ACP-

International Civil Aviation Organization WGW04/IP07

13/9/2011
WORKING PAPER

Aeronautical Communications Panel (ACP)

Fourth Meeting of the Working Group of the Whole Meeting

Montreal, 14-16 September 2011

Agenda Item 2: Future Communication Infrastructure, progress update and recommendations

STATUS OF VDL MODE 4 ACTIVITIES AND SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF

PERFORMANCE INVESTIGATIONS

Presented by Larry Johnsson

Prepared by Edward Falkov, Adam Parkinson and Larry Johnsson.

SUMMARY

This paper provides updated VDL Mode 4 performance data together with supporting
documentation as a result of simulation activities carried out by EUROCONTROL and
the VDL Mode 4 industry.

Specifically this paper present a summary of the results on:

 activities to optimise VDL Mode 4 broadcast and point to point operating
parameters;
 co-site interference investigations;
 activities to design handover algorithms;
 recent investigations to verify IP protocol schemes for operation of ATN/IPS
over the VDL Mode 4; and
 work on defining frequency planning parameters for implementation of VDL
Mode 4 based services in the band 112-137 MHz.

The paper highlights that VDL Mode 4 is being recognised as the only terrestrial ground
based air-ground datalink supporting ATN/IPS that is standardised by ICAO. VDL
Mode 4 is fulfilling the requirements for “SWIM Air-Ground Capability” defined by
SESAR. VDL Mode 4 is also recognised as a “link candidate for AIS/MET Data Link
Services by the RTCA SC206. Recent demonstrations show that VDL Mode 4 ATN/IPS
supports communication of Volcanic Ash messages.

The paper also summarises current development and pre operational activities in regions
around the world including Russia.

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1. Introduction

1.1 VDL Mode 4 was designed as a flexible data link that could be used for both broadcast and
point to point applications. In particular the VDL Mode 4 system parameters were designed so that
they could be adjusted in order to meet the needs of any given application. VDL Mode 4 is also a
mature technology with both existing operational and pre-operational implementations. Extensive
investigations have been carried out to validate the VDL Mode 4 SARPs in Annex 10 and the detailed
technical specifications in the ICAO Manual on VHF Digital Link (VDL) Mode 4 [ICAO Doc 9816]
(subsequently referred to as the Manual on VDL Mode 4), and to optimise the configuration of VDL
Mode 4 to meet the needs of different applications as application requirements have emerged.

1.2 This paper provides updated VDL Mode 4 performance characteristics together with
supporting documentation resulting from simulation activities carried out by both EUROCONTROL
and the VDL Mode 4 Community1 (VM4C) in 2006-2010.

1.3 Specifically this paper includes information on the results of:

 activities to optimise VDL Mode 4 broadcast and point to point operating parameters;
 co-site interference investigations;
 activities to design handover algorithms;
 recent investigations to verify IP protocol schemes for operation of ATN/IPS over VDL
Mode 4; and
 work on defining frequency planning parameters for implementation of VDL Mode 4 based
services in the band 112-137 MHz.

1.4 The paper highlights that VDL Mode 4 is being recognised as the only ground based air-
ground datalink supporting ATN/IPS that is standardised by aviation. VDL Mode 4 is fulfilling the
requirements for “SWIM Air-Ground Capability” defined by SESAR. VDL Mode 4 is also recognised
as a “link candidate for AIS/MET Data Link Services by the RTCA SC206. Recent demonstrations
show that VDL Mode 4 ATN/IPS supports communication of Volcanic Ash messages.

1.5 The paper also summarises current development and pre operational activities in regions
around the world including Russia.

2. VDL Mode 4 point to point validation activities

2.1 Context

2.1.1 This section describes the investigations carried out by the VM4C prior to and following the
SARPs validation activities, leading up to validation activities in support of initial pre operational
deployment of the VDL Mode 4 system in Sweden.

2.1.2 The broadly accepted HDLC protocol did not make effective use of the inherent VDL Mode 4
features and was found to be non optimal. EUROCONTROL coordinated the development of a new
DLS specification. This development activity was supported by a number of equipment manufacturers
in Europe and independently assessed by a manufacturer in the US. The activity was also supported by
an extensive campaign of simulations with additional flight tests to validate the operation of the new
DLS specifications and to identify generic system parameters to include with the new specifications in
support of point to point applications based on the information available at the time. The new DLS
specification is included in the Manual on VDL Mode 4.

1
Stakeholders involved in VDL Mode 4, including manufacturers and operators, are referred to as the VDL
Mode 4 Community (VM4C).

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2.1.3 When VDL Mode 4 was first specified (the VDL Mode 4 SARPs were published by ICAO in
2001), the detailed requirements for data link services were not yet known. In the interim period,
regional data link implementation programmes were initiated and considerable development work was
carried out both regionally in support of EUROCONTROL’s Link 2000+ programme and globally in
ICAO, to determine the required performance of data links in order to facilitate the first continental
deployment of data link services. Given the early stage of deployment (pioneer phase) much focus was
on the use of simulations to predict and optimise the use of data link technology.

2.2 Optimisation of VDL Mode 4 for time critical point to point applications

2.2.1 Initial investigation campaigns between 2002 and 2005 focussed on the development of point
to point functions to satisfy ICAO SARPs and other industry standards. The initial investigations
recommended several areas for further work in order to optimise VDL Mode 4 performance for time
critical applications including the optimisation of the VDL Mode 4 system parameter set.

2.2.2 From 2005 to 2006 EUROCONTROL conducted initial simulations to evaluate VDL Mode 4
for use in Europe to support ATC communications, culminating in a workshop held in 2006 at
EUROCONTROL. The workshop concluded that VDL Mode 4 was not able to support time critical
point to point applications as specified at that point in time, but did not seek to investigate areas of
potential performance optimisation identified by previous work.

2.2.3 Since 2006, further investigations of VDL Mode 4 performance have taken place led by
EUROCONTROL with the participation of members of the VM4C. The remit of this work was to
confirm VDL Mode 4 performance attributes and to ensure long term sustainability of planned data
link services, particularly in light of the current requirements for time critical and safety critical
applications. Specifically the aims of the simulations carried out since 2006 were to:
 Provide addition validation of the simulation approach by cross-checking results obtained
from two independently developed software simulators.
 Make a recommendation for an optimised system parameter set for point to point applications
based on the current understanding of requirements for time critical applications.
 Assess the ability of a VDL Mode 4 implementation to meet LINK2000+ performance
requirements for pan-European scenarios.

