European air navigation organisation Eurocontrol conducted the first ground-to-air communications via the aeronautical telecommunication network (ATN) with an aircraft in revenue service last month. The use of controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) via the ATN is a key communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) initiative. It is being developed by Europe and the USA to improve the ATN system efficiency and capability.
The first use of the ATN was conducted by an American Airlines Boeing 767-300ER, flight 9599, operating from the USA to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Eurocontrol has been working towards the use of the ATN for some time as part of the Preliminary Eurocontrol Test of Air/Ground Data Link (PETALII) programme, which is testing air-ground data links in an operational ATC environment.
The 767-300ER conducted CPDLC exchanges with the operational sectors of the Eurocontrol Upper Area Control (UAC) Centre in Maastricht, with controllers using voice and data to communicate with the aircraft. Maastricht becomes the first air traffic control centre to use an ATN air-ground data link.
The aircraft is equipped with the Rockwell Collins CMU-900 communications management unit and the Collins VHF-920 radio transceiver, which allows high-speed data communication to and from the aircraft and displays CPDLC messaging in the cockpit. Messages are transferred over the ATN via ARINC's VHF data link (VDL) Mode 2 network, the first implementation of VDL supporting ATN-based CPDLC. Communications are provided through VDL ground stations in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin, and ground-to-ground communications through ATN routers in London and Frankfurt.
Source: Flight International
