NextGen and SESAR moving towards ontology-based software development

Abstract

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and EUROCONTROL's Single European Sky ATM Research Program (SESAR) are transforming the global Air Traffic Management (ATM) as we know it today and will break up with existing roles predicated by 50 year old technology. Similar to SESAR, NextGen right now runs the risk to specify ATM systems based on architectures already out-of-date. While current functionality is based on historical grown technical restrictions, a performance-based and most efficient approach requires new paradigms and eventually has to lead to a balanced approach to prevent over-optimizing one area at the expense of others. The new approach should be based on semantically enriched service models allowing easier development and modular applications for multiple domains. This paper describes an ontology based multi-domain software development approach called Ontology-Based-Control-Room-Framework (ONTOCOR) featuring high software code re-usage and rapid development. It focuses on improving efficiency and increasing the code reusability in order to achieve SESAR's and NextGen's claim for a performance-based and cost-efficient system. The main goal is using semantic technologies to enhance software development in ATM and further, to define tasks with enough similarity to allow applicability in different domains. ONTOCOR uses semantic standards and tools, and seamless information interchange. As described in the European Air Traffic Management Master Plan, “The Information Management Work Package (...) defines the ATM Information Reference Model and the Information Service model (...) by establishing a framework, which defines seamless information interchange between all providers and users of shared ATM information”. A specific example to implement inter domain, is the European ATM Information Reference Model (AIRM). In general, domain independent implementation of components is a future goal and EUROCONTROL defines AIRM as a model, which contains all of the ATM information to be shared in a semantic way. The paper will discuss a first case study for ontology-based modeling and development, a service for digital notices to airmen (NOTAM). Fast information distribution and retrieval are key elements together with service modeling and definitions according to Enterprise Architecture (EA) and SOA principles. Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) using ontologies, provides the benefit of fast ramp up of on-the-spot services, reduced development efforts and additional defined data as source for collaborative decision making within the System-Wide Information Management (SWIM). Such services deployed in NextGen and SESAR will optimize operations workflow, communication needs, and information sharing.