2.2.4 In order to provide additional confidence in the results obtained through simulation of VDL
Mode 4 performance the results from two independently developed simulation tools, the VDL
Performance Simulator (VPS) and the Aeronautical Communications Simulator (ACTS) were cross-
checked in a serious of activities between 2005 and 2010. The VPS and ACTS simulators were cross-
checked using a range of controlled scenarios, from simple small scale through to large scale static
European scenarios representative of operational data link loads, in order to build up a detailed
understanding of the behaviour of both simulators. The cross-check simulations showed broadly
comparable results with explanations for differences observed between the simulators (e.g. due
to different assumptions taken when implementing recommendations in the Manual on VDL Mode 4).

2.2.5 The simulation validation activities confirmed that the default VDL Mode 4 system
parameters specified in the ICAO Manual on VDL Mode 4 published in 2004 would need to be
updated to support the emerging requirements for time critical data applications. Based on the results
of the validation and simulations an updated set of VDL Mode 4 re-transmission system
parameters was approved by ACP WG-M/16 in 2010. Use of these improved parameters
resulted in significantly improved point to point performance meeting the requirements for time
critical applications. Table 1 below shows both the original default values and the new recommended
values for time critical applications specifically for the VDL Mode 4 re-transmission system
parameters. These parameters are used to control how quickly a data link message is re-transmitted if
the initial transmission is unsuccessful. The full set of optimised parameters is now being included in
the ICAO Manual on VDL Mode 4 (ref ACP WGW/4 WP07).

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 Symbol Parameter name Original default value New recommended value
Q5min Minimum 0.0 seconds 0.0 seconds
Q5max Maximum 5.0 seconds 5.0 seconds
Q5mult Multiplier 1.00 0.02
Q5exp Exponent 1.50 1.5
Q5num Number of attempts 4 10
Q5wait Maximum time to wait 60 seconds 60 seconds
for a reply
Table 1: VDL Mode 4 re-transmission system parameters for time critical applications

2.2.6 When using the improved re-transmission system parameters, the simulation analysis
showed the ability of VDL Mode 4 to support, the “Flight Safety” and “Routine Surveillance or
Navigation” criteria in static scenarios representative of the desired LINK2000+ traffic (but without
modelling potential message retransmissions due to large scale fading, hand-off and airborne co-site
interference). The results of this simulation analysis for both VPS and ACTS are extracted from the
EUROCONTROL reports (“Assessment of VDL Mode 4 Frequency, Capacity and Performance
Deliverable 3; Capacity Simulations” v.4, September 2010) on the investigations and presented in
Table 2 below. In particular the “User’ statistics” in Table 2 below shows that in the scenario VDL
Mode 4 has the capability to deliver user messages meeting the target transit delays (5s one-way
and 8s round-trip) with a 95% probability).

Table 2: VDL Mode 4 performance in large scale point to point scenario with recommended parameter
set.

2.2.7 The full results of the investigations have now been published by EUROCONTROL on its
website
http://www.eurocontrol.int/vdl4/public/subsite_homepage/homepage.html

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In addition to the results above the report identifies areas for further investigation that could not be
pursued because they were outside the scope of the EUROCONTROL study.

2.3 Identification of key VDL Mode 4 performance characteristics

2.3.1 Introduction

2.3.1.1 In parallel to the activity described above (focussing on optimising VDL Mode 4 for time
critical point to point application) the VM4C carried out additional investigations into the VDL Mode
4 performance using the VPS simulation tool. These investigations also involved simulations using
large scale European scenarios with varying data link loads including scenarios representative of
operational data link loads. The results of these investigations identified additional key aspects of
VDL Mode 4 performance which are summarised below.

2.3.2 Priority management

2.3.2.1 Simulations were run using data link loads containing messages assigned three different
priorities. In addition to sorting messages for transmission according to their priority different sets of
VDL Mode 4 Quality of Service (QoS) parameters (related to slot selection delay) were applied to the
data link transmission according to their priority.

2.3.2.2 The results for the simulation using the recommended VDL Mode 4 system parameter set for
time critical applications are shown in Table 3 below. The results show better message transit delay
performance for high priority messages over lower priority messages. The results therefore show that
VDL Mode 4 supports priority management through its capability to tune the transit delay high
priority messages compared to lower priority messages.

Performance characteristics Result (recommended

parameter set)

Offered channel load (kbps) 28.8

Physical net throughput (kbps) 22.5

Data Transferred (kbps) 14.5

Data transferred (percentage

of physical layer rate) 65%

Message success rate 99.9999%

One way delay priority = high, 95% 0.56

priority = medium, 95% 0.77

priority = low, 95% 4.33

Two way delay priority = high, 95% 0.70

priority = medium, 95% 1.06

priority = low, 95% 4.85

Table 3: Delays for different priority data link messages

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2.3.3 Sensitivity of transit delay performance to CCI performance

2.3.3.1 The ability to successfully decode messages in the presence of either co-site or co-channel
interference is a significant factor in the performance of VDL Mode 4. An investigation was carried
out using VPS to assess the impact of the different Co-Channel Interference (CCI) performances of a
VDL Mode 4 receiver. By default, a CCI of 10dB was implemented in VPS, representing the expected
CCI performance2 of practical VDL Mode 4 radios.

2.3.3.2 The results of the investigation are shown in Table 4 below and show the impact of reducing
the CCI performance in a scenario with a high data link load using the default values originally
specified in the Manual on VDL Mode 4 for the system parameters. Reducing CCI performance (i.e.
CCI=20dB) drastically reduces the ability of the system to decode transmissions (physical
success rate) and to deliver user data messages on time. This emphasises the importance of the
robust CCI performance used in the design of VDL Mode 4.

CCI performance (default parameters) 10dB 15dB 20dB

Offered load (kbps) 16.5 28.2 25.9
Throughput (kbps) 7.1 7.6 6.5
Physical success rate (%) 92.6 68.4 65.1
User success rate (%) 99.4 85.9 83.8
User data transit delay <5s (%) 88.9 55.3 54.6
User data round trip delay <8s (%) 90.9 56.2 54.1
Table 4: Impact of CCI on VDL Mode 4 performance in highly loaded scenario

2.3.3.3 Table 5 shows the impact of using the recommended VDL Mode 4 system parameter set in a
scenario with poor CCI performance. The figures in the table show that use of the improved
parameters significantly improves the ability of the system to deliver messages on time even with
poor CCI performance.

