LFV in Sweden uses Airtel ATN's Data Link test systems

Airtel ATN, dedicated to the development of communications software for the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN), has announced that LFV, the company responsible for managing Swedish air traffic services is now using Airtel ATN’s CPDLC test systems.
CPDLC (Controller Pilot Data Link Communications) is a type of text message service between pilot and Air Traffic Controllers. The current European Commission Regulation stated that all ANSPs must have implemented a Data Link system by 5 February 2015. However, this date is currently being reviewed. CPDLC will improve flight safety and increase the capacity of air navigation by optimising the use of the increasingly saturated radio frequencies.

LFV has purchased Airtel ATN’s Airtel ATN’s Air Manual Tool (AMT-ATN) and Ground Validation Suite (GVS) to use as a validation platform as it provides the ability to run acceptance and regression tests on LFV’s Data Link systems.

Magnus Hansson, ATM Systems Engineer, LFV said: “We also use this system as part of our operational validations. The GVS simulates traffic from one or many aircraft so that Controllers can exchange simulated CPDLC messages based on authentic data. This significantly improves the quality of our validation of CPDLC functionality in future COOPANS releases.”

According to EUROCONTROL, the number of flights above Europe is 10 million per annum. However this is expected to double in the next 20 years so it is important to free up the voice airways. CPDLC messages cover some of the non-urgent commands that would normally be communicated via radio such as flight level and microphone check.

“The implementation went extremely smoothly,” said Frank O’Connor, CEO, Airtel ATN. “We have recently installed a similar system in another Nordic ANSP as well as an Eastern European ANSP. A lot of organisations are now at the final data link testing stages before going live with CPDLC in 2015”

LFV is the third COOPANS (Co-Operation of Air Navigation Service Providers) member and the eleventh European ANSP to use Airtel Data Link Test Systems.