National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 1
Traffic Manager (TMX) Modifications to Support NextGen Studies at NASA-Langley
Research Center
Kurt W. Neitzke
NASA Langley Research Center
Innovations in NAS-Wide Simulation
George Mason University, VA
27-28 January 2010
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 2
Outline
I. TMX Background & OverviewA. Development History
B. Architecture
C. Supported Research Studies
II. Current enhancements
III. Remaining Gaps
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 3
Background **
• TMX development began in 1996 by National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands (NLR) to study “Free Flight”, where:
– Properly equipped aircraft allowed to choose own flight path– While maintaining separation from all other aircraft (airborne separation
assistance system (ASAS)) • Originally designed to support human in the loop (HITL) studies
related to Free Flight to develop and compare different conflict resolution algorithms
• TMX updated periodically to date, by NASA Langley and NLR to support specific research studies primarily related to airborne separation assistance
• Evolved capabilities now include:– Stand alone Fast-time or Batch simulator– Links readily to other air traffic simulations (e.g. Airspace and Traffic
Operations Simulation (ATOS) at NASA-LaRC)
** Source: Traffic Manager: A Flexible Desktop simulation Tool Enabling Future ATM Research; Bussink, F.J.L., et. al., 2005 IEEE
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 4
TMX Overview
TMX features Include:• Operates on single computer platform, Windows OS• Capable of ~ 2000 aircraft simultaneously aloft (typ. supporting regional, not NAS-wide
studies)• BADA performance models (200 aircraft reference fleet)• Autopilot model (with basic altitude, speed and heading modes as well as the FMS
coupled LNAV (lateral) and VNAV (vertical & speed) modes• Conflict detection & resolution (CD&R) system selectable from up to 10 variants or
none, including state, and intent based• Conflict Prevention System (P-ASAS) – “Go – No-Go” bands on cockpit display to
prevent pilot maneuvering into short-term (< 5 min. typically) conflicts • A 4D-FMS with route following, & Required Time of Arrival (RTA) meeting (closed loop)
capability• Pilot model with parameters for reaction time, scheduling effects and recovery
manoeuvres• ADS-B models
– Separate transmit & receive models– Includes range limits & signal drop-out (simple)
• Winds (truth & forecast)• Surveillance view or pilot viewpoint GUI (can disable for batch sim’s)
Source: Traffic Manager User’s Manual, Version 5.31; Hoekstra, J.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 5
TMX Architecture
Source: Traffic Manager: A Flexible Desktop simulation Tool Enabling Future ATM Research; Bussink, F.J.L., et. al., 2005 IEEE
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 6
TMX Surveillance View
Source: Traffic Manager User’s Manual, Version 5.31; Hoekstra, J.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 7
TMX Surveillance View
AFR aircraft (green) and IFR aircraft (blue)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 8
Research Studies Supported• 2008; A Performance Assessment of a Tactical Airborne Separation
Assistance System Using Realistic, Complex Traffic; Smith, J.C. et. al.,, The 26th Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS)
• 2004; Fast-time study of Airborne Merging and Spacing for Terminal Arrivals (AMSTAR)
• 2004; HITL experiment supporting integrated air/ground operations feasibility under the En Route Free Maneuvering component of Distributed Air/Ground - Traffic Management (DAG-TM) Concept
• 2004; In-Flight Traffic Simulation for Self-Separation and Sequencing (SSS) Flight Experiment conducted by NASA LaRC as part of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) project– traffic generation, conflict detection and prevention, visual and audio alerts and
was used as a decision support tool in support of self-separation operations
• Integral part of Air Traffic Operations Laboratory (ATOL) at NASA-LaRC– Interactive background air traffic
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 9
TMX Enhancements• Integration of Airborne Coordinated Conflict Resolution
and Detection (ACCoRD) based CP-Bands• Integration of Strategic, Intent-based CD&R capability
StratWay (Strategic Waypoint adjustment program)• Integration of NASA TFM functionality• Outline approach for future integration of weather data
into TMX• Create a distributed architecture version of TMX to
enable NAS-Wide simulation and higher traffic volumes (compared with stand-alone TMX)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 10
TMX Conflict Prevention System
Heading Band (degrees)
Indicated Airspeed Band (kts)
Vertical Rate Band (100's ft per Minute)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 11GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 11
Integration of Airborne Coordinated Conflict Resolution and Detection (ACCoRD) based CP-Bands
• Conflict Prevention System displays “bands” to pilot to indicate trajectory changes that will cause a short-term conflict (yellow ~ 3-5 minutes; red~ <3 min.)