System parameters (CCI=20dB) Default Optimised

Offered load (kbps) 25.9 24.9
Throughput (kbps) 6.5 6.4
Physical success rate (%) 65.1 66.7
User success rate 83.8 96.2
User data transit delay <5s (%) 54.6 91.7
User data round trip delay <8s (%) 54.1 93
Table 5: Impact of optimised parameter set with poor CCI performance

2.3.4 Sensitivity of performance to data link message load

2.3.4.1 An investigation was conducted into the impact of higher message loads, including potential
overload situations. Figure 1 shows the impact of message load on the two-way delay for different
priority messages. The results show that the largest impact of higher loading in terms of delay
2
The CCI value represents the minimum Signal-to-Interference (SIR) value required to ensure that messages can
be decoded with a 2% MER IE a CCI of 10dB means that when a signal level of the desired message is 10dB
greater than an interfering or undesired signal, the message will be decoded with a 2% MER. Therefore, 10dB
represents better CCI performance than 20dB, ie a CCI of 20dB implies that a greater separation is needed
between the desired and undesired signal levels compared to CCI of 10 dB in order to get the same level of
decode performance.

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performance is on the lowest priority stream while performance is maintained for higher
priority messages.

High data link load, high priority

High data link load, medium priority
High data link load, low priority
Medium data link load, high priority
Medium data link load, medium priority
Medium data link load, low priority

Two way transit delay (s)

Figure 1: Cumulative two-way delay for different priority messages under two load conditions

2.3.4.2 Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the behaviour of the VDL Mode 4 link under overload conditions
using the recommended VDL Mode 4 system parameter set (parameter set 2). Figure 2 shows that
message failure increases as the link begins to saturate at round 30kbps offered load, but good
performance is maintained up to 40 kbps. Figure 3 shows the corresponding data link transmission
(DLPDU) failure rate (percentage of garbling). This demonstrates that reasonable performance is
maintained even when the data link transmission loss rate is as high as 16%. Note that since an
offered load of 40kbps is approximately double the physical channel rate, this indicates a high
degree of slot sharing and channel re-use in the scenario.

Parameter set 1
Parameter set 2
Parameter set 3

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 Figure 2: Offered load against percentage failure

45%

40%

35%
Percentage of DLPDUs garbled

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Offered Loa d (kbps)

Figure 3: Percentage garbling of data link transmissions (DLPDUs) vs offered load

2.3.4.3 Table 6 shows the contributors to data link message loss sorted by the type of channel access
for the transmission. It shows that interference with a random access data link transmission is the main
cause of loss and, in particular, interference with uplink random transmissions. Further investigation of
uplink performance found that much of the loss is caused by uplink collisions from two adjoining
busy ground stations. This emphasises the potential benefit that could be gained from ground
station coordination.

Cause of data link transmission Percentage contribution to loss

failure

Uplink Reserved 19.77

Uplink Random 42.82

Downlink Reserved 12.67

Downlink Random 24.74

Table 6: Causes of data link message loss

2.4 Co-site interference assessments for point to point applications

2.4.1 The ability of VDL Mode 4 to operate and coexist with other VHF systems residing on board
the same aircraft has been the subject of intensive investigation during and after the SARPs validation
process. Airborne co-site interference is the undesirable effect caused on the reception of a signal (by
the victim system) by a concurrent transmission sent from a source on-board the same aircraft (the
interferer system) resulting in the potential loss of the desired signal. Considerable effort has therefore

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been invested in support of system validation and deployment activities in order to understand its
effects and potential mitigations.

2.4.2 Collaborative co-site investigations were led by LFV and EUROCONTROL and consisted of
a combination of:
 paper analysis;
 simulations;
 lab trials.

2.4.3 The criteria used to assess co-site performance against time critical applications were derived
from various sources including CoopATS3 and MACONDO4. The criteria are defined across four
message categories for the 95th percentile and 99.996th percentile (Table 7). The derived criteria
figures assume that the air-ground data link is allocated 75% of the end to end requirement.

2.4.4 The most recent assessments, which took into account the recommended VDL Mode 4 system
parameters discussed in section 2.2 above, resulted in the following conclusions:
 The implementation of VDL Mode 4 on an aircraft is feasible based on actual testing for
the development of frequency assignment planning criteria for VDL Mode 4 operating in
the VHF aeronautical band [112] – 137 MHz.
 Based on an analysis of the impact of co-site interference on point to point applications,
using the measured rejection performance of a VDL Mode 4 receiver against voice
traffic, VDL Mode 4 is compatible with the requirements for time critical point to point
applications under most channel load conditions up to the requirement for 95% success
within 3.75 seconds.
 The main performance limitation is in fact not due to airborne co-site interference.
 The use of the recommended system parameters improved the resistance of VDL Mode 4
to co-site interference.

2.4.5 A simulation analysis was performed to assess the ability of VDL Mode 4 to meet time critical
application criteria using the recommended VDL Mode 4 system parameters and considering co-site
interference and different channel loads at a victim receiver. The results of this analysis are shown in
Table 7. The green boxes represent that the criteria can be met at the specific channel load with no
specific range constraint. The red boxes indicate that maximum range (NM) of a transmitter from the
victim receiver at which the specific criteria can bet met. They illustrate that VDL Mode 4 can meet
all the time critical application requirements except for the Distress message category (Table 8).

3
Operational Requirements for Air / Ground Cooperative Air Traffic Services –
EUROCONTROL – Ref AGC-ORD-01 Edition 1.0, 2 April 2004.
4
Operating Concept for the Mobile Aviation Communication Infrastructure Supporting ATM
beyond 2015 – WP2: Operating Concept for the Mobile Aviation Communication
Infrastructure – EATMP – EUROCONTROL – Version 1.0, July 2002.

