scope:

Introduction

This document contains Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for Flight Information Services - Broadcast (FIS-B) system with Universal Access Transceiver (UAT). These standards specify system characteristics that should be useful to designers, manufacturers, installers and users of the equipment.

Compliance with these standards is recommended as one means of assuring that the equipment will perform its intended function(s) satisfactorily under all conditions normally encountered in routine aeronautical operation. Any regulatory application of this document is the sole responsibility of appropriate governmental agencies.

This document considers an equipment configuration consisting of the airborne processing and cockpit display of aeronautical and meteorological data known as FIS-B provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).¹ Functions or components that refer to equipment capabilities that exceed the stated minimum requirements are identified as optional features.

Section 1 of this document provides information needed to understand the rationale for equipment characteristics and requirements stated in the remaining sections. It describes typical equipment operations and operation goals, as envisioned by the members of Special Committee 206 (SC-206), and establishes the basis for the standards stated in Section 2. Definitions and assumptions essential to proper understanding of this document are also provided in this section.

Section 2 contains the minimum performance standards for the equipment. These standards specify the required performance under standard environmental conditions. Also included are recommended bench test procedures necessary to demonstrate equipment compliance with the stated minimum requirements.

Section 3 describes the performance required of installed equipment. Tests for the installed equipment are included when performance cannot be adequately determined through bench testing.

Section 4 contains a description of the relationship between the aircraft characteristics and the FIS-B equipment conforming to this MOPS.

Section 5 lists the members of SC-206 who developed the document.

APPENDIX A, a normative appendix, provides formatting and encoding details of FIS-B Uplink Products, including the UAT Ground Uplink Message formatting, the Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU) header formatting and encoding, as well as each FIS-B product report in both textual and graphical representations, as applicable, as well as the Current Report List (CRL) with header and payload encoding.

APPENDIX B, an informative appendix, gives the definition of a FIS-B report, describes the components of the FIS-B report, describes the FIS-B report relationship to the APDU that conveys it and provides guidance for identifying redundant FIS-B reports.

APPENDIX C, an informative appendix, provides the update and transmission intervals for each FIS-B product uplinked.

APPENDIX D, an informative appendix, provides background information on the tiered approach used for assigning channel resources to each of the radio stations in the ground network.

APPENDIX E, an informative appendix, gives background on the processing of the Next-Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) sensor data for uplink.

APPENDIX F, an informative appendix, gives some background on the approach used within the FIS-B radio station in generating and uplinking the CRL.

APPENDIX G, an informative appendix, describes the process used by the radio stations to transmit in their assigned channels.

APPENDIX H, an informative appendix, gives rationale for not processing the uplink of Special Use Airspace (SUA) product #13.

APPENDIX I, an informative appendix, specifies an acceptable time-based method for an "all-at-once" update of the NEXRAD and Lightning images on the cockpit display.

APPENDIX J, an informative appendix, describes some potential evolution of the FIS-B ground system with the intent to motivate manufacturers to provide some mechanism for field updateability of the FIS-B avionics.

APPENDIX K, an informative appendix, provides a mapping of "shall" requirement numbers to FIS-B Equipment Classes.

APPENDIX L, an informative appendix, describes the calculation of the reference radio station Reception Success Rate (RSR) and provides an example calculation.

APPENDIX M includes the Change Suggestion Form.

The word "equipment" as used in this document includes all components and units necessary for the system to properly perform its intended function(s). For example, the "equipment" may include a processor that receives packetized data ported from the UAT, reassembles and then displays that selectable information on the flight deck. In the case of this example, all of the foregoing components and units comprise the "equipment." It should not be inferred from this example that each FIS-B design will necessarily include all of the foregoing components or units. This will depend on the specific design chosen by the manufacturer.

This MOPS applies to a specific defined function. The equipment may have additional features related to that function for which there is no specified minimum performance requirement. For example, FIS-B products may be displayed in alternative ways as part of value-added services. Equipment may also have additional functions for which other MOPS or Technical Standard Orders (TSOs) may be applicable or it may contain additional functions not defined by any MOPS or TSO.

If the equipment implementation includes a computer software package, the guidelines contained in RTCA Document (DO)-178()²/European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) European Document (ED)-12(), Software Consideration in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification, should be considered.

If the equipment implementation includes electronic hardware, the guidelines contained in RTCA DO-254()/EUROCAE ED-80(), Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware, should be considered.

¹ The FIS-B service is part of the FAA's Surveillance and Broadcast Services System (SBSS).

² The () notation indicates the most current document revision.