November 2014

NASA/TM–2014-218553

Functional Analysis for an Integrated Capability 

of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management with 

Tactical Runway Management 

Nipa Phojanamongkolkij 

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 

Nikolai Okuniek 

German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany 

Gary W. Lohr 

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 

Meilin Schaper 

German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany 

Lothar Christoffels 

German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany 

Kara A. Latorella 

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 
NASA STI Program . . . in Profile

Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the 

advancement of aeronautics and space science. The 

NASA scientific and technical information (STI) 

program plays a key part in helping NASA maintain 

this important role. 

The NASA STI program operates under the 

auspices of the Agency Chief Information Officer. 

It collects, organizes, provides for archiving, and 

disseminates NASA’s STI. The NASA STI 

program provides access to the NASA Aeronautics 

and Space Database and its public interface, the 

NASA Technical Report Server, thus providing one 

of the largest collections of aeronautical and space 

science STI in the world. Results are published in 

both non-NASA channels and by NASA in the 

NASA STI Report Series, which includes the 

following report types: 

 TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. Reports of 

completed research or a major significant phase 

of research that present the results of NASA 

Programs and include extensive data or 

theoretical analysis. Includes compilations of 

significant scientific and technical data and 

information deemed to be of continuing 

reference value. NASA counterpart of peerreviewed formal professional papers, but 

having less stringent limitations on manuscript 

length and extent of graphic presentations. 

 TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM. Scientific 

and technical findings that are preliminary or of 

specialized interest, e.g., quick release reports, 

working papers, and bibliographies that contain 

minimal annotation. Does not contain extensive 

analysis. 

 CONTRACTOR REPORT. Scientific and 

technical findings by NASA-sponsored 

contractors and grantees. 

 CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. 

Collected papers from scientific and 

technical conferences, symposia, seminars, 

or other meetings sponsored or cosponsored by NASA. 

 SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, 

technical, or historical information from 

NASA programs, projects, and missions, 

often concerned with subjects having 

substantial public interest. 

 TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. 

English-language translations of foreign 

scientific and technical material pertinent to 

NASA’s mission.

Specialized services also include organizing 

and publishing research results, distributing 

specialized research announcements and feeds, 

providing information desk and personal search 

support, and enabling data exchange services. 

For more information about the NASA STI 

program, see the following: 

 Access the NASA STI program home page 

at http://www.sti.nasa.gov

 E-mail your question to help@sti.nasa.gov

 Fax your question to the NASA STI 

Information Desk at 443-757-5803 

 Phone the NASA STI Information Desk at 

443-757-5802

 Write to: 

 STI Information Desk 

 NASA Center for AeroSpace Information 

 7115 Standard Drive 

 Hanover, MD 21076-1320
National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Langley Research Center 

Hampton, Virginia 23681-2199 

 

November 2014

NASA/TM–2014-218553

Functional Analysis for an Integrated Capability 

of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management with 

Tactical Runway Management 

Nipa Phojanamongkolkij 

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 

Nikolai Okuniek 

German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany 

Gary W. Lohr 

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 

Meilin Schaper 

German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany 

Lothar Christoffels 

German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig, Germany 

Kara A. Latorella 

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 
Available from: 

NASA Center for AeroSpace Information 

7115 Standard Drive 

Hanover, MD 21076-1320

443-757-5802 
1

Table of Contents

Abstract.........................................................................................................................................................3

1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................4

1.1. Purpose of Analysis.......................................................................................................................4

1.2. Document Organization................................................................................................................4

2. Air Traffic Management Environments: Germany and the United States............................................5

3. Tools and Capabilities.........................................................................................................................11

3.1. German Aerospace Center (DLR) Tools.......................................................................................11

3.2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Tools..................................................12

4. Analysis of the Integrated System ......................................................................................................13

4.1. Functional Analysis......................................................................................................................13

4.2. Data Requirements.....................................................................................................................13

4.3. The Integrated System................................................................................................................16

4.3.1. Perform Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM) Function (F.1) ..................20

4.3.2. Provide Advisory Airport Configurations Function (F.2).....................................................25

4.3.3. Receive User Selection of Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM) 

Configurations Function (F.3)..............................................................................................................26

4.3.4. Communicate Airport Configuration Change Function (F.4) ..............................................26

4.3.5. Perform Departure Management - Controller Assistance for Departure Optimization 

(CADEO) Function (F.5) .......................................................................................................................27

