HFDL and Polar Flights – CPWG Meeting · PDF filecorresponding ground -based HFDL ground...

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HFDL and Polar Flights – CPWG Meeting

May 2017 Presented by Carolyn Bray


Framework for Discussion

• Specifications & Protocols

• General Overview of the service

• HFDL Flight Tracking Maps

• HFDL Ground Stations & Coverage

• Aircraft Equipage for HFDL

• Diagnostics

• Data Rate and Uplink Delivery Times

• Media available on HFDL Polar Flights

• Conclusions

HFDR


Specifications and Protocols • ARINC Report:

– Provides guidelines or general info found by the airlines to be good practices, often related to maintenance and support

• ARINC Report 634: HF Data Link System Design Guidance Material

• ARINC Specification: – Principally used to define either the physical packaging or mounting of the

avionics equipment, data communications standards or high-level computer language

• ARINC Specification 635-4: HF Data Link Protocols

• ARINC Characteristics – Define the form, fit, function and interfaces of avionics equipment

• ARINC Characteristic 719-5: Airborne HF / SSB System • ARINC Characteristic 753-2: HF Data Link System

Specification documents are available at http://www.aviation-ia.com/cf/store/catalog_detail.cfm?item_id=466


General Overview • ARINC launched the world’s only High Frequency Data Link (HFDL)

system in 1998 • 73 worldwide customers • Over 3000 equipped aircraft with 4.3 million transmissions per month

– Number of aircraft with HFDL is consistently growing. Airbus and Boeing are including HFDL with VHF and SATCOM on new aircraft.

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HFDL Traffic


HF, SATCOM and VHF work together • HFDL is a segment of ACARS used to exchange Airline Operational Control (AOC)

and Air Traffic Services (ATC) messages between aircraft end systems and corresponding ground-based HFDL ground stations (HGS)

– Interoperable with VHF, VDL Mode 2 (VDLM2), Inmarsat satellite and Iridium satellite

– Provides a terrestrial based back-up to SATCOM and VHF • Different equipment (both avionics and station) for protection of comms

in failure situations.

– Avionics and the ARINC GMP move smoothly to use various media. Generally the order is: VHF, SATCOM, HFDL.

– The aircraft can use multiple media simultaneously. Messages can be in progress on all 3 media simultaneously.


Why Use HFDL? Bandwidth required for data less than what is required for voice

Full fidelity voice 7 - 8 kHz Intelligible voice 3.3 kHz Data 2.4 kHz

HFDL system operates with over 167 frequencies (32 at any one time)

This enables great flexibility optimizing propagation

The PM office continually monitors solar events and can change the operating frequencies via the Active Frequency Table (AFT)


Worldwide Coverage

Areas of Primary coverage

Areas of Secondary coverage

Legend HFDL ground

station

HF Ground Stations

Alaska (H09) Bahrain (H15) Bolivia (H13)

California (H01) Canary Islands (H17)

Guam (H16) Hawaii (H02) Iceland (H03) Ireland (H07)

New York (H04) New Zealand (H05)

Panama (H11) Russia (H14)

South Africa (H08) Thailand (H06) Korea (coming)


HFDL Flights – Latitude/Longitude Reported in Performance Data


HFDL Polar Flights:


May 1-14 Polar HFDL performance position report data for flights above 75 degrees

Data for the flights starts above 60 degrees, but the flight had to go above 75 degrees to be included.


HFDL Ground Station (HGS) • 15 ground stations located worldwide

• 2-3 frequencies propagating from each ground

station – Channel 1 typically optimized for coverage

radius of 3,000-4,000 nm

– Channel 2 optimized for coverage radius out to 2,000-3,000 nm

– For those sites with a 3rd channel, coverage is usually directional

• H11(Pan) Single Channel Station

• HGS has 1,000 watts transmit power – As compared to only 400 watts transmitted

from the aircraft


Equipage: • HFDL is certified as forward-fit on most large commercial transport aircraft

– Boeing • B737-700 / 800 / 900 • B747-400 / 400F • B757-200 / 300 • B767-200 / 300 / 400 • B777-200 / 300 • B787 (future delivery)

– Airbus • A319 / 320 / 321 • A330 / 340 • A380 (HFDL is standard equipment)

• Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) available on many aircraft types

– A320 family – B737-800 – B747-200 / 300 / 400 – B757-200 / 300 – B767-200 / 300 / 400 – B777-200 – MD-11


What the HFDR Tells Us: • How do we use the frequency and performance data?

– Lat/long in both data sets allows for mapping and route tracking – Frequency of log-ons help identify possible coverage gaps or areas of possible

interference – Crew interaction with equipment

• Switching between left and right HFDRs • DATA mode disabled • Radio tuning panel turned off

– Uplink and downlink performance – Signal characteristics of scanned frequencies – Operational investigations


Data Rate Negotiation • The interaction between the ground and airborne components

determines the data rate

• Depending on the size of the message and the HF environment, 1 of 4 rates (300, 600, 1200, 1800 bps) is selected, as well as the data compression algorithm for the specific data rate

– This is called “hand-shaking”

• Data rates also assist in data analysis by telling us how well the HFDR hears the HGS transmission


HFDL Uplink Block Delivery Times – April 2017


Polar Flight information – May 1-14 2017

174 tails that had HFDL position reports above 75 degrees north for that time period.

All were tri-media (VHF/SATCOM/HF).

120 had ARINC Inmarsat SATCOM (69%)

16 had ARINC Iridium SATCOM (9%)

38 had SITA SATCOM (unknown whether it was Inmarsat or Iridium) (22%)


Let’s Wrap This Up… • HFDL ground and airborne

components work together to make HFDL a highly reliable data link service

• HFDL is a cost-effective alternative to satellite, but used in conjunction with satellite provides the most reliable long-range data link combination

• Significant operational benefits to be gained from implementing HFDL “Captain, subspace is down. Only thing working is HFDL”


Questions or Problem Reports • Carolyn Bray – HFDL Technical Project Manager

– [email protected] – + 1 410-266-2147

– [email protected] – US & Int’l Access (Sprint) 1-800-633-6882 HDQHDXA

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

HFDL and Polar Flights – CPWG Meeting · PDF filecorresponding ground -based HFDL ground...

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