comsoft asterix

ASTERIXAll-Purpose Structured EurocontrolCOMSOFTSurveillance Information ExchangeASTERIX is the international standard for surveillance data.The format has proven to be an extremely powerful andflexible basis for a wide range of uses. Today a comprehensiveset of COMSOFT ASTERIX systems and tools supports the market.ASTERIX stands for All-purposeStructured Eurocontrol SurveillanceInformation Exchange. Itwas defined in the late eightiesto overcome the deficiencies ofthe existing variety of nationaland vendor-specific formats andprotocols.Serving as an intermediateformat, which can convey all theinformation present in any of theexisting surveillance data formats,ASTERIX contributes strongly tothe standardization within thesurveillance domain.Based on a flexible structuralbase, ASTERIX is open to extensionsresulting from developmentsin surveillance and surveillancedata processing technology, aswell as with respect to differentapplications using the format.Highlights●●●●●●●Proven powerful and flexiblesurveillance data formatSupports latest developments incommunication technologyProvides ideal support formigration from older formatsCovers all surveillance sectorsof ATCChosen format for EuropeanRadar Data Networks (RADNETs)Comprehensive range of ASTERIXtools and systems availableCOMSOFT provides the worldwideonly officially qualifiedASTERIX Reference Systemand Test Tool

What is ASTERIX?The easy exchange of surveillance data within and betweencountries has always been a main objective of air traffic control.ASTERIX was devised to implement this. It represents an efficientand powerful surveillance data format into which all national andproprietary formats can be converted without loss of information.ASTERIX LayersCommunicationPerspectiveIn ISO/OSI terminology, ASTERIXis an application and presentationlayer standard (ISO Layers 6/7) anddoes not prescribe a specific linkor transport protocol to support it.This has the invaluable advantagethat ASTERIX can be used over awide range of underlying transportlinks, including LAN and WANprotocols of the TCP/IP and ISO/OSI stacks (see figure).UAPAn ASTERIX User Application Profile(UAP) enables the customization tothe number and type of data itemsused within a certain application,tailoring the exchange data formatto a specific use, e.g. for a countrywidesub-network.TimestampingAnother important feature of ASTERIXis the support of absolute (UTC) timestampingat the surveillance datasource, rendering ASTERIX especiallysuited for applications like multiradartracking relying on highlysynchronized timing.CategoriesOne of ASTERIX' central conceptsis that of data categories. The formatdefines up to 255 categories,each catering for the transfer of aspecific kind of surveillance-relateddata. The most important are:0 Time synchronizationmessages1 Monoradar target reports2 Monoradar servicemessages3 Synthetic air situationpicture (MADAP)4 Safety nets alarms8,9 Weather data10,11 Ground surveillance data17,18 Mode S radar data21,23 ADS-B data30,31, Synthetic air situation32,252 data (ARTAS Data)34,48 Target report and servicemessages62,63 System track data andstatus messages65 SDPS service statusmessages150,151, Exchange of flight data152 messages (ADMAR)253 Remote station monitoringand control190 Exchange of processed airsituation (Mil.)128,129 Military ASTERIXA specific set of data items isprovided for every category.These represent the smallest unitsof information and together forman ASTERIX record. The lengthof the messages is minimized bytransmitting only those data itemsthat contain significant information.A compact encoding of theinformation as well as avoidingredundancy as much as possible,aids in length reduction andimproves efficiency.

History of ASTERIXa Part of Comsoft’s HistoryASTERIX was originally specified inthe late eighties within the contextof the 4-State Integration Programbetween Belgium, Germany, Luxembourgand the Netherlands. Today itis a major cornerstone of the EATM(Programme for Performance Enhancementin European Air TrafficManagement) a program which hasthe ultimate goal of establishinga homogeneous European ATCinfrastructure.In 1989 COMSOFT, German ATCsystems provider, was awarded thecontract for the world's first implementationof ASTERIX. This includedthe development of an RMCDE(Radar Message Conversion &Distribution Equipment), as well asthe development and installation ofthe RADNET (Radar Data DistributionNetwork) based on RMCDEs. Fromthe beginning the RMCDE wasdevised as a native ASTERIX engine.Over the years COMSOFT has builtup a network of around thirty nodes,with ASTERIX as the unique internalformat used.Being the first company to implementASTERIX, COMSOFT has withtime gathered incomparable expertisein the practical use of the format.Up to now the company has implementedclose to 30 conversions fromand to other radar data formats.Today COMSOFT can offer a largespectrum of ASTERIX systems andtools, belonging to the mostmature solutions on the market.In 1998, COMSOFT's RAPS-IIproduct underwent an EUROCONTROLqualification process to attest itseligibility as a universal ASTERIX TestTool and Reference Product. In 2003the qualification was renewed, nowcovering also all Mode S, ADS,Ground Surveillance and new ARTASdata categories. With the qualificationof an ASTERIX tool, COMSOFThas again broken new ground in thesurveillance sector, being the firstcompany world-wide to demonstratethe required ASTERIX maturity level.COMSOFT Systems & theirASTERIX FunctionalityASTERIX Products & SolutionsCOMSOFT provides a large range of native ASTERIX-processingsystems and tools for many domains of air traffic control.All products are based on an open, modular architecture andincorporate today's forefront technology.RAPS-II(Radar Analysis, Playback &Simulation System for SurveillanceData) is a powerful technical monitoringtool for ATC, supportingASTERIX and many other surveillancedata formats and protocols. Theportable system allows simultaneousrecording and replay of several livesurveillance data streams and comprisesa comprehensive set offeatures for ASTERIX analysis, userdefinedfiltering, processing, visualizationand test data generation.It also includes an assortmentof ASTERIX validation and qualitymonitoring features, provides anASTERIX editor and an ASTERIXsimulator. RAPS-II has many timesproven an indispensable tool forintegration testing, acceptancetesting and day-to-day technicalmonitoring. RAPS-II is today theworld's first EUROCONTROLqualifiedASTERIX ReferenceProduct and Test Tool.RAPS-II

