Insertion of controller-pilot data link communications into the national airspace system: is it more efficient?

Abstract

This paper proposes an application of the Total Airspace & Airport Modeller (TAAM) tool to determining the impact of new communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) ground-based and avionics technology on the efficiency of the national airspace system (NAS). TAAM presents an opportunity to attack this problem by simulating aircraft movements using rules that mimic actual operations. The rules can be tailored to represent local procedures, restrictions, and conflict resolution strategies, a realistic picture of aircraft. This paper describes novel methods for manipulating TAAM output to produce a measure of the voice channel occupancy (VCO) in a sector. This method can be applied for current conditions, where all communications use the voice channel, and for the future case in which controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) is used to issue controller/pilot instructions. TAAM could then be used to examine the benefits of CPDLC in terms of relieving restrictions or reducing vectoring and holding. Overall system benefits such as reduction in delays or distance traveled could be estimated from the TAAM results.