Airfield Lamp Monitoring & Control Systems

It is hard to deny the fact that without electric power, many manmade systems are cumbersome. Airport airfield ground lighting (AGLS) is not an exception to it. Airport airfield ground lighting (AGLS) systems are in charge of emphasizing the runway, giving visual reference of speed and alignment to aircrafts in the final stages of approaching, landing, and taxiing operations [3]. In an AGLS system, a large number of lamps are organized in serial circuits and connected to constant current regulators (CCR) that supply energy to the lamps. Controlling and monitoring these lamps (including detection and location of burnt-out lamps) are needed for cost-saving maintenance and operation of AGL systems. For this controlling and monitoring action power line communication (PLC) turns out to be an optimum solution. By using PLC a communicating link can be established between lamps and CCR´s. PLC technologies uses the existing power distribution cable and thus avoid the installation of new wires throughout the airport infrastructure and thus turns out to be an cost effective solution . In this paper an attempt has been made to present the potentials and promises of plc in enhancing the existing airfield ground lightning system (AGLS) to make it more efficient and hence intelligent.