NEWSKY

Project Goal

Newsky
Efficient and reliable communication systems are required to support the expected sustainable growth of European air transport. However, aeronautical communication technologies are already running at their maximum capabilities today. Moreover, the expected air-traffic management (ATM) paradigm shift towards less voice and more data communications and towards more strategic planning of flight routes requires additional communication capabilities which are not provided by current aeronautical communication systems.

Currently, several European research activities are being undertaken with the goal to develop improved communication technologies for aeronautical communication. These activities comprise ground-based, satellite-based, aircraft-to-aircraft and airport communication for all different application classes, like air-traffic services, airline operational and administrative communication, and aeronautical passenger communication. However, an initiative which aims at the integration of existing and emerging communication technologies into a global approach has so far been missing. NEWSKY fills this important gap by conducting upstream research activities focussed on a global aeronautical network design.

The main goal of NEWSKY is to integrate both different communication technologies and different application classes into a global heterogeneous aeronautical network with appropriate priority properties. The NEWSKY approach enables to achieve improved communication capabilities to allow enhanced information availability and sharing resulting in global situation awareness. The NEWSKY approach supports the realization of the Single European Sky concept and helps to create a future European ATM system which is viable well beyond 2020.

Expected Benefits

Increased availability and reliability through efficient use of different communication links
Increased capacity and coverage of overall system
Globally optimized network performance by using the right communication link technology at the right place and time
Interoperability between different communication links, thus, seamless system which is fully transparent to end users
Modular system concept which enables simple introduction of new technologies
Efficient and flexible utilization of the overall aeronautical frequency spectrum
Better information availability and sharing possibilities
Cost savings, high reliability and an optimal alignment with the evolution of communication and security technologies by using Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components (e.g. based on IPv6) wherever possible.

Work Program and Challenges

Identification of application scenarios and service requirements
Business case study
Explore the concept of network-enabled capability (NEC) for enhanced information sharing and collaboration possibilities in civil aeronautical networks
Screening and identification of communication links that might be integrated in the NEWSKY infrastructure
Development of an innovative networking concept and architecture comprising appropriate routing algorithms, system-level resource management strategies, and seamless hand-over techniques in order to implement a global QoS concept
Development of appropriate techniques to ensure security
Validate the NEWSKY integrated airborne network design through computer simulations and a laboratory test-bed.

Funded by

EU Sixth Framework Programme, STREP within DG TREN

Partners

German Aerospace Center (DLR), D
Thales Alenia Space, F
Frequentis GmbH. A
TriaGnoSys GmbH, D
QinetiQ Ltd, UK
Universität Salzburg, A
Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), D

Contact

Frank Schreckenbach
DLR – German Aerospace Center
Institute of Communications and Navigation
82234 Wessling, Germany
Tel: +49 8153 282899
Fax: +49 8153 281442

Further information