Flight conflict management system (FCMS): the design of a low altitude general aviation free flight zone, air

Abstract

With the rapid growth of the business travel using general aviation (GA) aircraft, the number of the low occupancy vehicles in the U.S. national airspace may overwhelm the current air traffic control system. The goal is to design a new U.S. air traffic control sectorization system based upon wireless telecommunication system requirements. Using different types of telecommunication systems, we are able to reduce the workload of the air traffic controllers, by trying to achieve "free flight". Free flight is defined as a safe and efficient flight operating capability under instrument flight rules (IFR), which the operators have the freedom to select their path and speed in real time. We present the result of analysis and modelling on the different types of data link technologies that supports the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) implementation. These data links/medias include: Very High Frequency Data Link Mode 4 (VDL-4), 1090 MHz Extended Squitter built upon Mode Select (Mode S) and Universal Access Transceiver (UAT). These design alternatives are evaluated using the Future Aeronautical Subnetwork Traffic Emulator for Communication Navigation and Surveillance (FASTE CNS) model and through cost and decision analysis.