Digital data/voice radios for aircraft

[Self Loading Freight]

You probably all know this already, but the FAA is looking at a pure digital system, Nexcom, for the future of aviation radio. I found these couple of articles interesting, as they describe something of the system and the FAA's thinking.

""The demand for new air traffic control frequency assignments is expected to grow about 3 percent per year for more than 20 years, said Marc Narkus-Kramer, a team leader from the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, a federally funded research and development corporation that is operated by The Mitre Corp.

The FAA issued a solicitation last week for the Nexcom radio, which will use VHF Digital Link Mode 3. VDL-3 will provide multiple channels to operate on one 25 KHz frequency assignment and will accommodate both voice and data. It will also have the flexibility to determine how the channel resources are applied for voice and data. An award for the radio is expected in July 2001.

FAA hopes to select a final Nexcom system developer by March 2005."
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/1002/web-nexcom-10-06-00.asp


---and---

"The FAA would like to introduce by 2009 an all-digital VHF system, called Nexcom, which would quadruple the available channels, and handle both voice and data communications. Nexcom and its associated VHF Digital Link-3 (VDL-3), both of which are now under development, are regarded by many as being costly and having technical risk.


At RTCA’s Symposium in Tysons Corner, Va., last month, Mark Narkus-Kramer of the Mitre Corp. reviewed the FAA/industry debate on this issue. Industry representatives had urged other alternatives, one of which was the adoption of Eurocontrol’s mandated use of 8.33-kHz channel spacing, which effectively tripled availability. It was also proposed that this could be coupled with the currently approved VDL-2 system, which, while being a less capable datalink medium than VDL-3, had also been adopted by Eurocontrol.


VDL-2 equipment will be used by American Airlines in trials in Miami and Europe next year, an United Airlines is planning to install the system in its Airbus A319/320 fleet."
http://www.ainonline.com/oct_2000_nexcom.html

R

[HugMonster]

It can't happen too soon. Aircraft radios have been in the Stone Age for far too long.

This will permit multiple channels on each frequency, stop "stamping" on another aircraft's messages, clear up the reception quality, and encode to stop the increasing problem of malicious fake broadcasts.

The only problem is that my old King KX99 will be obsolete, so I won't be able to get the ATIS before getting out of bed!

I remember an old cartoon I saw of an aircraft in flight. Two speech bubbles emerging, one from the front, one from that back. Up front, a pilot is saying "Hello, Karachi - hello Karachi, how do you read me? Hello Karachi? SHUT UP, DELHI. Hello Karachi?". Meanwhile down the back, on the satphone, a hostie is saying "Hello Mum? It's Tracey - how are you? Yeah... got it yesterday. How's Dad's Lumbago? Oh dear..."!

[RATBOY]

There was also an article on the front page of yesterday's Washington Post newspaper on the frequency conjestion problem in the U.S. domestic ATC system. It was really a well done story for a general interest publication.


Looks like MITRE's PR machine is is running full blast on the NEXCOM thing... next thing you know they will have invented the Internet or something.

American domestic aviation communications uses VHF AM at 25KHz for voice com. The only data link I know of is ACARS, a proprietary system from ARINC. Proposals are out there to change to the 8.33MHz channel spacing used in Europe because they ran out of spectrum a while ago and 8.33 won't be enough to do the job for long. The Americans have to make a decision now whether to just go to 8.33MHz spacing and make most everybody buy new radios or go to NEXCOM and make everybody buy new radios. But since it is not safety directly per se I don't think anybody can be compelled to buy the new radios necessary, so FAA will have to maintain some capability.

What do users (pilots) think of having to use data link and new radios, new frequencies and all the dislocation that will have along with it? Is this the time to take advantage of the situation and do away with a lot of the ATC practices that have evolved over the last 50 years and go to something more efficient than highways in the sky?