# Ground-Traffic Information-Management System for an Airport 

### Real-time operational data are shared among diverse users to help minimize delays. 

#### *Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California*

A computer-based system, and a method built around the use of the
system, have been developed to automate the acquisition, integration,
and management of data that have been generated at different rates by
multiple, heterogeneous, incompatible sources. The system \[hereafter
denoted the \"TMS\" (for \"traffic-management system\")\] in its
original form is intended for use in improving the management of ground
traffic at a large, busy airport in order to reduce delays. The TMS
could also be adapted to scheduling the movements of multiple vehicles
in other settings --- for example, vessels in harbors, trucks or
railroad cars in shipping yards, and railroad cars in switching yards.
Still other uses for the TMS could include managing containers at a
shipping dock, managing stock on a factory floor or in a warehouse, and
training of a variety of airline, airport, and government personnel in
the management of airport ground traffic.

The basic TMS concept admits of variations. In a preferred
representative version, the TMS is a client/server computer system that
shares real-time aircraft-operations data among the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), airlines, airport managers, and ramp controllers.
The TMS (see figure) includes executive, information, input-management,
prediction, and client-interface subsystems that are interconnected to
participate in the interchange of real-time aircraft-operations data
among the aforementioned groups. In addition to raising the level of
coordination among these groups, the TMS generates its value-added data
products for their use. These data products include estimated times of
arrival of airplanes at gates and estimated airplane-departure times.
The TMS uses expert-system software to fuse data in order to establish
and update reference data values for every aircraft surface operation.

The executive subsystem is responsible for controlling the other
subsystems, starting and shutting down processes at scheduled times,
monitoring system components for error and warning conditions, notifying
system-support personnel of detected system errors, and, when possible,
recovering from system failures. Additional duties of the executive
subsystem include facilitating diagnoses of faults in subsystems,
providing remote access for monitoring and control, maintaining system
statistics, and managing user accounts. The executive subsystem can
issue commands to reset various hardware components of the TMS.

The input-management subsystem is a collection of computer programs that
handle the data coming in from various sources via network or serial
links. In turn, the input-management subsystem feeds the data to the
information subsystem.

The prediction subsystem is responsible for integrating all the input
data in order to monitor the progress of arriving and departing flights,
and to predict key events, including pushbacks (departures from gates),
takeoffs, touchdowns, and arrivals at gates. The integrated monitoring
information and predicted values are fed back to the information
subsystem for display by the client-interface subsystem.

The client-interface subsystem is a collection of computer programs. In
a preferred version of the TMS, the client-interface system distributes
flight, TMS-status, and schedule data from the information subsystem to
various clients, including the aforementioned sources of data and user
groups and possibly other clients at remote locations. It also provides
a graphical user interface for continuously displaying flight data on a
bit-mapped display, and for executing various commands to change the
data or the method of display.

 

![](media/image1.png){width="3.7708333333333335in"
height="2.4055555555555554in"}\
The **TMS Is a Client/Server System** that helps various user groups to
increase the level of coordination of airport operations and thereby
reduce ground-traffic delays.

*This work was done by Brian J. Glass, Liljana Spirkovska, William J.
McDermott, Ronald J. Reisman, James Gibson, and David L. Iverson of*
**Ames Research Center***. For further information, access the Technical
Support Package (TSP)* **free on-line at www.nasatech.com/tsp** *under
the Electronic Components & Systems category.*

*This invention has been patented by NASA (U.S. Patent No. 6,161,097).
Inquiries concerning nonexclusive or exclusive license for its
commercial development should be addressed to the Patent Counsel, Ames
Research Center, (650) 604-5104. Refer to ARC-14268.*

*Tech Briefs article published February 2002.*