VOR/DME AUTOMATED STATION SELECTION ALGORITHM

W. B. Ruhnow and M. L. Goemaat

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Many VOR/DME station selection algorithms suffer inherent jumpiness due to unnecessarily frequent station switching, The Automated Station Selection Algorithm (ASSA) described herein, suitable for a new VOR/DME geographically oriented navigation system, generally selects stations which well qualified flight crews would probably select if given adequate time and motivation to do so. This method tends to pick stations which are ahead of the aircraft, are useable for about 50 nm, and provide acceptable dual DME geometry whenever such station pairs exist. A standby station pair is selected which may be used when an unexpected loss of station signal occurs. In order to derive a general purpose station selection algorithm, aircraft altitude information is not required as an input. However, when used it was found to be extremely helpful and can improve the station selection performance considerably. Only the en route phase of flight is considered. The initialization problem, i.e., what to do immediately after takeoff, especially in a region where no navaids are receivable at low altitudes, and the problem of selecting stations during complex maneuvers have not been addressed.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 29, Number 4
Pages:	289 - 299
Cite this article:	Ruhnow, W. B., Goemaat, M. L., "VOR/DME AUTOMATED STATION SELECTION ALGORITHM", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 29, No. 4, Winter 1982-1983, pp. 289-299.
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