Aircraft Communication

• Radio transmission is an electromagnetic wave with

the characteristics same as that of light or heat.

• Wavelength is the linear measurement of the wave.

• Cycle is the interval in which the wave rises and falls

between its crest and trough.

• Frequency is the number of cycles/second.

• Amplitude is the strength of the signal.

Commn. Parameters
Aircraft communication
 Frequency Bands

Frequency Band Name of Band

3 kHz to 30 kHz Very Low Frequencies (VLF)

30 kHz to 300 kHz Low Frequencies (LF)

300 kHz to 3,000 kHz Medium Frequencies (MF)

3,000 kHz to 30,000 kHz High Frequencies (HF)

30,000 kHz to 300,000 kHz Very High Frequencies (VHF)

300,000 kHz to 3,000,000 kHz Ultra High Frequencies (UHF)

 Radio Wave Propagation

• Radio waves/signals Travel

oPropagation on the HF Bands (Line of
sight)
oGround‐wave Propagation
oSky‐wave Propagation
oHF Scatter Propagation
 Radio Wave Propagation

• Radio waves travel in 4 ways:

o Line of Sight‐ Directly from one point to another.
o Ground Wave ‐ Along the ground, bending slightly
to follow the Earth’s curvature.
o Sky‐Wave ‐ Refracted or bent back to the Earth’s
surface by ionized layers in the ionosphere.
o Tropo‐spheric Bending and Ducting‐ In the lower
layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Radio Wave Propagation
 Regions of Atmosphere

Region Altitude Remarks

where all weather conditions occur

Troposphere 7 miles
where atmospheric gases
Stratosphere 7 to 30 miles “spread out” horizontally and the
high speed jet stream travels.
where solar radiation from the sun
Ionosphere 30 to400 miles creates ions. Major influence on
HF radio wave propagation.
 Aircraft Communication Systems
• Types
• VHF and UHF
• HF
• ACARS / AIRCOM
• Secal Decoder
• SATCOM
 VHF and UHF

• Propagation Characteristics
oLine‐of‐sight Propagation
oTropo‐spheric Bending and Ducting
oVHF/UHF Signals through the Ionosphere
Typical Communication System
 Aircraft Communication System

• Communication system requires a transmitter,

medium and receiver.
• To ensure accurate transmission and reception
of signals:
– The transmitter and receiver must use the same
protocols.
– Protocols specify the rules and procedures that
must be followed to set up and maintain accurate,
reliable communication.
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Radio Transmitter
Radio Receiver
 Communication System

• The signals used in communications could be

either analog or digital.
– An analog signal is a signal with continuously
varying amplitude.
– A digital signal assumes one of a number of
discrete voltage levels ie. its amplitude varies
• The transmitter creates analog E/M signals.
these signals propagates through the medium
efficiently.
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 VHF and HF systems

• Both the VHF and HF systems utilize

transmitters, receivers and antennas.
• Transceiver is a unit that houses both the
transmitter and receiver in one box.
• VHF and HF systems are completely
independent of each other
• They deploy their own transmitters, receivers
and antennas.
 VHF and HF systems

• VHF system fitted on an aircraft is capable of

two way radio communication and is
effectively used for Air traffic control (ATC).
• HF systems are also capable of two way
communication, and are fitted on large
transport aircraft that would need
to communicate over long distances.
 HF ‐ RANGE AND PROPAGATION
• In the HF range (3 MHz to 30 MHz) radio
waves propagate over long distances due to
reflection from the ionized layers in the upper
atmosphere.
• Due to variations in height and intensities of
the ionized regions, different frequencies must
be used at different times of day and night
and for different paths.
 HF ‐ RANGE AND PROPAGATION
• There is also some seasonal variation
(particularly between winter and summer)
• Propagation may also be disturbed and
enhanced during periods of intense solar
activity
• The upshot of this is that HF propagation has
considerable vagaries and is far less
predictable than propagation at VHF .
 FREQUENCY
FrequencyALLOCATION
allocation forFOR
HF HF

