1. Inmarsat SwiftBroadband: Capability to Support Aeronautical Safety Services
Nikos Fistas, Phil Platt
ACP Working Group C
10th Meeting,
13-17 March 2006, Montreal
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to give you a quick overview of where we are with CASCADE.
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation

2. EUROCONTROL Study
EUROCONTROL launched study at end 2004 with the aim ...
“of helping the aviation community to assess how Aero-BGAN could improve its communication infrastructure in fulfilling the aviation requirements, what would be the resulting concept of operation in different world regions, what are the expected associated cost, and how major institutional and business issues would be solved.”
AeroBGAN now called SwiftBroadband

3. Study Consortium
Contract awarded to a consortium with key industry partners to carry out the study
QinetiQ - leader
Inmarsat
SITA
Thales Avionics
EADS Astrium
Consultation with Stakeholders e.g. through NexSAT SG, AEEC and ANASTASIA

4. Study Overview
WP1 – Technical Characteristics of SwiftBroadband and its potential to support ATS applications
WP2 – Institutional Issues
WP3 – Airborne Architectures
WP4 – Cost and Charges
WP5 – Executive Summary

5. WP1 – Report Overview Overview of BGAN described
SwiftBroadband features described:
Key points; Edge of coverage performance, beam and satellite transition capabilities, narrow spot beam activation
Potential for investigation into ‘fall-back’ service in event of SwiftBroadband outage
Comparison with NexSAT HLMR, COCR
Identify shortcomings in SBB
Possible upgrades described
Priority, pre-emption and precedence
Party line using 3G multicast
Note
Performance programme with production standard equipment now completed, SwiftBroadband avionics data available circa. mid 2007 data not available during the course of the project – BGAN Beta test
Annex with more detail on channel and coding rates supplied

6. WP1 - Packet Switched Service
Data rates up to 432kbit/s
High Speed internet access available globally from small terminals for all mobiles
Based on IPv4
Performance enhanced by TCP/IP accelerator to compensate for satellite delay
DSL-class internet access
Radio Resource Management (RRM) to maintain minimum data rates as required

7. WP1 - Circuit Switched Services: Voice and Data
Direct Dial Voice Service
Optimised 4 kb/s “AMBE+2” codec
global access and mobility ( …)
Voic Services
Standard UMTS Supplementary Services
ISDN Bearer Services (same as Swift64)
64 kb/s UDI Service to terrestrial ISDN networks
3.1kHz Audio Service for PCM voice, fax, and V-series modem support
Text Messaging
send to or receive from any SMS-capable device

8. WP1 - Terminal Types Existing mode Existing mode BGAN Mode
SwiftBroadband
Swift 64
Swift 64 - -
regional
regional
High gain (Class 6 UT)
Aero high gain BGAN • •
64kbit/s ISDN & MPDS
64kbit/s ISDN & MPDS • •
266
232 – –
422
492
kbit
kbit
/s rx
/s rx
•Aero H/H+
Aero H/H+ - -
global
global • •
332
225 – –
492
492
kbit
kbit /s /s tx tx
•Voice, fax, PM data • •
Voice, fax, PM data
Voice, fax, PM data
•Potential for Safety services • •
Safety services
Safety services
Aero I
Aero I - -
regional
regional
Aero I BGAN
Int. gain (Class 7 UT) • •
2.4
2.4
kbit
kbit
/s fax and data
/s fax and data • •
200
200 – –
344
344
kbit
kbit
/s rx
/s rx • •
4.8
4.8
kbit
kbit
/s X.25
/s X.25 • •
192
192 – –
332
332
kbit
kbit /s /s tx tx • •
Safety services
Safety services
•Voice, fax, PM data
•Potential for Safety services
Aero L
Aero L - -
global
global
Low gain (Class 4 UT)*
Aero low gain BGAN • •
1.2
1.2
kbit
kbit
/s PMD
/s PMD • •
kbit
tbd kbit
/s rx
/s rx • •
Safety services
Safety services • •
kbit
tbd kbit /s tx /s tx
•Voice,PM data
•Potential for Safety services
Low gain (Class 4 UT) is a possible future service. It is being studied as part of Anastasia project

9. WP1 - IOR narrow spot beam coverage of ECAC
The map depicts Inmarsat’s expectations of coverage but does not represent a guarantee of service. The availability of service at the edge of coverage areas fluctuate depending upon a variety of conditions.

