2019 EUROCAE Symposium Highlights

The 2019 edition of the EUROCAE Symposium ended on 26 April 2019 on a positive note regarding the future of aviation and the role EUROCAE should play to support it.

Building on the conclusions from the 2018 High Level Meeting, namely that we should expect capacity growth in the coming years yet not compromise safety, EUROCAE has carried some of the solutions highlighted last year into its Technical Work Programme to tackle the appropriate technical solutions.

The value of the activity performed by EUROCAE was once again recognised by major industry players and the European Commission, who have highlighted the need to maintain a strong, efficient and effective organisation in Europe to drive forward industry standards.

RPAS – a real game changer

RPAS was stressed again as a key game changer in the coming years, with some of the main challenges being to identify technical gaps, perform required R&D activities and set up the regulatory framework.

Urban mobility – a fast-growing segment

Rapid urbanisation, demographics and social trends show significant business opportunities, whether for commercial aviation or urban air mobility. At the same time, technological breakthroughs provide an opportunity for more autonomy. The radio spectrum constraints pose serious limitations for aviation, an aspect that is being addressed by ICAO.

Another significant challenge discussed was the social acceptance of having many drones in the skies at the same time in a city.

Automation and digitalisation

Integration of securely connected solutions into a comprehensive aviation eco-system will deliver value to the industry, from reduced fuel burn to reduced congestion, to name just two benefits. For this to happen, our industry requires harmonised regulations and standardisation. Likewise, updating the industry standards to address digital issues should be pursued. As machines become more intelligent and more connected than ever, the need for air and ground automation and integration will increase.

 Safety and regulatory aspects to support benefits

At the same time, there are several obstacles to overcome. As aviation industry is innovating at high pace, this poses challenge for the regulators to keep up and cope with innovative solutions. Regulators also need to evolve and learn to enable the innovation to be implemented. On the regulatory side, EASA has a full toolbox to enable developments to happen.

Impact on ATM – old technologies must be changed

Regarding ATM, there are several possibilities of further digital transformation of the tower, beyond what is currently deployed.

Innovative ATM solutions must address the needs of today’s ATM and cope with its challenges: safety must not be compromised, while capacity, technological/economic efficiency and flight efficiency must increase to cope with the rising number of flights.

While we are at a crossroad – we have to use technology – it emerged that we can’t just put the human out of loop; at least not in the near future.

Airport developments

The symposium addressed also the question how to unleash the potential of enhanced access to airports and terminal airspace, and the environmental issues and the complexity of terminal airspace situation.

A-CDM was a key element highlighted by the speakers – which would entail a cultural change. For this, collaboration must be enhanced and based on trust. In the future, the system will be driven by data exchange, data analytics, used in both strategic and tactical applications.

Avionics developments

The performance of global aviation systems depends on the capacity of all actors to perform together, cohesively. For a large part, this will require innovative avionic architectures allowing different update and certification cycles. Considering certification, the paradigm is whether to incentivise or to mandate. Whichever the approach, adapting the certification process to facilitate dynamic evolution while maintaining and improving safety remains essential.

CNS

The use of satellite-based technics was once again highlighted as a valid solution to many CNS functions. In particular the global coverage of satellite based ADS-B was mentioned as a solution for an increase in capacity and safety across those areas not covered by ground based surveillance systems. The issue of common mode failure must be anticipated. Likewise, global tracking of aircraft and the use of specific distress signals are promising solutions for accident investigation and – subsequently – prevention.

Key take-aways

The elements that will be further addressed by the EUROCAE Secretariat, EUROCAE Technical Advisory Committee and Council in an effort to deliver further value to the EUROCAE members, and to revisit the Technical Work Programme in the coming months include:

• Underlying that the cyber security elements are essential to sustainable development of aviation solutions, RPAS/new vehicles included.
• Tackle the presence of significant number of drones in the skies as when addressing the operational scenarios in an urban environment.
• There is a need for consistent automation/digitalisation of ATM, consistent over time and between stakeholders, especially as automated operations of UAS are on the rise and need to be accommodated.
• Recognising that digitalisation and automation are key for the future developments in aviation, we must acknowledge the challenges posed by automation and human-machine interface developments when it comes to deploying new technologies.
• To better prepare for the future, data is key: we have to connect systems together, and this applies also to airports. Thus, the governance of data is very important, as data should be made available safely, securely and in the required high quality. Data should be better used towards a predictive approach, and trusting the data is essential.
• From a safety/regulatory framework perspective, what is required is to exchange knowledge, understand objectives and priorities from industry, in order to allocate resources to the right areas.
• Satellite services should not be seen as the one-size-fits-all solution; legacy technologies will still play a role in future, at least as fall-back solutions in case of space related problems. Implementation of new technologies should be done in such a way so the flight-deck would not notice an operational difference between the use of ground or satellite services.

FAA VoIP Interoperability Event proves the high quality of EUROCAE ED-137C 

EUROCAE Working Group 67 has developed ED-137, the “Interoperability Standards for VoIP ATM Components”. Revision C was approved by the Council in April 2017 (for the Radio Volume) and in April 2019 (for the remaining Volumes).

