Providing Flight Information Service to aircraft in Alaska: Architectural considerations for extending the service to the lower 48 states

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has embarked upon an initiative that is developing and implementing Flight Information Service - Broadcast Mode (FIS-B) in Alaska. The project, referred to as Capstone, has a broader scope than just FIS-B, but FIS-B is a critical service element to a region that is fraught with weather related accidents.

This paper describes the architecture being installed to provide FIS-B in Alaska and discusses the issues governing extending the architecture to the lower 48 states. Among the issues addressed is the apparent conflict with a FAA Policy on FIS Data Link that has resulted in contracts with two vendors. Capstone is a test program, while FIS Data Link is a commercial venture providing services and equipment to users in the lower 48 states. Both initiatives have a common goal in mind, to reduce weather-related accidents by providing better real-time information to the pilot in the aircraft, but their implementation approaches are different. Recommendations for enabling the two architectures to co-exist in a manner that maximizes interoperability while minimizing infrastructure and avionics costs are provided.