Radar and other avionics in a Cessna Citation.

F-105 Thunderchief with avionics laid out.

Avionics is a term used to describe all of the electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft.

Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles. These can be as simple as a searchlight for a police helicopter or as complicated as the tactical system for an airborne early warning platform.

History[link]

Roughly 80 percent of the costs of the F15E is in avionics.

The term avionics was coined by journalist Philip J. Klass as a portemanteau of aviation electronics.^[1][2] Many modern avionics have their origins in World War II wartime developments. For example, autopilot systems that are prolific today were started to help bomber planes fly steadily enough to hit precision targets from high altitudes.^[3] Famously, radar was developed in the UK, Germany, and the USA during the same period.^[4] Modern avionics is a substantial portion of military aircraft spending. Aircraft like the F-15E and the now retired F-14 have roughly 80 percent of their budget spent on avionics. Most modern helicopters now have budget splits of 60/40 in favour of avionics.^{[citation needed]}

The civilian market has also seen a growth in cost of avionics. Flight control systems (fly-by-wire) and new navigation needs brought on by tighter airspaces, have pushed up development costs. The major change has been the recent boom in consumer flying. As more people begin to use planes as their primary method of transportation, more elaborate methods of controlling aircraft safely in these high restrictive airspaces have been invented.^{[citation needed]}

Modern Avionics[link]

Avionics plays a heavy role in modernization initiatives like the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System project in the US and the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) initiative in Europe. The Joint Planning and Development Office put forth a roadmap for avionics in six areas:^[5]

• Published Routes and Procedures – Improved navigation and routing
• Negotiated Trajectories – Adding data communications to create preferred routes dynamically
• Delegated Separation – Enhanced situational awareness in the air and on the ground
• LowVisibility/CeilingApproach/Departure – Allowing operations with weather constraints with less ground infrastructure
• Surface Operations – To increase safety in approach and departure
• ATM Efficiencies – Improving the ATM process

Aircraft avionics[link]

The cockpit of an aircraft is a typical location for avionic equipment, including control, monitoring, communication, navigation, weather, and anti-collision systems. The majority of aircraft power their avionics using 14 or 28 volt DC electrical systems; however, larger, more sophisticated aircraft (such as airliners or military combat aircraft) have AC systems operating at 400 Hz, 115 volts AC.^[6] There are several major vendors of flight avionics, including Honeywell (which now owns Bendix/King), Rockwell Collins, Thales Group, Garmin and Avidyne Corporation.

International standards for avionics equipment are prepared by the Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC) and published by ARINC.

Communications[link]

Communications connect the flight deck to the ground and the flight deck to the passengers. On-board communications are provided by public address systems and aircraft intercoms.

The VHF aviation communication system works on the airband of 118.000 MHz to 136.975 MHz. Each channel is spaced from the adjacent ones by 8.33 kHz. VHF is also used for line of sight communication such as aircraft-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-ATC. Amplitude modulation (AM) is used, and the conversation is performed in simplex mode. Aircraft communication can also take place using HF (especially for trans-oceanic flights) or satellite communication.

Navigation[link]

Navigation is the determination of position and direction on or above the surface of the Earth. Avionics can use satellite-based systems (such as GPS and WAAS), ground-based systems (such as VOR or LORAN), or any combination thereof. Navigation systems calculate the position automatically and display it to the flight crew on moving map displays. Older avionics required a pilot or navigator to plot the intersection of signals on a paper map to determine an aircraft's location; modern systems calculate the position automatically and display it to the flight crew on moving map displays.

Monitoring[link]

The Airbus A380 glass cockpit featuring "pull out keyboards and 2 wide computer screens on the sides for pilots".

