AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE - BROADCAST

A closer look into the implementation, electronics and future

development of this system. How it became a simple and efficient
solution in air traffic management (ATM) and safety. The configuration
of the avionics involved in hardware and software. Finally, ADS-B as
being part of NextGen (Next Generation Transport System) and SESAR
(Single European Sky ATM Research).

Beatriz Fernndez-Criado Manjn
Degree in Aerospace Engineering in Air Navigation

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ADS-B. AVIONICS

INDEX
Introduction 2
Acronyms 2
Reaching for ADS-B.
History and background 3
Definition
5
Physical layer. 6
Data link layer... 8
Homemade ADS-B 10
Applications 13
Future Applications.. 14
Conclusion.. 15
Bibliography. 15

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ADS (Automatic Dependent Surveillance) stands for the characteristics of our

Broadcast system, it does not depend on a human input as it works based on
GNSS but it does depend on the respective GNSS data.
This report first will analyse how ADS-B was created based upon existing
avionics systems. Afterwards, a definition of existing ADS-B and its use in
nowadays aviation will be given so we can understand the extensive use of this
technology and why is it replacing other avionics systems in cockpits and
control towers. Also, it includes an explanation of how ADS-B works as a
description of its various electronic layouts and protocol exchange.
Furthermore, we will take a look into the implementation and application of
ADS-B in the air space, as well as commercialization. To conclude, the
development of new technologies applied to ADS-B can improve the actual
concept and organization of air space and air traffic management.
Some of the acronyms used throughout the text are:
ACID: Aircraft Identification
ATC: Air Taffic Control
ATM: Air Traffic Management
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration (U.S.)
GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite Systems
ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization
RTCA: Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics
TCAS: Traffic Collision Avoidance System

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Reaching for ADS-B

As background history for ADS-B, the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) has
been the milestone for us to reach this new system. SSR system is made up of
transponders and ground stations that interrogate and receive through
different Modes (RF communication protocols). At this point, Mode A could
use 3/A codes to compute and identifications for aircraft whereas Mode C
provides the barometric altitude. In 1983, an Aeromexico DC-9 passenger
flight had a mid-air collision with a small aircraft over the state of California,
killing all passengers from both vehicles. Right after this event occurred the
FAA required all aircraft to be equipped with TCAS. As Jonathan Bernays
(researcher at Lincoln Labs) said: TCAS was what made Mode S real, and what
entrenched Mode S as a lasting technology as TCAS uses Mode S as the
standard air-ground communication datalink.
Furthermore, we define Mode S as the improved SSR that allows selective
interrogation and responses while being able to identify each aircraft by an
ACID and ground-air and vice-versa datalink for information exchange. One
year after the accident ICAO issued a circular, which described the SSR Mode S
developed by Lincoln Labs at the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
The directional antennae that receive Mode S transponder signals are used to
provide an angle to the aircraft in the vicinity, which is even a few degrees
inaccurate. Timing of Mode S interrogation and response protocol was
measured to compute the distance between aircraft. The issue was using SSR
Mode C to calculate altitude.
SSR Mode A and Mode C were the previous modes available before the
design of Monopulse SSR, which then turned out as after considerable
improvements Mode S. Each Mode stands for the interrogation codes they use
as communication protocols in transponders, described below exclusively for
civil aviation:
Civilian
Mode
A
C
S

Description
Provides a 4-digit octal ACID, set in cockpit but assigned by air
traffic controller. Mode 3/A combined with Mode C for altitude.
Provides the aircrafts pressure altitude.
Provides multiple information formats to a selective
interrogation. It assigns a 24-bit address to each aircraft.
Three modes defined in ICAO Annex 10 Volume 4

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Mode S technology also made available multiple services related to air

navigation safety like the Traffic information System (TIS). However, the most
fascinating use of Mode is has been in ADS-B under which, each aircraft
periodically broadcasts its position and altitude information as well as an

Figure 1 - Mode A & Mode C RF communication protocols for aviation transponders

identification code. This system is, by far, more accurate than TCAS and has
continued developing. Therefore, we now have a unique identification and
interrogator codes to avoid ambiguous communication with transponders. This
system improves security and accuracy in ATC.
We should define too:
Mode S SS (Short Squitter) it is a periodic spontaneous transmission of a
transponder working in Mode S used for passive acquisition in a specific
format.
Mode S ES (Extended Squitter) proposed and developed once again by
Lincoln Labs, it is based on aircraft broadcasts position data (squits) using a
modified Mode S receiver. We will get a deeper look in this kind of Mode while
defining the Mode S interrogation and reply to understand what the Extended
Squitter means.

