Net-Centric Air Traffic Management System Explained

Net-centric, in its most common definition, refers				relevance are summarised below:o Wide scope of
to "participation as a part of a continuously				information contributors - The information needs
evolving, complex community of people, devices,				of the future ATM Network, including the scope
information and services interconnected by a				of that information, will result in a multitude of
communications network to optimise resource				new information sources/contributors and/or new
management and provide superior information on				types of information being obtained from various
events and conditions needed to empower				information sources.o Air and ground integration -
decision makers." It will be clear from the				In the traditional ATM set-up, the coupling
definition that "net-centric" does not refer to a				between ground and airborne systems are
network as such. It is a term that covers all				normally very loose or non-existent. Once the
elements constituting the environment referred to				net-centric ATM Network is realised and aircraft
as "net-centric".				become nodes on the network, a completely new
Exchanges between members of the community				regulatory-target regime is created in the form of
are based not on cumbersome individual				the integrated air/ground ATM elements.o
interfaces and point to point connections but a				Information sharing - The value of using shared
flexible network paradigm that is never a				information is one of the main reasons why
hindrance to the evolution of the net-centric				System Wide Information Management (SWIM)
community. Net-centricity promotes a				for the future net-centric ATM environment is
"many-to-many" exchange of data, enabling a				being defined. There are however legitimate
multiplicity of users and applications to make use				requirements for protecting some information in
of the same data which in itself extends way				one or more of several ways, including
beyond the traditional, predefined and package				de-identification of the source, limiting access,
oriented data set while still being standardised				etc.o Integration of diverse airspace use activities
sufficiently to ensure global interoperability. The				- Airspace is used for various purposes and civil
aim of a net-centric system is to make all data				aviation is just one of those. Specific military
visible, available and usable, when needed and				usage (not all of which involves aircraft
where needed, to accelerate and improve the				operations) as well as various civilian projects and
decision making process.				missions employ information that is even more
In a net-centric environment, unanticipated but				sensitive than the normal business or security
authorised users can find and use data more				sensitive information categories. Their proper
quickly. The net-centric environment is populated				protection is essential if the military and other
with all data on a "post and share before				operators generating such sensitive information
processing" basis enabling authorised users and				are to be integrated into the overall ATM process.
applications to access data without wait time for				This aspect poses a specific challenge since not
processing, exploitation and dissemination. This				only is the information possibly in a military/State
approach also enables vendors to develop value				security domain but the regulatory domains may
added services, tailored to specific needs but still				also be nested in different organisations that need
based on the shared data.				to be brought together for and under the SWIM
In the context of Air Traffic Management (ATM),				umbrella.o Disappearance of the difference
the data to be provided is that concerning the				between voice and data - In the mid- to longer
state (past, present and future) of the ATM				time frames, the expected traffic levels will make
Network. Participants in this complex community				the move to almost exclusive use of digital link
created by the net-centric concept can make use				communications inevitable. This does not mean
of a vastly enlarged scope of acceptable data				the disappearance of voice communications on
sources and data types (aircraft platforms,				the end-user level. However, a reliable
airspace user systems, etc.) while their own data				communications system that can serve the voice
also reaches the community on a level never				and data needs of the future ATM environment is
previously achieved.				by definition digital and hence even voice
How are decisions different in a net-centric				messages will be transferred via digital means.
environment?				Hence a convergence of the regulatory regimes
Information sharing and the end-user applications it				for voice and data communications will be
enables is the most beneficial enabler of				inevitable.o Global interoperability - Aeronautical
collaborative decision making. The more complete				information has always been global in nature but
the information that is being shared and the more				the strongly limited access and product oriented
thorough its accessibility to the community				philosophy has contained the issues of global
involved, the higher the benefit potential. In a				interoperability. The net-centric approach of the
traditional environment, decisions are often				new ATM environment will create large islands of
arbitrary and the effects of the decisions are not				shared information which must however be able
completely transparent to the partners involved.				to interoperate between each other as well as
Information sharing on a limited scale (as is the				with legacy environments, constituting a new,
case in the mainly local information sharing hitherto				global need for proper regulatory regimes.o
implemented) results in a substantial improvement				Common information pipes for passenger and
in the quality of decisions but this is mainly local				operational communications - In the traditional
and improvements in the overall ATM Network				analogue environment, aviation has enjoyed
are consequential rather than direct.				dedicated communications means and this tradition
If the ATM Network is built using the net-centric				was carried over to a certain extent also into the
approach, decisions are empowered on the basis				new digital communications technologies. The
of information available in the totality of the				dedicated "pipe" in air/ground communications is
net-centric environment and interaction among				certainly a reality today but the same cannot be
members of the community, irrespective of their				said of the ground-ground communications links.
