Rapid Prototyping for Atm Operational Concept Development

Technical systems tend to undergo changes and thus will sooner or later require adjustments to new requirements or conditions. Currently, major changes in Air Traffic Management (ATM) are on the way, as ATM modernizations programs like SESAR or NextGen are getting momentum. ATM systems are rather complex and pose high demands on safety. Besides safety, other performance parameters like efficiency or environmental and climate impact have to be taken into account. Here, simulations can help to evaluate advantages of new developments or ideas, without jeopardizing the safety of others. New ATM concepts will be introduced on a global level, and early validation with huge traffic scenarios will become more and more important. Similar to the software development domain, tools and ideas of rapid prototyping can be used already in the concept development phase. DLR’s Institute of Flight Guidance provides a generic simulation environment suitable as a proof-of-concept simulation for air/ground integrated ATM-concepts and trajectorybased operations. Core of the simulation environment is an air traffic simulation software called TrafficSim, which in detail is capable to simulate realistic aircraft movements and handle high traffic scenarios with more than 30,000 aircraft in realand fast-time. All aircraft of a scenario can be individually equipped with a subset of modern airborne capabilities: 4D FMS, conflict detection, self separation and interval management functions as well as data link facilities for air-to-air and air-to-ground communication. On the ground side arrival and departure manager, conflict detection and avoidance tools can be integrated and negotiate 4D trajectories with the onboard tools. To customize the simulation environment quickly and easily to project specific requirements, a system architecture with standardized interfaces and central communication module is used. This paper describes the operation area of the basic tools of the simulation environment and how projects can use these tools for rapid prototyping to validate new ATM concepts. Air traffic simulation; 4D Trajectory; Concept validation; Large traffic scenarios