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Definition
Defining ADS-B is easy due to the acronym itself. Our automatic system does
not depend on a human input and does not need the interrogation of another
system to broadcast data, it does so automatically in a defined period of time.
Also, it depends on the GNSS position outcome, as it will represent an aircraft
during flight. It needs to be high integrity systems (WAAS, GPS, Galileo).
Surveillance refers to the fact that air traffic controllers and pilots use this data
to avoid collisions, create more efficient routes and posterior analysis of flight
data. The most innovative part of this system is the live broadcast of all flights
to other aircraft and any ground station. We will see different types of ground
stations further into the subject.
ADS-B Out is the compulsory function of ADS-B all aircraft must have. It
broadcasts periodically the state vector (position, velocity and altitude) of our
aircraft to all ground stations and other ADS-B equipped aircraft. Whereas
ADSB-B In is the on board service which receives surveillance data broadcasted
by other ADS-B Out like other aircraft or TIS-B.
The benefits for using ADS-B have a direct impact on safety and security of air
navigation as it releases a big amount of workload from air traffic controllers,
and simplifies the whole ATC and ATM process. Firstly, it provides not only airto-ground surveillance but also air-to-air even in remote areas where radar
could not reach an accurate solution. Moreover, it allows controllers to reduce
the separation space between aircrafts and therefore predict arrivals and
departures with easier fleet tracking and real-time traffic information not only in
the control tower but also in the pilots cockpit. More importantly, it does not
imply an expensive update or investment, it is compatible with previous Modes
and it will help to reduce environmental impact by designing optimised routes.
Basically, ADS-B consists in the whole process between receiving the GNSS
positioning data, broadcasting it to ground stations and other aircrafts and
receiving back the information from ground stations and other vehicles. We will
explain in a thorough way how this communications happen and the exchange
of signals and data both in the physical and data link layer.

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Taking a deeper look into the physical layer of ADS-B we will find it can use
two different frequencies; this is called a dual link network.

Figure 2 - ADS-B system architecture. Aircraft receive position data from ADS-B Out subsystem over
frequency data link. Next, it will be received and processed by ground stations and other aircraft via ADSB In subsystem

The most common frequency is 1090 MHz. It utilizes the Mode S ES (Extended
Squitter) transponder that sends out additional ADS-B information. Using this
frequency we would have the same as the transponders replies, TCAS
interrogations and Ground Based Radar. Precisely because of the congestions
in this frequency a second one is also used. Each frequency is defined
separately by the RTCA but we will focus in 1090 MHz further on.
Frequency 987 MHz UAT (Universal Access Transceiver) was chosen because of
the cheap avionics designed for it, it is not used by any other technology,
which makes it able to include other additional ADS-B information, such as a
free weather broadcast only available in this frequency (FIS-B). Even so, there is
additional space for future applications of this system.
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Aircraft using different frequencies will have to interrogate the ground station
first for it to translate the message to the other aircraft. This process is called
ADS-R, where R stands for rebroadcast.
To take a closer look into the physical layer of ADS-B we will define the signals
Mode S sends to receivers and the answer they return and their properties.

Figure 3 - Mode S Interrogation waveform

It is a Differential Phase-Shift Keying (DPSK) Modulation and the data rate has a
value of 4 Mb/s. While the Mode S reply begins with a four-pulse preamble
followed by a data block encoded with Pulse-Position Modulation (PPM) at a
data rate of 1 Mb/s, the highest for low-cost implementation of Mode-S
transponder. This type of modulation is used because it detects interference (it
can detect if the interfering pulse was received at the same time) and because
it enhaces monopulse performance (previous to Mode S). The constant number
of pulses (56 or 112 bits independent from data content) makes possible an
azimuth estimate.

Figure 4 - Mode S reply waveform

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We are now interested in the data link layer and its properties as to what
information does the signals (or squits) carry. In the following figure we can
divide the information of frames and we will analyze de Mode S ES.


