Story ID: 
NASA Demos ATC-Aircraft Ground Wi-Fi Datalink 
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: Technology provides flight crews with common-sourced aeronautical, weather and flight information while on the ground at an airport.
Word Count: 285
Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio successfully transmitted route options, weather information and other data to an FAA Bombardier Global 5000 testbed via a wireless communication system for aircraft on the ground, dubbed the Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMacs). The demonstration was conducted at NASA Glenn’s communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) test facility in collaboration with the FAA and Hitachi on February 11, but not announced until this week.

“This was the first time we provided this type of information to an airplane over a ground wireless network,” said Paul Nelson, Glenn’s project manager for Cyber-Security and Secure CNS. The team used an Aircraft Access to System Wide Information Management (Swim), or AAtS, prototype to transmit the aviation information to the Global 5000 while taxiing at up to 70 mph on a runway at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

The prototype AeroMacs hardware, developed by Hitachi, is based on WiMax wireless communication standards, but uses different frequencies to enable connectivity on the ground. AAtS is an FAA technology that will provide flight crews with common-sourced aeronautical, weather and flight information. The AeroMacs demonstration enabled connectivity to allow updates to weather, airport status and flight and flow information before takeoff.

“Together, AAtS and AeroMacs will improve situational awareness and reduce the potential for human error by giving pilots access to the information they need to make decisions,” according to NASA. “The trials consisted of three test cases designed to evaluate performance of both the AAtS and AeroMacs technologies. We demonstrated that AeroMacs can simultaneously transport multiple services seamlessly."

The next steps for AeroMacs will include end-to-end testing involving multiple airports and evaluation of security measures.