New VHF Datalink Mode 4 Performance Simulator (VPS)

New VHF Datalink Mode 4 Performance Simulator (VPS) Now Available

VPS is a newly developed VDL-4 datalink model intended for capacity and performance assessments of VDL-4 air and ground infrastructures supporting ADS-B and TIS-B applications. VPS development was subcontracted to Helios Technology Ltd. The reason for VPS development was to overcome numerous limitations of existing VDL-4 models. Enhancements provided by VPS include:

Accurate emulation of slot reservation procedures as specified in the latest VDL-4 ICAO standards
Support for TIS-B uplinks and ground reserved slots
Support for multiple slot types including multi-slot messages
Emulation of Periodic, Incremental, and Random Access protocols
Support for moving aircraft, station entry and exit from the scenario

VPS is currently being used to support EUROCONTROL ADS Programme evaluations of the ADS-B Application Package 1 implementation requirements. VPS is also used to explore potential enhancements to VDL-4 beyond current SARPs provisions.

VPS can be made available for free to any interested ATM or research related organisation provided it is used for non commercial purposes. Interested parties should contact C. Tamvaclis (constantine.tamvaclis@eurocontrol.int) for further details.