EUROCONTROL - CIMACT

Introduction	2005
CIMACT user	France, Germany, Georgia, Rossia, Poland, Portugal, Norwey, The Netherlands, Thurkey, and the NATO CAI
CIMACT trial	Slovenia, Srbija
CIMACT requested	Bulgaria, Romania, United Kingdom
Interested	Alaska (US), Brasil

CIMACT – a European Civil- Military Air Traffic Management Co-ordination Tool

Definition

CIMACT is a EUROCONTROL software product, that combines and merges several civilian surveillance- and military sensor

Secondary surveillance radar

Secondary surveillance radar is a radar system used in air traffic control , that not only detects and measures the position of aircraft i.e. range and bearing, but also requests additional information from the aircraft itself such as its identity and altitude...

 data sources with Flight plan

Flight plan

Flight plans are documents filed by pilots or a Flight Dispatcher with the local Civil Aviation Authority prior to departure...

 data sources. After data correlation it provides a Recognised Air Picture (RAP)

Recognized Air Picture

A Recognized Air Picture or RAP is a complete listing of all aircraft in flight within a particular airspace, with each aircraft being identified as friendly or hostile, and ideally containing additional information such as type of aircraft, flight number, and flight plan...

. CIMACT might be operated and displayed on COTS

Commercial off-the-shelf

In the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...

 hardware or special IT

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

. The CIMACT system’s and data

Data

The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...

 classification

Classified information

Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...

 is for “official use releasable to the CIMACT users”.

History

CIMACT was developed on the basis of ADMAR 2000

ADMAR

ADMAR – stays for the German wording Abgesetzte Darstellung von MADAP Radar data and was the predecessor product of CIMACT.- Definition :...

, ADMAR, ADKAR and GAME initially on the basis of the special Agreement of MOD Germany

Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Defence is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany...

 ( – A/13/D/HG/82, April 18, 1983) in cooperation with EUROCONTROL. It has been operational since 1983 and was used by the German Air Force exclusively. Since 2003 it became of interest for other European countries, NATO and security related authorities and organisations as well.

Functionality

CIMACT is developed as a common co-ordination system to exchange information between civil and military users where the appropriate national system does not support close cooperation and exchange of security / safety of life related information. To day, CIMACT integrates this information to provide the user with a comprehensive overview of the air situation. It is capable of processing in real-time a variety of inputs such as radar data, track data, positional data, flight plan data etc. It also contains basic Air Traffic Control (ATC)

Air traffic control

Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...

 functionalities and flight plan data information. Last but not least, CIMACT offers an automated interface with the EUROCONTROL Local And sub-Regional Air space management support system (LARA).

ATC related information

Example for some Air Traffic Control related information

Requested Flight Level Flight level A Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either... (requested FL)	Cleared flight level (cleared FL)	Climb indicator / Descent indicator	Voice call sign Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...	Mode S (24 bit code)

Flight way related information

Example for some flight way related information

Bacon name	Speed in flight	Flight level altitude	Display of flight route

CIMACT supported ASTERIX

ASTERIX (ATC standard)

ASTERIX is a standard for the exchange of air traffic control information. It is developed and maintained by the European ATC organization Eurocontrol...

 ATC Standard

• CAT000 TSM / Time Stamp (reserved for MADAP)
• CAT001 Plots ( replaced by CAT048)
• CAT002 Plots ( replaced by CAT034)
• CAT003 DSATD (reserved for MADAP)
• CAT004 Safety Nets Messages (Safety Net Server)
• CAT008 Monoradar WX
• CAT009 Multisensor WX (reserve for MADAP)
• CAT021 ADS-B Messages (ADS-B Ground Station)
• CAT030 Air Situation Picture (reserved for ARTAS)
• CAT034 Plots RADNET/ MilRADNET (formerly 002)
• CAT048 Plots RADNET/ MilRADNET (formerly 001)
• CAT062 Tracks including Mode S (RADNET/ MilRADNET)
• CAT065 Status SDPS (RADNET/ MilRADNET)
• CAT142 Track Highlight Messages used by NATO/CAI
• CAT148 Exported Track Messages (used by FLIZ Cologne)
• CAT149 Exported Track Messages (used by PCC Bann)
• CAT150 Flight Data Message (used by MADAP)
• CAT152 Time Stamp (used by MADAP)
• CAT252 Session and SCM (used by ARTAS)

Benefit to Air Traffic Management (ATM)

CIMACT enhances the safe management of airspace and air traffic in general as it improves the common situational awareness. As a consequence, it reduces infringements and increases airspace capacity. National air security is also improved by CIMACT as it detects and highlights potentially renegade aircraft. It supports and enables cross-border coordination.

Compliancy with European Commission’s Regulations

Apart from the features benefits described above, CIMACT offers states and users the opportunity to comply with articles 6.2 of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 2150/2005 laying down common rules for the Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA).

Utilisation

CIMACT is used by an increasing number of countries. Among them are Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Russia, The Netherlands, and Turkey. NATO also introduced it in order support renegade aircraft investigation. It is use as well in the NATO CAOC 2 located in Germany. The number of users is increasing permanently. In this respect Brazil and the USA showed interest.

