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Air-to-air visual acquisition performance with TCAS II

November 7, 1984
  |
Project Report
Author:
John W. Andrews
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-130
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The ability of pilots to visually acquire aircraft approaching on collision cources is analyzed using a mathematical model of visual acquisition. The model is calibrated by reference to subject pilot flight test data resulting from testing of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Techniques are presented that allow the determination of the probability of visual acquisition for a range of intruder aircraft sizes and closing rates. The effect of visual range (atmospheric visibility) upon visual acquisition performance is analyzed.
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Summary

The ability of pilots to visually acquire aircraft approaching on collision cources is analyzed using a mathematical model of visual acquisition. The model is calibrated by reference to subject pilot flight test data resulting from testing of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Techniques are presented that allow...

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Air-to-air visual acquisition performance with TCAS II

Development of surveillance techniques for TCAS II

March 5, 1984
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
William H. Harman III
Published in:
IEE Colloquium on Airborne Collision Avoidance, London, Uk, 5 March 1984, PP. 2/1-2/4.
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

In the development program of airborne collision avoidance, the equipment intended for installation on air carriers is designated TCAS 11 in the United States. A TCAS 11 installation my be thought of as consisting of two major subsystems: (1) air-to-air surveillance, and (2) control logic (including the logical tests that decide when another aircraft is dangerously close, algorithm that select an appropriate vertical resolution advisory, and a display of the advisory to the pilot). This paper focuses on the air-to-air surveillance subsystem. It identifies the disturbance phenomena that affect performance, presents a number of techniques that have been developed to overcome these difficulties, and presents performance measurements made through airborne testing. A TCAS II installation carries out surveillance in both Mode S and Mode C. The former is used for all Mode S aircraft, including other TCAS II aircraft. The latter is used for all other aircraft, provided they are equipped to reply in Mode C. This paper concentrates on surveillance in Mode C, which is by far the more demanding case.
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Summary

In the development program of airborne collision avoidance, the equipment intended for installation on air carriers is designated TCAS 11 in the United States. A TCAS 11 installation my be thought of as consisting of two major subsystems: (1) air-to-air surveillance, and (2) control logic (including the logical tests that...

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Development of surveillance techniques for TCAS II

Flight testing of TCAS II with subject pilots

March 5, 1984
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
John W. Andrews
Published in:
IEEE Colloquium on Airborne Collision Avoidance, London, UK, 5 March 1984, pp. 3/1-3/4.
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

All safety benefits to be derived from the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) are dependent upon the aircraft crew understanding and reacting appropriately to the TCAS advisories. For this reason it is important to display the TCAS information so that it can be promptly and unambiguously understood by the crew. It is also important that the crew be able to integrate the TCAS advisory information with information from other sources so that TCAS becomes a compatible addition to pre-existing safety procedures and not a contending alternative. Because crew response to TCAS is strongly influenced by visual cues received from outside the cockpit, testing in actual flight has proven important. Under sponsorship of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Lincoln Laboratory conducted a series of flight tests with an experimental TCAS II unit to investigate crew response issues.
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Summary

All safety benefits to be derived from the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) are dependent upon the aircraft crew understanding and reacting appropriately to the TCAS advisories. For this reason it is important to display the TCAS information so that it can be promptly and unambiguously understood by...

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Flight testing of TCAS II with subject pilots

General aviation TCAS avionics (GATCAS)

February 27, 1984
  |
Project Report
Author:
Randal L. Briggs
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-115
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Experimental Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) avionics developed for the FAA at MIT Lincoln Laboratory are described. The objective of the program under which this equipment was developed was to assess the feasibility of providing a small, low-cost unit for general aviation usage. The experimental general aviation TCAS (GATCAS) avionics incorporates a new system architecture using a microprogrammed sequencer, a 16-bit microprocessor and a low-power, solid state sransmitter appropriate to the class of aircraft expected to employ GATCAS. The general aviatio unit is designed to operate below 10,000 feet in densities of up to 0.02 aircraft/nmi^2, and to provide a pilot warning time (TAUR) of 25 seconds. Assuming a track acquisition time of 10 seconds and a maximum closing speed of 300 knots, the required theoretical range of GATCAS is 3.4 nmi. The report includes (as an appendix) a cost analysis for general aviation TCAS avionics.
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Summary

Experimental Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) avionics developed for the FAA at MIT Lincoln Laboratory are described. The objective of the program under which this equipment was developed was to assess the feasibility of providing a small, low-cost unit for general aviation usage. The experimental general aviation TCAS...

