https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110012020 2018-11-18T13:21:47+00:00Z NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 SAA3–978–1 C-Band Airport Surface Communications System Standards Development Phase II Final Report Volume 2: Test Bed Performance Evaluation and Final AeroMACS Recommendations Edward Hall and James Magner ITT Corporation Electronic Systems, Fort Wayne, Indiana April 2011 NASA STI Program . . . in Profi le Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected advancement of aeronautics and space science. The papers from scientifi c and technical NASA Scientifi c and Technical Information (STI) conferences, symposia, seminars, or other program plays a key part in helping NASA maintain meetings sponsored or cosponsored by NASA. this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientifi c, The NASA STI Program operates under the auspices technical, or historical information from of the Agency Chief Information Offi cer. 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Does not contain • Write to: extensive analysis. NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) 7115 Standard Drive • CONTRACTOR REPORT. Scientifi c and Hanover, MD 21076–1320 technical fi ndings by NASA-sponsored contractors and grantees. NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 SAA3–978–1 C-Band Airport Surface Communications System Standards Development Phase II Final Report Volume 2: Test Bed Performance Evaluation and Final AeroMACS Recommendations Edward Hall and James Magner ITT Corporation Electronic Systems, Fort Wayne, Indiana Prepared under NNC05CA85C National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 April 2011 Trade names and trademarks are used in this report for identifi cation only. Their usage does not constitute an offi cial endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Level of Review: This material has been technically reviewed by expert reviewer(s). Available from NASA Center for Aerospace Information National Technical Information Service 7115 Standard Drive 5301 Shawnee Road Hanover, MD 21076–1320 Alexandria, VA 22312 Available electronically at http://www.sti.nasa.gov Preface This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Contractor Report summarizes and documents the work performed to develop system standards for the proposed C-band (5091- to 5150-MHz1) airport surface communications system. The report consists of two volumes. Volume I is devoted to Concepts of Use, Initial System Requirements, and Architecture and includes AeroMACS Design Considerations. Volume II describes Test Bed Evaluation and presents Final AeroMACS Recommendations. This work was completed under the NASA Aerospace Communication Systems Technical Support (ACSTS) contract, based on direction provided by the Federal Aviation Administration project-level agreement (PLA FY09_G1M.02-02v1) for “New ATM Requirements—Future Communications” as a follow-on to the FAA/EUROCONTROL (European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) Cooperative Research Agreement (Action Plan 17 (AP−17)), commonly referred to as the Future Communications Study. 1With a possible future extension into the 5000- to 5030-MHz band, pending a decision at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2012. NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 iii Executive Summary ES.1 Introduction This report is being provided as part of the NASA Glenn Research Center Aerospace Communication Systems Technical Support (ACSTS) Contract (NNC05CA85C), Task 7: “New ATM Requirements— Future Communications, C-Band and L-Band Communications Standard Development.” Task 7 is separated into two distinct subtasks—each aligned with specific work elements and deliverable items identified in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) project-level agreement (PLA) and with the FAA fiscal years 2009 and 2010 New ATM Requirements—Future Communications Project and spending plan for these subtasks. The purposes of subtask 7−1 and the subjects of this report are the definitions of the concepts of use (ConUse), high-level system requirements, and architecture; the performance of supporting system analyses; the development of test and demonstration plans; and the establishment of operational capability in support of C-band aeronautical data communications standards to be advanced in both international (International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO) and national RTCA, Inc. (RTCA) forums. The future C-band (5091 to 5150 MHz1) airport surface communication system is referred to as the Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS). Assumptions and constraints for this report follow: • The 5091- to 5150-MHz spectrum allocation for AeroMACS use at the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC−2007) is provisioned only for use on the airport surface. This allocation is within the aeronautical mobile (route) service (AM(R)S) band. Therefore, AeroMACS applications are constrained to mobile applications on the airport surface. This is interpreted to include communications for nonmobile (i.e., fixed) applications provisioned within a mobile AeroMACS network that supports the safety and regularity of flight. • The proposed AeroMACS is assumed to provide an increase in overall air-to-ground (A/G) communications systems capacity by utilizing the new spectrum (i.e., in addition to existing very high frequency (VHF) spectrum). • The scope of this ConUse and requirements report includes airport surface A/G communications and ground-to-ground (G/G) communications. • AeroMACS will be designed specifically for data communication. Voice communication may be provided as a digital data communications service (e.g., voice over internet protocol (VoIP)). • This report assumes that the data communications system developed as part of the FAA Data Communications Program (Data Comm) will precede an A/G AeroMACS implementation and deployment. • Although some critical services could be supported, AeroMACS networks will also target noncritical services, such as weather advisory and aeronautical information services implemented as part of an airborne access to System Wide Information Management (SWIM) program. • AeroMACS is to be designed and implemented in a manner that will not disrupt other existing services operating in the C-band. Additional interference research and testing will determine if any operational constraints are to be imposed, such as limiting the number of users, the time of