role or location, can be based on need rather than				The early point to point connections have been
feasibility.				replaced in most applications by leased lines which,
Since awareness of the state (past, present or				for substantial segments, are in fact shared with
future) of the ATM Network is not limited by lack				other, often not aviation, users. The drivers
of involvement of any part as such, finding out				behind this change are obviously cost
the likely or actual consequences of decisions is				effectiveness considerations. Although early
facilitated, providing an important feed-back loop				attempts to provide in-flight passenger
that further improves the quality of decisions on				connectivity have not proved the commercial
all levels.				success many had forecast, it is already visible
Looking at things from the collaborative decision				that in the not too distant future, personal
making (CDM) perspective, it is important to				communications needs will evolve to the point
realise that net-centricity is not something created				where people will demand uninterrupted
for the sole purpose of making CDM better.				connectivity even on relatively short flights. Since
Net-centricity is a feature of the complete ATM				such demands will always fetch a premium price,
system design, providing different benefits to				it stands to reason that combining the operational
different aspects of air traffic management				and passenger connectivity needs onto a single air
operations. It is when collaboration in decision				ground pipe could be commercially attractive.
making exploits also the facilities made possible by				While the technology to do this safely will certainly
the overall net-centric ATM Network, that the				be available, the regulatory aspects will have to be
superior quality of decisions becomes truly visible.				explored in time to ensure that the actual
The concept of services				solutions used meet all the safety and other
In traditional system design, information				requirements.o The value of information -
technology (IT) was often driving developments				Information is a valuable commodity and in the
and the functionality being provided in some cases				competitive environment of aviation this
became a limitation on the business it was meant				commodity is of course sought after by many
to support. Service orientation is the necessary				partners, including others than only aircraft
step to separate the business processes from				operators or airports. The essential safety
the IT processes and to enable business				contribution of information in air traffic
considerations to drive the underlying IT				management creates an especially complicated
requirements. Aligning IT to the business rather				web of relationships, some commercial some not,
than the other way round improves business				some State obligations some voluntary, and so on
agility and efficiency.				that need to be properly regulated with a view to
"Service" in this context is defined as "the delivery				ensuring cost recovery while not discouraging
of a capability in line with published characteristics,				information use.o Cost effectiveness - Although
including policies." This refers to the ATM services				not always thought of as a driver for regulation, a
required and not the underlying (technical)				proper regulatory environment will favour
supporting services and physical assets that need				cost-effective, user oriented solutions.o Training
to be deployed. In other words, service refers to				and personnel licensing - The information sharing
the business services and not the information				environment of SWIM will require experts who
technology services.				are conversant not only with the requirements of
Well designed business services must exhibit a				air traffic management and aircraft operations but
number of characteristics that describe the				also the information technology aspects of the
service being offered sufficiently well for the				new approach to managing information. This has
service consumer(s) to clearly understand the				implications in the construction and approval of
service and hence to want to make use them.				training syllabuses, examination fulfilment criteria as
On the business level, contracts and service level				well as the qualification requirements. The need
agreements that put the service in the proper				for refresher/recurrent training also grows and
context are very important as they cover not				needs to be part of the overall regulatory
only the function(s) that will be performed but				regime.o Standardisation - System wide sharing of
also the non-functional terms and conditions to				information in a net-centric environment requires
which the consumer and provider have agreed.				that the data be the subject of proper
There are several business processes that can be				standardisation on all levels. This is the key to
identified in the context of air traffic management.				achieving global interoperability in the technical as
Some are related to the aircraft themselves (e.g.				well as the service/operational sense. The
turn-round), others concern the passengers and				development and use of the necessary standards
their baggage. These and all other business				can only be realised under a proper regulatory
processes require specific services to progress				regime.
and complete in accordance with the business				All the above aspects imply the creation of a
objectives of the process owner. Cleaning and				regulatory regime that is aligned with the specific
refuelling of the aircraft, passenger check-in,				needs of a net-centric operation and which is able
security checking, etc. are just a few examples				to regulate for safety and proper performance,
of the business services that need to be provided				including economic performance, appropriate for
in order to achieve the objective, in this case a				the new digital environment. Trying to apply
timely and safe departure.				traditional methods of regulation without taking
When viewed on an enterprise level, a given				the new realities into account is counter
service once defined is often reusable across the				productive and must be avoided. This is an
enterprise where identical or similar processes are				important message for both the regulators and
found, resulting in a major potential for cost				the regulated.
saving.				The aspects of regulation to be considered
The services so defined will then set the				include:o Safetyo Securityo Information
requirements for the underlying IT support.				interoperabilityo Service level interoperabilityo
The effects of net-centric integration				Physical interoperabilityo Economics
The term "integration" is often associated with				In terms of who should be regulated, thought
"centralisation" and the elimination/rationalisation of				should be given to at least:o The State as data
facilities. While from an economic perspective				providero Licensed providers of services, including
integration may indeed mean all of the above,				network serviceso Licensed data sourceso
net-centric integration is about empowering better				Licensed providers of end-user applicationso User
decision making through the creation of the				credentials and trusted users
complex, networked community of people,				It is important to answer also the question: who
devices, information and services that generate				should be the regulator? This must be agreed in
benefits to all members of the community				terms of:o International rules and global oversighto
without necessarily changing the mapping (nature,				Licensing rules and global oversight
number and location) of the community members.				The types of regulatory activities that need to be
At the same time, net-centric integration enables				put in place concern mainly compliance verification
superior business agility and flexibility so that				and certification; quality maintenance; and
community members may evolve and change				enforcement and penalties.