RMCDE & RADNETADR & RFCRMCDEThe RMCDE (Radar Message Conversion& Distribution Equipment) isa powerful and highly versatile surveillancecommunication front endprocessor based on ASTERIX. It iscapable of connecting on one sideto almost all types of surveillancedata sources and on the other sideto all types of surveillance dataprocessing equipment. A rich set ofconversion functions, the support ofall kinds of communication interfaces,as well as the networking andfiltering capabilities of the RMCDEmake it the optimal solution for awide range of ATC environments.The system is the cornerstone ofthe European RADNET (Radar DataDistribution Network) and todayrepresents a de facto standard forsurveillance data exchange.ADR (All-Purpose Data StreamReplicator) and RFC (Radar FallbackCommunication System) representdown-scaled versions of RMCDE interms of functionality and redundancy.Both solutions provideoutstanding conversion, distributionand filtering capabilities withcommercial-off-the-shelf PC hardware.ADR and RFC follow the same opendesign architecture as RMCDE andfind their application, among others,as radar communication front endprocessors for RDP fallback systems.Like RMCDE the systems are nativeASTERIX engines, i.e. all internalprocessing is done in this format.RDDR2D2/RRRRDD/RMDCOMSOFTYour Contact:Manfred SchmidWachhausstr. 5a76227 KarlsruheGermanyTel.:+49-721-9497-104Fax: +49-721-9497-119Email: info@comsoft.deInternet: www.comsoft.deR2D2 & RRRCOMSOFT's solution for archiving,retrieval and replay of large amountsof surveillance and audio data. Inaddition to ASTERIX, a multitude ofother radar data formats, likeEurocontrol, CD2 or RDIF are flexiblyrecorded and replayed via a widerange of protocols, e.g. X.25, HDLCLAP-B, HDLC Frame Level, LLC1,TP4 or UDP. In its synchronizedversion, the R2D2 system supportsaudio and digital interfaces like:ISDN E1/T1, Analogue and ISDN2.The system is highly scalable interms of the number of recording/replay channels, operator workingpositions or storage volumes.RMD(Radar Monitoring Display) is thereal-time technical monitoringversion of the RDD product family.Its field of application includescenter-based or on-site surveillanceand radar analysis, as well assystem monitoring and supervision.It comprises low level analysisfunctions, a raw plot display, aswell as logging and multi-channelcorrelation features for ASTERIX andfurther radar data formats. Like RDDit can be broadly customized withrespect to supported data formats,system environment and userinterface.(Radar Data Display) is COMSOFT'soperational radar data displaysystem, supporting ASTERIX andmany other radar data formats.The system shows an outstandingflexibility, with respect to an easytechnical integration into a largevariety of existing environments,as well as with respect to the largenumber of supported applicationscenarios. Based on its broad scalability,ranging from PC-based standaloneto networked solutions, RDDcan be ideally configured for tower,approach and en-route centers.RPX(Radar Data Processing Executive)is COMSOFT's POSIX-compliant softwarepackage for advanced monoandmulti- radar tracking ofASTERIX and other radar data formats.It combines modern trackingalgorithms with state-of-the-art softwaretechnology. RPX was designedto be easily adaptable to a widerange of radar properties andparameter settings for operationaluse. This includes an easy andflexible on-site configuration facility.Besides its usage in dedicated RDPsystems, the package is also availableas part of COMSOFT's RDD,together establishing a radar dataprocessing and display solution ina single-PC or a LAN configuration.COMSOFT i-IV