ACARS

Aircraft Communications
Addressing and Reporting
System
 ACARS
Aircraft communications are for Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Airline
Operational Control (AOC), sometimes called “Company
Communications”.

ACARS is operated by ARINC in North American and by SITA (Société

Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques) in Europe.

On the VHF bands, SITA is referred to as AIRCOM.

Both ARINC and SITA provide a full-range of services via satellite,
known as GLOBALink® for ARINC.

Full coverage is at altitudes > 20,000 feet (FL200) with additional

stations at about 300 airports for on-the-ground communications.
ACARS System

Textbook page 42
 OUT-OFF-ON-IN
(OOOI)
ACARS first job was to report when flights were leaving
and arriving.

OUT Flight leaving, triggered by release of parking

brake.
OFF Takeoff, triggered by the air-ground sense
system.
ON Landing, triggered by the air-ground sense
system.
IN Parking, triggered by setting of the parking brake.
Old ACARS control unit, late 1970s
OOOI

Textbook page 43
 ACARS Message Format
An ACARS message has 3 building blocks:
Preamble, Text and Block Check.

Characters are composed from digital bits

transmitted as 2 audible tones (1200 and
2400HZ), through the VHF transceiver.

The tones are decoded back to digital form.

 ACARS Message Format

Textbook page 43
 ACARS “OFF” Message

Each aircraft has its’ own unique identifier, so the crew only receives ACARS
messages intended for that particular aircraft.
A message can be sent in milliseconds by data which would take several
minutes by voice.
Some messages only require a push of a button to send, saving crew
workload.
Textbook page 44
The ARINC 429 Specification
The ARINC 429 Specification establishes how avionics
equipment and systems
communicate on commercial aircraft. The
specification defines electrical characteristics,
word structures and protocol necessary to establish
bus communication. ARINC 429
utilizes the simplex, twisted shielded pair data bus
standard Mark 33 Digital Information
Transfer System bus.
ARINC 429 data words are 32 bit words made
up of five primary fields:

• Parity – 1 bit
• Sign/Status Matrix (SSM) – 2 bits
• Data – 19 bits
• Source/Destination Identifier (SDI) – 2 bits
• Label – 8 bits
ARINC Pulse
 PM Pulse Modulation
Carrier Wave

Modulation Signal

Modulation of
Carrier Wave

Transmission
Addressing and Protocols
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
OSI
 ACARS Control Panels
The upper panel is the newer version
on aircraft equipped with “glass” or
CRT Displays.

The lower panel is the older version

on aircraft with “round dial” or
analog displays.

Textbook page 41
ACARS
CDU Control and Display Unit
ACARS Bands and Frequencies

Textbook page 45
Review Questions Chapter 6 ACARS
6.1 What is the meaning of the abbreviation “ACARS”?
Answer: Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting
System.
6.2 What type of communications occur on ACARS?
Answer: Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Airline Operational Control
(AOC).
6.3 What is the meaning of the ACARS message “OOOI”?
Answer: Out-Off-On-In
6.5 How is an ACARS message received only by the aircraft it’s
intended for?
Answer: By it’s own unique identifier.
6.6 What 2 bands carry ACARS services?
Answer: VHF and HF.
6.7 What satellite-based system carries ACARS services
worldwide?
Answer: ARINC GLOBALink®