National Airspace System Voice Switch
Encyclopedia
The United States
National Airspace System Voice Switch (NVS) project, a part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System
(NextGen), aims to establish a single set of scalable voice switches that can support a dynamic flow of air traffic. Voice communications network flexibility is essential for the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) to increase air traffic control network flexibility.
, flight service and terminal domains of aircraft flights to provide safe, orderly and efficient flow of air traffic.
In the early years of the twenty-first century, air traffic control
air-ground and ground-ground voice communications
are managed on a geographical
basis. The equipment used is a mixture of seventeen different types, some already 20 years old.
Current voice communications switches are very static, and the ability to adjust the airspace
for varying loads very limited. An air traffic controller in Miami in winter time may be over-loaded, whilst in the remainder of the year under-loaded. During the same periods, an air traffic controller in Minneapolis may be under-loaded in winter, and over-loaded at other times. With an inflexible system, the solution has to be to physically move controllers to cope with the higher workloads.
NVS aims to enable voice switch flexibility by allowing the airspace
to be dynamically reconfigured according to workload, without the physical movement of staff. So, an air traffic controller in Minneapolis could be logically reassigned to Miami without a physical movement being necessary. A migration from analog
communications to Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is also being considered.
NVS will:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Airspace System Voice Switch (NVS) project, a part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System
Next Generation Air Transportation System
The Next Generation Air Transportation System is the name given to a new National Airspace System due for implementation across the United States in stages between 2012 and 2025. The...
(NextGen), aims to establish a single set of scalable voice switches that can support a dynamic flow of air traffic. Voice communications network flexibility is essential for the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) to increase air traffic control network flexibility.
Description
Voice communications is a fundamental part of providing air traffic control services. Both air-to-ground and ground-to-ground voice communications are essential for the en routeEn-route chart
In aviation, an en-route chart is an aeronautical chart that guides pilots flying under Instrument Flight Rules during the en-route phase of flight.-Overview:...
, flight service and terminal domains of aircraft flights to provide safe, orderly and efficient flow of air traffic.
In the early years of the twenty-first century, air traffic control
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...
air-ground and ground-ground voice communications
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
are managed on a geographical
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
basis. The equipment used is a mixture of seventeen different types, some already 20 years old.
Current voice communications switches are very static, and the ability to adjust the airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
for varying loads very limited. An air traffic controller in Miami in winter time may be over-loaded, whilst in the remainder of the year under-loaded. During the same periods, an air traffic controller in Minneapolis may be under-loaded in winter, and over-loaded at other times. With an inflexible system, the solution has to be to physically move controllers to cope with the higher workloads.
NVS aims to enable voice switch flexibility by allowing the airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
to be dynamically reconfigured according to workload, without the physical movement of staff. So, an air traffic controller in Minneapolis could be logically reassigned to Miami without a physical movement being necessary. A migration from analog
Analogue electronics
Analogue electronics are electronic systems with a continuously variable signal, in contrast to digital electronics where signals usually take only two different levels. The term "analogue" describes the proportional relationship between a signal and a voltage or current that represents the signal...
communications to Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is also being considered.
Benefits
NVS will enable FAA air traffic control to establish a network-based communications system, to evolve towards flexible communications routing that provides dynamic re-sectorisation, resource reallocation, airspace redesign, and improved aircraft flow capacity.NVS will:
- use open systemsOpen system (computing)Open systems are computer systems that provide some combination of interoperability, portability, and open software standards. The term was popularized in the early 1980s, mainly to describe systems based on Unix,...
standards and/or commercial off-the-shelfCommercial off-the-shelfIn 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...
equipment - reduce equipment inventoriesInventoryInventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English...
of out-of-date switch types - reduce acquisition, training and maintenance costs by reducing the number of voice switch designs
- improve equipment availability
- enable flexible allocation of access to communications resources to meet both strategic and tactical demands
- enable flexible user access profileUser profileA user profile is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity...
definitions to assure secure access to the system and to enable defined roles to be performed - provide scalabilityScalabilityIn electronics scalability is the ability of a system, network, or process, to handle growing amount of work in a graceful manner or its ability to be enlarged to accommodate that growth...
- provide a fault-tolerant systemFault-tolerant systemFault-tolerance or graceful degradation is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of some of its components. A newer approach is progressive enhancement...
.