Party-line communications in a data link environment

Using today´s voice-based air/ground communications, pilots develop a sense of “situational awareness” by listening to all pilot/controller communications on a selected frequency. There are no plans to continue this “party line” in a data link environment. The lack of a party line could become a safety issue. This paper investigates methods to provide a party-line service using the data links planned in the near future. Candidate data links are examined to see if and how party-line information can be communicated to all aircraft within a region