Air Traffic Control
Uncomplicated processes at their highest level.
TBiQ is your experienced copilot in the field of IT systems for Air Traffic Management.
We have all ATM systems in our sight and navigate confidently in the area of relevant air traffic regulations and standards. With us, thanks to our extensive know-how, all doors to your relevant subjects and areas stand open:
Airspace structure data for SDPS und Safety Net systems
Sensor data management und simulation
Airspace Structure Data
for SDPS and Safety Net Systems
Our world is all about your working world. We have created a central system to equip operational SDPS and Safety Net systems with aeronautical adaptation data.
It has a specially developed Geocomponent for the generation, maintenance and visualisation of non-redundant radar map data.
Furthermore, it provides you with extensive tools to satisfy specific operational graphic requirements.
Central non-redundant data maintenance –
local use
The underlying central database makes it easy to capture specialist attributes, define the structures of parts of maps and control the provision of data needed in the AIRAC cycle to the Center and Tower systems. A further plus-point are the specific translator modules for all software components being used.
Automation of Sub-processes
Not quite a walk in the park but a clear easing of your workflows thanks to the process integration of extensive validation and automation tools. The result is a highly efficient and secure overall system for the important task of the company-wide provision of geographical adaptation data.
Sensor Data Management and Simulation
We implement IT solutions that immediately help our customers further. An example of this is the Surveillance Adaption Management System, developed and maintained by us.
It administers technical and specialist parameters of all sensors linked to the company-wide SDPS.
This adaptation data is passed to diverse target systems in different formats.
Dynamic Sensor Coverage for Simulation of Failures
But the system can do even more. With the use of integrated visibility diagrams for all systems it is able to provide geographical information about the sensor coverage. Among other things, this allows simulations of impact analysis in the case of sensor failures or planned shutdowns.
Support for the construction and exchange of installations
Green light for the future: when planning new installations or the exchange of existing ones the system offers valuable help in the site analysis. By combining sensor ranges with operational air spaces in any constellation, important, practical insights can be gained directly, documented and passed on.
Central Integration Platform for Geoinformation
The company-wide Geoportal is spot-on in the area of networked activities.
It serves as a central integration platform, on which diverse types and formats of the Geodata locally maintained in the company from different application domains are merged together. The browser-based approach to the application minimizes administration efforts on the client side.
User-friendly Role Concept
The user and role concept in the backend of the application and the intuitive web interface make it the "Business Class" in easy handling. Users can work with the tool without any training and see just the data and functions needed for their daily tasks and business processes.
A common view of distributed data and formats
Whether it’s AeroDB/EAD data, topography data for UTM or data of the beacons, frequency protection areas and radar installations – with the Geoportal you have everything at your finger tips. Especially practical – geographical adaptation data for SDPS systems can be easily loaded and visualised for local pre-checks and release.
The great benefit of the system that we developed based on a service-orientated architecture – a common view of the Geoinformation with the possibility to make intuitive queries, analyses and to use further tools.
Voice Control
Reliable and technically mature
Technology is reaching ever new heights, in the area of voice control as well. Today, for example, it is possible to run processes, partly automated, based on the interpretation of controller-pilot communication. This supports or rather reduces manual interventions at the controller workplace.
We work with partners who are leading in the field of voice recognition. The ideal basis for us to develop solutions to safely receive text elements produced from the voice recognition and from this to generate actions at controller workplaces or in test and simulation environments. Here we profit from our extensive experience in test automation.
Additionally we also help with the evaluation and validation. We test, among other things, voice control within the scope of examinations for an operational deployment. To do this we convert offline voice recordings into transactions and compare them to the corresponding user inputs. The information thus gleaned makes a significant contribution in determining possibilities, use and cost.
We are, of course, aware of the complexity and sensitivity of the subject voice control. That’s why we work in close cooperation with our customers and guarantee maximum security in all areas.
Quality Assurance
The (test) processes that make the air space safe must be as dynamic as the events occurring in the air above. We rely increasingly on agile development and consequently on intensive communication with users and all positions involved in the development process.
Why?
Mainly because we want to find errors as early as possible and improve the Time to Market.
Test procedures –
effective, easy to understand, state of the art
Our aim – to permanently guarantee the best quality assurance. How we do it: continually create test procedures, maintain them (e.g. due to changes of adaptation data) and develop them further, both for single requirements as well as for all types of tests like regression, chain or integration tests.
What distinguishes our test procedures?
- Efficiency in the execution
- Understandable test steps
- High level of coverage
- Easy maintainability.
Thereby we separate parts that for technical or economical reasons can only be executed manually or semi-automatedly from those that can run fully automated.
Test automation -
with established tools and customized components
More important than ever: automated tests are an essential part of modern test and acceptance procedures. We favour tools that are free of charge and well established in the market like RobotFramework which have a wide user community and can be perfectly integrated in ATM environments.
If needed, we generate the necessary automation components, for example, for flight simulation, controller inputs at the CWP or to check HMI outputs.
The optimal and low-maintenance use of data for flight plans and flight simulation is ensured by our web application. With it the data can not only be represented in tabular form and in 3D but can be selected according to diverse criteria with respect to their use.
Test execution –
flexible regarding location and 100% transparent
Ready to jump on board with TBiQ? Let us carry out your tests – we are perfectly in tune with your requirements and demands. We master all types of tests, whether it’s on your systems or on our own ones.
Our personnel can (if necessary through personnel leasing) be integrated in your processes on your site. For near- or offshore solutions and also for complete test outsourcing we use a web application, in which we document all process steps from the award of contract to delivery of the results. This ensures highest transparency.
Load & performance test methods –
black-box orientied and transferable
All set for the system check? Yes, with a solution developed by us to test performance, stability and resilience of a particular ATM system. It is black box orientated and consists of
- a web application with which load scenarios are defined and generated for execution on the basis of operational data
- a test server for automated test execution and for recording and provision of test results
- a web application to process and visualise test results, check the results against existing requirements as well as represent the relationship between data that influences performance (flights, messages, …) and data that determines performance (system utilization, response times).
A decisive advantage: the principles of this procedure can be applied on other ATM systems (and possibly on sub-components like CWP or FDPS). With a prototype-orientated approach it can be quickly determined whether this procedure can be realised (with what effort) in a new ATM environment.
Innovation
Destination Tomorrow – we embrace subjects outside our normal project work that are already important today and that will increasingly gain in significance:
- generation of test procedures, based on requirements
- better integration of the subject testing/test processes with agile approach
- KPI regarding quality and test processes
- selective regression tests
- analysis and comparison of quality assurance procedures in an international context.
In doing so we benefit from our experience and solutions from other branches and profit from our membership in the German Society for Computer Science (GI) and the Working Group for Software Quality and Education (ASQF). We value teamwork and are open to exchange of information and cooperation in these areas. We would be pleased to hear from you.
Consulting
With TBiQ you are always well advised.
From professional interchange of ideas to conceptual collaboration we support you with our specialist input in all air traffic areas already mentioned and more.
In the last 30 years our expertise has contributed to the successful conclusion of a variety of projects. In the following challenging areas you profit from our consulting services:
- Requirements Engineering
- Test processes / Test automation / Load & Performance tests
- OLDI / Communication with external systems
- Re-hosting
- Transition procedures
Of course, we are no all-rounders. But we have a strong network of experienced partners, on whom we can always call when we need outside know-how.