ED-137C consists of four Volumes:

• Volume 1: Radio
• Volume 2: Telephone
• Volume 4: Recording
• Volume 5: Supervision

Each of these Volumes describes minimum requirements to ensure interoperability between various systems applying the Voice over IP (VoIP) technology.

In order to validate the systems of various manufacturers built against Revision C of the Standard, the FAA has organised the “Voice over IP Interoperability Event” at Atlantic City between 29 April and 10 May 2019.

For the event 14 vendors provided in total 20 systems that were interlinked via LAN in all possible combinations. The systems were comprised of:

• 4 Radio Systems
• 5 Voice Communication Systems
• 1 Gateway
• 10 Recorder Systems

The FAA provided the network support as well as a number of tools for monitoring of the communication and the configuration of parameter sets. In addition, these systems were able to emulate all types of components so that they could be used to enhance the tests and their results.

Over the two weeks a total of 97 test sessions were executing with an overall number of 1365 test scenarios. In total 1088 test scenarios were completed (the remaining scenarios could not be executed because of time constraints or were related to functionality that was not implemented in the respective systems).

1083 test scenarios were successful with only 5 failing. This results in a 99,5% rate of interoperability – a truly impressive result. A more detailed listing of the various test results will follow in the next NEWSblog.

During the tests a number of observations were recorded that – after proper editing – will be made available to EUROCAE to discuss within WG-67 how to deal with them.

For additional information on the topic, please contact Alexander Engel at alexander.engel@eurocae.net.

EUROCAE new WG-111 takes off

15-16 May, Saint Denis, France

The W-111 on Airport Collaborative Decision Making had its kick-off meeting at EUROCAE premises in Saint-Denis. 16 experts representing 14 organisations (regulators, airports, manufacturers) joined their efforts to share the best practices of A-CDM implementation and expressed their will to contribute to the update of the existing standardisation framework (ED-141, ED-145 and ED-146) and adjust it by reflecting the latest developments in the domain.

The participants emphasised the  
importance of this activity in the light of ensuring a proper information exchange for each phase of aircraft operation such that other users can access the shared information and plan appropriately.

At this first meeting the participants discussed about the way to structure

the future work and exchanged their first views on the way the A-CDM topic should be addressed within the framework of the WG-111.

It is tasked to develop:

• ED-141A Minimum Technical Specifications for A-CDM Systems
• ED-145A A-CDM Interface Specification, to include SWIM interface description
• ED-146A Guidelines for Test and Validation Related to A-CDM Interoperability
• A-CDM SWIM Service Performance Specification.

For additional information and to participate in the activity of the WG, please contact Sergiu Marzac at sergiu.marzac@eurocae.net.

EUROCAE is listening to you!  

In order to better serve the needs of the aviation industry and extend its training portfolio EUROCAE is keen to know if you are interested in an ED-80 "Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware" training course.
Take this opportunity to shape our training programme! 

It takes two clicks to complete the on-line survey.
Thank you for sharing your view! 

Aviation Software Standards

With airborne and ground-based aviation systems increasingly interconnected, the landscape for critical systems software is changing.

Whether you are an ANSP specifying or accepting a system, the person responsible for system maintenance, or a supplier at the cutting edge of software product development, you will need to understand the standards options available to you, how to apply them, and the impact on costs.  

Join our next training session of Aviation Software Standards, based on your availability, and experience a practical and interactive approach to the subject matter, drawing on the trainers’ extensive experience in both aviation safety and critical systems software development. 

The course outline is available here.

The next sessions are planned as follows:  

For any additional information please contact Adrian Cioranu at adrian.cioranu@eurocae.net. 

Aviation Cybersecurity Training 

Benefits of attending

• Participants will gain access to the tools and understanding to use available standards to manage cyber risk in an aviation context in a standards-led way.
• ED-201 brought to life with classroom scenarios and exercises.
• Learn best practice on auditing and certification.
• Instructor a leading authority on aviation cybersecurity and a certified lead auditor for ISO27001.
• Sharing experiences with colleagues from other aviation stakeholders/countries.
• Extensive course handouts including ED-201, ED-202, ED-203A, ED-204.
• Ideal learning environment at EUROCAE HQ in Saint-Denis (Paris area, France).
• Certificate on completion of the course.

The next sessions are planned as follows:  

The course outline is available here.

For any additional information please contact Adrian Cioranu at adrian.cioranu@eurocae.net. 

EUROCAE documents

The following EUROCAE documents were recently published:

ED-205 "Process Standard for Security Certification and Declaration of ATM ANS Ground Systems";

ED-130A Ch 1 "Guidance for the Use of Portable Electronics Devices (PEDs) On Board Aircraft - Change 1";

ED-242A "MASPS for AMS(R)S Data and Voice Communications Supporting Required Communications Performance (RCP) and Required Surveillance Performance (RSP)";

ED-243A "MOPS for Avionics Supporting Next Generation Satellite Systems (NGSS)";

ED-194A Ch. 1 "MOPS for Aircraft Surveillance Applications (ASA) System";

ED-137C  "Interoperability Standard for VOIP ATM Components", Volume 5 "Supervision", Volume 4
"Recording" and Volume 2 "Telephone", including 8 Addenda. 

All EUROCAE publications are accessible by clicking the button:

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