Problem resolution support for free flight operations

The MITRE Corporation´s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) has been conducting research into new automation capabilities to support free flight operations. One of these capabilities is a problem resolution function to assist the en route sector controller team in handling the more complex traffic patterns that can result from a less structured free flight environment. This function is termed problem analysis, resolution and ranking (PARR). PARR is envisaged as an enhancement to the user request evaluation tool (URET) free flight phase 1 (FFP1) capability, and has been designated as priority research for the follow-on free flight phase 2 (FFP2) effort. PARR is being developed as a series of incremental enhancements, with the first step focusing on the resolution of aircraft-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-airspace problems. Follow-on enhancements include resolutions for metering and other traffic flow management (TFM) flow initiatives, resolutions for the avoidance of severe weather areas, and the integration into a common en route sector team CHI. A research management plan has been prepared by the Federal Aviation Administration and MITRE/CAASD to support this development process. The paper describes the initial PARR capabilities, along with an extension to incorporate assigned metering time constraints