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General aviation TCAS avionics (GATCAS)

Airborne Intelligence Display (AID) phase I software description

October 24, 1983
  |
Project Report
Author:
Ann C. Drumm
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-123
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Airborne Intelligent Display is a microprocessor-based display capable of serving as a cockpit data terminal in a variety of FAA developmental applications. A prototype of this display was developed by Lincoln Laboratory during 1979-1980 in order to evaluate and demonstrate the use of the data link between Mode S ground sensor and Mode S transponder-equipped aircraft. The AID served as a data link interface allowing the pilot to see, respond to, and initiate communications from a ground sensor. Later, when Lincoln began testing the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), the AID became the TCAS display device, showing position estimates for TCAS-tracked aircraft. More recently, a redesign effort, focused principally on software, was begun to extend the AID design so that it could be more quickly adapted to a variety of FAA developmental programs. This document describes the redesigned Airborne Intelligent Display, with special emphasis on software design.
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Summary

The Airborne Intelligent Display is a microprocessor-based display capable of serving as a cockpit data terminal in a variety of FAA developmental applications. A prototype of this display was developed by Lincoln Laboratory during 1979-1980 in order to evaluate and demonstrate the use of the data link between Mode S...

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Airborne Intelligence Display (AID) phase I software description

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): a functional overview of minimum TCAS II

April 8, 1983
  |
Project Report
Author:
Jerry D. Welch
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-119
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a beanon-based airborne collision avoidance system that is able to operate in all airspace without reliance on ground equipment. The TCAS concept encompasses a range of capabilities that include TCAS I, a low-cost, limited-perofrmance version, and TCAS II, which is intended to provide a comprehensive level of separation assurance in all current and predicted airspace environments through the end of this century. This document provides a functional overview of the TCAS II including operating features, a description of the avionics package, and examples of surveillance data obtained with experimental TCAS equipment.
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Summary

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a beanon-based airborne collision avoidance system that is able to operate in all airspace without reliance on ground equipment. The TCAS concept encompasses a range of capabilities that include TCAS I, a low-cost, limited-perofrmance version, and TCAS II, which is intended...

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Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): a functional overview of minimum TCAS II

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): a functional overview of active TCAS I

April 8, 1983
  |
Project Report
Author:
Vincent A. Orlando
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-118
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a beacon-based airborne collision avoidance system that is able to operate in all airspace without reliance on ground equipment. The TCAS concept encompasses a range of capabilities that include TCAS I, a low-cost, limited-performance version, and TCAS II, which is intended to provide a comprehensive level of separation assurance in all current and predicted airspace enviornments through the end of this century. This document provides a functional overview of a TCAS I equipped with a low power active transponder detector. It includes a definition of TCAS I functions, calculated and measured surveillance performance for a low power interrogator and an implementation approach that incorporates the TCAS I functions in a Mode S transponder.
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Summary

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a beacon-based airborne collision avoidance system that is able to operate in all airspace without reliance on ground equipment. The TCAS concept encompasses a range of capabilities that include TCAS I, a low-cost, limited-performance version, and TCAS II, which is intended...

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Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): a functional overview of active TCAS I

TCAS I design guidelines

September 24, 1982
  |
Project Report
Author:
William H. Harman III
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-114
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

A description of the FAA airborne Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System known as TCAS I introduces the main topic of the report: results of an investigation of simple techniques suitable for the passive and active detection of nearby aircraft by TCAS I. This is followed by a review of the measurement facilities and data used to evaluate the detection techniques. Techniques for identifying passively detected returns from potentially threatening aircraft, i.e., the rejection or "filtering out" of non-threat aircraft, are described and evaluated. Alternatives for time-sharing the 1090 MHz channel between the TCAS I transponder and the passive detector are described. A candidate passive detector is defined and its performance is evaluated using flight test data. Predictions of the performance of a low-power TCAS I based on active detection are made via link calculations and flight test measurements. A summary of results concludes the report.
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Summary

A description of the FAA airborne Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System known as TCAS I introduces the main topic of the report: results of an investigation of simple techniques suitable for the passive and active detection of nearby aircraft by TCAS I. This is followed by a review of...

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TCAS I design guidelines

Air-to-air mode S surveillance algorithms

February 8, 1982
  |
Project Report
Author:
Patricia H. Mann
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-111
Topic:
surveillance
R&D area:
R&D group:

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.
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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...

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Air-to-air mode S surveillance algorithms

An improved technique for altitude tracking of aircraft

March 25, 1981
  |
Project Report
Author:
John W. Andrews
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-105
Topic:
surveillance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

When simple linear recursive tracking techniques are applied to quantized altitude reports, certain errors in estimation of altitude and altitude rate can be attributed to the response of the tracker to transitions between quantization levels. These errors can be reduced by use of an estimation technique which explicitly recognizes the quantized nature of the inputs. Smoothing of the level occupancy time (i.e., the time spent at each quantization level) can be used to control the response to redundant samples taken at the same quantization level. Further improvement is achieved by consistency tests which use particular properties of quantized data to detect changes in rate. This document presents a theoretical analysis of tracker repsonse to quantized inputs. A tracking algorithm is synthesized using these techniques and simulation results using various altitude profiles are presented.
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Summary

When simple linear recursive tracking techniques are applied to quantized altitude reports, certain errors in estimation of altitude and altitude rate can be attributed to the response of the tracker to transitions between quantization levels. These errors can be reduced by use of an estimation technique which explicitly recognizes the...

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An improved technique for altitude tracking of aircraft
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