The first hints of glass cockpits emerged in the 1970s when flight-worthy cathode ray tubes (CRT) screens began to replace electromechanical displays, gauges and instruments. A “glass” cockpit refers to the use of computer monitors instead of gauges and other analog displays. Aircraft were getting progressively more displays, dials and information dashboards that eventually competed for space and pilot attention. In the 1970s the average aircraft had more than 100 cockpit instruments and controls.^[7]

Glass cockpits started to come into being with the Gulfstream G-IV private jet in 1985. One of the key challenges in glass cockpits is to balance how much control is automated and how much the pilot should do manually. Generally they try to automate flight operations while keeping the pilot constantly informed.^[7]

Aircraft flight control systems[link]

Aircraft have means of automatically controlling flight. Today automated flight control is common to reduce pilot error and workload at key times like landing or takeoff.Autopilot was first invented by Lawrence Sperry during World War II to fly bomber planes steady enough to hit precision targets from 25,000 feet. When it was first adopted by the US military, a Honeywell engineer sat in the back seat with bolt cutters to disconnect the autopilot in case of emergency. Today it’s equipped on most commercial planes to reduce pilot error and workload at key times such as landing or takeoff.^[3]

The first simple commercial auto-pilots were used to control heading and altitude and had limited authority on things like thrust and flight control surfaces. In helicopters, auto stabilization was used in a similar way. The first systems were electromechanical. The advent of fly by wire and electro-actuated flight surfaces (rather than the traditional hydraulic) has increased safety. As with displays and instruments, critical devices that were electro-mechanical had a finite life. With safety critical systems, the software is very strictly tested.

Collision-avoidance systems[link]

To supplement air traffic control, most large transport aircraft and many smaller ones use a TCAS (traffic alert and collision avoidance system), which can detect the location of nearby aircraft, and provide instructions for avoiding a midair collision. Smaller aircraft may use simpler traffic alerting systems such as TPAS, which are passive (they do not actively interrogate the transponders of other aircraft) and do not provide advisories for conflict resolution.

To help avoid collision with terrain (CFIT), aircraft use systems such as ground-proximity warning systems (GPWS), which use radar altimeters as a key element. One of the major weaknesses of GPWS is the lack of "look-ahead" information, because it only provides altitude above terrain "look-down". In order to overcome this weakness, modern aircraft use a terrain awareness warning system (TAWS).

BlackBoxes[link]

Commercial aircraft cockpit data recorders, commonly known as a “black box”, store flight information and audio from the cockpit. They’re often recovered from a plane crash to determine the cause of the incident.

Weather systems[link]

Weather systems such as weather radar (typically Arinc 708 on commercial aircraft) and lightning detectors are important for aircraft flying at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, where it is not possible for pilots to see the weather ahead. Heavy precipitation (as sensed by radar) or severe turbulence (as sensed by lightning activity) are both indications of strong convective activity and severe turbulence, and weather systems allow pilots to deviate around these areas.

Lightning detectors like the Stormscope or Strikefinder have become inexpensive enough that they are practical for light aircraft. In addition to radar and lightning detection, observations and extended radar pictures (such as NEXRAD) are now available through satellite data connections, allowing pilots to see weather conditions far beyond the range of their own in-flight systems. Modern displays allow weather information to be integrated with moving maps, terrain, traffic, etc. onto a single screen, greatly simplifying navigation.

Modern weather systems also include windshear and turbulence detection, terrain and traffic warning systems.^[8] In-plane weather avionics are especially popular in Africa, India and other countries where air-travel is a growing market, but ground support isn’t as well developed.^[9]

Aircraft management systems[link]

There has been a progression towards centralized control of the multiple complex systems fitted to aircraft, including engine monitoring and management. Health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) are integrated with aircraft management computers to give maintainers early warnings of parts that will need replacement.

The integrated modular avionics concept proposes an integrated architecture with application software portable across an assembly of common hardware modules. It has been used in fourth generation jet fighters and the latest generation of airliners.

Mission or tactical avionics[link]

Military aircraft have been designed either to deliver a weapon or to be the eyes and ears of other weapon systems. The vast array of sensors available to the military is used for whatever tactical means required. As with aircraft management, the bigger sensor platforms (like the E-3D, JSTARS, ASTOR, Nimrod MRA4, Merlin HM Mk 1) have mission management computers.

