STR-SpeechTech develops D-ATIS Response Monitor

STR-SpeechTech has completed the development of a D-ATIS Response Monitor that will provide the ability to monitor and log Datalink requests made by aircraft.
ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service) broadcasts inform pilots of noncontrol information including runways in use and conditions, notices to airmen, and weather information. The Digital ATIS (D-ATIS) is received digitally in text form, on ACARS-equipped aircraft. This means that controllers and pilots do not have to rely strictly on voice frequencies, particularly when they are congested.

“STR is excited to announce the successful development of the D-ATIS Response Monitor” said Steve Eady, Project Manager of STR. “The new functionality will provide detailed information to air traffic control managers and will ultimately improve aviation safety and efficiency.”

The technology was developed for the new air traffic control facility at the Aeroporto Internacional do Rio Grande do Norte/São Gonçalo do Amarante in Natál, Brazil. STR is supplying a bilingual English/Portuguese StarCaster ATIS system.

The D-ATIS Response Monitor will be installed on the StarCaster servers that receive reports from a hosted D-ATIS server. The reports contain all requests for D-ATIS messages made by arriving and departing aircraft, and also include:

• the aircraft identifier and/or name of the airline
• the time of the request
• the contents of each D-ATIS message
• an indication that the message was successfully delivered or failed to deliver

The hosted D-ATIS Server collects the required data and makes it available to be accessed by the D-ATIS Response Monitor on the StarCaster ATIS computers. Using secure HTTP over the public internet, it accesses the information from the server, and creates a log of the received data for record-keeping purposes.

A separate application that resides on the StarCaster ATIS Operator Workstation (in the control tower Cab) accesses the most recently collected D-ATIS request data from the data collection utility on the servers, making the data available for the air traffic controller to view.