ARINC has been awarded a five-year contract by the US Federal Aviation Administration to support the development and initial operational capability of controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) in the US national airspace system (NAS).
The aeronautical communications specialist will develop a prototype CPDLC system in conjunction with the FAA's William J Hughes Technical Center. ARINC will also be the communications service provider for the first operational deployment at the Miami, Florida, air route traffic control centre, which is scheduled for June 2002. American Airlines has already committed aircraft to CPDLC trials at Miami, which will use very high frequency datalink mode 2 (VDL Mode-2), with ARINC's communications network transmitting datalink messages. National deployment is planned from June 2003.
CPDLC, which is a key element of the FAA's "free flight" programme, will form the basis for communications between pilots and air traffic controllers in the future and will provide improved communications over current voice communications. CPDLC is designed to reduce air travel delays and provide improved safety as traffic levels rise.
Digital communications will reduce the potential for messages to be misunderstood or missed, and will allow controllers to handle more aircraft by removing the communications bottleneck.
The FAA's datalink plans originally called for CPDLC implementation in US airspace in 1996, but a lack of agreement between the FAA and industry delayed the programme.
Source: Flight International
