SWIM SEGMENT 2 Approach and Early Adopters Success in the NAS

An effective National Airspace System (NAS) information sharing architecture and implementation has been a primary vision for the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) program. This vision supports the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) goals to facilitate and promote data sharing to improve the generation and leveraging of new and existing systems in the NAS. This includes enabling information sharing with cost effective, secure, and reliable message and Network-Centric infrastructure across the NAS enterprise. Throughout 2011 and 2012, SWIM has started efforts in establishing segment 2 architecture. The focus has been to plan, transition, and deploy the segment 1 efforts to NAS as well as the shared infrastructure build out and introduce SWIM benefits and capabilities to additional programs. Segment one programs such as WMSCR, CIWS, ITWS, TFM, and AIM have made progress toward implementation of a service oriented architecture (SOA), and are now beginning the phased process of utilizing SWIM and transitioning services to a shared, net-centric infrastructure in the NAS operational environment. This infrastructure is operational in the NAS and supports the SWIM standards based information exchange. This exchange involves provisioning the NAS Enterprise Messaging Service (NEMS), a distributed architecture, across multiple FAA facilities. In addition, several operational programs have already transitioned to this new SWIM infrastructure, such as ASDE-X, OASIS, and WARP. ASDE-X is the Airport Surface Data Service currently published to external NAS consumers such as airline operation centers that provides location information of aircraft on airport runways. OASIS is the automation system for flight service stations that provides weather briefing and flight planning information and consumes a myriad of weather products. And WARP is an enroute weather system that provides weather, mosaic NEXRAD information, and aeronautical products to air traffic controllers.

The purpose of this white paper is to provide a SWIM enterprise messaging overview, the current SWIM Segment 2 status, a summary of the SWIM technology and primary benefits, as well as the SWIM approach to the implementation and deployment of messaging infrastructure and services across the NAS. In addition, this paper will highlight the success of several early adopter programs.