CIMACT utilisation in NATO CRC

According to Tactical Air Command and Control (TACC) missions CIMACT is designed to support NATO Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) operations with a co-primary RAP on operators Working Positions (WP) as follows:

WP 1	WP 2 - 5	WP 6	WP 7	WP 8	WP 9	WP 10	WP 11	WP 12
MC - Master Controller	FA - Fighter Allocator WP 1 … n	TPO - Track Production Officer	TPOA - Track Production Officer Assistant	IDO - Identification Officer	IC - Interceptor Controller	EC - Exercise Controller	TK - Tracker & E3A Operator	SO - Senior Ops Officer / Briefing Room

CIMACT utilisation in Fighter Wing

In a Fighter Wing (US: Group) / Squadron CIMACT might be used as follows:

WP 1	WP 2 - 3	WP 4
TWR Control tower A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...   Approach (APP) APP App commonly refers to:* Mobile apps, software made for mobile devices*Application software, also called an App, software for specific purposesApp or APP may also refer to:-Computers:...	GCA GCA GCA may refer to:*Games Convention Asia - A Video Games and interactive technology convention held annually in Singapore consisting of a public exhibition and a professional conference....   Radar APP Precision Approach Radar Precision approach radar is a type of radar guidance system designed to provide lateral and vertical guidance to an aircraft pilot for landing, until the landing threshold is reached. After the aircraft reaches the decision height or decision altitude , guidance is advisory only...   SATCO	Wing-/ Squadron OPS Briefing room Remote Access Capability (RAC)

SATCO - Senior Air Traffic Contro Officer

TWR - Air Traffic Control Tower

Note:

CIMACT will be used in Air Traffic Control (ATC) missions, if it receives the admission licence by the appropriate national aviation authority.

Costs

The states pay normally for the CIMACT hardware and data communication lines. The CIMACT software is releasable to all EUROCONTROL and ECAC

European Civil Aviation Conference

The European Civil Aviation Conference or Conférence Européenne de l'Aviation Civile is an intergovernmental organization which was established by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Council of Europe. It is located in Neuilly-sur-Seine/Paris in France...

 member states free of charge. Maastricht MUAC service team’s helpdesk support, presentations and trials on the basis of EUROCONTROL demonstration system are also free of charge. This service is normally agreed by the MNUG. However, additional services not agreed by the MNUG (e.g. specific software maintenance, further development etc.) will be paid normally by the appropriate nation.

Responsibility

CIMACT will be maintained and further developed in line with the user requirements.
In this spirit, all users are invited to contribute inputs. The appropriate decisions are taken on EUROCONTROL Multinational User Group (MNUG) level. The responsible national authorities and NATO have the right to vote. Decisions have to be taken anonymously. MNUG meetings take place normally in EUROCONTROL Headquarters in Brussels. However, the nations might invite the CIMACT community for MNUG meetings to there countries. With that background the 7th MNUG meeting 2006 was contacted in CRC Drachenbronn (France), and the 9th meeting 2007 was contacted in CRC Messstetten (Germany). Dates of MNUG meetings will be published in due time on the CIMACT user portal “EUROCONTROL OneSky Team” (see Weblinks). On this portal CIMACT publications are available.

Responsibility of the nations

The CIMACT user nations are responsible to stand for their interests during EUROCONTROL MNUG meetings. They are proving input date for operational requirements, making proposals and suggestions in order to maintain and improve CIMACT. They are also responsible for the national hardware procurement, in-service support management, obsolescence management, and the provision of the data communication lines necessary. If EUROCONTROL data sources can’t be used, national sensor and flight plan data will be applied.

EUROCONTROL points of contact

EUROCONTROL:

• CIMACT Project Management

Headquarters EUROCONTROL Brussels

• Software engineering, helpdesk, trials, and demonstration

CIMACT Development Team

EUROCONTROL Maastricht UAC

Service

EUROCONTROL provides presentations when requested and has a demonstration system available for installation at a potential user’s site for a trial period before the potential user takes a decision. In accordance with the agreed user requirements EUROCONTROL service comprises the evolution of CIMACT, software maintenance, software changes, the configuration management and training. It supports installation of CIMACT systems and provides helpdesk on request of the nations. Extra service and special requirements, e.g. management of the deployed systems, might be provided on as bilateral basis. This is regularly the case with respect the German Air Force and NATO.

Software and hardware

CIMACT is a software package (using Linux and coded in C++). The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

 for that proprietary software are owned by EUROCONTROL. This software is releasable to interested users on request. It’s running on COTS standard hardware that is in line with minimum specification required. The CIMACT picture might be displayed on any type monitor (consumer -, industrial - or professional solution) providing the resolution defined or required. It maid be operated on one single PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, Laptop

Laptop

A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...

 or 6026 IPC (an Integrated Industrial PC). If the particular CIMACT system consists of more that one single working position, the introduction of a CIMACT server is indispensable. The server IT might be on COTS technology as well, if it meets the minimum technical specification required.

Summary

CIMACT paves the way towards the European wide application of the FUA concept with new opportunities for improving civil-military cooperation. CIMACT is a reliable cost-effective operational system supporting the improvement of civil-military co-ordination and security, which enhances the safety of air navigation

Air navigation

The basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another....

 in line with the Single European Sky

Single European Sky

The Single European Sky is a European Commission initiative by which the design, management and regulation of airspace will be coordinated throughout the European Union ....

.

External links

• The EUROKONTROL OneSky Portal
• EUROCONTROL The EUROCONTROL Mode S and ACAS Programme
• CIMACT Integrated industrila PC (IPC) a contribution of CONRAC
• The CIMACT 9th MNUG Meeting in CRC Messstetten
• CIMACT a contribution of EUROCONTROL
• CIMACT a contrigution of Thruput Limited