Advancing the Standards for Unmanned Air System Communications, Navigation and Surveillance

Under NASA program NNA16BD84C, new architectures were identified and developed for supporting reliable and secure Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) needs for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) operating in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace. An analysis of architectures for the two categories of airspace and an implementation technology readiness analysis were performed. These studies produced NASA reports that have been made available in the public domain and have been briefed in previous conferences. We now consider how the products of the study are influencing emerging directions in the aviation standards communities. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Communications Panel (CP), Working Group I (WG-I) is currently developing a communications network architecture known as the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network with Internet Protocol Services (ATN/IPS). The target use case for this service is secure and reliable Air Traffic Management (ATM) for manned aircraft operating in controlled airspace. However, the work is more and more also considering the emerging class of airspace users known as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), which refers to certain UAS classes. In addition, two Special Committees (SCs) in the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) are developing Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS) and Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS. RTCA SC-223 is investigating an Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) and AeroMACS aviation data link for interoperable (INTEROP) UAS communications. Meanwhile, RTCA SC-228 is working to develop Detect And Avoid (DAA) equipment and a Command and Control (C2) Data Link MOPS establishing LBand and C-Band solutions. These RTCA Special Committees along with ICAO CP WG/I are therefore overlapping in terms of the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) alternatives they are seeking to provide for an integrated manned- and unmanned air traffic management service as well as remote pilot command and control. This paper presents UAS CNS architecture concepts developed under the NASA program that apply to all three of the aforementioned committees. It discusses the similarities and differences in the problem spaces under consideration in each committee, and considers the application of a common set of CNS alternatives that can be widely applied. As the works of these committees progress, it is clear that the overlap will need to be addressed to ensure a consistent and safe framework for worldwide aviation. In this study, we discuss similarities and differences in the various operational models and show how the CNS architectures developed under the NASA program apply

Satellite ATM network architectures: An overview

A satellite ATM network has been envisioned as the next information super-skyway. There has been a migration from traditional bent pipe satellites to onboard processing) ATM satellites. The current congestion in the Internet has motivated the use of alternate paths - using satellites to support global Internet transport and access. This article presents the various system and protocol layer architectures of SATM networks.published_or_final_versio

Satellite ATM Network Architectural Considerations and TCP/IP Performance

In this paper, we have provided a summary of the design options in Satellite-ATM technology. A satellite ATM network consists of a space segment of satellites connected by inter-satellite crosslinks, and a ground segment of the various ATM networks. A satellite-ATM interface module connects the satellite network to the ATM networks and performs various call and control functions. A network control center performs various network management and resource allocation functions. Several issues such as the ATM service model, media access protocols, and traffic management issues must be considered when designing a satellite ATM network to effectively transport Internet traffic. We have presented the buffer requirements for TCP/IP traffic over ATM-UBR for satellite latencies. Our results are based on TCP with selective acknowledgments and a per-VC buffer management policy at the switches. A buffer size of about 0.5 * RTT to 1 * RTT is sufficient to provide over 98% throughput to infinite TCP traffic for long latency networks and a large number of sources. This buffer requirement is independent of the number of sources. The fairness is high for a large numbers of sources because of the per-VC buffer management performed at the switches and the nature of TCP traffic.Comment: Proceedings of the 3rd Ka Band Utilization Converence, Italy, 1997, pp481-48

Satellite-based internet: A tutorial

In a satellite-based Internet system, satellites are used to interconnect heterogeneous network segments and to provide ubiquitous direct Internet access to homes and businesses. This article presents satellite-based Internet architectures and discusses multiple access control, routing, satellite transport, and integrating satellite networks into the global Internet.published_or_final_versio

Satellite-based internet: A tutorial

In a satellite-based Internet system, satellites are used to interconnect heterogeneous network segments and to provide ubiquitous direct Internet access to homes and businesses. This article presents satellite-based Internet architectures and discusses multiple access control, routing, satellite transport, and integrating satellite networks into the global Internet.published_or_final_versio

Technology Directions for the 21st Century

New technologies will unleash the huge capacity of fiber-optic cable to meet growing demands for bandwidth. Companies will continue to replace private networks with public network bandwidth-on-demand. Although asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is the transmission technology favored by many, its penetration will be slower than anticipated. Hybrid networks - e.g., a mix of ATM, frame relay, and fast Ethernet - may predominate, both as interim and long-term solutions, based on factors such as availability, interoperability, and cost. Telecommunications equipment and services prices will decrease further due to increased supply and more competition. Explosive Internet growth will continue, requiring additional backbone transmission capacity and enhanced protocols, but it is not clear who will fund the upgrade. Within ten years, space-based constellations of satellites in Low Earth orbit (LEO) will serve mobile users employing small, low-power terminals. 'Little LEO's' will provide packet transmission services and geo-position determination. 'Big LEO's' will function as global cellular telephone networks, with some planning to offer video and interactive multimedia services. Geosynchronous satellites also are proposed for mobile voice grade links and high-bandwidth services. NASA may benefit from resulting cost reductions in components, space hardware, launch services, and telecommunications services