Rohde & Schwarz exhibiting air traffic safety portfolio in Le Bourget

PARIS, 16 June 2015. Rohde & Schwarz, adopting the “Safety meets security” theme at Paris Air Show 2015, is presenting its secure airborne and air traffic control (ATC) communications products, including the R&S MR6000A military transceiver for airborne platforms that also meets civil aviation certification requirements.

Military aircraft can only operate freely in the world's airspace when they meet military as well as civil certification requirements. The R&S MR6000A from the VHF/UHF R&S M3AR airborne transceiver family is the first radio to ensure compatibility with military and civilian avionics specifications, according to company officials.

Rohde & Schwarz subjected the R&S MR6000A to development processes in line with civil avionics standards for software and hardware. The radio meets civil certification requirements for Level C failure classification. Level C design assurance minimizes the risk of communications failures with air traffic control.

Rohde & Schwarz radios can be equipped with a NATO-compatible data and voice encryption option supplied by Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary SIT. The integrated radio and crypto solution in a single box also saves valuable space, weight, wiring and logistical effort. In addition to integrated encryption components, Rohde & Schwarz SIT offers the ELCRODAT 4-2 (NATO) and R&S MMC3000 (non-NATO) standalone crypto solutions, which can be installed on various military platforms owing to their ruggedization.

Rohde & Schwarz has enhanced its R&S Series4200 stationary radios with detection of simultaneous transmissions (DSiT) functionality for detecting potential simultaneous transmissions in communications between the tower and the aircraft.

The R&S Series4200 stationary radios from Rohde & Schwarz now enable the detection of simultaneous transmissions (DSiT) in air traffic control. The DSiT functionality is software-based, so the radios can be easily upgraded. This option makes Rohde & Schwarz the first supplier on the market to offer a solution for the problem of undetected simultaneous transmissions (USiT), officials claim.

The new DSiT feature uses an innovative algorithm to detect the presence of simultaneous radio calls in a transmission channel. The air traffic controller is then notified that two calls have been received. The problem of undetected simultaneous transmissions was evaluated extensively in cooperation with DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (German air navigation service provider). "Simultaneous transmissions were regularly identified in all of the airspaces we examined. Here we found that air traffic controllers were unable to identify a significant number of these events," explains Klauspeter Hauf, head of voice communications services at DFS. The DSiT functionality from Rohde & Schwarz makes it possible to minimize such risks in real time.

Rohde & Schwarz is presenting its wide range of ATC communications and air traffic management (ATM) solutions at the Paris Air Show (Le Bourget) 2015 in hall 2A, booth B286.