Context Remote Virtual Tower Technologies

VOL. 2 NO. 3, 2024

JULY/SEPTEMBER

VOLUME 2 NUMBER 3, 2024

JULY/SEPTEMBER 2024

Remote Virtual Tower Technologies: Revolutionising Air Traffic Management

By Adeyinka Olumuyiwa Osunwusi

THE INCREASING DIGITALISATION, AUTOMATION AND VIRTUALISATION OF THE GLOBAL AVIATION SYSTEM IN GENERAL AND THE AIR NAVIGATION SERVICE SECTOR IN PARTICULAR IS INTRODUCING INNOVATIVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONDUCTING AVIATION OPERATIONS IN A SAFE, SECURE, SUSTAINABLE AND EFFICIENT MANNER. LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, OPPORTUNITIES ARE ALSO EMERGING FOR SMARTER AIRPORTS AND INTELLIGENT AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. WITH THE EXISTING AND EMERGING POT-POURRI OF TECHNOLOGICAL AFFORDANCES, EXPECTATIONS ARE GROWING CONCERNING THE APPLICABILITY OF AVAILABLE REMOTE SENSING SOLUTIONS FOR COST-EFFECTIVE AND SEAMLESS AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT.

With the continuing growth in air traffic volumes across the vast swathes of the global airspace coupled with issues surrounding the relentlessness of galloping operating costs vis-à-vis the dilemma regarding the maintenance of a delicate balance in the face of contradictory CAPEX, OPEX and revenue indices, air navigation service providers (ANSPs) across the world are continually looking for innovative ways to up the game in terms of operational safety and efficiency, meet the ever-evolving needs of day-to-day operations, ensure a more robust utilisation of resources, and, more importantly, stabilise their bottom line without necessarily harming the economies of users of air navigation services.

When it comes to the provision of both air navigation and airport services, the plasticity of certain dynamics appears to be hardening just as operating characteristics are becoming increasingly complex. Operating and associated costs are characteristically fixed and in most instances these costs have been maintaining a skyward trajectory. In some instances, the realities surrounding the operation of certain small and medium-sized airports paint a gloomy picture so much so that some of these airports have been forced to maintain fixed – and often short – opening hours.

But all that appears to be problems in passing as one promising solution appears to be gaining traction the world over. This solution involves an air traffic management cum airport operational design whereby one or more geographically dispersed airports are accorded remote control capabilities through the deployment of remote sensing technologies that enable air traffic in and out of such an airport or airports to be remotely controlled from a remote tower centre with almost the same level of visibility. Today, this unique operational concept goes by a number of nomenclatures from Remote Tower Control (RTC) operation, Remote Virtual Tower (RVT) operation and Remote Tower Service (RTS) to Remote Digital Tower (RDT) operation and Digital Remote Tower (DRT) operation.

To be sure, ANSPs the world over appear to be giving more than a passing attention to this promising solution not only because of its novelty and innovative concept but also because of the pluses that it offers, including service centralisation, cost efficiency, operational flexibility, operational efficiency and resilience, enhanced safety, and enhanced contingency management.

“Every major ANSPs do have roadmaps for the centralization of air traffic control operations and enabling the management of multiple airports from a single location,” says Senthilvel Balasubramanian, International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations (IFATSEA) Regional Director for Asia Pacific. “RDT is one such technology that makes their dream possible. So, RDT will play a major role in the coming years.”

“There is increasing interest in the classical Remote Digital Tower (RDT) use case for small and medium sized airports,” says Michael Ellinger, Strategic Product Manager, ATM Tower for Frequentis. “We are also seeing a heightened interest coming from larger airports to use the technology as an enhancement or contingency solution and at later stage even use it instead of the conventional tower.

IN THE BEGINNING

Despite the claim in a Working Paper (AN-Conf/12-WP/130) presented by Japan at the Twelfth ICAO Air Navigation Conference in 2012 regarding the remote provision of aerodrome flight information services (AFIS) in Japan since 1974, Ornskoldsvik Airport (IATA: OER, ICAO: ESNO), located 24km northeast of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, was indisputably the world’s first remotely operated airport, using the Remote Tower Services (RTS) system jointly developed by the Swedish company, SAAB AB, and the Swedish ANSP, LFV. On 21 April 2015, the first aeroplane flight to be operated via remotely operated air traffic control landed successfully on the runway of the small Swedish airport. The landing was controlled from LFV’s Remote Tower Control (RTC) centre located some 123km (76 miles) away in Sundsvall, Sweden.

The April 21, 2015 operations in Ornskoldsvik and Sundsvall was a consequence of a safety approval granted LFV by the Swedish Transport Agency on 31 October 2014 for the remote operation of Ornskoldsvik Airport from LFV’s Sundsvall RTC centre. And what’s more: this approval was also the world’s first operational approval for remotely operated air traffic services.

