Flight deck benefits of integrated data link communication

A fixed-base, piloted simulation study was conducted to determine the operational benefits that result when air traffic control (ATC) instructions are transmitted to the deck of a transport aircraft over a digital data link. The ATC instructions include altitude, airspeed, heading, radio frequency, and route assignment data. The interface between the flight deck and the data link was integrated with other subsystems of the airplane to facilitate data management. Data from the ATC instructions were distributed to the flight guidance and control system, the navigation system, and an automatically tuned communication radio. The co-pilot initiated the automation-assisted data distribution process. Digital communications and automated data distribution were compared with conventional voice radio communication and manual input of data into other subsystems of the simulated aircraft. Less time was required in the combined communication and data management process when data link ATC communication was integrated with the other subsystems. The test subjects, commercial airline pilots, provided favorable evaluations of both the digital communication and data management processes

A piloted simulation study of data link ATC message exchange

Data link Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Air Traffic Service (ATS) message and data exchange offers the potential benefits of increased flight safety and efficiency by reducing communication errors and allowing more information to be transferred between aircraft and ground facilities. Digital communication also presents an opportunity to relieve the overloading of ATC radio frequencies which hampers message exchange during peak traffic hours in many busy terminal areas. A piloted simulation study to develop pilot factor guidelines and assess potential flight crew benefits and liabilities from using data link ATC message exchange was completed. The data link ATC message exchange concept, implemented on an existing navigation computer Control Display Unit (CDU) required maintaining a voice radio telephone link with an appropriate ATC facility. Flight crew comments, scanning behavior, and measurements of time spent in ATC communication activities for data link ATC message exchange were compared to similar measures for simulated conventional voice radio operations. The results show crew preference for the quieter flight deck environment and a perception of lower communication workload

Flight Deck Benefits of Integrated Data Link Communication

A fixed-base, piloted simulation study was conducted to determine the operational benefits that result when air traffic control (ATC) instructions are transmitted to the flight deck of a transport airplane over a digital data link. The ATC instructions included altitude, airspeed, heading, radio frequency, and route assignment data. The interface between the flight deck and the data link was integrated with other subsystems of the airplane to facilitate data management. Data from the ATC instructions were distributed to the flight guidance and control system, the navigation system, and an automatically tuned communication radio. The copilot initiated the automation-assisted data distribution process. Digital communication and automated data distribution were compared with conventional voice radio communication and manual input of data into other subsystems of the simulated aircraft. Less time was required in the combined communication and data management process when data..

Nasa/tm-1999-208743

A number of our nation's airports depend on closely spaced parallel runway operations to handle their normal traffic throughput when weather conditions are favorable. For safety these operations are curtailed in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) when the ceiling or visibility deteriorates and operations in many cases are limited to the equivalent of a single runway. Where parallel runway spacing is less than 2500 feet, capacity loss in IMC is on the order of 50 percent for these runways. Clearly, these capacity losses result in landing delays, inconveniences to the public, increased operational cost to the airlines, and general interruption of commerce. This document presents a description and the results of a fixedbase simulation study to evaluate an initial concept that includes a set of procedures for conducting safe flight in closely spaced parallel runway operations in IMC. Consideration of flight-deck information technology and displays to support the procedures is also ..

NASA/TM-2000-209841 The Flight Deck Perspective of the NASA Langley AILS Concept

Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the advancement of aeronautics and space science. The NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office plays a key part in helping NASA maintain this important role. The NASA STI Program Office is operated by Langley Research Center, the lead center for NASAÕs scientific and technical information. The NASA STI Program Office provides access to the NASA STI Database, the largest collection of aeronautical and space science STI in the world. The Program Office is also NASAÕs institutional mechanism for disseminating the results of its research and development activities. These results are published by NASA in the NASA STI Report Series, which includes the following report types: · TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. Reports of completed research or a major significant phase of research that present the results of NASA programs and include extensive data or theoretical analysis. Includes compilations of significant scientific and technical data and information deemed to be of continuing reference value. NASA counterpart of peer-reviewed formal professional papers, but having less stringent limitations on manuscript length and extent of graphic presentations. · TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM. Scientific and technical findings that are preliminary or of specialized interest, e.g., quick release reports, working papers, and bibliographies that contain minimal annotation. Does not contain extensive analysis

Concept of Operations for Commercial and Business Aircraft Synthetic Vision Systems

A concept of operations (CONOPS) for the Commercial and Business (CaB) aircraft synthetic vision systems (SVS) is described. The CaB SVS is expected to provide increased safety and operational benefits in normal and low visibility conditions. Providing operational benefits will promote SVS implementation in the Net, improve aviation safety, and assist in meeting the national aviation safety goal. SVS will enhance safety and enable consistent gate-to-gate aircraft operations in normal and low visibility conditions. The goal for developing SVS is to support operational minima as low as Category 3b in a variety of environments. For departure and ground operations, the SVS goal is to enable operations with a runway visual range of 300 feet. The system is an integrated display concept that provides a virtual visual environment. The SVS virtual visual environment is composed of three components: an enhanced intuitive view of the flight environment, hazard and obstacle defection and display, and precision navigation guidance. The virtual visual environment will support enhanced operations procedures during all phases of flight - ground operations, departure, en route, and arrival. The applications selected for emphasis in this document include low visibility departures and arrivals including parallel runway operations, and low visibility airport surface operations. These particular applications were selected because of significant potential benefits afforded by SVS

Nasa/tm-2001-211058

A concept of operations (CONOPS) for the Commercial and Business (CaB) aircraft synthetic vision systems (SVS) is described. The CaB SVS is expected to provide increased safety and operational benefits in normal and low visibility conditions. Providing operational benefits will promote SVS implementation in the fleet, improve aviation safety, and assist in meeting the national aviation safety goal. SVS will enhance safety and enable consistent gate-to-gate aircraft operations in normal and low visibility conditions. The goal for developing SVS is to support operational minima as low as Category IIIb in a variety of environments. For departure and ground operations, the SVS goal is to enable operations with a runway visual range of 300 feet. The system is an integrated display concept that provides a virtual visual environment. The SVS virtual visual environment is composed of three components: an enhanced intuitive view of the flight environment, hazard and obstacle detection and display, and precision navigation guidance. The virtual visual environment will support enhanced operations procedures during all phases of flight --- ground operations, departure, en route, and arrival. The applications selected for emphasis in this document include low visibility departures and arrivals including parallel runway operations, and low visibility airport surface operations. These particular applications were selected because of significant potential benefits afforded by SVS

Transport-of-intensity-based phase imaging to quantify the refractive index response of 3D direct-write lithography

Precise direct-write lithography of 3D waveguides or diffractive structures within the volume of a photosensitive material is hindered by the lack of metrology that can yield predictive models for the micron-scale refractive index profile in response to a range of exposure conditions. We apply the transport of intensity equation in conjunction with confocal reflection microscopy to capture the complete spatial frequency spectrum of isolated 10 μm-scale gradient-refractive index structures written by single-photon direct-write laser lithography. The model material, a high-performance two-component photopolymer, is found to be linear, integrating, and described by a single master dose response function. The sharp saturation of this function is used to demonstrate nearly binary, flat-topped waveguide profiles in response to a Gaussian focus