4.3.6. Perform Arrival Management – 4 Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager (4D-CARMA) 

Function (F.6)......................................................................................................................................30

4.3.7. Perform Surface Management - Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and Controlling (TRACC) 

Function (F.7)......................................................................................................................................33

4.3.8. Send Current Flight Information of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management (A/D/S-MAN) 

Function (F.8)......................................................................................................................................37

5. Conclusions and Recommendations...................................................................................................37

Acronyms....................................................................................................................................................40

References ..................................................................................................................................................41
2

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Preliminary functional overview of the Arrival/Departure/Surface Management and Tactical 

Runway Configuration Management integration.......................................................................................17

Figure 2: Preliminary N-squared chart for the Arrival/Departure/Surface Management and Tactical 

Runway Configuration Management integration.......................................................................................19

Figure 3: Perform Tactical Runway Configuration Management function (F.1).........................................20

Figure 4: Load Static Information function (F.1.1)......................................................................................21

Figure 5: Receive dynamic information function (F.1.2).............................................................................22

Figure 6: Receive Tactical Runway Configuration Management parameters user preference function 

(F.1.3). .........................................................................................................................................................24

Figure 7: Evaluate runway configurations function (F.1.4).........................................................................25

Figure 8: Provide advisory airport configuration function (F.2). ................................................................26

Figure 9: Communicate airport configuration change function (F.4). ........................................................27

Figure 10: Perform Departure Management - Controller Assistance for Departure Optimization (CADEO) 

function (F.5)...............................................................................................................................................27

Figure 11: Load static information function (F.5.1). ...................................................................................29

Figure 12: Receive dynamic information function (F.5.2)...........................................................................29

Figure 13: Schedule departures function (F.5.3). .......................................................................................30

Figure 14: Perform Arrival Management – 4 Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager (4D-CARMA) 

function (F.6)...............................................................................................................................................31

Figure 15: Load airspace function (F.6.1)....................................................................................................32

Figure 16: Receive dynamic information function (F.6.2)...........................................................................32

Figure 17: Sequence arrivals function (F.6.3). ............................................................................................33

Figure 18: Perform Surface Management - Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and Controlling (TRACC) 

function (F.7)...............................................................................................................................................34

Figure 19: Receive dynamic information function (F.7.2)...........................................................................35

Figure 20: Calculate surface trajectories function (F.7.3)...........................................................................36

Figure 21: Send current flight information of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management function (F.8). ...37

Table of Tables

Table 1: Air Traffic Environment...................................................................................................................6

Table 2: Air Traffic Control Operations.........................................................................................................7

Table 3: Data Category................................................................................................................................14

Table 3: Data Category (continued)............................................................................................................15

Table 3: Data Category (continued)............................................................................................................16
3

Abstract

The runway is a critical resource of any air transport system. It is used for arrivals, departures, and for 

taxiing aircraft and is universally acknowledged as a constraining factor to capacity for both surface and 

airspace operations. It follows that investigation of the effective use of runways, both in terms of selection 

and assignment as well as the timing and sequencing of the traffic is paramount to the efficient traffic 

flows. Both the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA have developed concepts and tools to improve 

atomic aspects of coordinated arrival/departure/surface management operations and runway 

configuration management.

In December 2012, NASA entered into a Collaborative Agreement with DLR. Four collaborative work areas 

were identified, one of which is called “Runway Management.” As part of collaborative research in the 

“Runway Management” area, which is conducted with the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance, located in 

Braunschweig, the goal is to develop an integrated system comprised of the three DLR tools - arrival, 

departure, and surface management (collectively referred to as A/D/S-MAN) - and NASA’s tactical runway

configuration management (TRCM) tool.

To achieve this goal, it is critical to prepare a concept of operations (ConOps) detailing how the NASA 

runway management and DLR arrival, departure, and surface management tools will function together to 

the benefit of each. To assist with the preparation of the ConOps, the integrated NASA and DLR tools are 

assessed through a functional analysis method described in this report. The report first provides the highlevel operational environments for air traffic management (ATM) in Germany and in the U.S., and the 

descriptions of the DLR’s A/D/S-MAN and NASA’s TRCM tools at the level of details necessary to 

compliment the purpose of the study. Functional analyses of each tool and a completed functional analysis

of an integrated system design are presented next in the report.

