Evolutionary air traffic control compatible flight management systems

Abstract

An advanced air traffic management (ATC) system employing compatible flight management systems (FMS) is described. The Center TRACON Automation System (CTAS) which is currently under development and evaluation by the FAA, NASA Ames, and NASA Langley is used as the baseline ATC approach. The use of increasing degrees of automation in the aircraft flight management system and the issue of air traffic control compatibility is addressed. An ATC-compatible FMS is one that generates paths that match those generated on the ground despite: (1) differences in A/C models, atmospheric and wind models, (2) limitation on the amount of information that can be transferred, and (3) limitations of the A/C flight path control system. First, near-term FMS not using digital data links are examined. Both descent automation and cruise automation approaches are examined. Then, a number of long-term general approaches using digital data link are proposed. In the first stage of deployment, the ATC system will handle aircraft with a mixture of FMS ranging from unequipped to a full FMS. In future years all or most of the aircraft would transition to a fully automated FMS.