“Remote Tower Services is a development programme that we are very proud of,” Olle Sundin, the then Director General of LFV, had commented on the Ornskoldsvik event. “We are the first operator in the world to receive operational approval and there is a lot of interest among our customers in Sweden and around the world. RTS is an important product for us and our partners. It gives us a good position and strong competitiveness.”

Also adding his voice, Hakan Buskhe, the then President and CEO of SAAB AB, had said: “We see a great interest from both small and large airports that have a need for remote tower services in order to address the challenges that they face.”

FREQUENTIS: Pushing Back the Frontiers of RDT Technology

More than any other technology-enabled air navigation services/air traffic management (ANS/ATM) solution out there, remote digital tower (RDT) services and technologies require a blend of out-of-the-box implementation strategies that are tailored towards implementing applicable International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations and specifications relating to harmonisation, standardisation, operational efficiency, scalability and interoperability. For FREQUENTIS, a global player in the control centre communication and information systems arena, an integrated approach to the development and implementation of RDT solutions is central not only to aligning with industry standards but also to meeting the growing needs of customers.

“Our ONE ATM initiative has streamlined our product portfolio to provide integrated solutions to our customers,” says Michael Ellinger, Strategic Product Manager, ATM Tower, Frequentis. “RDT and video technology seamlessly integrate with our flight strips solution, surveillance products (PRISMA and TowerPad), and voice communication solutions.”

“This solution is highly adaptable and scalable, suitable for small airports and large hubs alike,” Ellinger adds. “We have established a team to align these products and pre-integrate them to roll out customer solutions efficiently and quickly.”

The ATM systems industry is seeing quite a number of dynamic changes unfolding in the RDT world. These changes, expectedly, have quite a lot to do with the increasing pace of technological advancements.

“There is increasing interest in the classical Remote Digital Tower (RDT) use case for small and medium sized airports. The technology is mature and it is becoming an important part of how to strategically provide Air Traffic Control (ATC) service to such airports,” says Ellinger. “On the technology side, we have seen an improvement in regards to the resolution and image quality of RDT cameras as well as advanced capabilities in image processing in order to extract more data from the image to provide support to the user. We are also witnessing a significant trend towards integrating all elements and applications within the digital tower, offering users a harmonized HMI and unified capabilities.”

Although already well-positioned from the standpoint of providing cutting-edge RDT solutions, Frequentis’ RDT profile received additional boost recently when the German air navigation service provider (ANSP), DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, awarded FREQUENTIS DFS AEROSENSE a contract for the installation of a test and validation system for a digital tower solution at the Munich Airport. Ellinger says in respect of the project: “In an initial project phase, the potential and suitability of the virtual tower for larger airports will be determined and validated from both an operational and technical perspective. Subsequently, specific use cases can be defined, for example, setting up a virtual tower as an interim system during the renovation of the control tower at Munich Airport required in the coming years.”

The Vienna Austria-headquartered FREQUENTIS DFS AEROSENSE GmbH is a joint venture between Frequentis and a wholly owned subsidiary of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, DFS Aviation Services GmbH (DAS). The joint venture initiative targets the provision of turnkey advanced remote sensing solutions deploying cutting-edge virtual tower systems from Frequentis alongside proven expertise as well as operational and regulatory concepts from DFS.

“Frequentis and the German ANSP DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, through its wholly owned subsidiary DFS Aviation Services, established FREQUENTIS DFS AEROSENSE,” Ellinger explains. “In this successful joint venture, we combine technical with operational expertise and jointly guide our customers through this change process.”

LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Aviation industry players across different sectors are gradually leveraging artificial intelligence – as well as its derivatives, deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) – for the implementation of smart and intelligent solutions. In recent times, there has been a flurry of activities along this path in the air traffic management industry, with Frequentis also getting involved to a great extent.

“We already incorporate AI technology in our products for purposes such as image and pattern recognition. We conduct ongoing research to enhance data extraction and increase automation to better support our users,” says Ellinger. “Additionally, we are active in standardisation to establish a safe and reliable framework for implementation in line with national regulators and international organisations, for example, EASA.”

In the first quarter of 2023, Frequentis announced that it was collaborating with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), and Airport Vienna on a research project christened Smart Assistant for Enhanced Remote Digital Tower (SAFER). The project – funded under the Austrian Aeronautics Research and Technology Programme (Take Off) – is aimed at developing smart assistive technology for RDT vision systems with the overall objective of increasing efficiency as well as ensuring safety in RDT operation through multimodal artificial intelligence. Within the project’s operational framework, Frequentis assumes the leading role with the core responsibility revolving around processing, data collection and management, software integration, evaluation, and validation, while Airport Vienna is responsible for providing operational use cases and data. The AIT Centre for Vision, Automation and Control is responsible for project conception and AI development, while TU Graz assumes responsibility for providing graphics and vision expertise.

