Page 18 - ATC Special Bulletin Series - Remote and Digital Towers 2023-01

© Rohde & Schwarz The CERTIUM® VCS virtual center capability for area control centers makes geographically distributed, redundant ATC possible. (All photos: Rohde & Schwarz) VIRTUAL CENTER CAPABILITY ENABLES MULTIPLE AREA CONTROL CENTERS TO OPERATE AS ONE NETWORK Highly volatile air traffic volumes and the economic necessity to optimize the deployment of highly qualified staff require modern operational concepts that go beyond a single area control center. The CERTIUM® VCS virtual center capability for area control centers (ACC) makes geographically distributed, redundant ATC possible. This technology, which has been first developed by Rohde & Schwarz, allows multiple centers to be operated as if they were one, resulting in higher flexibility and maximum availability. Multiple centers, either located in the same or different countries, can share radios and telecommunications resources that are interconnected via a high-speed IP network. The systems can be operated independently of each other in standalone mode or interlinked in joint operation mode. The latter allows control center operators to access all the resources and functions in the other centers. This dynamic distribution between individual control centers provides a decisive advantage for the ANSP. During regular operations, the flexible distribution of workloads between air traffic controllers offers the chance to react to e.g. changing weather patterns. This can save costs thanks to optimized utilization of capacities and even result in higher staff satisfaction, since fewer staff members are required during unpopular and low- traffic night shifts when another center can take over operations. This technology can make use of the cross-border functional airspace blocks (FAB) required as part of the Single European Sky initiative. The ability to use additional data applications is another economic benefit. Weather data, video messages, text messages, etc. can be displayed directly on the air traffic controller ’s console. 18 | SPECIAL BULLETIN SERIES | 2023 | |