• CP Bands on:ˉ Heading changesˉ Vertical speed changes ˉ Horizontal speed changes
• Trajectory changes may be due to conflict resolution or part of the flight plan
• Can be used by pilot model (in batch study, or as background traffic in HITL experiment) or directly by human pilot in HITL experiment
• Includes formal methods proof of “correctness” of the CP-Bands algorithms
• Replaces existing CP-Bands developed by NLR
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 12
• Conflict Bands algorithm uses ACCoRD to determine conflict envelope
•Supports multiple conflict regions
•Deterministic, formal V&V
Heading conflict zone corrected with altitude and time
Resolution with multiple simultaneous conflicts
GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 12
Integration of Airborne Coordinated Conflict Resolution and Detection (ACCoRD) based CP-Bands
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 13GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 13
• Strategic CD&R algorithm under development is “StratWay” (Strategic Waypoint adjustment program)
• Performs piece-wise inspection of planned waypoints
• Uses Bands algorithms for conflict detection and resolution options
• Moves minimum number of waypoints to de-conflict
Integration of Strategic, Intent-based CD&R capability StratWay (Strategic Waypoint
adjustment program)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 14GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 14
Integration of NASA TFM Functionality **• Concept to manage air traffic flow under uncertainty in
airspace capacity and demand• Sequential optimization method• Integrates deterministic integer programming model for
assigning delays to aircraft under en route capacity constraints
• Reactively accounts for system uncertainties• Assigns only departure controls• Two additional elements associated with the ref. TFM
Capability related to tactical weather re-routing, and airborne holding will not be integrated into TMX at this time
** Source: Sequential Traffic Flow Optimization with Tactical Flight Control Heuristics; Grabbe, Shon, et. al., 2008, AIAA Guidance Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 15GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 15
Integration of NASA TFM Functionality
Not included in current TMX mod’s
~
Source: Sequential Traffic Flow Optimization with Tactical Flight Control Heuristics; Grabbe, Shon, et. al., 2008, AIAA Guidance Navigation and
Control Conference and Exhibit
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 16GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 16
Define approach for integrating weather data into TMX
• Purpose: allow the evaluation of different strategic weather mitigation approaches using TMX
• Current, simple TMX weather avoidance capability uses CP-Bands to tactically avoid 3-D weather poly-spaces
• New Weather databases available soon via NRA; Realistic Weather Data to Support NextGen ATM Concept Simulations (two NRA awards: Sensis, & Raytheon)– provide recorded real-world and simulated weather data – Provide associated software tools to manage the data and
create appropriate scenarios
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Time Sync.
Resolutions
Traffic data
Distributed TMX Architecture
TMX Node TMX Node TMX Node TMX Node
ADS-B
CD&R
Scheduling
Time Synchronization
Output Recording
Central Control Node
Distributed TMX Nodes
National Aeronautics and Space Administration GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 18GMU-SIM-JCS, January 2010 18
Distributed TMX Architecture; Development Objectives
• Capability to handle NAS-wide simulation• 20,000+ aircraft simultaneously aloft• Handle full range of mixed AFR-IFR
aircraft• Improve code efficiency• Shorten simulation run-time
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Distributed TMX Status
• Start/stop TMX nodes• Receive TRAFFIC data• Traffic range computations• ADS-B updates• Conflict detection checks• Conflict resolution computations• Send resolutions to TMX nodes
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Distributed TMX Validation
• Two A/C case TMX vs. 1-node D-TMX• 1000 A/C case TMX vs. 1-node D-TMX• 1000 A/C case TMX vs. multi-node D-TMX
(250 A/C per TMX node)• Detailed (1000 A/C) case checking
trajectories and resolutions
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Remaining Gaps (fr. Presenter’s perspective)
• NAS-Wide simulation tools have matured greatly over the past five years – however:– They span a broad system - The NAS! (can the World be far behind?)– Determining a “prudent mix” of which NAS systems will be explicitly vs. implicitly
modeled to deliver the desired information is study-dependent often – Understanding the validity bounds of results is difficult, and typically “in the eye
of the beholder”• Don’t know whether current simulation capabilities are sufficient to answer
highest priority NextGen research questions right now or not• Need to enter vigorous period of exercising the tools to reveal their capability
shortcomings– Use multiple tools to simulate the same scenario and compare results – Synthesize comparison to formulate future tools & methods development plan
• How can broader, lower detail simulations (like NAS-wide) be more directly complementary to narrower, more detailed simulations (and vice versa?)– Do NAS-Wide Simulations need to – “do it all”?