A systems approach to identifying aircraft equipage requirements, benefits, and risks of ADS-B applications

Abstract

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is considered to be a crucial part of the next generation of air transportation systems worldwide. Developing mature ADS-B applications which provide stakeholders with benefits is necessary to facilitate timely equipage. This investigation focuses on identifying the level of perceived benefit of unique ADS-B applications for two stakeholder groups: airlines and pilots. It determines the performance requirements of the unique ADS-B applications and develops aircraft equipage packages that enable sets of applications to be implemented at once. In this way, logical upgrade paths are identified which provide benefits to stakeholders. In addition, risks associated with each equipage package were identified. The conclusions of this study identify seventy-five unique ADS-B applications and five logical equipage package options, each of which provide a subset of the seventy-five applications.