enabling change as radical as the introduction of radar

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ATN2002 CONFERENCE

LINK2000+ • Contacts

– Rod McGregor - LINK2000+ RTS Project Manager (EEC) roderick.mcgregor@eurocontrol.int

– Alex Wandels – LINK2000+ Programme Manager (Brussels) alex.wandels@eurocontrol.int

– Chris Brain – LINK20000+ Operational Issues (Brussels)christopher.brain@eurocontrol.int

– Martin Adnams – Implementation Issues (Brussels)martin.adnams@eurocontrol.int

• References– LINK2000+ Real-time Simulation Report - September 2002

(EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre Report)