Title :
Alternative terminal navigation based on modified airport multilateration system
Author_Institution :
Saab Sensis Corp., Syracuse, NY, USA
Abstract :
In this paper, an alternative to Global Navigation System (GPS) based navigation in the terminal airspace is proposed to improve the resilience of our nation´s Next-Generation air transportation system (NextGen) against man-made and natural threats to the GPS. GPS is a critical element of the future aviation infrastructure and interruptions of GPS service are known to have measurable impacts on NextGen procedures in use today. We propose that, by modifying airports´ multilateration surveillance systems to broadcast new navigation signals, seamless operation during GPS outages is possible. In this new concept, synchronized MLAT transceivers broadcast pseudo-randomly staggered messages so that onboard avionics can estimate an aircraft´s position from the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) between messages received from multiple pairs of MLAT transceivers. Also, MLAT transceivers are modified to reply to TCAS interrogations or spontaneously respond to MODE-S Downlink messages allowing aircraft to measure the round-trip delay for range calculation. Using either multiple TDOAs, multiple ranges, or a combination of both from either a single airport or multiple airports, onboard avionics are able to calculate ownship position for navigation.
Keywords :
Global Positioning System; aircraft communication; aircraft navigation; airports; radio transceivers; surveillance; time-of-arrival estimation; GPS outages; GPS service interruptions; GPS-based navigation; MODE-S downlink messages; NextGen air transportation system; TCAS interrogations; TDOA estimation; aircraft navigation; aircraft position estimation; airport multilateration surveillance systems; alternative terminal navigation; future aviation infrastructure; global navigation system; man-made threats; modified airport multilateration system; natural threats; navigation signal broadcasting; next-generation air transportation system; pseudorandomly staggered message broadcasting; range calculation; round-trip delay measurement; seamless operation; synchronized MLAT transceivers; terminal airspace; time difference of arrival estimation; Aerospace electronics; Aircraft; Aircraft navigation; Airports; Global Positioning System; Synchronization; Transceivers;
Conference_Titel :
Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), 2012 IEEE/AIAA 31st
Conference_Location :
Williamsburg, VA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-1699-6
DOI :
10.1109/DASC.2012.6382362