FORGING PARNERSHIPS, ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS

Strategic partnerships and a much more symbiotic engagement with users are key components of Frequentis’ enduring business philosophy.

“Strategic partnerships are of special importance for Frequentis. Delivering high-quality RDT solutions that span the full breadth and depth of an industry requires companies to work together with partners,” says Ellinger. “In an ever growing and evolving world, selected partners are of key importance to complement our own ability to create RDT solutions and services in the most efficient and effective manner for our customers.”

“Frequentis actively selects and manages its strategic partnerships with the goal of strengthening and growing our business portfolio,” Ellinger adds. “In return, we empower our partners to grow their own business. In our global RDT partnerships we follow the goal to create a win-win scenario for all stakeholders involved.”

Aside from building partnerships on all levels to strengthen its hand in the global RDT market, Frequentis has also emplaced a robust process that prioritises user engagement at all levels.

“We have established a dedicated implementation process for the deployment of Remote Digital Tower solutions,” Ellinger affirms. “Stakeholder management is a core aspect of such deliveries, with users and other stakeholders engaged from the start of the changeover process.”

“Close involvement of users during system specification and early validation phases provides valuable feedback, enabling us to tailor the solution to their specific needs. This approach in turn leads to greater user acceptance and satisfaction. Various best practices have emerged from our projects in Germany, the UK, and the US, which are now used as valuable input for new projects,” Ellinger concludes.

REMOTE TOWER SERVICES

The Remote Tower Services (RTS) concept is essentially a strategic paradigm shift enabled by technological innovations. It marks a futuristic shift from the conventional air traffic control (ATC) paradigm established sometime in 1920 at the United Kingdom’s Croydon Airport, which later gave birth to Northolt, Heathrow and Gatwick. This conventional paradigm – representing the present ATC practices – mandates the localisation of an ATC tower and allied services at the particular airport or aerodrome being controlled.

To be sure, the primary objective of remote tower solutions is to enable air traffic control and allied services to be provided from a central remote tower services point, which is normally located at quite some distance from the remote airport or airports under control. What this implies is that air traffic controllers and other flight information services personnel are not required to be physically present at the airports under remote air traffic control. Rather, they will be stationed at a central location – a remote tower control (RTC) centre – where they will rely on video-based technology to have a clear visual presentation of the remotely operated airports. This involves the use of a remote tower module at the RTC, which includes Controller Working Positions (CWPs), air traffic management (ATM) systems, and visual display screens.

The game changer in this circumstance, of course, appears to be the deployment of cutting-edge RDT solutions, incorporating critical enhancements. But, Frequentis, a global player in the control centre communication and information systems industry, believes that this is not all that is required to excel in the RDT arena.

“Cutting-edge technology is just one part of what is needed for a successful remote tower project,” says Frequentis’ Michael Ellinger. “The introduction of remote tower solutions is more than just a system supply – it is a change project affecting multiple disciplines and customer areas.”

“Our solution is open, flexible, and extendable over time. Typically, our customers begin by introducing remote tower technology with a one-to-one airport replacement, operating in single mode. The solution is already designed to support flexible airport switching and can be upgraded to parallel multi-mode,” Ellinger adds.

The sheer complexity of the operational setting required for seamless remote air traffic control services, therefore, points to the need for an innovative approach to implementing the RDT technology, which Frequentis claims to have mastered over time.

“Our ONE ATM initiative has streamlined our product portfolio to provide integrated solutions to our customers. RDT and video technology seamlessly integrate with our flight strips solution, surveillance products (PRISMA and TowerPad), and voice communication solutions,” says Ellinger. “This solution is highly adaptable and scalable, suitable for small airports and large hubs alike. We have established a team to align these products and pre-integrate them to roll out customer solutions efficiently and quickly.”

THE TECHNOLOGY

Operationally speaking, air traffic controller situational awareness and controller conflict detection capabilities are key elements in remote tower operations. As a result of the fact that, in an RTS scenario, OTW (out-of-the-window) view is replaced by visual presentation made available to the controller on the RTS workstation, it is imperative that the technology deployed for remote tower operations should be capable of sufficiently replicating air traffic controller situational awareness aside from providing a reliable means of visual observation so that air traffic service can be provided and maintained to at least the same level as is in a situation where the controller is physically present in a conventional tower. Interestingly, the increasing advancements particularly in the areas of RDT and video technologies are providing an unbelievable level of reliability. And what’s more: Frequentis, like other players in the RDT industry, has been leveraging these enhanced technologies to provide cutting-edge solutions.

