Advanced Avionics Systems Research Articles

The Impacts of Advanced Avionics on Degraded Visual Environments

Degraded visual environments (DVE) such as brownout, sand storms, and night conditions are responsible for accidents and hence losses in the aviation industry. There is a need to develop avionic systems to support pilots when they encounter environmental conditions that compromise their visual capacity. This report discusses the effects of DVEs on aviation, expounds on the advanced avionic systems available and further elaborates how these systems are implemented in countering DVE conditions. The report recommends on how advanced avionics systems have been and are being implemented in aircrafts to support decisions made by pilots flying under degraded visual environments.

A Modeling Method of Agents and SOA in Advanced Avionics System Based on AADL

The modeling method of agents and service-oriented architecture (SOA) in avionics systems describes agents and SOA in avionics systems with models. To our knowledge, however, the current modeling methods cannot describe the behavior of agents and SOA accurately and do not fit well with the existing avionics system models. This paper addresses the above problems by presenting a modeling method based on architecture analysis and design language (AADL). In this method, the working states of agents are described by the mode components, with the working process being triggered by the input of agents; and the services are described by the process component. The application of the software system is described by the system components that contain several process components. Moreover, different modes of the system are used to describe different applications, and the transitions of application are triggered by specific application requests. Software architecture of an avionics system is modeled by the proposed method. This case demonstrates that the proposed method can accurately describe how agents and SOA work in a new way and fit well with the existing avionics system models.

Availability Assessment of IMA System Based on Model-Based Safety Analysis Using AltaRica 3.0

The integrated modular avionics (IMA) system is widely used in all classes of aircraft as a result of its high functional integration and resource utilization in developing advanced avionics systems. However, a series of challenges related to safety assessment exist in the background of the logical architecture for multi-message interactions of the IMA system. Traditional safety assessment methods are mainly based on engineering experience, and are difficult to reuse, incomplete, and even error-prone. Here we propose a method to assess the availability of the IMA system based on the thinking of model-based safety analysis. To aid the proposed method, we implement a tool to generate a AltaRica 3.0 file used to assess the IMA system model. The simulation results show that the proposed method makes the availability assessment fast, efficient, and effective. Moreover, we apply this method to the modification analysis of the IMA system under the condition of satisfying the safety requirement. Our study can enhance the safety assessment of safety-critical systems effectively, assist the design of IMA systems, and reduce the amount of errors during the programming process of the safety model.

Modeling and Simulation of FC-AE-ASM Network

Fibre Channel (FC) as a Universal Avionics Network (UAN) candidate solution for the advanced integrated avionics systems can enable high-bandwidth, low-latency, high-reliability and hard real-time communication on aircraft platforms spanning military and commercial applications. Fibre Channel Avionics Environment-Anonymous Subscriber Messaging protocol (FC-AE-ASM) is one of the five high level protocols in fiber channel avionic environment which is used to transport command, control, signal processing and sensor / video data of the aircraft[1,2].The objective of this paper is to conduct a modeling and simulation on the performance of the FC–AE-ASM network. Through modeling the message transmission of the FC-AE-ASM with accompanying Eclipse, some network performance parameters such as bandwidth, throughput and end-to-end message delay can be gained and analyzed.

Transitioning to Glass Cockpit Primary Training Fleets: Implications

In late July, 2004, Ohio University had the unique opportunity to become a front-runner in one of the most significant revolutions in Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) training by purchasing seven new Piper Warrior III aircraft equipped with Avidyne Entegra Integrated Flight Decks, a highly advanced avionics system. This technology combines computerized flight decks with multi-function displays, moving maps, and integrated flight instruments in basic trainers. Prior to integration of the new aircraft, initial questions arose addressing concerns about student pilot flight training conducted in Technically Advanced Aircraft, instructors whom have little experience teaching Technically Advanced Aircraft, integrating new aircraft platforms into FAR 141 Training Course Outline (TCO) requirements, and use of these aircraft while fulfilling Practical Test Standards (PTS) requirements.

A modular approach to digital networks for fourth-generation avionics

To support the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) baseline architecture, advanced avionic systems will need to be modular in nature and support open commercial standards. System issues affecting these modules are discussed and the performance of existing and planned demonstration hardware is described.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Refractive Error Distribution and Incidence among U.S. Army Aviators

Spectacle incompatibility has been a major problem in the fielding of advanced Army avionic and electro-optical systems. As a result, routine contact lens wear may be instituted as an option to spectacles. Refractive error data were extracted from the Aviation Epidemiological Data Registry, a computer-accessible repository of flight physical medical information on the entire Army aviation population. Refractive error distribution patterns in the class 1 and class 2 flight physical populations were analyzed in order to provide a contact lens supply reference database, estimate the annual incidence of refractive error development, and estimate costs of possible spectacle-wearer flight-duty deselection. Contact lens wear appears to be a more cost-effective alternative than deselection.

Optical interconnection and packaging technologies for advanced avionics systems

An optical backplane developed to demonstrate the advantages of high-performance optical interconnections and supporting technologies and designed to be compatible with standard avionics racks is described. The hardware demonstrates the three basic components of optical interconnects: optical sources, an optical signal distribution network, and optical receivers. Results from characterization and environmental tests, including a demonstration of the reliable transmission of serial data at a 1 Gb/s, are reported. >

Prevalence of Spectacle Wear among U.S. Army Aviators

The advanced avionic and electro-optical systems installed in Army rotary wing aircraft are becoming increasingly incompatible with spectacle wear. Therefore, the prevalence of spectacle wear among Army aviators is an important consideration in the development of future systems. A review of spectacle prevalence data from the Aviation Epidemiology Data Register (AEDR) for the years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 was performed. Data were consistent across all 4 years, with mean prevalence of spectacle wear being 22% for active component forces. Reserve and National Guard components displayed mean spectacle wear prevalences of 27% and 32%, respectively. These prevalence rates are higher than those previously obtained in 1985 by a similar, but slightly different paradigm. Spectacle-wearing aviators exist in greater numbers than previously documented and represent a segment of the aviation population that will have increasing compatibility problems with advanced flight systems. Therefore, system planners will need to address these incompatibilities in future hardware developments.

