Enabling air-ground integration: concept definition for traffic information service in contract mode (TIS-C)

The goal of this paper is to introduce the new TIS-C concept, and to give a high-level definition as well as to discuss its performance parameters. It was shown in the study "alternative enablers for airborne separation assistance systems (ASAS)" according to R. Ehrmanntraut (2002) that traffic information service in contract mode (TIS-C) when compared with its broadcast counterpart TIS-B is a better candidate to support ASAS applications. That viewpoint was systematically developed, and a high number of arguments were developed to give evidence. Based on these findings it would be useful to give a better definition of the new TS-C concept. The objective of TIS-C is to provide the flight deck with many kinds of traffic related information, using point-to-point telecommunications. The traffic information may be manifold and concern the ownship as well as its surroundings. The entire scope of the concept is described by indicating the variety of possible information that can be presented in the flight deck, from the simple positions of other aircraft, to flight vectors, flight plans, trajectories, to airspace information and airport information. Then some of the basic data used in TIS-C: position, flight plan, trajectory, and medium-term conflict is described. The highest-level use cases of TIS-C are defined. A first draft of the protocols between the TIS consumer and provider is given: a total information sharing protocol. The architecture of TIS-C is described and its sub-enablers are discussed. Finally there is a conclusion with a number of steps to take f the TIS-C concept is to be brought towards implementation and an extrapolation of future applications is given that could be provided with TIS-C.