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 Table 7: Final co-site interference results using recommended VDL Mode 4 parameters and short
transmission protocol

One-way transit delay criteria

Message category 95% 99.996%
Distress 1.5 s 3.75 s
Urgent 3.75 s 11.25 s
Flight Safety 7.5 s 15 s
Routine Surveillance or 22.5 s 45 s
Navigation
Table 8: Criteria used to assess maximum one way VDL Mode 4 transmission delay

2.5 Assessment of LINK2000+ performance

2.5.1 In order to support on-going European data link deployment activities, EUROCONTROL
conducted a series of performance investigation campaigns mainly using the ACTS simulation tool.
Simulations conducted under this campaign were therefore geared towards replicating realistic
operating conditions, starting with the core busy areas in continental European airspace. In particular
the simulations considered the effects of co-site interference, large scale fading and handover of
aircraft moving between ground stations. The simulations were initially focussed on VDL Mode 2
sub-network performance in support of the Link2000+ programme. Subsequent VDL Mode 4
simulations have also been run based on the typical Link2000+ scenario that had already been used for
VDL Mode 2 capacity assessment. In these simulations VDL Mode 4 was considered as a replacement
of VDL Mode 2, in the sense that the ability of the VDL Mode 4 to carry all the data link traffic (ATS
as well as AOC) was investigated.

2.5.2 The results of the most recent VDL Mode 4 simulations using the recommended VDL Mode 4
system parameter set are presented below in Figure 4Error: Reference source not found and Figure 5
showing both message success and percentage of messages meeting one-way (5s) and two-way (8s)
transit delay thresholds during the course of the simulation. It was concluded that:
 The simulations demonstrate that VDL Mode 4 can meet most of the required
performance levels for LINK2000+ applications.
 The simulations showed a significant improvement in performance using the improved
VDL Mode 4 system parameter set instead of the default one.
 The performance is reduced in a dynamic scenario (ie moving aircraft) compared to an
equivalent static scenario (i.e. no handover of aircraft).

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  Handover strategies have a significant impact on performance and the VDL Mode 4
Link Management function should therefore be optimised.

2.5.3 It should also be noted that the handover algorithm implemented in the simulation was the
SQP based VDL Mode 2 algorithm, which was the only specified handover algorithm available at the
time. Section 2.6 describes current activities to achieve further performance improvements through
specification of a handover algorithm that is optimised for VDL Mode 4.

Figure 4: Link2000+ scenario results for ATS only (CPDLC)

Figure 5: Link2000+ scenario results for a combination of ATS and AOC traffic

2.6 Handover optimisation

2.6.1 The current Manual on VDL Mode 4 specifies Link Management procedures and services
(link establishment and handovers) derived from material available in an early version of VDL
Mode 2 Technical Manual. This algorithm is based on initiating handover when the signal strength
falls below a threshold value as determined by the SQP parameter. This approach is known to have

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inherent weaknesses from its VDL Mode 2 implementation and subsequent studies investigating
optimisations for VDL Mode 2 handover have shown the potential for significant improvement
on overall system performance. .

2.6.2 Position information inherently available in VDL Mode 4 offers the opportunity to mitigate
the inherent weaknesses of an SQP based approach and to implement a handover strategy optimised
for VDL Mode 4. Critically optimal cell performance in VDL Mode 4 can also only be achieved
through effective handover. The VM4C is currently investigating the potential performance
improvement that could be achieved through optimising Link Management. In this respect VDL
Mode 4 infrastructure providers have developed and are now testing handover algorithms that
are defined to optimise VDL Mode 4 performance.

3. VDL Mode 4 broadcast validation activities

3.1 Context

3.1.1 Investigations into optimising VDL Mode 4 for broadcast applications were carried out by the
VDL Mode 4 Enhancement and Evaluation Group (VEEG) in 2003 using VPS. The VEEG group was
established by EUROCONTROL and LFV. One of the main objectives of the group was to propose
and evaluate enhancements to the VDL Mode 4 system that would improve its capability to support
ADS-B Package 1+ (air-air broadcast) applications in ECAC.

3.2 Enhancements to broadcast performance

3.2.1 As a result of the investigations the following changes were included in the Manual on VDL
Mode 4 published in 2004 following presentation of the study results in ICAO through WG-M and an
extensive consultation process:
 The description of the reservation table was modified to introduce the concept of “potential
reservations” where a slot containing a signal level over give threshold indicates the presence
of transmissions.
 The slot selection procedure was then modified for the periodic broadcast protocol to remove
consideration of potentially reserved slots from the first stage of slot selection. The
modification used the existing slot occupied requirement to detect that a slot contains more
than one transmission.
 The periodic broadcast was then modified as follows: The application of slot selection priority
levels 0 to 2 excludes potential reservations. Prior to proceeding to level 3, slots containing
potential reservations are then added in.
 Simplification of the two stage synchronisation burst slot selection process to a single stage.
 Modification of the slot conflict procedures for periodic broadcast to prevent interruption of a
periodic stream.
 Minor modification of random access procedures to improve its efficiency in a slotted system
like VDL Mode 4.
 Optimised Quality of Service (QoS) default values to improve the efficiency with which the
channel is used and to tune the resulting operational range for broadcast applications.

3.2.2 The final part of the investigation assessed the performance of VDL Mode 4 to meet ADS-B
package 1+ requirements. This investigation included the changes identified above, and a realistic
multi-channel implementation of VDL Mode 4 including cross-channel interference effects. The
findings of this investigation are summarised in the Figure 6 and Table 10. The figure compares the
update rate achieved by each aircraft category (defined in the ADS-B MASPS and described in Table
9) with respect to the rate required in the MASPS (denoted by the solid black line).

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Aircraft category Subsystems Features
A0 Minimum Lower transmit power and less sensitive receive than
Interactive Aircraft Class A1.
A1 Basic Interactive Standard transmit power and more sensitive receiver.
Aircraft Class A1 implements Antenna Diversity.
A2 Enhanced Standard transmit power and more sensitive receiver.
Interactive Aircraft Interface with avionics source required for aircraft
trajectory intent data.
Antenna Diversity.
A3 Extended More sensitive receiver. Interface with avionics source
Interactive Aircraft required for aircraft trajectory intent data.
Antenna Diversity.
Table 9: MASPS aircraft categories

Figure 6: VDL Mode 4 performance against range for different class of aircraft

Application A0 A1 A2 A3
Aid to visual acquisition Expected5 Yes Yes Yes
(5s/10NM)
Conflict and collision Not required Yes Yes Yes
avoidance (7s/20NM)
Separation assurance and Not required Not required Yes Yes
sequencing (12s/40NM)
Flight path deconfliction Not required Not required Not required Yes to 85 NM
and planning (12s/90NM)
Table 10: Comparison of performance against MASPs requirements

3.2.3 Overall, the results show that the MASPS update periods were achieved while providing
good range performance and that VDL Mode 4 as currently specified has the capability to
support each of the ADS-B package 1+ applications for each different class of aircraft assessed (A0
to A3).