“On the technology side, we have seen an improvement in regards to the resolution and image quality of RDT cameras as well as advanced capabilities in image processing in order to extract more data from the image to provide support to the user,” says Ellinger. “We are also witnessing a significant trend towards integrating all elements and applications within the digital tower, offering users a harmonized HMI and unified capabilities. Features such as automatic object detection, tracking and object following by the PTZ cameras have been tested in various operational conditions and used by our large customer base for years.”

Frequentis boasts a number of attributes that set the company’s RDT solutions apart in the global ATM market. Ellinger explains: “Setting our RDT solutions apart in the global ATM market is our integrated product portfolio covering all required capabilities such as video based visualisation, surveillance, flight data handling and voice and network solutions. Our extensive experience in the market, allowing us to adapt our products accordingly to specific customer requirements is a yet another attribute.”

The remote tower operation normally involve the implementation of a wide range of interconnected sub-systems. There are usually three segments: equipment at the controlled airport or airports, a remote tower module at a central remote tower centre (RTC), and a transmission channel in between the RTC and the controlled airport or airports. Fundamentally, two broad types of equipage can be identified – the Primary or Basic Equipage, and the Secondary or Additional Equipage.

The primary remote tower sub-systems include components for visual presentation, binocular functionality, data/voice communication, visual communication, remotely controlled aerodrome sound reproduction and aerodrome management and control tools.

A critical component of the secondary equipage is the installation of infrared technology or night-vision lenses and other sensors to aid night and low visibility operations. There is also the technology for ensuring three dimensionally-augmented overlays onto the visual presentation.

As part of the primary equipage, there is an assembly of high definition fixed and movable cameras and sensors that effectively serve as replacements for conventional tower. These are mounted on a camera tower or communication and navigation equipment masts. The fixed cameras are meant to capture the main display, while the movable cameras, typically one or more Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras capable of remote directional and zoom control, are used for binocular functionalities as well as the automatic detection and tracking of movements in the maneuvering areas of the aerodrome being controlled. The camera tower will normally feature signal light guns, which could be used as a backup in the event of radio communication failure.

LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

There is much buzz in air navigation services realms today regarding the sheer imminence of a large-scale incursion of artificial intelligence (AI) into the techno-operational landscapes of the aviation ecosystem. And OEMs in the DRT market appear to be leveraging AI on a wider scale today.

It is on record that Frequentis had, sometime in 2023, joined forces with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), and Airport Vienna on a research project christened Smart Assistant for Enhanced Remote Digital Tower (SAFER). The project – funded under the Austrian Aeronautics Research and Technology Programme (Take Off) – is aimed at developing smart assistive technology for RDT vision systems with the overall objective of increasing efficiency as well as ensuring safety in RDT operation through multimodal artificial intelligence.

THE GLOBAL RDT MARKET: ADOPTION AND DEPLOYMENTS

Given the ATM industry’s continuing addiction with the conventional air traffic services cum airport operational model established in the UK in 1920, questions have been asked widely as to the level of acceptance and adoption of RDT solutions all over the world.

“The market has moved beyond early adopters, and the technology is now widely used by customers in Europe, Australia, and North America,” says Ellinger. “We are also seeing a growing interest from emerging countries in South America and Parts of Asia.”

Traditionally, the success of an innovation lies in its rate of adoption and deployment. But, as desirable as the RDT concept is, some stakeholders still entertain the fear that there are still many rivers to cross.

“Though some countries are actively testing and deploying remote digital towers in the region, I see some challenges that hamper the momentum among developing nations,” says Senthilvel Balasubramanian concerning the Asia Pacific region. “Let me give a few examples such as navigating required regulatory and safety standards, ensuring that RDT systems meet the required criteria for operational safety and reliability, ensuring interoperability with the existing high-cost automation systems they already have as well as initial investment cost and most importantly the capability to ensure robust cybersecurity measures.”

LOOKING FORWARD

In terms of adoption, the future is really looking very bright for the RDT market. Aside from the involvement of a growing number of OEMs like FREQUENTIS, SAAB AB, Searidge Technologies and Indra, an increasing number of ANSPs are also joining the league of service providers such as Germany’s DFS, Denmark’s Naviair, Sweden’s LFV, Australia’s Airservices Australia, and Norway’s Avinor in an attempt to leverage the maximum potential of RDT technologies.

“Maybe in 10 to 20 years from now we may see only digital towers globally. The probability is quite high,” says Senthilvel Balasubramanian. “Technological advancements in cameras, data transmission and processing technologies, and operational benefits will slowly promote digital towers among developing and smaller ANSPs also in the future.” ◙

Contact: atsei@dextermarie.com