the day, the duration, and so on. Volume I of this report is devoted to the concepts of use, system requirements, and architecture, and the second volume addresses the test bed architecture and performance evaluation and presents final AeroMACS recommendations from the tests. The decision to base airport surface communications on WiMAX was based on the IEEE 802.16e– 2005 mobility amendment to the IEEE 802.16 standard. The IEEE 802.16e–2005 amendment and additional new amendments have since been incorporated into the IEEE 802.16 standard to form the more inclusive IEEE 802.16–2009 standard that remains backward-compatible with the mobility amendment. NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 v References to the standard will be stated as IEEE 802.16–2009 in this report unless the discussion is specifically in reference to IEEE 802.16e for historical or format reasons. ES.2 Introduction to Volume II Volume II describes modifications to the NASA Glenn/Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (NASA–CLE) Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) Test Bed to add Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) 802.16–2009 (Ref. 1) capability. Test and evaluation results from simulation, emulation, and test bed measurements are presented. It also provides initial data to be input to the aeronautical mobile-specific IEEE–2009 design specifications. Developing an AeroMACS solution based on the IEEE 802.16–2009 standard requires detailed analysis, simulation, and test measurements on actual airport surfaces. An AeroMACS test bed aids in validating requirements and acts as a prototype deployment. Such a CNS test bed has been installed and is operational at NASA Glenn and the adjacent CLE Airport in Cleveland, Ohio. This so-called NASA−CLE CNS Test Bed, originally developed by the Sensis Corporation via a cooperative agreement with Glenn, has been modified by ITT to implement many of the AeroMACS features and requirements that support modern data communications at an operational airport to help verify the performance of AeroMACS and validate some of the ConUse. Figure ES–1 shows the placement of the AeroMACS network on NASA Glenn property and the adjacent CLE airport surface. Figure ES–1.—AeroMACS prototype network base station, backhaul, and core server locations. Acronyms are defined in Appendix A. NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 vi The AeroMACS prototype network uses two base stations (BSs): one on Glenn property (Building 4) and another on airport property on top of the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) building. The BS on Glenn property includes two base transceiver station (BTS) sectors, and the BS on CLE property contains three BTS sectors. These BSs are linked to core servers located in Glenn Building 110 by microwave data backhaul radios operating outside of the AM(R)S spectrum. Fixed-location subscriber stations (SSs) are located at two positions on Glenn property (Buildings 4 and 500) and six positions on airport property. Tests are planned that will include mobility with vehicle- and aircraft-mounted SSs. Expected AeroMACS link performance for fixed-position SSs was analyzed using the Cellular Expert analysis program developed by HNIT−BALTIC.2 Results are shown in Figure ES–2 on the basis of highest achievable modulation rate across the airport surface. Except for where links are physically shadowed by obstructions, the analysis predicts that the highest data throughput modulation rate supported by the IEEE 802.16–2009 standard will be achieved across a significant majority of the airport surface. The boresight orientation of the BTS sectors at each BS is indicated by the white arrows in Figure ES–2. Figure ES–2.—Received signal strength indication (RSSI) plot for 17-dBi directional subscriber station mounted at 12 ft. Acronyms are defined in Appendix A. 2http://www.hnit-baltic.lt/. NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 vii Evaluation of the IEEE–802.16–2009-based AeroMACS prototype network can be grouped into two sets of tests: (1) Baseline performance tests within the Phase I project scope (2) A set of tests designed to support development of an aviation profile and to evaluate the support of FAA applications ES.3 Network Evaluation Two sets of AeroMACS network tests were completed using the NASA–CLE CNS Test Bed. The first set, completed in early 2010 in Task 7-1 Phase I, collected baseline network performance soon after the AeroMACS prototype network was added to the test bed. Eleven network tests were defined to establish the basic operating capability of the IEEE–802.16–2009-based capability that was added to the NASA–CLE CNS Test Bed. The tests establish operating capability in the following areas of network operation: • Security with authentication and encryption • Data throughput and channelization • Quality of service (QoS) data prioritization • Mobility at motor vehicle speeds • Reliability during extended operation The operational integrity of the AeroMACS test bed was verified using the 11 baseline tests defined in Section 3.1 according to hardware capability. The tests that involve mobility (test cases 9 and 10) were not completed because the hardware available during Phase I could not support mobility handover operation. Results from the remaining tests provided a deeper understanding of AeroMACS capability and were used to guide development of the Phase II test plan. Initial network performance data were collected to assess the data throughput capacity of links between the SS at NASA Glenn Building 500 and the two BTS sectors located at NASA Glenn Building 4. Test data streams were generated by Ixia Chariot3 software hosted on the single-board computers (SBCs) at each end of the link. The results shown in Table ES–1 are for the downlink (DL: BS to SS) and the uplink (UL: SS to BS) directions. The measured throughput exceeded the manufacturer’s estimated rates in all cases. The second set of test plans and results are for work completed under Phase II of contract Task 7-1. The Phase II tests are designed to refine AeroMACS network profile requirements and to demonstrate AeroMACS utility in handling applications. TABLE ES–1.—AEROMACS NASA–CLE TEST BED LINK TEST RESULTS [Acronyms are defined in Appendix A.] BTS sector Measured DL Expected DL Measured UL Expected UL throughput, throughput, throughput, throughput, Mbps Mbps Mbps Mbps BTS1_1 6.82 6.5 5.4 4.0 BTS1_2 6.54 6.5 4.19 4.0 3http://www.ixiacom.com. NASA/CR—2011-216997/VOL2 viii