5
In this case sufficient data was not available to determine with any certainty whether VDL Mode 4 could
support the application requirement in the scenarios investigated. However, the limited data available indicated
that it was likely that VDL Mode 4 would support this application.

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4. VDL Mode 4 IP investigation activities

4.1 Context

4.1.1 As initially published, the ICAO ATN SARPs were based on OSI (ATN/OSI). Deployment of
the ATN in this form has had an exceptionally long gestation, mainly due to the cost and complexity
of deploying a bespoke aviation system. In response to calls from the user community for affordable
network solutions the ICAO undertook to include in the ATN SARPs a new suite of specifications
based on the commercial IPS protocol suite (ATN/IPS). Use of open standards IP based solutions
rather than the legacy OSI based ATN allows the aviation industry to capitalise on available
commercial standards and COTS development and will therefore facilitate global implementation of
the ATN, at lower complexity and at lower cost. This is compatible with the principles of on-going
ATM development programmes like SESAR and NextGen.

4.1.2 The ICAO ATN standards update was undertaken in two steps, starting with an update and
validation of the ground-ground SARPs, leading to the update and validation of the air-ground SARPs.
These activities are being led under ACP WG-I (Internet). The outcome is new ATN/IPS SARPs
material to complement or replace the current legacy ATN/OSI SARPs, as well as the new ATN/IPS
Manual for the ATN using IPS Standards and Protocol [ICAO Doc 9896], which includes generic
material that needs to be considered when implementing an IPS air-ground data link. Currently in
almost all cases, the ground segment of ATN is IPS based and using IPS protocols also in the
air/ground link provides for transparent and seamless transfer of data.

4.2 CPDLC Sweden VDL Mode 4 flight trials using IPv6 networking

4.2.1 These recent developments in the use of IPS were keenly supported by LFV in the framework
of its national R&D activities as well as its contributions to SESAR in NORACON 6. This led to a
formal program being established to provide the documentary evidence supporting the
industrialisation and implementation of an IPS based national network using VDL Mode 4 as the
mobile sub network.

4.4.2 One of the key practical elements of this program was a campaign of flight trials supported by
simulations. This campaign set out to assess the use of IP networking technology for the ATN in
support of advanced CPDLC services. The activity sought to understand the implications of the use of
IP on VHF narrow band data links and to contribute to the development of the air-ground (ATN/IPS)
SARPs material.

4.2.3 Full network implementation of ATN/IPS capability was carried out in 2010 introducing the
functionality to the development, test and validation platform provided to SESAR by the NORACON
consortium. The validation campaign was based on 3 out of the 12 ground stations installed in
Sweden, providing full coverage of the Swedish airspace. The terrestrial infrastructure is presently
used for development work, tests and pre-operational activities.

4.2.4 The CPDLC Sweden assessments focused primarily on the capacity and latency performance
offered by a typical VDL Mode 4 implementation considering the currently implemented (Context
Management and CPDLC) and the soon to be implemented applications (SES Implementing Rule for
Data Link Services). The results indicated no issues with operating an ATN over IPS based
networks up to the aircraft.

6
NORACON is an arrangement through which a group of smaller ANSPs and airports are contributing to
SESAR as one ANSP entity. Members of NORACON are LFV (Sweden), Naviair (Denmark), Avinor,(Norway)
Finavia (Finland), EANS (Estonia), Isavia (Iceland), IAA (Ireland) and Austrocontrol (Austria) together with
Swedavia (the airport operator in Sweden).

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4.2.5 The flight trials implemented a slight variation of the open standard IETF NEMO mobility
protocols, by placing the mobility function that handles the setting up of the tunnel on the ground
rather than in the air. The “Ground NEMO” mobility option is based on virtual NEMO routers. As the
aircraft makes contact with and performs a handover to another ground station, the virtual router is
moved along to the new ground station, in the same way a physical mobile router would on the
aircraft.

4.2.6 The flight trials concluded that the “Ground NEMO” variation is the most beneficial
option for the simple scenario investigated in the trial. This is because it offers the required levels
of mobility for ATC applications while making the most efficient use of the limited bandwidth
available over VHF data links as a result of minimal tunnelling overhead. This mobility solution
retains the advantages of COTS development while reducing the complexity and cost borne on board
the aircraft. The results of the flight trials showed that IPS is implementable and offers reasonable
network performance at least in light scenarios.

Standard
IPv6 Ground
mobility NEMO
Key (airborne) mobility
flight
trials
results Per Per
message message

Average 3.15 1.45

Median 2.37 0.89
95th % 5.37 3.54
99th % 15.89 6.04
Table 11: Key IPS flight trial results

4.3 Simulation assessments of mobility options for ATN/IPS

4.3.1 The CPDLC Sweden flight trials held to date were based on:
 a limited set of aircraft; and,
 did not consider the benefits of compression algorithms.

4.3.2 Accepting these practical limitations, in early 2011 LFV commissioned a brief simulation
study to confirm the results of the flight tests, and to investigate the feasibility of an IP network for
larger deployments. A campaign of simulations was therefore set up to:
 compare the performance of the IP-based air-ground component of the data link system with
that of the OSI based ATN;
 confirm the suitability of ground based IP mobility (Ground NEMO) for large scale
deployments following the small scale trials;
 evaluate the benefits of IP compression schemes on data link performance.

4.3.4 The results obtained in the simulations displayed good correlation with the data obtained
from the CPDLC Sweden flight trials. They confirm that the ground NEMO variation of the
mobility protocol offers benefits on the performance of the air-ground segment of the data link chain.
The chart below is a histogram comparing the spread of latencies (in seconds on the horizontal axis)
for a scenario applying Ground NEMO mobility (blue bars) with a scenario applying standard IPv6
airborne mobility (red bars).