Future efforts to fully develop the ConOps will include: developing scenarios to fully test environmental, 

procedural, and data availability assumptions; executing the analysis by a walk-through of the integrated 

system using these scenarios; defining the appropriate role of operators in terms of their monitoring 

requirements and decision authority; executing the analysis by a walk-through of the integrated system 

with operator involvement; characterizing the environmental, system data requirements, and operator 

role assumptions for the ConOps.
4

1. Introduction

The runway is a critical resource of any air transport system and is universally acknowledged as a 

constraining factor to capacity for both surface and airspace operations. It follows that investigation of 

the effective use of runways, both in terms of selection and assignment as well as the timing and 

sequencing of the traffic is paramount to the efficient traffic flows. Both the German Aerospace Center 

(DLR) and NASA have developed concepts and tools to improve atomic aspects of coordinated 

arrival/departure/surface management operations and runway configuration management.

Both NASA and DLR have extensively studied the efficient use of runways. For instance, DLR is conducting 

research on tactical decision support tools for air traffic control operators (ATCO) to achieve compact and 

coordinated arrival and departure sequences that also consider surface traffic. Arrival/Departure/Surface 

Management Systems individually plans every aircraft and displays its calculation results as advisories to 

the ATCO for implementation. In the area of runway management, NASA has focused on developing a 

decision support tool to assist air traffic personnel with decisions regarding the selection of runway 

configurations and runway usage. These decision support tools are intended for use by those making 

runway management decisions (usually supervisors or traffic flow managers) in the approach control 

facilities and the airport traffic control towers. 

1.1. Purpose of Analysis

In December 2012, NASA entered into a Collaborative Agreement with DLR, located in Braunschweig, 

Germany. Four collaborative work areas were identified, one of which is called “Runway Management.”

As part of collaborative research in the “Runway Management” area, which is conducted with the DLR 

Institute of Flight Guidance, located in Braunschweig, the goal is to develop an integrated system 

comprised of the three DLR tools - arrival, departure, and surface management tools - and NASA runway 

management tool. 

To achieve this goal, a tentative milestone (currently under review) for fiscal years (FY) 2015-2016

provides for the preparation of a concept of operations (ConOps) detailing how the NASA runway 

management tools and DLR arrival, departure, and surface management tools will function together to 

the benefit of each. To assist with the preparation of the ConOps, the integrated NASA and DLR tools are

assessed through functional analysis method given in this document. 

1.2. Document Organization

Section 0 compares the air traffic management (ATM) systems in Germany and in the U.S. in terms of 

facilities and general procedures, and for both operations in terminal airspace and on the surface. 

Following this comparison of the operational environments, a more detailed description of the individual 

tools is presented in section 3. Section 4 presents the integrated system using the functional analysis and

Section 5 concludes the analysis. Recommendations are also given in this section. 
5

2. Air Traffic Management Environments: Germany and the United States

The following section compares the operational contexts in Germany and the United States in which the 

respective tools were developed. A detailed description of the operational contexts can be found in ref. 

1 (unpublished). Comparisons of procedures supporting each system are described. Table 1 compares air 

traffic environments in Germany and the United States, while Table 2 compares their air traffic control 

operations.

Traffic flow management is responsible for the overall flow of traffic in the respective airspace systems

from a systemic perspective. Terminal airspace is normally composed of traffic transitional to 

(departures)/from (arrivals) enroute airspace. Terminal airspace as well as the airport surface are the 

relevant environments for the NASA and DLR integrated system. Effects of decisions made as a result of 

the integrated tools may affect enroute operations as well, albeit less directly. Note that system 

comparisons are limited to the level of detail necessary to compliment the purpose of the study.
6

Table 1: Air Traffic Environment

Enabling environment German U.S.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) 

system

The German air navigation service provider, “Deutsche 

Flugsicherung GmbH” (DFS), an institution of the 

German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital 

Infrastructure (BMVI), is responsible for the operation of 

the air traffic control system as related to the integrated 

tools. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an agency of 

the Department of Transportation, is responsible for the 

operation of the air traffic control system.

Operational regulations The manual of operational regulations for Air Traffic 

Control Services, called Regulation of the 

Implementation of Air Traffic Control (ref. 10) is the 

primary document for air traffic control, with additional 

regulations including national air traffic regulations, 

Letters of Agreement, ICAO publications, 

EUROCONTROL central flow management unit (CFMU) 

handbook, etc. 

The air traffic control manual FAA JO 7110.65, “Air 

Traffic Control” (ref. 11) is the primary document 

governing the procedures for air traffic operations in the 

U.S.