10. WP1 – AOR(W) narrow spot beam coverage of ECAC
The map depicts Inmarsat’s expectations of coverage but does not represent a guarantee of service. The availability of service at the edge of coverage areas fluctuate depending upon a variety of conditions.

11. WP1 – Additional features required for Safety Service In Oceanic Airspace
Priority and pre-emption (in aircraft, in RAN, in CN).
Redundancy (in event of major satellite failure)
Two approaches
More SBB capable satellites
If so must probably wait until next generation of Inmarsat satellites are available.
Use Swift64 or classic as fallback
Need redundant ground segment
BGAN already provides this
Mechanisms to switch quickly to redundant satellite
Addressing – is SIM addressing acceptable (as is today in SBB) or does it need to use ICAO address?
Data connection
Integration of IP bearer within ATS infrastructure

12. WP1 – Additional features required for Safety Service In Enroute Airspace
As before plus
Confirmation that Party line is needed
Multiple SBB directional antennas needed
Single antenna cannot meet availability criteria due to antenna key hole effects e.g. during banking
Will need an omni service to allow operation to all aircraft in sector
Capacity of SBB needs to be confirmed

13. WP1 – ATS Requirements
Requirements are key to assessing technology capability
ATS communications requirements are complex
need understood operational concept from which communication requirements can be drawn
Comparison with COCR
COCR timescale spans up to at least 2030 in two Phases
Phase 1 completion is around 2020 with implementation starting now
Phase 2 is beyond 2020
SwiftBroadband is relevant to Phase 1 only as this is nearing the end of the planned satellite lifetime

14. WP1 - ATS Capacity Requirements
Capacity - air/ground addressed - per service volume in kbps for Phase 1
APT=airport, ENR = Enroute, ORP = Oceanic/Remote/Polar
HD = high density, LD = low density

15. WP1 – Latency, Integrity and Availability

16. WP1 - Potential use of SwiftBroadband for ATS
Initial assessment of SBB not clear
C,I, A figures needs to be confirmed

17. WP2 - Institutional Issues
The business model has changed significantly
LESOs are no longer in the supply chain
Inmarsat continues to be a ‘focussed wholesaler’

18. WP2 – Business model Inmarsat business model
‘Classic aero’ service is supported on the I-4 satellites and accessed under the existing arrangements
BGAN is based on a different business model to ‘classic aero’ services
Service is operated through Inmarsat owned facilities
Distribution Partners provide access to the service to end-users
possibility that ANSPs in the future could have direct arrangement with Inmarsat

19. WP2 - Commercial Issues
Existing CSPs will continue to offer Classic Aero services but cannot offer BGAN services without serving a cooling off period of 1 year.
Inmarsat has negotiated agreements with 10 Land BGAN DPs.
None yet for “aero” services, hence pricing undecided.
SLAs yet to be defined.
Inmarsat only liable for acts of gross negligence, wilful misconduct or fraud.
Damages limited to US$1M or previous 12 months wholesale charges
Not clear yet if this will apply to “aero”
Whatever arrangement is in place will flow on to ANSPs.

20. WP2 - Competitive Issues
Two types of competition need to be considered.
Inter-Service Competition
Competition for satellite service provision
Intra-Service Competition
Competition within the supply chain between DPs, CSPs, etc.