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 Table: Latency distributions for simulation results

4.3.5 The Ground NEMO solution developed as part of the CPDLC Sweden activities has now been
included in the latest version of the ATN/IPS standard.

4.3.6 The results of simulating the implementation of Ground NEMO in large scale scenarios
indicates that, as expected, the VDL Mode 4 data link is able to operate within the operational
performance required by typical Safety and Performance Requirement (SPR) standards with
the additional burden placed on the data link in the form of network overhead. However, the data
link performance in terms of latency in very large deployments increases with respect to OSI/ATN
because the standard overhead for IPv6 packets with network mobility is larger than the equivalent
OSI/ATN overhead7. The simulations further showed that under these circumstances, the use of
compression algorithms such as ROHC can significantly reduce the resulting latency by
reducing the network overhead associated with IPv6.

4.3.7 The Table 12 below summarises the key results from the simulations with and without
network overhead compression (for IPv6). The equivalent results for ATN/OSI are shown for
comparison in the first column. All results consider a combination of both ATS and AOC data link
loading.

IPv6
without IPv6 with
Ground OSI/ATN ROHC ROHC
mobility
through
Per Per Per
NEMO
message message message

Average 5.10 6.97 1.87

Median 0.16 0.23 0.13
95th % 3.17 3.43 1.92
99th % 41.57 278.13 3.77
Table 12: Comparison of latency performance in full scale Link2000+ scenario

7
OSI supports network mobility tailored to aviation but this capacity was never widely supported or deployed.
The IP based Ground NEMO offers mobility through a commercial standards package already supported by
mainstream industries.

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4.3.8 The reported latencies for IPv6 applying header compression in the last column meet the
Continental SPR requirements for data link applications which require 95% of messages
transferred within 4 seconds and 99% within 8 seconds.

4.3.9 Based on the live trials and simulation evidence, the study concluded that the introduction of
compression techniques in is a sound strategy because it enables an effective transition of legacy
(OSI) narrow band data link services to IP based networks. Considering the known uptake trend of
data link services and airspace user expectations for AOC services in particular, network overhead
compression such as ROHC is expected to play an instrumental role in the successful deployment of
air-ground IP based services.

4.3.10 In late summer of 2011 flight trials were carried out after the ground and airborne network had
been upgraded with ROHC compression functionality. The results indicate, as expected, a further
improvement to the performance of the communications.

4.4 VDL Mode 4 recognised as an available ATN/IPS datalink

4.4.1 As previously explained VDL Mode 4 has been used to develop and validated the ICAO
ATN/IPS provisions. The validated ATN/IPS functionality is available in VDL Mode 4 equipment and
is being implemented in the NORACON infrastructure that will be used as a test- and validation
facility provided to SESAR

4.4.2 The SESAR WP09.19 has defined the ”SWIM A-G System Architecture, Functional
Specification and Technical Requirement Specification” including specific requirements for ”SWIM
Air-Ground Capability”. VDL Mode 4 ATN/IPS fulfills all these requirements.

4.4.3 Development of new datalink based services has identified that VDL Mode 4 is the only
available ground based air-ground datalink supporting ATN/IPS protocols. The RTCA SC206
(previously cooperating with EUROCAE WG76) considers VDL Mode 4 as a ”link candidate for
AIS/MET Data Link Services”. Recent trials in Sweden demonstrate how VDL Mode4 ATN/IPS
supports communication of Volcanic Ash messages.

5. Developments in VDL Mode 4 frequency assignments

5.1 Frequency band approvals in the ITU

5.1.1 At the World Radio Conference 2007 (WRC-07) of the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), the use of the band 108-117.975 MHz for air-ground communication systems (such as
VDL Mode 4) was restricted to the sub-band 112-117.975 MHz.

5.2 VDL Mode 4 trials based in the NAV band

5.2.1 The finalisation of frequency assignment planning criteria for VDL Mode 4 that would protect
the navigation systems operating in the band 108-117.975 MHz was coordinated with the Navigation
Systems Panel (NSP) and Aeronautical Communications Panel (ACP).

5.2.2 During 2008, 2009 and 2010-2011 testing of the compatibility between VDL Mode 4 and ILS,
VOR and GBAS was undertaken. These test followed the principles that were agreed in the ACP and
the NSP. Test results on the potential interference from VDL Mode 4 into ILS, VOR and GBAS
systems were presented to and reviewed by the NSP in 2008, 2009 and 2011. The result of frequency
testing focussing on the interference from ILS, VOR and GBAS into VDL Mode 4 was reported in
ICAO WG-F in April 2010.

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5.2.3 In 2008 testing of the use of the band 112 – 117.975 MHz by VDL Mode 4 was undertaken at
Kungsängen Airport in Norrkoping, Sweden. These tests were in addition to tests that had been
undertaken between 1999-2001 in the United States and Germany. Testing with VHF data broadcast
systems (GBAS, GRAS) also took place. From 31 August to 4 September 2009 and in 2009, testing
with GBAS equipment was undertaken at the facilities of TELERAD in Biarritz, France. In these
measurements GBAS experts from TELERAD participated actively and provided expert advice. In
2010-2011 tests were made on VOR and ILS monitors at installations in Sweden.

5.2.4 The tests were undertaken using VDL Mode 4 production equipment in accordance with the
test plans developed by ACP (2003-2007) and EUROCONTROL (2004). These test plans were
reviewed and agreed by the GNSSP SSG (2003), amended with regard to the frequency range in
which VDL Mode 4 is operating and also considered additional comments from the NSG SSG (2008,
2009 and 2011).

5.3 Conclusions on frequency planning criteria presented in ICAO

5.3.1 With regard to the operation of VDL Mode 4 in the proximity of ILS, it was concluded that
VDL Mode 4 can be used without frequency assignment planning constraints vis-à-vis the ILS if
separated by at least 50 kHz (e.g. ILS-Localizer operating on 111.950 MHz and VDL Mode 4 on
112.000 MHz). The minimum separation distance necessary to protect VDL Mode 4 from
harmful interference caused by ILS Localizer transmissions is about 1 km from the Localizer
transmitter site. This frequency separation is already provided by ICAO provisions and the ITU
Radio Regulations.

