NATCA Bookshelf

The FAA will be conducting Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) to Internet Protocol (IP) conversion in the Bangor, Maine area in the coming months. This technology will assist the FAA as local telcon providers move away from legacy TDM services to IP services. Update for the Week of Dec. 17, 2018 ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES & OCEANIC PROCEDURES (ATOP) John Lenhart (ZOA) is the Article 114 Representative for ATOP. His report is below: Regarding the TR2 software development and testing progress, we are down to 12 PTRs and monitoring the daily testing. When we get to a slightly smaller PTR backlog, the formal B and C testing will occur to support the SSM. Unfortunately, with the remaining work/testing to be performed, a Feb. 4 SSM and Feb. 5 installation start is not possible. Based on the current data, we are projecting an SSM near the very end of March 2019, vice the original Dec. date. The status is dynamic, so we will have a better outlook at the beginning of January. The ATOP Program Office is very motivated to get the software ready so we can complete the cutover prior to summer. Because of the impact of downstream waterfall dates for ZOA and ZNY, we will be looking for time slots that do not conflict with DataComm. The week of Jan. 7, site leads and management from ZOA will travel to ZAN to work the Oceanic OCP for the Pacific. On the following week, ZAN will travel to ZOA with the intent to have enough work done to make a draft. In the OCP scenario, ZAN and ZOA are acting as each other's ATOP support facilities. AJR-X is supporting the work done for the OCP. An SRM for the 23-mile lateral and 20-mile longitudinal reduced oceanic separation standards was held in Dallas the week of Dec. 10. This was an SRM for an investment to fund the work towards reducing the oceanic standards. The NATCA panel members did a stellar job translating data that was brought to the table. It was clear to everyone in the room that the NATCA participants were all experts. If an investment is made, there will be an implementation SRM in the near future. These standards tie in several ATOP issues that the sites have been requesting fixes for. This month, we have finished or are in the process of working on the following: • 56730: ZNY ATOP previously incorrectly indicated that it is not CDA when a CPDLC response is not received, but is now fixed. • 56111: ZOA is unable to input SIGMET Whiskey 1. Increase Base Sectors are due Feb. 18. • 51500: The 23NM lateral separation update is overdue, but changes to the FDN are going to be discussed at the next ATOP team meeting. At some level we are also discussing the following related to either 23 latitude or 20 longitude: • 52196: The feedback message when trying to apply 3 or D flags is incorrect. • 56196: Enhanced trial probe for OOC reports.

• Cover
• ERAW received a briefing from Second Level Engineering and the Program Office on the Alternate Display Path in support of R-side Tech Refresh. The goal is to allow the AIX processor to provide data to the glass in the event of an MDM failure due to th...
• SE2 Use Case Updates
• o 4th Line – The team reached agreement on the 4th Line use case referencing the ON/OFF switch functionality. Once all team members concur, the use case will be sent to SLE.
• o Airspace Transfer – The team discussed the changes to the use case and a section was added for the "Push" function. The team also decided that language should be added to capture review of national procedures.
• DataComm CHI
• o The uplink type for Speed and Route Generic Uplinks was discussed. A recommendation was made to modify the classification of the Confirm Speed (uM134) and Confirm Assigned Route uplinks from Temporary Generic Uplinks to Permanent Generic Uplinks. Th...
• ER 195554 AHI and Point Outs
• o The team reviewed and reached agreement on the problem statement, "The desired behavior is to add system functionality that will insert an AHI (Auto Handoff Inhibit) for an aircraft from the initiating sector to the receiving sector after the receiv...
• ER 194653 Pending Font and Brightness
• o The team discussed and reached consensus on the problem statement, "Its desired behavior is to change the button functions on the SAA Filter Menu so that both hot and pending airspaces can be changed independently."
• Altimeter CAR
• o The team discussed updating altimeters at a more frequent rate. A task team has been created to work the issue with SLE and respond to the CAR.
• ER 186070 Weather Updates
• o The ER describes a situation where the weather report for a specific station did not update and the old weather remained displayed. A draft problem statement will be created with a desired behavior of reporting weather observations as missing, if th...
• PDRR/ABRR
• o Critical AIMS 196440 was written against PDRR and a software fix is needed to correct the issue. The ERAM fix will be delivered in April 2019, and the TFMS fix in 2020 or later. The initial suggestion is to disable PDRR at the facility level until t...