The ADS-B / TCAS / ATCRBS/Mode S
Transponders
Home Page.
About this site:
Welcome to the ADS-B / TCAS / ATCRBS/Mode S
Home Page. This
site is provided by the personnel of the Research and Technology Division at the Federal Aviation Administration's William J. Hughes Technical
Center. The Airborne Technology and
Technical Integration Groups support
four FAA project
areas: ADS-B, SF-21, TCAS and the ATCRBS/Mode S transponders.
For those that don’t already know, here is
a brief description of each of these project areas:
·
ADS-B
- Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast.
ADS-B is a surveillance concept whereby a
vehicle (airborne or ground) broadcasts its position, at regular time intervals,
for receipt by some application. ADS-B
is an enabling technology for many new applications. These applications are being developed to improve airborne
and airport safety and capacity. The
main benefit of this technology is that it provides an accurate, low cost way to
gather position information. Much of the work being done on ADS-B
standards and performance specifications is being done within Special Committee
186 of RTCA, Inc. Many of the working groups within SC-186 are supported
directly with web pages within this web site. (For more details about
ADS-B and brief descriptions of all of
the SC-186 working groups, jump to the ADS-B main
page.)
·
SF-21 – Safe Flight 21.
SF-21 is an FAA / industry co-sponsored program to introduce
new technology and procedures into the airspace to increase safety
and capacity. The program
is specifically supporting several applications using ADS-B technology,
but also includes weather and terrain information for general aviation
pilots. Please follow
the link to the learn more about the
FAA's SF-21 Program.
·
TCAS
- Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System.
TCAS is an airborne collision avoidance
system developed by the FAA in the 1980’s.
ACAS, an international standard, is the same as the latest TCAS II, which
is called Version 7.
(The Version 7 requirements were completed in 1997 and published in RTCA
document DO-185A.) ACAS has been mandated, based on varying criterion, throughout much of
the world. While there is no current development efforts for future
versions of TCAS, there is ongoing analysis work of TCAS performance using
recorded and simulated data.
·
ATCRBS/Mode S
Transponders
-
RTCA has established Special Committee 209
for the purpose of addressing the revisions to DO-181C -
Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Air Traffic Control Radar
Beacon System / Mode Select (ATCRBS/Mode S) Airborne Equipment
issued in June 2001, and to DO-144 -
Minimum Operational Characteristics for Airborne ATC Transponder Systems
issued in March 1970.
This site supports the current industry/government cooperative efforts
(through RTCA Incorporated) in developing standards for ADS-B and associated
avionics and applications, revisions to
ATCRBS/Mode S transponder MOPS documents, as well as the FAA Technical Center's
continuing TCAS analysis work.
Jump to the ADS-B
or TCAS
or ATCRBS/Mode S
pages for information on these systems and efforts, as well as specific
information about working groups and sub-groups.
For information on upcoming RTCA meetings
and locations, jump to the
RTCA calendar, or to the SC-186 working group pages found within this site.
Jump to Links
for other TCAS, ADS-B and SF-21 related sites.
About us:
In the beginning, the ADS-B / TCAS group consisted of about fourteen engineers and computer scientists. The group was originally formed
to work on the development, testing, validation, and evaluation of TCAS I and
TCAS II systems. This work culminated in the completion of the Minimum
Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for TCAS II published in RTCA, Inc.
document DO-185A, in December 1997. DO-185A specifications are commonly referred to as
"Change 7" in the United States and "ACAS" in the rest of the
world. While development activities were completed with these
specifications, FAA Technical Center personnel continued to analyze the system's
performance by processing recorded and simulated data.
With TCAS development work completed,
many of those who worked on TCAS standards development focused their
efforts towards ADS-B and other SF-21 initiatives. The Airborne Technology
Group and the Technology Integration Group provides support for the design
and implementation of ADS-B based systems and applications through participation
in RTCA Special Committees and through direct support of the SF-21 and ADS-B Program
Office activities. This is a natural
progression from TCAS, since many planned uses of ADS-B are similar to those
implemented or planned as enhancements to TCAS.
Airborne Technology Group and Technology
Integration Group personnel have
also participated in the development and publishing of the ADS-B MASPS, DO-242A, as
well as the MOPS and International SARPs documents for both the 1090 MHz Extended Squitter and UAT
ADS-B data links.
With the creation of SC-209 by RTCA, Technoligy Integration Group personnel have begun to participate
with the revisions of DO-181C and DO-144, as well as providing input to the
upgrades of Technical Standards Orders (TSO) that are associated with these
documents.
Check out our personnel
page for the names, addresses, and responsibilities of the folks on our
team.
Want more information about the Federal
Aviation Administration or the William
J. Hughes Technical Center?
