Flight Test Results of the LAAS Navigation Augmentation Broadcast System

Trent A. Skidmore, Frank van Graaa, and Maarten Uijt de Haag

Abstract:	An important component of the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) under development by industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as the RTCA Special Category I (SCAT-I) aircraft precision approach system is the data broadcast subsystem. This subsystem is responsible for transferring the integrity and differential correction information from the ground reference station to the aiborne user. This paper presents bench and flight test results of a LAAS/SCAT-I navigation augmentation broadcast system (NABS) operating in the upper VHF Omni Range (VOR) band (1 12.000-117.950 MHz). Data were collected in the laboratory from the NABS in order to test the functionality of a differential 8-phase shift keyed (D8PSK) transmitter which utilizes a time division multiple access (TDMA) protocol. Receiver sensitivity and message loss rate performance were then evaluated. Following the bench tests, a series of flight trials were conducted at the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center. Parameters investigated during the flight trials included: 1) Service volume characteristics of the ground-based transmitter and antenna, 2) The quality of signal reception using a horizontally polarized VOR/Localizer aircraft antenna, and 3) Message 10SSrate performance in the precision approach environment. The results of this work aids in the validation of the efficacy and reliability of the VHF NABS for use in worldwide operations.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 10th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1997) September 16 - 19, 1997 Kansas City, MO
Pages:	1885 - 1890
Cite this article:	Skidmore, Trent A., van Graaa, Frank, de Haag, Maarten Uijt, "Flight Test Results of the LAAS Navigation Augmentation Broadcast System," Proceedings of the 10th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1997), Kansas City, MO, September 1997, pp. 1885-1890.
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