Contracts

Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH and Honeywell, Phoenix/Arizona, have reached an agreement, in which Honeywell will supply the advanced avionics systems for the Dornier 328.

A Digital Map Set for the Night Attack Aircraft

There has been much interest recently in applying cartographic digital data bases to advanced avionics systems as a solution to specific problems associated with night attack aircraft missions. The tremendous computer horsepower required to accomplish this task in real-time in an airborne environment is well documented. Hardware implementation of complex algorithms traditionally has produced custom devices which accomplish a specific function on a specific data structure. Historically, this has resulted in powerful but inflexible systems incapable of adapting to the changing requirements of military missions. In an age of evolving technology, these pitfalls must be avoided by incorporating expected changes into the design of digital map systems. If they are made to accommodate a variety of cartographic data bases and allow for programmable manipulation of those bases, this new class of digital map sets can be reconfigured at the software level to meet the changing requirements of aircraft missions. This paper addresses current design concepts for such a map system on a Night Attack aircraft. The focus is on issues concerning the development and handling of existing map data products to meet current system requirements. This system, called the Digital Map Set (DMS), is being designed to accomplish the classical manipulations of Defense Mapping Agency Digital Land Mass System data. Additionally, aeronautical charts, aerial reconnaissance photos, flight plan data, and other two-dimensional bit mapped graphics also are accommodated. Mission requirements relating to the cartographic data bases shall be discussed along with ground support station and airborne system design issues.

The Experimental Aircraft Programme software toolset

The Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) is a technology demonstrator project in advance of the next generation of fighter aircraft. An integrated software toolset has been established to support the development and production of software for the advanced avionic systems embedded in this aircraft. This paper presents the work undertaken and the experience gained in developing, using and supporting the EAP software toolset from project initiation to final delivery of the software for flight testing. Many of the issues pertaining to the future requirements of an integrated project support environment and the rigours imposed in delivering relliable and high-quality real-time software for embedded processors are discussed.

S-3A avionics - Software revolution forerunner

A review of the S-3A Project as the forerunner of software-inte grated avionics systems leads the author to conclude that the guideposts of technical change are signalling a revolutionary change in the system development process itself. Advanced avionics systems are viewed as software rather than hardware based, requiring a development process which takes advantage of the greatly in- creased flexibilities offered for designing to a fixed cost and schedule. Examples are cited from the successful S-3A program of software-fir st influences which have a highly beneficial impact on total system design and method of implementation. FOR two decades the avionics industry has witnessed the significant and steady-growing influence of digital com- puters and associated software in the design and develop- ment of advanced aerospace systems. Thus far, computer hardware (both analog and digital) for avionics applica- tions has established an excellent record in terms of per- formance, reliability, and over-all cost effectiveness. Av- ionics systems designers today, therefore, do not hesitate to draw liberally upon the cornucopia of digital computer hardware which now characterizes the electronics industry around the world. Curiously though, when the avionics re- quirement almost demands a centralized multiple proces- sor system whose resources are flexibly allocated in real time by a common executive program, red flags of deep concern are thrown up from nearly every quarter to steer the design in some other direction. Despite the obvious and closely associated progress in avionics software devel- opment, it remains the great inhibiting factor in integrat- ed avionics. Somehow, the U.S. Navy's S-3A Air Vehicle for ASW rose to challenge all the red Hags and to successfully inte- grate a complex array of electronics using a prodigious amount of central software. To those who, like the author, have seen a number of large-scale real-time software ef- forts begin in the same direction only to fall back after great expense to a simpler or distributed approach, the S-3A software development clearly represents a significant breakthrough. To the extent that the S-3A approach and basic archi- tecture are representative of where things are headed in integrated avionics, the author foresees a rapid and dras- tic change in the avionics development process for future systems. A simple projection of the growing influence of software on avionics development says that software will inevitably become pivotal for both the design and devel- opment of future systems. In observing what others are doing and saying along parallel lines, one finds an increasing number of responsi- ble people (and technical papers) in the field of avionics recognizing similar trends; however, it is not clear that a concensus exists as to what these trends mean. A paper by B. List1 of the Air Force Avionics Laborato- ry at Wright Field described these trends more broadly, yet succinctly, and with impressive insight. Emphasis is given here to the larger effects of what Mr. List referred to as the Software Revolution upon what must be an at- tendant revolution in our approach to avionics systems design and development.

MRCA avionics

TO MEET the demands of a wide range of air‐to‐ground and air‐to‐air and other roles called for under modern warfare conditions, the MRCA is fitted with an advanced and flexible avionics system to facilitate navigation and otherwise undertake missions in bad weather and, if necessary, in spite of damage to the aircraft and its equipment.

Automatic Built-in Test of Advanced Avionics Systems Part II: Design Technioues for Automatic Built-in-Test

Need and justification for automatic, in-flight, thorough built-in test capabilities in advanced avionics systems is discussed and the need for a systems design approach is stressed. The role of an airborne digital computer for sequencing, conducting and evaluating the built-in test and the great flexibility of this computer, its characteristics, program and interface are developed and applicable test methods and design techniques are illustrated by typical examples. Short comings of methods used to continuously monitor all functions in flight and alternate builtin test methods are covered; evaluation logic and time-sharing of tests are discussed.