5.3.2 With regard to the operations of VDL Mode 4 in the proximity of VOR, it was concluded that
with the separation distances required to protect VDL Mode 4 from interference that can be caused by
VOR transmissions, no co-frequency use of VDL Mode 4 and VOR is recommended when the
VDL Mode 4 equipped aircraft is within radio line of sight of the VOR airborne receiver . When
VDL Mode 4 is operating on the first adjacent (25 kHz) channel of VOR frequency it would be
possible to operate VDL Mode 4 outside a range of 10 to 40 km from the VOR station
Designated Operational Coverage8.

5.3.3 When VDL Mode 4 is operating on the second adjacent (50 kHz) channel of the VOR
frequency, no frequency planning constraints are necessary to protect VDL Mode 4 from
interference from VOR transmissions. However, when implementing VDL Mode 4, attention
should be given to the possibility of interference into the VDL Mode 4 receiver within a radius of 1-5
km around a VOR transmitting station, depending on the EIRP of the VOR.

5.3.4 With regard to the operation of VDL Mode 4 in the vicinity of GBAS channels, co-channel
assignments for GBAS and VDL Mode 4 should secure that the separation distance between a
GBAS receiver station and a VDL Mode 4 equipped aircraft is greater than the distance to the
radio horizon of the two aircraft. This would result in a protection ratio (D/U) of 20 dB or more.
When GBAS and VDL Mode 4 are operating on the first adjacent channel, a geographical
separation of about 10 km between the GBAS (ground) station Designated Operational
Coverage and the VDL Mode 4 transmitter (either on the ground or on board an aircraft).

5.3.5 No frequency assignment planning criteria would need to be applied when GBAS and
VDL Mode 4 are operating on the second adjacent (25 kHz) or more adjacent channel. In an area
of about 5 km around a GBAS station (on the second adjacent channel) a VDL Mode 4 equipped
aircraft may be interfered by GBAS transmissions; this range becomes less when the frequency
separation increases. Considering the transient effect of interference when the aircraft is in flight, this

8
Frequency assignment planning constraints agreed in the NSP would not permit the use of the first
adjacent (25 kHz) channel within the coverage of a VOR station.

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interference range would be acceptable for VDL Mode 4. However, for aircraft operating on the
surface of an airport, it may be necessary, taking into account also the local conditions on an airport, to
assign the second to fifth adjacent channel with caution.

6. Further VDL Mode 4 implementation activities

6.1 Context

6.1.1 Current implementations of VDL Mode 4 in Europe include 12 interconnected ground stations
implemented in Sweden providing support for both ADS-B-out and point to point ATN/IPS
applications. LFV and Federal Agency of Air Transportation (Russia) are also working on an ADS-B
Baltic project which will extend VDL Mode 4 coverage for the Sweden to Russia air corridor.

6.1.2. Council of Ministry of Transportation of Russian Federation of 11/10/2010

(devoted to ADS-B) made decision to approve the program on implementation of ADS-B in Russian
Federation (2011 - 2020) with 1090 ES and VDL Mode 4. To get experience, it was decided to launch
three pilot projects with ADS-B in 2011 – 2013 with 1090 ES and VDL Mode 4. All low airspace
below 6 000 m will be served with ADS-B based on VDL Mode 4. These pilot projects include
Moscow region (5 ground ADS-B VDL Mode 4 stations are already installed), Yamal region for the
route of 600 km with no ATC infrastructure today and ADS-B Baltic.

6.1.3 Other VDL Mode 4 implementations include Qatar where the civil aviation administration has
implemented a base station based at Doha which is currently in operation serving 150 mobile
transponders, and Vietnam where VDL Mode 4 is implemented on 13 helicopters (with another 6 in
the pipeline) supported by a VDL Mode 4 base station.

6.1.4 The most recent activities investigating the implementation of VDL Mode 4 are described in
6.2 and 6.3 below.

6.2 Activities supporting development of wake vortex applications

6.2.1 The Russian Federation investigated a research project in order to expand the operational
benefits of the ADS-B implementation and its related applications aimed at improving the safety and
efficiency of air traffic operations in Russia.

6.2.2 Along with the plans to deploy ADS-B based on 1090 ES data link, the Russian Federation is
investigating the use of an additional VDL Mode 4 data link to:
 improve situational awareness for aircrews;
 support the uplink of an aeronautical information;
 provide controlled flights of unmanned aircraft systems in non-segregated airspace;
 provide air-to-air interaction of the airborne wake vortex safety systems; and,
 increase efficiency of search and rescue operations especially in regions with little or no
ground infrastructure.

6.2.3 Introduction into operation of new larger aircraft (А-380, В-787, В-747-8) together with the
urgent necessity to increase the airspace capacity in some regions of the world highlights the extreme
importance of wake vortex safety for the international civil aviation. Existing ICAO SARPs stipulate
reasonably large separation minima related to wake vortex turbulence caused by the worst
combination of unfavourable factors. In some cases, this approach leads to unjustified restrictions of
the airspace usage especially in the airport’s terminal area.

6.2.4 At the same time, aircraft encounters with the vortex turbulence have a transient and critical
impact on operations, in particular on the safety of flights. The Russian Federation has therefore
carried out practical flight trials based on an approach scenario when an aircraft, following in path of

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another aircraft, receives advisory data about the configuration and intensity of the wake vortex to
downstream traffic.

6.2.5 This data is broadcast by the upstream aircraft for the benefit of any downstream recipients.
The availability of actual wake vortex information provides accurate estimation of the potential impact
of the turbulence zone and supports the generation of control commands to avoid entering into a
dangerous wake vortex areas. The trials scheme used in this campaign used the data broadcast
functionality of VDL Mode 4 to broadcast the wake vortex data. The results of the test flights
confirmed the feasibility of this application.

6.3 Activities supporting civilian UAS deployment

6.3.1 A rapid commercial uptake of UAS applications has prompted unprecedented development of
civil UAS applications and consequently an urgent need to develop a regulatory base and to adapt the
ATC system to control the UAS flights in the common civil airspace. ICAO has established the
Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study Group (UASSG), which was tasked to create the conceptual basis
for the future development of UAS international standards. The basic principle used in this work is the
safety of flights of all airspace users.

