Ensuring interoperability between the Surveillance Broadcast Services System and ADS-B avionics

Application layer interoperability between the surveillance broadcast services system (SBSS) and automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B) avionics is a critical requirement for the next generation air transportation system (NextGen). Demonstrating compatibility between the SBSS and avionics requires the integration of diverse avionics tools, simulated environments tools, RF transmitter test sets, signal analyzers, SBSS equipment, and other receiving systems. ITT has developed a testbed that enables not only validation of the SBSS requirements and RTCA standards, but also provides a window into the user´s perspective for various applications. The RF transmitter test set is particularly valuable for generating simulated aircraft flight patterns because it can produce 1090, UAT, and 1030 messages with dynamically programmable content. These ADS-B, Mode S, and ATCRBS messages stimulate SBSS behavior, resulting in transmissions that affect the information and system states held by avionics and air traffic control. A series of simulations with the SBSS and avionics in the loop are conducted and subsequently analyzed.