(drop out or new ones come in) in response to				As mentioned already, the above institutional
the changing needs of the users of the system				aspects concern more than just CDM, however,
concerned.				for CDM and in particular information sharing to
In the net-centric context it is not integration as				work in the net-centric environment, they need to
such that changes the enterprise landscape. Such				be addressed as a prerequisite of implementation.
changes, if any, are the result of the economic				The technical implications of net-centric operations
imperatives that need to be met and which can				On the conceptual level, net-centric operations
now be met based on the improved business				mean the sharing of superior quality information
agility.				as part of a community and acting on that
The end-user aspects of net-centric operations				information to improve decisions for the benefit
One of the less understood aspects of traditional				of the individual as well as for the network (the
decision making is that it is not really possible to				networked community). Obviously, this type of
realise when decisions are based on less then full				operation must be enabled by a proper technical
and/or correct information. The garbage in				infrastructure.
garbage out principle applies also to the decision				This technical infrastructure is often thought of as
making process. At the same time, the effects of				a network with the required band-width and
less than good decisions may not be immediately				reliability; it is true that the replacement of the
visible. In many cases, poor decisions will affect				one-to-one connections that characterise legacy
the efficiency of the overall operation without the				systems with the many-to-many relationships of
negative effects even being traceable to individual				the net-centric environment does require a
decisions. So, while everyone may be doing their				powerful network that fully meets all the quality
very best, the result may still be far short of the				requirements, but there is much more to
quality that would be otherwise achievable.				net-centricity than this.
When the scope and quality of data upon which				The management of the shared data pool,
decisions are based is expanded and improved,				including currency, access rights, quality control,
the quality of decisions improves almost				etc. brings in a layer of technical requirements
automatically. The decision makers will notice the				that sit higher than the network as such.
expanded possibilities and ultimately the success				If we then define 'information' as 'data put in
of the enterprise will also improve in a visible way.				context' it is easy to see that creating the
When net-centric operations are introduced, the				information from the shared data constitutes yet
potential for improvement and the options for				another layer of required technical solutions. These
achieving the improvement multiply considerably.				are often referred to as intelligent end-user
In the more restricted environment, end-users will				applications. Tools which end-users can call upon to
have been asking for more information and tools				perform tasks they need for successfully
to make using data easier. More often than not,				completing their missions. End-users may be pilots,
their wish went unfulfilled due to lack of data and				air traffic controllers, flight dispatchers, handling
or poor quality and the consequent poor				agents or any other person or system with a
performance of the tools that may have been				need for the shared information. In all cases, the
created. The shared environment under				end-user applications collect and collate the data
net-centric operations brings all the data anyone				needed to create the information required. This
may ever wish to have. The services are defined				then may be a synthetic display of the airport on
on the basis of the business needs and will also				an EFB, a trajectory on a what-if tool display or a
support the tools end-users need to properly				list of arrivals for the taxi company and so on.
interact with net-centric environment, integrating				End-user applications are scalable to fit, both in
into a coherent whole their individual decision				functionality and cost, the specific needs of the
making processes.				end-user for whom they are created. This
In a way a well implemented net-centric system				scalability enables the end-user applications to run
is transparent to the end-users. In particular, they				on different networked devices from simple PDAs
do not need to concern themselves with the				through airlines systems to on-board equipment.
location of data they require or the quality				It shall be noted that one of the most important
thereof. Information management, that is part of				characteristics of a net-centric environment that
the net-centric environment, takes care of finding				technical solutions must support is that the
the information needed and also its quality				requirements against equipment are driven by the
assurance.				services/functionality they must provide and NOT
End-user applications are the most visible part of				by their actual location in the network. As an
net-centric operations and they can be built to				example, the integrity of the data used to build a
satisfy end-user needs in respect of any process				trajectory and the quality of the application used
that needs to be handled.				to manipulate/interact with the trajectory will
In the ATM context, vastly improved controller				depend on the use that will be made of the
decision making tools, safety nets and trajectory				trajectory and not per se on whether the
calculation are only a few examples of the				application is running on the ground or in an
possible benefits.				aircraft.
The institutional implications of net-centric				This adaptability of the technical solutions to the
operations				actual needs (rather than location in the network)
International air navigation is by definition a highly				leads to important cost saving opportunities.
regulated environment and regulations provide				Net-centricity - the essence of the future
some of the most important pillars of both safety				The net-centric approach to system design is not
and interoperability. The net-centric and service				a silver bullet. It is just the environment that
oriented future ATM environment possesses a				enables properly managed information to be
number of aspects which by themselves provide				exploited to the full and provide the enterprise
powerful drivers for proper regulation. It is				with the agility it needs to constantly adapt to the
important to note that the institutional issues				changing world for the benefit of the customers
associated with net-centric operations are wider				and the enterprise itself.
than just CDM and hence early efforts to address				It is the end-user applications built to work in the
the CDM related aspects will benefit the whole of				net-centric environment that come closest to
the ATM enterprise. The items of particular				being the silver bullets...

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Net-Centric Air Traffic Management System Explained

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