6.3.2 Within the framework of the concept developed by the UASSG, it is intended that UAS flight
management will be performed in accordance with the existing ATC procedures and by using standard
ATC means for international civil aviation. It is also intended that information about flight plans and
real-time position of the UAS should be continuously available to ATC and other airspace users. The
concept raises possibilities about the development of new separate data links for the surveillance and
for UAS control.

6.3.3 It is evident that the introduction of new “see and avoid” technology based on the information
from a variety of sensors (visual, infrared, radiolocation, etc.) is many years away. Currently available
systems are not driven by internal needs of the existing ATC systems for the international civil
aviation.

6.3.4 In recognition of this, the Russian Federation has carried out investigations on the feasibility
of applications supporting ATC management of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flights in non-
segregated airspace. This ADS-B based application capitalises on features built into the VDL Mode 4
specification.

6.3.5 The Russian aerospace industry has developed prototype equipment both for surveillance and
for execution of UAS control commands set. Trial flights of the new ADS-B surveillance function in
support of UAS operations were based on VDL Mode 4 data link exchanges. The control was
performed by means of the same data link in the “point-to-point” mode. This technical implementation
extends the capability of UAS surveillance not only to ATC controllers but to other aircraft equipped
with ADS-B-in. UAS pilots were also able to observe other aircraft in the proximity of the UAS
through ADS-B or TIS-B. These observations were made as a result of a series of flight trials carried
out in 2009 and 2010.

6.3.6 In May 2011 there was a regular meeting of ICAO UASSG in St. Petersburg at which the first
ever joint flights of manned and unmanned aircraft in civil airspace were demonstrated. The flights
were conducted using VDL Mode 4 technology compliant with approved ICAO, EUROCAE and
ETSI regulatory documents. The flights were performed by two Mi-8 helicopters, AS-5MR manned
motorized glider, and two UAS with take-off weight of 100 and 5 kg.

6.3.7 These demonstration flights and the results of studies carried out at GosNIIAS using “man-in-
the-loop” simulations confirmed that VDL Mode 4 is a data link supporting both ADS-B operation
(“Out” and “In”) as well as other broadcasting functions like FIS-B, TIS-B, A-SMGCS, DGNSS and
situational awareness (TSAA), and point-to-point communications applied as a redundant

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communications data link for UAS command and control. The results also verified the ability of
functions/applications based on VDL Mode 4 to control UAS flights in civil airspace in a robust and
safe manner.

6.3.8 Airspace users attracted to the flights on May 23-25 applied spatial (coordinates) and temporal
(all VDL Mode 4 messages are synchronized to satellite time with up to 10-6 sec accuracy)
information from GNSS. “Internet in sky” is an example of the innovative technology supporting safe
and economically efficient air traffic management both for UAS and other air traffic participants.

6.3.9 Considering that global discussions on the process for integrating UAS in civil airspace are
currently at a dead-lock. It was proposed by the Russian member in UASSG to use a so called “VDL
Mode 4 patch”, noting that VDL Mode 4 is a technology globally standardised but not yet broadly
implemented. Controlled airspace where VDL Mode 4 is not used is not changed in any way on
application of this “patch”. The only requirement is a ground station (including a VDL Mode 4
transponder with VHF and GNSS antennas and a computer for data exchange between the ATC
system and the ground station) whose role together with the remote UAS pilots is to provide
surveillance, communication and control (the UAS and remote pilot stations are all equipped with
VDL Mode 4 transponders). ATC voice communications with the remote UAS pilots is performed in a
traditional manner. As a result, ATC gets full information about UAS; UAS remote pilots are aware of
the situation in the airspace via ADS-B, TIS-B and FIS-B data etc.; aircrews of manned aircraft
perform flights in line with requirements for the given airspace. Use of the proposed “VDL Mode 4
patch” will facilitate execution of UAS flights in any airspace on a legitimate ICAO basis and for
foreseeable future there are no other possibilities to achieve this goal.

6.3.10 The Council of Ministry of Transportation of Russian Federation of 15/7/2011, requested

that the results of joint flights of manned and unmanned aircraft in non-segregated airspace in St.
Petersburg in May 2011 should be taken into account and gave instructions to develop regulatory
documents to provide UAS integration into civil airspace based on the use of VDL Mode 4. The
Integrated use of VDL Mode 4 for ADS-B and with other applications such as UAS, will help promote
further innovative use of technologies in ATC practice.

6.4 VHF Multi Mode Radio (VMMR)

6.4.1 A VHF Multimode Radio (VMMR) development is being performed by Rockwell Collins
France, on the basis of software defined radio principle. The VMMR provides co-existent
Voice/ACARS/VDL Mode 2 and VDL Mode 4 functions by way of a single [ARINC 750] form factor
unit, using an unchanged aircraft VHF antenna arrangement. The VMMR can easily replace existing
radio equipment onboard aircraft, thus providing an easy transition to digital radios and operations
based on datalinks.

6.4.2 The VMMR is conceptually a software defined radio (SDR), employing direct analog-to-
digital (A-D) conversion at the RF level, thus precluding the need for intermediate frequency stages.
The A-D conversions are followed directly by [digital] signal and data processing, allowing data
recovery, analysis and filtering sophistication beyond what has been demonstrated so far in traditional
implementations.

6.4.3 The radio shares the transmission lane with voice and datalink functions, while employing a
number of separate receivers (‘channelizers’) in support of receiving a number of separate VDL Mode
4 channels. For the initial version of the radio, 4 channelizers have been foreseen although the number
can be expanded basically until physical limitations are reached.

6.4.4 The fact that no intermediate frequency stage is needed, while filtering is implemented in a
software defined way, enables sophistication and re-configurability not available in traditional
implementation. Also, advanced noise and co-site interference cancellation is enabled in this way,
since ‘decision techniques’ are available for use that cannot be built in traditional filtering.

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6.4.5 The SDR basis of the VMMR enables elimination of co-site interference between multiple
radios on the same aircraft. For that purpose, a coordination data bus is established between VMMRs 9,
so that VDL Mode 4 operation and any concurrent reception on other radios are coordinated by
sharing the slot reservation table. Any possible audible interference 10 is eliminated in this way, and
also in the case that squelch of the receiving radio is broken. This concept has also been validated
through the use of appropriate demonstrations.

9
Standard Rockwell Collins data radios like the VDR-920 may be modified to carry the same function.
10
In some studies referred to as ‘clicking’ or ‘metronome’.

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