Communication between air and ground is still often done using RT contact. RT has
been used for decades in aviation and has proven to be a reliable means of
communication. However, with the ever increase of traffic, the limits of RT
communication will be encountered within the foreseeable future. Frequency
congestion at busy airports/airspace, miscommunication or bad quality of
transferred messages are known problem areas. Datalink is the apparent
technology to complement and potentially replace RT in the future, answering to
these known problems with RT.
The study that has been done has performed a step towards the implementation of
Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) capabilities at LVNL, in
particular for Area Control. The focus has been on (a) development of a first
message set, (b) design and evaluation of the Human Machine Interface for the
ACC controllers, and (c) technical assessment of the readiness of and potential
changes to the iCAS system as it will initially be in operation at LVNL.
The development and evaluation of a prototype for the integration of the use of a
selected CPDLC uplink message set has established the feasibility and controller
acceptability, based on a limited number of participating controllers. Necessary
software changes (to be implemented by the system supplier) and configuration
changes (to be implemented by LVNL) have been identified.