Formulating the cognitive design problem of air traffic management

Evolutionary approaches to cognitive design in the air traffic management (ATM) system can be attributed with a history of delayed developments. This issue is well illustrated in the case of the flight progress strip where attempts to design a computer-based system to replace the paper strip have consistently been met with rejection. An alternative approach to cognitive design of air traffic management is needed and this paper proposes an approach centred on the formulation of cognitive design problems. The paper gives an account of how a cognitive design problem was formulated for a simulated ATM task performed by controller subjects in the laboratory. The problem is formulated in terms of two complimentary models. First, a model of the ATM domain describes the cognitive task environment of managing the simulated air traffic. Second, a model of the ATM worksystem describes the abstracted cognitive behaviours of the controllers and their tools in performing the traffic management task. Taken together, the models provide a statement of worksystem performance, and express the cognitive design problem for the simulated system. The use of the problem formulation in supporting cognitive design, including the design of computer-based flight strips, is discussed

Increasing resilience of ATM networks using traffic monitoring and automated anomaly analysis

Systematic network monitoring can be the cornerstone for the dependable operation of safety-critical distributed systems. In this paper, we present our vision for informed anomaly detection through network monitoring and resilience measurements to increase the operators' visibility of ATM communication networks. We raise the question of how to determine the optimal level of automation in this safety-critical context, and we present a novel passive network monitoring system that can reveal network utilisation trends and traffic patterns in diverse timescales. Using network measurements, we derive resilience metrics and visualisations to enhance the operators' knowledge of the network and traffic behaviour, and allow for network planning and provisioning based on informed what-if analysis

Design of a shared whiteboard component for multimedia conferencing

This paper reports on the development of a framework for multimedia applications in the domain of tele-education. The paper focuses on the protocol design of a specific component of the framework, namely a shared whiteboard application. The relationship of this component with other components of the framework is also discussed. A salient feature of the framework is that it uses an advanced ATM-based network service. The design of the shared whiteboard component is considered representative for the design as a whole, and is used to illustrate how a flexible protocol architecture utilizing innovative network functions and satisfying demanding user requirements can be developed

High performance computing simulator for the performance assessment of trajectory based operations

High performance computing (HPC), both at hardware and software level, has demonstrated significant improve- ments in processing large datasets in a timely manner. However, HPC in the field of air traffic management (ATM) can be much more than only a time reducing tool. It could also be used to build an ATM simulator in which distributed scenarios where decentralized elements (airspace users) interact through a centralized manager in order to generate a trajectory-optimized conflict-free scenario. In this work, we introduce an early prototype of an ATM simulator, focusing on air traffic flow management at strategic, pre-tactical and tactical levels, which allows the calculation of safety and efficiency indicators for optimized trajectories, both at individual and network level. The software architecture of the simulator, relying on a HPC cluster of computers, has been preliminary tested with a set of flights whose trajectory vertical profiles have been optimized according to two different concepts of operations: conventional cruise operations (i.e. flying at constant altitudes and according to the flight levels scheme rules) and continuous climb cruise operations (i.e., optimizing the trajectories with no vertical constraints). The novel ATM simulator has been tested to show preliminary benchmarking results between these two concepts of operations. The simulator here presented can contribute as a testbed to evaluate the potential benefits of future Trajectory Based Operations and to understand the complex relationships among the different ATM key performance areasPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Using Computational Agents to Design Participatory Social Simulations

In social science, the role of stakeholders is increasing in the development and use of simulation models. Their participation in the design of agent-based models (ABMs) has widely been considered as an efficient solution to the validation of this particular type of model. Traditionally, "agents" (as basic model elements) have not been concerned with stakeholders directly but via designers or role-playing games (RPGs). In this paper, we intend to bridge this gap by introducing computational or software agents, implemented from an initial ABM, into a new kind of RPG, mediated by computers, so that these agents can interact with stakeholders. This interaction can help not only to elicit stakeholders' informal knowledge or unpredicted behaviours, but also to control stakeholders' focus during the games. We therefore formalize a general participatory design method using software agents, and illustrate it by describing our experience in a project aimed at developing agent-based social simulations in the field of air traffic management.Participatory Social Simulations, Agent-Based Social Simulations, Computational Agents, Role-Playing Games, Artificial Maieutics, User-Centered Design

Constructing a Virtual Training Laboratory Using Intelligent Agents

This paper reports on the results and experiences of the Trilogy project; a collaborative project concerned with the development of a virtual research laboratory using intelligence agents. This laboratory is designed to support the training of research students in telecommunications traffic engineering. Training research students involves a number of basic activities. They may seek guidance from, or exchange ideas with, more experienced colleagues. High quality academic papers, books and research reports provide a sound basis for developing and maintaining a good understanding of an area of research. Experimental tools enable new ideas to be evaluated, and hypotheses tested. These three components-collaboration, information and experimentation- are central to any research activity, and a good training environment for research should integrate them in a seamless fashion. To this end, we describe the design and implementation of an agent-based virtual laboratory

Michel Callon, Michel Foucault and the « dispositif »

I n recent years, many important studies have focused on performativity or performation of economics (among others, see Callon, Milo & Muniesa, 2007; MacKenzie, Muniesa & Siu, 2007). Together with authors such as Yuval Millo, Fabian Muniesa, Donald MacKenzie, or Lucia Siu, Michel Callon has played an important role in this field. Most of these scholars have highlighted the way in which economics performs real world. We will, in contrast, focus on the opposite. Drawing on the case of air traffic management (ATM) in Europe, a case we have been working on for about ten years, we will attempt to show how economics failed to perform this industry. Our purpose is not to offer a kind of refutation or falsification of the performativity theory from a Popperian stance. Obviously, this theory acknowledges the fact that economics does not always perform the economy. Rather our aim is to refine the theory, to pinpoint some paradoxes related to performativity or performation, and to bring forward thinkable promising research perspectives. We shall begin by examining what, in Michel Callon‟s perspective, constitutes and does not constitute the performativity of economics. Then, we will have a look at Michel Foucault‟s notion of « dispositif » (apparatus or device), to explore how Callon relies on Foucault, but also how Foucault can still be useful when approaching the notion of device. After that, we will present the selected case, air traffic management (ATM) in Europe. Finally, we will discuss this case in connection with the theoretical framework.Performativity; dispositif (device); European Air Traffic Management

A prototype mobile money implementation in Nigeria

Researchers have shown that majority of the populace in the developing nations are rural dwellers that do not have access to basic financial services and are poor. This class of people are peasant farmers and petty traders who rely mostly on remittances from their wards and relations in major cities and abroad to meet their financial obligations at home. The methods of remittances are encumbered with challenges. Mobile money is a tool that allows individuals to make financial transactions using mobile cell phones. Nigeria is one of the fastest growing telecoms nations of the world and the adoption of mobile money will help a great deal to solve the problems associated with remittances. In this paper, we present a short messages services (SMS) and unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) implementation of mobile money implementation in Nigeria modelled using Django and Python as the programming language, MySQL as the data store and Apache hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) as the Web server. The system made comparative analysis with M-PESA implementation in Kenya: the first mobile money implantation in Africa. Furthermore, the system was tested among a selected few of the populace to evaluate the usability of the design. Findings revealed that the prototype implementation is user-friendly and can be used by all without many problems except for the illiterate populace; hence, the need to have a combined bank and agent-based implementation. This approach will help with time to reduce the number of unbanked populace, which is currently at 80%