DUBLIN, 13 Feb. 2013. Airtel ATN has completed Future Air Navigation System (FANS) testing of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) Shannon air traffic management (ATM) system.
Engineers used Airtel Ground Validation Software–Future Air Navigation System (GVS–FANS), which allows for valid and invalid Controller-Pilot Data-Link Communications (CPDLC) test scenarios, to validate the Thales COOPANS system.
GVS-FANS software enables the simulation of up to 1,000 aircraft connecting to the IAA via an emulated Mapping of Airline Traffic over Internet Protocol (MATIP) connection.
“The IAA is ranked by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as one of the safest ANSP’s in the world and handles 80 percent of all flights that cross the North Atlantic from the Shannon centre,” says Frank O’Connor, CEO, Airtel ATN. “It is Airtel ATN’s first FANS testing in Ireland and in fact one of the first test systems that supports both FANS and ATN in one piece of equipment.”
FANS, an air/ground data link system which provides text-based communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller, is used in Oceanic air space including North America while the ICAO ATN is used primarily in European air space. FANS-1/A is an ACARS-based service, using satellite communications on the Ocean and VHF over land. Some European ANSPs including IAA have decided to accommodate FANS-1/A due to the number of aircraft already equipped with this technology.
Airtel ATN is dedicated to the development of communications software for the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN), says a spokesperson.
Air traffic control image courtesy Shutterstock.
