Overview
In the first 20 years of the 21st century, air traffic is expected to approximately double in volume.
Future satellite-based navigation and communication systems should play a central role in this domain, allowing increased efficiency of airspace use, which will in turn help increase airspace and airport capacities and consequently the overall efficiency of air transport in carrying more passengers safely. In addition, the better management of airspace and time spent in flight will have a positive impact on air pollution, noise and fuel consumption.
The overall scientific & technical objective of ANASTASIA was to define navigation and communications avionics based on satellite services that would best meet the needs of civil aviation in the period 2010 to 2020. The project defined an optimised avionics architecture and the resulting recommendations for ground and space infrastructures. It included the preliminary system development of advanced airborne systems for flight trial evaluation and the dissemination of the results for standardisation activities.
The core of ANASTASIA research is to provide on-board Communication Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) solutions to cope with the foreseen doubling of air traffic by 2020.
In the navigation domain, ANASTASIA carried out research to define technology and system architectures for the navigation function, expected to allow the development of a new generation of airborne GNSS receivers for all phases of flight. Such systems offer accurate and safe global navigation while reducing the avionics cost through the optimisation of the number and complexity of onboard equipment.
On the communication side, the work focused on the design and implementation of a prototype, an affordable aeronautical satellite communications system to meet the evolving European ATM requirements. Research was also carried out into higher bandwidth services, systems and airborne equipment to meet impending aircraft communication requirements efficiently, including both future ATM and passenger needs.
The future needs of surveillance were consolidated with the requirements and key technology prototypes from communications and navigation.
The work conducted in the ANASTASIA project ranged from the elaboration of operational needs to simulations and flight trials with validated avionics architectures and key technologies.
The main goal was to pave the way for the introduction of new satellite-based technologies into aircraft operations, in both navigation and communication.
The main outcome of ANASTASIA was a package of recommendations for future civil aircraft operations, and a set of evaluated technologies and avionics architectures achievable from 2010 that will enable a more autonomous, satellite-based aircraft operation.
The work is divided into six main Sub-Projects (SP), the objectives of which are the following:
- Project management (Sub-Project 1): To manage the consortium, report to the Commission and ensure coordination amongst the partners.
- Needs and Aircraft Requirements (Sub-Project 2): The objective is to identify the requirements for future CNS functions for both business jets and air-transport, and to propose candidate architectures for the new satellite based navigation and communication systems. Towards the end of the project, the initial trade-off matrix between the architectures will be updated to take into account the results of the technology studies and flight trials performed in Sub-Projects 3, 4, and 5.
- Space-Based Navigation Technologies (Sub-Project 3): This Sub-Project will investigate the techniques and technologies that must be implemented for optimal use of the new Global Navigation Satellite System, including GPS and GALILEO constellations, in a future on-board navigation system. The investigated solutions will include antenna design, advanced signal processing, receiver integration and hybridisation techniques with low cost inertial sensors.
- Space-Based Communication Technologies (Sub-Project 4): The aim of this Work Package is to identify and describe the optimum system that could provide the on-board communications services. The overall system will be defined, then the activities will be focused on the design, prototype and evaluation of the critical technologies for the on-board part.
- Operational Characterisation and Evaluation (Sub-Project 5): The central activity of the work package is to verify, in a quasi-realistic environment, the behaviour and performance of key navigation and communication technologies. Most of the performances will be assessed in simulation or lab tests, but for the most critical tests, the assessment will be made through flight tests.
- Dissemination (Sub-Project 6): Throughout the project, the ANASTASIA results will be presented to a number of stakeholders in order to ensure that all their requirements have been taken into account, and to contribute to the establishment of the future standards and regulations in the on-board, satellite-based avionics domain
Funding
Results
The core of ANASTASIA research was to study on-board Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) satellite based solutions to cope with the foreseen doubling of air traffic by 2020.
ANASTASIA carried out research of future technology and system architectures for navigation, resulting in the development of a new generation of airborne GNSS receivers for all phases of flight. Such systems will offer accurate and safe global navigation while reducing avionics cost through the optimisation of the number and complexity of on board equipment.
On the communication side, work concentrated on the design and implementation of a prototype Satcom system, based on INMARSAT constellation, that could meet the evolving European Air Traffic Management (ATM) requirements. Research was also done into higher bandwidth services, systems and airborne equipment to efficiently meet long term future aircraft communication requirements, including both ATM and passenger needs.
Through the identification of operational requirements foreseen at 2020 horizon for commercial aircraft in terms of navigation, ANASTASIA program identified key supporting technologies and established satellite based and innovative sensors and algorithms requirements.
2020 horizon targets, identified within ANASTASIA are, in line with SESAR programme targets, to increase capacity, enhance safety, reduce costs and contribute to a better environment to match with future airspace users and society needs. Concept of operations answering to these needs includes the development of all weather operations capability and airport surface operations, the use of geometric vertical guidance and performance based operations.
Technical Implications
ANASTASIA programme, by performing technologies assessment through the development of mock-ups, simulations and flight trials, paved the way for new satellite based algorithms and techniques including multi-constellation receiver prototype, multi-constellation receiver antenna prototype and interference mitigation techniques for all phases of flights down to Cat I minima, and GBAS for precision approaches down to Cat III minima.
Roadmaps to develop and deploy the use of low cost, reduced mass and volume sensors like MEMS, for aircraft attitude and heading identification, and innovative algorithm high accuracy navigation to support airport surface navigation have been established.
ANASTASIA programme, with these significant results, in particular on GNSS technologies, will feed SESAR programme, will lead to first flight trials using Galileo satellites with commercial aircraft and will feed aviation standardisation.