Police and EMS aircraft also carry sophisticated tactical sensors.

Military communications[link]

While aircraft communications provide the backbone for safe flight, the tactical systems are designed to withstand the rigours of the battle field. UHF, VHF Tactical (30-88 MHz) and SatCom systems combined with ECCM methods, and cryptography secure the communications. Data links such as Link 11, 16, 22 and BOWMAN, JTRS and even TETRA provide the means of transmitting data (such as images, targeting information etc.).

Radar[link]

Airborne radar was one of the first tactical sensors. The benefit of altitude providing range has meant a significant focus on airborne radar technologies. Radars include airborne early warning (AEW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and even weather radar (Arinc 708) and ground tracking/proximity radar.

The military uses radar in fast jets to help pilots fly at low levels.^{[citation needed]} While the civil market has had weather radar for a while, there are strict rules about using it to navigate the aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

Sonar[link]

Dipping sonar fitted to a range of military helicopters allows the helicopter to protect shipping assets from submarines or surface threats. Maritime support aircraft can drop active and passive sonar devices (sonobuoys) and these are also used to determine the location of hostile submarines.

Electro-Optics[link]

Electro-optic systems include devices such as the head-up display (HUD), forward looking infrared (FLIR), and passive infrared devices (PIDS). These are all used to provide imagery and information to the flight crew. This imagery is used for everything from navigational aids, search and rescue, and target acquisition.

ESM/DAS[link]

Electronic support measures and defensive aids are used extensively to gather information about threats or possible threats. They can be used to launch devices (in some cases automatically) to counter direct threats against the aircraft. They are also used to determine the state of a threat and identify it.

Aircraft networks[link]

The avionics systems in military, commercial and advanced models of civilian aircraft are interconnected using an avionics databus. Common avionics databus protocols, with their primary application, include:

• Aircraft Data Network (ADN): Ethernet derivative for Commercial Aircraft
• Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX): Specific implementation of ARINC 664 (ADN) for Commercial Aircraft
• ARINC 429: Generic Medium-Speed Data Sharing for Private and Commercial Aircraft
• ARINC 664: See ADN above
• ARINC 629: Commercial Aircraft (Boeing 777)
• ARINC 708: Weather Radar for Commercial Aircraft
• ARINC 717: Flight Data Recorder for Commercial Aircraft
• IEEE 1394b: Military Aircraft
• MIL-STD-1553: Military Aircraft
• MIL-STD-1760: Military Aircraft
• TTP - Time-Triggered Protocol: Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A380, Fly-By-Wire Actuation Platforms from Parker Aerospace
• TTEthernet - Time-Triggered Ethernet: NASA Orion Spacecraft

Disaster relief and air ambulance[link]

Disaster relief and EMS aircraft (mostly helicopters) are now a significant market. Military aircraft are often now built with a role available to assist in civil obedience^{[citation needed]}. Disaster relief helicopters are almost always fitted with video/FLIR systems to allow them to monitor and co-ordinate realtime relief efforts. They can also be fitted with searchlights and loudspeakers.

EMS and disaster relief helicopters will be required to fly in unpleasant conditions, this may require more aircraft sensors, some of which were until recently considered purely for military aircraft.

See also[link]

• ACARS
• Flight recorder
• Distress radiobeacon
• Integrated modular avionics
• Avionics software
• ARINC
• Acronyms and abbreviations in avionics

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Avionics: Development and Implementation by Cary R. Spitzer (Hardcover - Dec 15, 2006)
• Principles of Avionics, 4th Edition by Albert Helfrick, Len Buckwalter, and Avionics Communications Inc. (Paperback - Jul 1, 2007)
• Avionics Training: Systems, Installation, and Troubleshooting by Len Buckwalter (Paperback - Jun 30, 2005)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Avionics

• The Avionic Systems Standardisation Committee
• Space Shuttle Avionics
• Aviation Today Avionics magazine
• RAES Avionics homepage
• Vertical Gyroscope Avionics Information
• On-Board Electronics related papers (Portuguese)