21. WP 2 – Risk: Safety and Technical
Can be broken down to Operational and Technical Risk
Operational – effect of failures, certification levels, SLAs
Technical – obsolescence, refurbishment, life-cycle planning.
Conclusions:
Operational
CNS systems must remain the tools of ATM
Increased certification levels will make costs prohibitive
Even with the highest availability levels failures will happen, hence workarounds are needed
Commercial pressures will force DPs, CSPs to be more responsive.
SLA’s must cover more than techical performance:
Notification procedures, thresholds, escalation procedures, fault handling.

22. WP 2 – Risk: Safety and Technical
Conclusions (cont’d)
With no backup satellite, satellite failure is the biggest risk
SwiftBroadband , as currently planned, can only be a supplementary means of communication – for critical communications
Additional satellites can remedy this
Technical
Life-Cycle Planning essential (for Inmarsat, DPs, CSPs)
Plans for technological obsolescence needed
Regular capacity planning
Satellite Datalink traffic has doubled recently
Avoidance of proprietary system components
Alternatives needed for spares/upgrades

23. WP2 – Risk: Financial/Commercial
Financial/Commercial Risk could affect both Service Providers and end-users.
First the Service Providers:
Financial returns need to be adequate to fund capacity expansion.
Experience with the “Classic” service has been that Inmarsat and SITA have funded capacity improvements for Earth Stations that they neither own nor operate.
Change in Inmarsat business model will help overcome this issue
“Flat Price” pricing models will hamper growth.
These can be used if reviewed regularly or limited to specialised or niche services.
Charges must bear some relationship to traffic levels.

24. WP2 – Risk: Financial/Commercial
For End-Users:
Safety-related services – longevity, stability
A monopoly position would provide this however end-users would not enjoy the benefits of competition:
Competitive Price Pressure
Improved Customer Service
Rapid service introduction
Most importantly, alternatives should a provider fail financially
ICAO Acceptability Criteria require AMS(R)S providers to commit to provide service for six years.
what happens when/if that provider fails financially?

25. WP2 – Risk: Financial/Commercial
End-Users (cont’d)
However we shouldn’t have too much of a good thing!
Why?
Erosion of profit margins – limits future investment.
Instability – providers entering and leaving market.
Modest competition is the solution:
Benefits forthcoming without loss of financial incentives.
The solution:
Strict enforcement of standards
Natural barrier to entry
Ensures portability.
Guaranteed minimum service lifetime
ICAO acceptability criteria a good start, needs to apply to all providers
Reduced barriers to entry for non-performance/safety related issues.
COTS not proprietary solutions.

26. WP 3 - Aircraft Architecture
Target is to achieve significant equipage levels for both long-haul and short-haul/smaller aircraft to be useful as complementary system
Long-haul aircraft are more likely to be equipped with High Gain Antenna SwiftBroadband system
Short-haul/smaller aircraft unlikely unless small physical size and significantly cheaper
Low gain system can be considered the common denominator
Main issue to overcome is interruption of service due to manoeuvring of aircraft because of antenna keyholes
Less of an issue for oceanic operation

27. WP3 - Interfaces To Cockpit-Data
Current interface is
Data2/Williamsburg/Arinc 429 (FANS 1/A)
Data3/Williamsburg/Arinc 429 (ATN compatible)
Key question is how this will migrate to the IP environment supported by SwiftBroadband
Tunnel existing Data2/3 over IP
Migrate to pure IP environment
ICAO ACP is considering accommodating IP
Where will this function reside
In SDU?
In another unit?
Industry will need to consider this

28. WP4 - Costs and Charges Infrastructure costs -
SwiftBroadband service support will be more complex (and expensive) due to:
Higher traffic levels, higher data rates
A much broader range of services

29. WP4 - Capital Investments
Avionics costs
Long haul aircraft systems essentially paid for by passenger/airline applications
Typical costs around $ K
Short haul aircraft system justification may be more difficult - more cost attributable to ATS applications
low cost solution needed - target cost around high end VHF radio
Target figure identified in earlier NexSAT Steering Group meeting was in the order of $50k

