Categoria: News

Remote Towers are getting more and more popular in the ATC world, allowing the remote execution of all tasks usually performed by air traffic controllers operating from a tower located at the airport site. Today’s technology is in fact capable of making all required information available at a different site, where controllers access the same features that would be accessible in a conventional airport tower.

This makes a big difference because controllers are not asked to be physically on site, but they can work remotely in a so-called Remote Tower Control Centre (RTCC) from which a number of airports can be managed simultaneously from one location. Of course, this implies the capability of the involved systems to remote all their interfaces, to give operators the feeling of being physically sitting in the airport tower, even if they are hundreds of kilometres afar. Video streams caught by cameras of different kinds are displayed to provide an out-of-window view of the airport. Radio and telephone voice communication means is also made available remotely.

ENAV, the Italian ANSP, is in the process of building up a RTCC in Brindisi to gradually move the management of small to medium airports to this centralized facility. For the accomplishment of this task, SITTI has been asked to cooperate with the provision of a new MULTIFONO® M800IP® system to be used as the main VCS. These systems will be integrated with a data and voice recording and replay system (named VRS800S), also capable of recording ambient audio.

The new M800IP® Voice Communication System (VCS) will be equipped with a total of 48 new controller working positions (CWP), capable of seamlessly access analogue, digital and VoIP (Voice over IP) radio and telephone links through high level, top performing, touch screen panels. The emergency VCS will be complemented by another 15 CWPs and additional telephone and radio channels. All what above is accompanied by the VRS800S Voice Recording System, capable of simultaneously record more than 100 VoIP channels and 120 E1 channels, plus ambient audio.

ENAV and SITTI are together building up a modern remote control centre that will allow the Italian ANSP reducing operative costs, without renouncing to its high level standards of high reliability and safety to the benefit of all airlines and passengers.

The Italian Air Force (AM – Aeronautica Militare) has recently awarded SITTI the implementation of a geographical network connecting its main sites by use of the VoIP (Voice over IP) technology. The same network will be also used as the backbone for the Remote Instant Messaging service between operators located at different sites.

SITTI boasts a very solid and long-lasting strict relationship with AM that brought along the past decades at the installation of several VCS (Voice Communication Systems) in the airbases all over Italy. These systems are now going to be upgraded to be part of a large nation-wide standard network.

Dedicated so-called SCC/AM (Servizi Coordinamento e Controllo) centres are operating 24/7 to allow efficient and effective coordination between civil and military flights and to provide the air traffic control service in the military dedicated airspace. All these centres will now be connected to a nation-wide network, allowing direct connection on one side to the military control centres and on the other side to all military airfield towers.

The contract between the Air Force and SITTI envisages the installation or upgrade of MULTIFONO® M800IP® systems developed by SITTI, to allow VoIP communications in full adherence and compliance to the world renowned standard ED137. The new network architecture is not only allowing more efficient links between operators, but also dramatically reduces the amount of network resources needed: dedicated links are no longer needed as the bandwidth is only occupied while conversations are in place, thus giving the overall network a much greater throughput.

All what above is accomplished by server-based VCS systems of the M800IP® family, connected to the network via duplicated independent interfaces for reliability purposes and security reasons, thus fully isolating the local VCSs from the outer world, preventing possible unauthorized access.

“The implementation of such an important and large-scope project once more testifies the capability of SITTI to tackle challenging scenarios.” – Mr. Massimo Romata, SITTI Program Manager, stated – “This also applies to those clients for which security is of utmost importance, as for military purposes.”

Always very attentive to the evolutions in the field of voice handling, SITTI is actively participating in the EUROCAE WG122 working group devoted to the definition of virtual centres and all their implications on the services needed for an efficient, safe, effective management of the air traffic.

On May 21, ENAV hosted a WG122 meeting at their nice facilities in Rome Ciampino, during which several important aspects on virtual centres have been discussed. Many experts from different companies representing both ANSPs (Air Navigation Service Providers) and industry met to commence work on a new document “Virtual Centre – Guidelines for Implementation”.

SITTI was represented by its Innovation Manager, Roberto Weger, who described the framework of the contingency and delegation use cases related to the initial deployment of the virtual centre concept within ENAV.

The Italian Air Force (AM – Aeronautica Militare) is more and more progressing in the achievement of their target aiming at centralizing the management of the Voice Communication Systems (VCS) used for the control of the national airspace. This project wants to make it possible to have remote secure access to all facilities from a central location, thus reducing the time needed for acquiring the status of possible malfunctions and the relevant corrective actions.

SITTI is a very long-term supplier to the Air Force and very well knows the network connecting the defence sites and the information they can share with other air traffic control installations. SITTI is therefore in the optimal condition for answering the request coming from the Customer to develop an executive plan for the identification of the services and functions to be made available at each site and the way they can be made accessible.

The Air Force Command requested SITTI to study a possible remote management infrastructure and define the relevant implementation phases, from the definition of the areas of interest up to the identification of the hardware and software modules and components that are required to gradually introduce remote management capabilities with nationwide extension.

The overall plan is divided into 3 major step:

• Remote Surveillance (T1): centralisation of the alarm and status messages related to the working condition of remote components, with the aim of identifying possible problems and coordinate corrective actions.
• Remote Diagnostics (T2): capability of executing remote access and diagnosis, by means of dedicated applications, e.g. monitoring the status of all connections of any kind and the real use of operative frequencies.
• Remote Control (T3): possibility of issuing execution commands to remote facilities and sending reconfiguration patterns to cope with new operational needs, thus dramatically reducing the intervention time, crucial aspect especially in the military field.

The executive plan developed by SITTI has been submitted to the Italian Air Force in all its aspects and got full approval, thus allowing its implementation. Meanwhile, the pilot project has been tested, validated and approved. The new remote management features allow AM to quickly react to all ordinary and extraordinary situations that may occur while controlling the Italian national airspace.