Summary
Lincoln Laboratory is assisting the Federal Aviation Administration in developing a beacon-based airborne collision avoidance system known as the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). The version of TCAS intended for air carrier use is called TCAS II. It provides traffic and resolution advisories and operates in the highest traffic densities predicted for the end of the century. TCAS II extends and replaces an earlier system known as BCAS (for Beacon Collision Avoidance System). Mode S surveillance algorithms form the basis for TCAS algorithms now under development at Lincoln Laboratory.