30. WP4 - Recurring Costs
Satellite Operator - space segment and ground station operating costs, service support systems
DPs/CSPs – network support costs, performance reporting, accounting/billing, customer support, help-desk
Both entities also incur GS&A costs as well as the costs to promote and market the respective services
For DPs/CSPs, ATS represent premium services:
Higher performance levels and reporting
Stricter SLAs
More customer support
More industry support required

31. WP4 – Market Size
Market Size somewhat uncertain – uptake of new services will determine success or otherwise.
Likely evolutionary paths are as follows:
New aircraft will be equipped with SBB (or equivalents)
Existence of new passenger services will encourage greater use
Web-surfing, streaming applications, VPN,
New services may encourage airlines to equip short-haul and even regional aircraft
An ATS mandate will increase penetration further
We believe that this progression will occur in sequence

32. WP4 - Scenarios

33. WP4 – Traffic Projections
Inmarsat traffic projection model populated during the study gives the results for the scenarios
Some observations
The wide variation in outcomes means that providers must assume a large amount of risk.
Providers are optimistic however this is based on three key provisions:
Low-cost avionics will support equipage on Short-Haul and Regional aircraft.
Surveys reveal that a large proportion of business travellers would use their own cell-phone if they could.
By 2015 a whole generation of travellers will have grown up with cell-phones and the internet. They will want to stay in touch!

34. WP4 – Charging Models A range of possibilities:
the pay as you go model
the fixed-price model
DPs/CSPs prefer schemes where revenue is linked to usage
Automatically helps fund capacity/service improvements
End-Users prefer the all-inclusive fixed price model
Predictable costs, ease of budgeting
The likely outcome will be….

35. WP4 – Future Charging Schemes
Indications are that most airlines will make use of fixed-fee, multilink agreements
Fee will be related to fleet size for airlines
Stepped traffic allowances (to protect DPs, CSPs)
“Multilink” means that the same fee will apply regardless of the link used
ATS services will still be considered premium services

36. WP4 - Way ahead
As mentioned under “Institutional Issues”, distribution agreements for SwiftBroadband have yet to be negotiated
Until DPs know the wholesale price that they will be charged it is impossible to determine a realistic final user charge
These are all subject to negotiation and hence are confidential
What can be said is that unit prices will be significantly lower
Usage will affect charge significantly

37. WP4 - Price Determination Process
Determine Pricing
Strategy
Effects on Demand
(elasticity)
Multiple Iterations
Finalize Price with
DPs
Satellite Provider
Distribution Partners
Negotiate Price
with End -
Users

38. WP4 - Communication Service pricing
Various price models have been explored
Factors that will finally determine the SwiftBroadband pricing policy include, but will not be limited to:
several pricing options and rates - finalised six months before the service launch
Pricing of ATS messaging will have to take into account the specialised and significant infrastructure and support facilities needed for an aeronautical service

39. WP4 – Enterprise (land) pricing
Charging for BGAN land-mobile services is volume sensitive. When purchased in bulk by way of a package- plan, prices for the background IP service can vary between US$3.75 to US$6.95 per Megabyte.
Voice services are not categorised according to traffic types and typically carry a charge of around a US1.00 per minute for regular circuit switched traffic.

40. Conclusions (1/2)
Initial SwiftBroadband services aimed at passenger and some airline applications
SwiftBroadband appears to have potential for ATS provision
Meets capacity requirements in COCR Phase 1
Will not meet availability requirements as a primary means
Lack of satellite redundancy
Aircraft antenna coverage key holes when manoeuvring
Current lack of priority and pre-emption
IP versus ATN
Offers potential as complementary system
could have indirect benefit for ATS by handling more capacity consuming AOC applications

41. Conclusions (2/2)
Enhancements to BGAN infrastructure to enhance performance to meet ATS requirements possible
but investments need to be justified throughout supply chain
More information of the performance of SwiftBroadband will emerge as the service is introduced
Unresolved issues will probably be addressed through the ANASTASIA project