SURVEILLANCE INTERROGATION AND REPLY

56 bit
SURVEILLANCE /COMMUNICATION INTERROGATION AND REPLY

COMM-A/B 112 bit

COMMUNICATION INTERROGATION AND REPLY

ELM
112 bit
extended lenght message
We already introduced the concept of Mode S SS, which is the 56 bit signal.
Also, the ELM refers to the Mode S ES signal which includes the 56 bit data
field and it is delivered from the on-board avionics systems to a ground station
and therefore it is an Extended 112 bit Squitter. We can divide the ES in parts:

Figure 5 - 1090 ES Data Link

ES messages contain the position message during flight in 3D plus the

validation time and surveillance state, also the flight velocity together with
other aircraft status data. Another message it is the position on the surface of
the complete state vector. We already knew this message carried the ACID but
it can also contain spontaneous signals caused by any event, which concludes
in a protocol of message transmission with information that may be needed.

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The signal contains 112 bits of which it will send depending on the value of the
downlink format (inside the Control 5 bit format). Downlink format (DF) can
define all the following type of squitters:

We define Downlink as the link associated to signals transmitted by the

response channel of 1090 MHz. There is also Uplink associated to signals
transmitted by the interrogation channel 1030 MHz.
The preamble of the ES allows synchronisation with the reception of the signal,
the Downlink format (DF) defines the message type in 5 bits (17 for ADS-B, 11
for Acquired squitter, 18 for TIS-B and 19 for Military), Capability (CA) is the
subtype in 3 bits, the ACID we know is given for 24 bits and the ADS-B data 56
bits. Last but not least there is a Parity Check (PI), an error detection code used
in many GNSS. As we defined it is transmitted via PPM.
Position Squitter
TX rate
Accuracy
TX rate

Airborne
2 /sec
5.1 m
Velocity 2 /sec

Surface
1 /sec
1.2 m
Identific. 0.2 /sec

Graphically, we represent the

Mode S ES as the following
system.

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Homemade ADS-B
It is possible to obtain an ADS-B broadcast at home. When using a Mode S we
can access the interphase via the following link:
On the other side of the coin, there are many configurations for an ADS-B to
create out own homemade signal receiver. One of the most popular includes a
Raspberry pi instead of Mode S, it is powered by Ethernet and uses the cables
left of the Ethernet itself to connect the antenna back to the computer and
obtain a layout of airplanes in sight over a map. Also, as it is powered by a
12 V source, the use of a UBEC (Universal Battery Elimination Circuit) limits the
input current to a value of 5 V, suitable for the Raspberry pi. We will also need
a filter, a 1090 MHz Bandpass filter will be used in this case but a 1090 MHz
SAW filter will work fine too. The following scheme simulates this system.

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ADS-B. AVIONICS

Not only the Mode S is optional, but also there are many different antennas
that can adapt to the reception needed for ADS-B. Here are some of the most
characteristic examples:
Collinear Coax Antenna: it is cheap and one of the best options for maximum
reception as it has omnidirectional range towards the horizon.

Collinear Wire Antenna: copper wire intended for WiFi can be recalculated for
1090 MHz.

Wine Cork Dipole Antenna: it is essentially a dipole antenna tuned, although it

must be places vertically because ADS-B is vertically polarized.

J-Pole Antenna: 1090 MHz sized.

Quarter Wave Ground Plane Antenna:

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When connecting our homemade ADS-B to our computer, we will not obtain
besides Mode S a direct interphase http://193.147.53.15:8080/#. We have to
download our ADS-B listening and decoding Software.
There are multiple free software options for RTL-SDR based ADS-B, as there
are also and even mobile applications for the DVT receiver. One of the most
popular is ADSB#, for Windows as it is the case for RTL1090. Dump1090 works
on Mac/Linux and Windows and it is very useful for devices using Raspberry pi.
Modesdeco is a Windows/Linux/OSX/Rpi command line based decoder which
can receive Mode S and Mode A/C data simultaneously.
To show our data we may want graphical ADS-B RADAR Display Software. I will
state the ones free on the Internet. Virtual Radar Server is easily set up with
ADSB#. PlanePlotter has a 21 day trial period but has a multilateration option:
method used to estimate positions of planes that are broadcasting ADS-B
signals without its own position data. This option can be used for free by
uploading ADS-B data to their servers. In adsbSCOPE you can download ADSB data shared by other users to augment your local radar setup. Globe-S is a
radar viewer intended to use with RTL1090. Whenever having a receptor we
can upload data to the famous flightradar24.com and flightaware.com to
contribute to the following:

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Applications
ADS-B data link has a main role in applications we have mentioned such as FISB, TIS-B or the graphical weather display on the cockpit. Nonetheless it has
many more applications, algorithms and inventions to benefit from its use.
Cockpit Display of Traffic Information
Where we can see all aircraft around us being indicated the ones with ADS-B
like the FDX or without like the yellow one.