• The following HF bands are allocated to the

aeronautical service:
• 10,005 to 10,100 kHz
• 2850 to 3155 kHz • 11,175 to 11,400 kHz
• 3400 to 3500 kHz • 13,200 to 13,360 kHz
• 4650 to 4750 kHz • 15,010 to 15,100 kHz
• 5480 to 5730 kHz • 17,900 to 18,030 kHz
• 6525 to 6765 kHz • 21,870 to 22,000 kHz
• 8815 to 9040 kHz • 23,200 to 23,350 kHz.
 HF Propagation
• Characteristics
o LOS Propagation
o Ground‐Wave Propagation
o Sky‐wave Propagation
o HF Scatter Mode
 RF Wave Propagation
• Radio signals travel in a straight line from a
transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna.
• Provides VHF/UHF communications within
a radius of 100miles
• Signals can be reflected by buildings, hills,
other airplanes etc.
• Reflections vary the propagation path causing
signal cancellation and reinforcement. These
result in a rapid fluttering sound.
 VHF and UHF Propagations
• Characteristics
o Line of Sight (LOS)
o Tropospheric Bending
o Tropospheric Ducting
o V/UHF Signals travel through Ionosphere
 Aircraft Communication Systems

• Two types of communication systems are

commonly used:
o VHF operating between 118and 136.975 MHz, is
mainly used by Air Traffic Control (ATC)
o VHF Range is 30 miles at 1000 feet and 135 miles
(approxly.) at 10,000 feet
o HF operating between 2.0 and 29.999 MHz, is
used for extended range communication
HF Communication
HF Communication
 ARINC Communication Addressing and
Reporting System
• ARINC Communication Addressing and Reporting
System (ACARS)‐USA
• Transmits short messages from aircraft systems
to a central facility
• Two modes used:
oDemand mode – Flight crew transmits
oPolled mode – Ground station transmits
• Note: AIRCOM is the European and Australian
equivalent
 ‘Secal Decoder’

• Used to filter messages on COMM radio

receivers
• Aircraft are assigned a tone ‐
combination for ‘secal’ unit to monitor
• ‘Secal’ unit alerts the crew to an
incoming radio transmission
 SATCOM

• Utilizes satellites for transcontinental

flight communications
• Reliable
• Range is between latitudes 75º N and 75º S
• Uses three sub‐systems
1) Ground station
2) Aircraft station
3) Satellite system
 SATCOM

• Capable of transmitting information from

many different sources
 ACARS/ AIRCOM
 Flight‐crew communications
 Passenger telephone, telex and fax
Antennas on Aircraft
HF and VHF Systems‐ Block Diagram
Software‐Defined Radio (SDR)
Software‐Defined Radio (SDR) refers to the
technology wherein software modules
running on a generic hardware platform
consisting of DSPs and general purpose
microprocessors are used to implement
radio functions such as generation of
transmitted signal (modulation) at
transmitter and tuning/detection of received
radio signal (demodulation) at receiver.
 Motivation of SDR
• wireless communication industry is currently
facing problems due to constant evolution of link-
layer protocol standards (2.5G, 3G, and 4G)
• Existence of incompatible wireless network
technologies in different countries inhibiting
deployment of global roaming facilities
• Problems in rolling-out new services/features due
to wide-spread presence of legacy subscriber
handsets.
 Software Architecture of SDR
 The system uses a generic hardware
platform with programmable modules (DSPs,
FPGAs, microprocessors) and analog RF
modules. The operating environment
performs hardware resource management
activities like allocation of hardware
resources to different applications, memory
management, interrupt servicing and
providing a consistent interface to hardware
modules for use by applications.
 Software Architecture of SDR
 In SDR system, the software modules that
implement link‐layer protocols and
modulation/demodulation operations are
called radio applications and these
applications provide link‐layer services to
higher layer communication protocols such
as WAP and TCP/IP.