Introduction to the ATC Simulation Program
Historical Background

The simulator has been progressively developed over many years. It began as a simple demonstration program (almost a script) to show new ideas to ATC designers and control staff.

Many observers were intrigued by the ideas, but manifestly frustrated by the lack of interactive capability of a scripted demonstration. Furthermore, it quickly became obvious that a significant training problem existed for preparing controllers used to using paper flight progress strips to participate in research simulations using this type of interface.

So, as a result of an observed need, an interactive simulation capability was developed. The program began to spread, presumably through diskettes copied and passed to interested parties, culminating in the appearance of the program on the ATC Web ring for free download. It soon became apparent that a coordinated control of development was required, and a new website was created for this purpose, and became a member of the ATC webring. New program releases were made and many users sent feedback on suggestions and improvements.

The simulation program is designed to represent a real ATC environment, and to allow controllers to carry out the control task as realistically as possible. The program does not support speech - control staff already understand what needs to be said and when. Also, we can see that the R/T loading is already a major bottleneck in busy ATC sectors, which limits capacity and reduces safety. Reductions to R/T loading, through Air Ground Data link will contribute to increased ATC capacity as well as improved safety (mixed callsigns, missed messages, misunderstood clearances, misheard clearances, accented English etc.) The program shows how Air Ground data-link can be effective for better understanding of the air situation, as well as the relative ease for communicating clearances.

Controllers need a system which helps them identify conflict problems, allows them to easily insert their solutions into the system and obtain feedback as a result of those decisions. They need a system which alerts them to potentially dangerous situations and reminds them of actions to be taken.

The program does not try to imitate what is done today at ATC Units. It sets out to show what can be done in the future! It is not designed as an ATC "game" showing an ATC unit of today, although it can still be enjoyed as such.

If you are an ATC developer, training staff or Air Traffic Control staff the best way to appreciate the program is to create your own scenarios, which will allow you to better understand how such ideas could be implemented in your own airspace. The Operations Manual, which can be downloaded separately, provides detailed descriptions on how to create scenarios.

The program uses simple text files to define a simulation scenario. However, new features often require new scenario input files. Backward compatibility with the input files of previous versions has generally been maintained; however, the new features will not always work with older file formats.

Many type of scenario files can be created, limited only by your own imagination and experience. The following list of simulation features gives an idea of what you can be accomplished with the program, and by building your own input files. Features:

• Simulation of an en-route ATC sector, or a TMA sector, or an Approach sector.
• Simulation of a civil sector configuration, or a military sector configuration.
• Simulation of a standard or Reduced Vertical Separation (RVSM).
• Simulation of ILS to multiple landing runways at multiple airports.
• Simulation of other traffic not controlled by the sector.
• Multiple independent Radar Windows, with zooming, sizing and off-setting.
• Control of flights through advanced HMI techniques, allowing display of information and inter-active input of clearances.
• Flight Data Processing Support for controller clearances.
• Continuous tracking of flight positions and correlation with the radar.
• Safety Nets (STCA) and Conflict Detection (MTCD).
• Accelerated Mode and Pause.
• Wind effects, weather display.
• Independent control of simulated flights from a flight deck window, when required.
• Creation of your own scenarios through a simple text editor (e.g. Notepad).
• User defined video-maps for the radar screen, with Text, Lines, Shapes.
• Configuration options, definable colours, definable fonts.