A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1217493
Richie Smith (N90) leads NATCA's efforts on the IDS-R project as the Article 114 Rep. Due to recent problems uncovered in the SCT network, a new software build is being designed and packaged to fix potential networking issues. This build, dubbed 3.6.5, will potentially help all of the NIDS networks in the NAS but will delay both the previous plan of software build 3.7 and the very important changeover from a Windows based system to Linux. At this point no schedule has been coordinated for build 3.6.5 and it looks like 3.7 and the Linux OS won't realistically be coming in 2020. All 41 networks are up to date at this time and reported problems are at a minimum. NAS VOICE SWITCH (NVS) Jon Shedden (ZFW) is the Article 114 Rep to the NVS project. The National Airspace System (NAS) Voice over IP Communication Enterprise (VoICE) program will encompass what was the NVS program. This will include acquisitions to replace our aging voice switches, as well as Radio Control Equipment (RCE). The first Request for Industry (RFI) was released this past summer. The FAA is working on a second RFI with more detailed questions. The FAA is also working on revising and/or updating requirements for the Voice Communications System Specification to better align with existing industry standards. Work continues on the Air-to-Ground Media Gateway (AGMG). The AGMG, being developed as a part of the Future Flight Service Program (FFSP; for flight service in the contiguous US), will allow modern Internet Protocol (IP) voice switches to communicate with legacy radios. These will be deployed to several ARTCCs to aid the transition of flight service radios to VoIP. Alaska Flight Service was scheduled to have their aging voice switch replaced with NVS. Now that the NVS contract has ended, work has begun to find a suitable replacement. Work continues on a shortfall analysis as well as requirements review. Next Generation Air-Ground Communication (NEXCOM) continues deployment of new CM300/350 V2 radios to terminal facilities across the country. The NEXCOM Program Office has kicked off the Emergency Transceiver Replacement. This program is looking to replace aging tunable transceivers at DEN, HNL, PCT, PHX, SCT, and SLC. Work continues in 2nd Level Engineering to develop a suitable replacement. They are also looking to replace approximately 2,000 of the grab-and-go style emergency transceivers (e.g. PET-2000). The replacement for the PET-2000 is currently in source selection. NAS Voice Recorder Program (NVRP) is the replacement for existing NAS voice recorders (DALR, DALR2, DVRS, DVR2). NICE Ltd. was officially awarded the NVR contract to replace the legacy voice recorders. Keysite is estimated for the fall of 2020 in Seattle.