NATS chooses Rohde & Schwarz ATC VoIP communications systems for London City Airport digital tower

BEAVERTON, Ore. Officials at NATS Holdings have selected Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) in Beaverton, Oregon, to supply and install voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications for the London City Airport digital tower project. The IP-based R&S voice communications system (VCS) VCS-4G system has been installed at Swanwick control center as part of the digital tower operations project, due to go into operation in 2019.

NATS, formerly known as National Air Traffic Services, is the main United Kingdom Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP). The R&S VCS-4G is integrated into digital tower solutions, enabling airport control, resource optimization, and geographic backup.

The R&S VCS-4G IP system architecture and distributed infrastructure, supports shared access to remote radio and telephony resources. These features enable towers to be operated remotely from another geographic location. Such VCS installations make it possible to control airports without having a complete air traffic control (ATC) crew present at the actual location.

Rohde & Schwarz have been working in partnership with NATS to get the VCS systems installed at Swanwick area control center (ACC) in the new designated London City Airport (LCY) digital control room. The system will interface with existing analog radio equipment located at LCY with the use of R&S radio gateways which convert VoIP-based communications signals for call control and media information to conventional analog signals, and vice versa. The system supports both ground-ground and ground-air-ground communications in order to provide all the voice communication tools to the air traffic controllers.

R&S VCS-4G is based on VoIP technology with support of SIP, RTP, R2S protocols according to EUROCAE WG67 ED standard specifications. Due to its architecture, the system is scalable and can be easily expanded without replacing existing equipment. The R&S VCS-4G system has been designed to meet next generation ATC requirements such as asset sharing, facility consolidation, geographical distribution and remote tower technology, providing air navigation services providers (ANSPs) with an effective solution for present and future safety and efficiency objectives in global aviation.

NATS also has selected the R&S VCS-4G IP-based voice communications system from Rohde & Schwarz as its second voice system for its ATC communications in UK airspace.

The Rohde & Schwarz electronics group offers innovative solutions in all fields of wireless communications as well as in IT security. Founded more than 80 years ago, the independent company has an extensive sales and service network with subsidiaries and representatives in more than 70 countries. On 30 June 2016, Rohde & Schwarz had approximately 10,000 employees. The group achieved a net revenue of approximately EUR 1.92 billion in the 2015/2016 fiscal year (July to June). The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and has strong regional hubs in Asia and the USA.

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