Publications

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II) is now operating in all commercial airline aircraft to reduce the risk of midair collisions. TCAS II determines the relative positions of nearby aircraft, called intruders, by interrogating their transponders and receiving their replies. An intruder deemed a potential threat will trigger a resolution advisory (RA) that consists of an audible alert and directive that instructs the pilot to execute a vertical avoidance maneuver. Lincoln Laboratory has investigated the possibility of increasing the capability of TCAS II by incorporating the horizontal maneuvering of aircraft. Horizontal RAs can be computed if the intruder horizontal miss distances at closest approach are known. Horizontal miss distances can be estimated with range and bearing measurements of intruders. With this method, however, large errors in estimating the bearing rates will result in large errors in calculating the horizontal miss distances. An improved method of determining the horizontal miss distances may be to use the Mode S data link to obtain state data (position, velocity, and acceleration) from intruder aircraft.

TCAS III seeks to enhance TCAS II by providing resolution advisory (RA) capability in the horizontal plane. Additionally, elimination of nuisance RAs through the use of miss distance filtering (MDF) are sought to make TCAS more compatible within the airspace. Both functions (horizontal RAs and MDF) are enabled with accurate estimates of the horizontal miss distance. TCAS III estimates of miss distance rely on range and bearing measurements derived from intruder aircraft replies. Large errors in the TCAS bearing measurement can be introduced by the airframe structure and other antennas in the vicinity of the TCAS antenna. These large bearing errors can result in large miss distance estimation errors, which will directly affect the performance of the horizontal RA and MDF operation. In evaluating the performance of the bearing measurements, measurements of the bearing error were used in a simulation of TCAS III surveillance and collision avoidance functions to assess their effect on performance. The performance was evaluated by examining (1) the expected percentage of horizontal RAs issued, (2) the expected reduction in nuisance RAs by the MDF, and (3) the reliability of the monitoring process during a horizontal RA maneuver.

The Airborne Measurement Facility (AMF) is a data collection system that receives and records pulse and other information on the 1030/1090-MHz frequencies used by the FAA's secondary surveillance radar and collision avoidance systems. These systems include the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), the Mode Select (Mode S) Beacon System, and the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Designed and constructed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the 1970s, this unique measurement tool has been used to conduct advanced research in beacon-based air traffic control (ATC) over the past 20 years. The original AMF included a recorder capable of recording at the maximum rate of 2 Mbits/sec. Although this recording system worked well, it had become difficult to maintain in recent years. In 1993, the Air Traffic Surveillance Group, with support from the FAA, decided to incorporate the latest tape recording technology into an enhanced AMF recording system. The main purpose of this report is to provide guidance to analysts for AMF operation and data analysis. Finally, this report complements an AMF User's Manual, which is a more detailed document for using and maintaining the AMF.

This report describes the results of RF measurements of the 1030 and 1090 MHz environment in the Chicago terminal area conducted by Lincoln Laboratory in October 1991. The measurements were made at the request of the FAA in response to reports by controllers in Chicago that TCAS interrogations are affecting the surveillance performance of the Chicago Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR). The Airborne Meauserements Facility (AMF), developed at Lincoln Laboratory, was used to gather TCAS and SSR interrogation and reply data in the vicinity of O'Hare Airport during periods of active TCAS operation. Simultaneously, local aircraft track data were collected using the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) data recording facility. Analysis of both the AMF data and the ARTS data show that TCAS interrogations do not cause significant degradation in SSR surveillance performance and that the average Chicago ARTS track performance in the presence of TCAS-equipped aircraft is comparable to earlier measurements of track performance in Chicago as well as at a number of other high-density terminal areas. Specific regions within the CHicago surveillance area were observed to contain concentrations of poor ARTS track performance, and analysis of the data has shown the cause to be differential vertical lobing associated with the SSR antenna and faulty Mode S transponders on certain aircarrier aircraft. Both of these problems have subsequently been corrected.