BEST System Management

Control of the BEST System

BEST USER MANUAL VOLUME 1

System Management

All Rights Reserved. © Micro Nav Limited 2019 1

© Micro Nav Ltd BEST 6 V1.1 Draft A
System Configuration Page

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System Management Functions

• Has facilities for the manipulation of:

• Network – System Update

• Full System Update
• Configuration
• Partial System Update
– Running the Simulator
– Node Management
– Exiting the Simulator
• Passwords
• System • Licences
– Backup and Restore • Error Log
• Data Files • Strip Design and Printing
• Airspaces
• • Stand Alone Operations
Recordings
• Configurations • Shutting the System Down
• System

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Network Data Administration

• Node Status Display

• Network Error List

• Network Message List

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Network Data Administration

• Sound Alarm

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Network Data Administration 2

• Example of error

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System Configuration Page

• Allows
Configuration of Multiple “Circuits”
A circuit is a series of BEST Nodes linked together to form a simulator,
therefore, one manager can control many simulators.

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System Configuration Page

• Allows
Configuration of the Simulation Scenario Elements for each Circuit
Which Airspace / Exercise / Weather ?

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System Configuration Page

• Allows
Configuration of the individual function of each node within the circuit
Is the node a Controller / Supervisor / Pilot ?
• If a Voice Communication System (VCS) is connected, it is
configured at this stage.

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Scenario Components

• Running a scenario requires three database parts to

be selected for use
Airspace

Exercise

Weather

• One of the strengths of BEST is that you can mix

and match Exercise and Weather data

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What do we mean by Airspace?

• The Airspace database holds all permanent data for

a scenario
Airports, Runways, Approaches, SIDs, STARs and Missed Approaches

Fixes

Airways

Aircraft Performance Data

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What do we mean by Exercise?

• An Exercise contains the traffic sample (flight plans)

to be used for a scenario
i.e. a series of flights which will become active at the start, or, during
the exercise

• Includes the definition of

the start conditions for the flight
the start time of the flight
the flight plan data for the flight
automated commands for the flight (Scripts)

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What do we mean by Weather?

• The weather conditions that are to be applied to the

traffic sample

• Initial weather conditions

Temperature / Dew point
Wind Data, both surface and upper layers
Cloud
Visibility
• Initial landing and departure runway configurations for each airport
• Any pre-programmed changes for the weather or runways (Scripts)

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Current Configuration

• The current configuration is the configuration being

executed by the simulator nodes
• As soon as any changes are made to the
configuration by the user the displayed
configuration will not match the “current”
configuration
• To indicate this to the user all text in the
configuration grid becomes Red
• However, the new configuration does not change
the exercises being run in the circuits

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Current Configuration 2

• Once all circuits have been configured as required

activate the new configuration by

selecting “Run Config”

• This rewrites the file which holds the current

configuration and turns the configuration text
‘BLACK’

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New Configuration Operation

• In order that a change of the configuration does not

interfere with running exercises

If the exercise has already started:

the nodes in that circuit will NOT be restarted until the exercise is
‘Exited’ by the circuit Supervisor

Any circuit that has not already started:

all nodes in that circuit will restart BEST with the newly assigned
configuration

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System Housekeeping

• To carry out System Housekeeping functions, select

the System tab

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Back Up and Restore Data

• Facilities are provided to allow the user to back up

and restore:
Relational Database - includes all other files residing in the Data
directory
Airspaces - text file databases only - includes all Exercises and Weather
sets for each Airspace
Recordings - BEST files only, does not archive any audio recording files
Configurations
Exercise - archives all files required to run a single exercise (primarily
intended for sending to Micro Nav for fault evaluation purposes)

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System Update

• Install or Update?
WARNING - make sure you read the release notes carefully!
• Install
Replaces the BEST Executable files
loads a new clean relational database
This will wipe all data stored in the relational database
May be required if changes are made to basic database structure
Data will then need to be re-imported using the facilities within Data
Preparation
• Update
Overwrites the existing BEST executable files with the new version
Does not affect any user developed data

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System Update

• System software (BEST) from the System Manager

can be uploaded to any position in the network
• To upload BEST to all defined nodes select “Full
System Update”
• To upload BEST to a single node select “Partial
System Update” and select the required node from
the list
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Password Administration

• Select the Password Tab

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Passwords

• Certain BEST functions are password protected or

controlled
• Users can be given three levels of access
Admin
Allows unrestricted access to all functions of the system
Write
Allows access to all functions of the system other than system
administration functions
Read
Allows the user to run Data Preparation and view the data only -
no write access

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Passwords

• No password is required to run the simulator

• Just click the BEST icon

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Licence Tab

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Modifying the Licence
• The licence can not be modified unless:
A user obtains permission for a different set of licence conditions - usually
through additional licence fees
The user e-mails the displayed Serialisation Code to Micro Nav who send back
an encoded Activation Code which includes the number of licensed users, the
expiry date and the functions allowed
• It also includes hardware specific data which prevents the
same code from working on any other computer

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Use Files for Key Update

The Serialisation and Activation Codes are complex

numbers which are easy to misread or mis-type
To prevent this, save the Serialisation Code to a file for
e-mailing to Micro Nav

• Micro Nav will send back the corresponding

“Activation Code” also in a file
• Use the “Load Code From File” button to load the
supplied code

This method is highly recommended

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Simulation Error Capture

• Error screen is displayed when a system error is

detected

Note: this will only appear when BEST is restarted after a crash
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System Manager - Error Tab

• Select the Errors tab

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Strip Design and Printing

• This topic is covered separately in 001-11 BEST

Flight Strip Production

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Stand Alone Selection

• A node not currently configured in a

circuit will have the Stand Alone
Screen showing when BEST is started
Stand alone means only one user;
pilot/supervisor
controller with voice recognition active
Instructor station
• This mode allows access to the Data
Prep suite

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Stand Alone Selection

• From version BEST 6.38 onwards Stand Alone

requires a password to make a selection

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Stand Alone Selection

• After adding password the BEST Stand Alone

Options are enabled

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Instructor Station
• Requires password to access
• Can access any running circuit
• Can monitor or interact with the Simulation in a
Supervisor or Pilot capacity
• Working positions in the circuit will receive NO
indication that the Instructor station has joined
(Stealth mode)

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Exiting System Manager

• To Exit from the BEST System Manager

Select Exit
Or, click the ‘close’ icon in the top right corner

• An ‘Admin’ level password is required

• A Shutdown Menu is now displayed

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Shut down Options

BEST Manager only

• The following confirmation screen will appear

• Will shut down the BEST Manager Node immediately, then any Remote
nodes that are running will automatically shut down after 90 seconds if
BEST Manager is not restarted.

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Shut down Options

BEST all remote positions

• This will shutdown all the remote
positions immediately

BEST at all positions

• This will shutdown both the Manager and
ALL remote positions

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BEST System Management

• Any Questions?

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