Bi-static Radar Processing for ADS-B Sensors:

A system and technique to derive a position of a non-ADSB equipped aircraft
using ADS-B information provided from ADS-B equipped aircraft and bi-static
radar processing techniques.

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Future Applications
As the future for ADS-B, there are many possibilities involving augmented
reality such as the follow up of air traffic in 3D and real time with the Google
glasses as we have seen NATS is developing during ATM World Congress
2015. In some years we could search for a friends flight as shown in Figure 6.
with Holoflight the HoloLens app.

Figure 6 - HoloFlight

As for ADS-B in the United States, Freeflight Systems bet on this technology
long ago as it has been developed and it is mandatory to equip all airplanes
with it. Given that the United States has a much larger private aircraft market,
this enterprise has gained such experience in manufacturing ADS-B they have
created what they call the ADS-B University. They have been working with
Boeing to create the ultimate flight tracker where you could zoom on the flight
you are interested in.

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To conclude, the ADS-B has proven to be an easy solution to a problem we

could face in a five-year period. Such a simple system with a very
straightforward data link layer following the 56 bit structure which has worked
until now. New technologies still hold hands with electronics from thirty years
ago, they are still compatible which is cheap but it does not give the
impression to be developed enough. Being inside the NextGen and SESAR
framework it is clear to anyone inside the industry that this technology that is
also user friendly and can make people interested in aviation by building their
own simple receptor. Still, there is a lot to improve in ADS-B performance
relating to accuracy and the development of applications. Besides that, given
the last air crashes and disappearances this is a good way to track the last
moments before the signal of the flight is gone (while new black box systems
are implemented). It is a very practical application for travellers so they can
organize their schedule if a flight is delayed. However, I believe the most
important use of ADS-B is the integration of Air and Ground systems during
flight to ensure safety, security and integrity. With pilots being able to watch
what the controller can see it changes the whole concept of piloting and
controlling because so many radio indications will not be needed if both can
see the same thing. It will become a new task for pilots who seem to be
pushed away from touching any controls towards a complete automatization of
flight. We should think towards the future, as the pilots task is to supervise the
cockpit and on-board systems and the controllers job becomes more like
playing a videogame about arranging time slots. Aviation is changing quickly
but at a steady pace with its usual certifications and worthiness issues but
everyday aviation technologies spin to other sectors and they are closer to the
masses than ever. That is why, precisely, the bottom line is air traffic must be
safe and all measures are not enough, I am sure these technologies will
develop and bond with new rising science challenges such as Big Data,
augmented reality, UAVs or 3D printing.

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BIBLIOGRAFA
http://web.mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/mode-s/today.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_transponder_interrogation_modes#cite_no
te-Peppler-2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_surveillance_radar#Fruit
https://www.youtube.com/embed/d6bo2mKpy9Q
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1307.3664.pdf
http://www.rtl-sdr.com/adsb-aircraft-radar-with-rtl-sdr/
https://www.flightradar24.com/how-it-works
http://www.rtl-sdr.com/a-self-contained-ads-b-receiver-using-a-raspberry-pi-andrtl-sdr/
http://www.icao.int/SAM/Documents/2010/ASTERIX/02%20Curso%20AsterixOl
diAIDC.pdf
http://www.icao.int/SAM/eDocuments/Guia%20ADSB%20Vs1.2%20Spanish.pdf
http://www.icao.int/SAM/eDocuments/AUTO_PlanInterconexionACCAutomatiza
dos.pdf
https://www.google.com/patents/US8130135
http://www.icao.int/APAC/Documents/edocs/cns/ADSB_AIGD7.pdf
http://kp4ip.com/ads-b/
http://nats.aero/blog/2014/04/rules-radar/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_transponder_interrogation_modes
ADS-B for Dummies [pdf slides]

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