Analyzing and Modeling Capacity for Decentralized Air Traffic Control

The current system of Air Traffic Control (ATC) relies on a centralized control architecture. At its core, this system is heavily dependent on manual intervention by human Air Traffic Controllers (ATCos) to ensure safe operations. The capacity of this system is, therefore, closely tied to the maximum workload that can be tolerated by ATCos....

Three-dimensional conflict count models for unstructured and layered airspace designs

This paper presents analytical models that describe the safety of unstructured and layered en route airspace designs. Here, ‘unstructured airspace’ refers to airspace designs that offer operators complete freedom in path planning, whereas ‘layered airspace’ refers to airspace concepts that utilize heading-altitude rules to vertically separate...

How Do Layered Airspace Design Parameters Affect Airspace Capacity and Safety?

In many ATM studies experiments are performed to determine the capacity. This paper looks at the effect of airspace design on the capacity. Using an algebraic approach a relation is derived between the design parameters of a layered airspace design and the capacity of the airspace. The validity of the assumptions which are used in this...