Facilities

The Network Management Operations Center (NMOC), 

responsible for central traffic flow management in 

Europe, is part of EUROCONTROL.

Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC), 

responsible for traffic flow management on a national 

scale.

Area Control Centers (ACC), responsible for enroute 

traffic in the lower airspace (generally between ground 

level to any flight levels from 245 to 315). 

Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), primarily 

responsible for enroute traffic.

There is no specific physical facility for approach control

(ref.11a). Within the ACC facilities, there are controller 

working positions called Approach Control (APP), 

responsible for servicing all arriving and departing 

aircraft of a specific aerodrome1.

Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), 

responsible for air traffic services to aircraft departing 

airports and transitioning into the enroute environment 

and for arrival aircraft transitioning from the enroute 

environment to airports.

Air Traffic Control Tower (TWR), responsible for air 

traffic services to aircraft in the immediate vicinity of the 

airport and on the airport surface.

Airport Traffic Control Towers (ATCT), responsible for air 

traffic services to aircraft on the airport surface 

(excluding ramp or non-movement areas).

 

1 According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an aerodrome is “a defined area on land or water (including any buildings, installations and 

equipment) intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure, and surface movement of aircraft.”
7

Table 2: Air Traffic Control Operations

ATC Operations Germany U.S.

Traffic flow 

management

Traffic flow management in Germany is called air traffic 

flow and capacity management (ATFCM) and is 

administered by the DFS and the NMOC (former CFMU) of 

EUROCONTROL. The objectives of ATFCM are adjusting 

demand and capacity on the basis of strategic planning.

Traffic flow management is a process managed through 

the ATCSCC and a network of traffic management units 

throughout the U.S. The basic objective of traffic 

management is to provide for an efficient flow of traffic 

throughout the National Airspace System (NAS) which is 

manageable for air traffic controllers.

Terminal area 

airspace 

Terminal area airspace varies significantly based on local 

constraints that are nearby cities, mountains and legal 

issues regarding noise and emissions. The dimensions are 

typically 16-27 nautical miles from the primary airport (ref. 

13). Departures and arrivals are normally guided on 

predefined departure and arrival routes dependent on the 

aircraft equipment (ref. 14). Arrival and departure “fixes”

are designated waypoints on the standard terminal arrival 

route (STAR) and the standard instrument departure (SID), 

respectively. Arrival fix denotes a metering fix, called the 

clearance limit of the STAR. Dependent on the airport, the 

clearance limit can lie inside or outside of the terminal area 

of the airport. Departure fixe denotes the last waypoint of 

the SID.

Terminal area airspace varies significantly based on local 

constraints. Several high density facilities have adopted a 

common design which lends itself to the use of common 

procedures. This design is commonly referred to as a “fourcorner post system” which defines the arrival routes from 

the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest into 

the terminal airspace. Departure “gates” are located 

between the arrival corridors in the north, east, south, and 

west areas of the airspace. Arrival and departure “fixes” 

are normally located at the terminal boundary, agreed to 

by the TRACON and adjacent facility, usually an ARTCC. The 

dimensions are typically 35-40 nautical miles from the 

primary airport.
8

ATC Operations Germany U.S.

Terminal airspace 

operations for 

arrivals

The aircraft navigate via a STAR route to the Initial 

Approach Fix (IAF). Generally, aircrafts are expected to fly 

according to area navigation (RNAV) transition procedure, 

which is published in German aeronautical information 

publication (AIP). RNAV usually begins at the clearance 

limit (arrival fix) and leads the aircraft on the downwind 

segment to the final approach fix (FAF), usually 11–12 

nautical miles away from the runway threshold. 

Information on active runways is available through the 

Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS), and is 

updated every 30 minutes. Because runway assignment 

depends on aircraft wake class and on the flight direction, 

the flight-to-runway assignment is implicitly derived from 

the latest runway information from the ATIS. Before flight 

crews enter the terminal area, they have to listen to ATIS 

for the runway information. The APP controller also 

confirms which runway to use. The aircraft usually is 

handed over to the ATCT when or before passing the FAF.

Generally speaking, arrivals flow from Center airspace into 

terminal airspace on routings defined by standard terminal 

arrival routes (STARs). Upon entry to the terminal area 

flight crews will be given a runway assignment. At the 

terminal point of the STAR, controllers will provide 

headings for the transition to the final approach course. 

Aircraft will be sequenced with other traffic in the terminal 

area and the appropriate spacing’s/separation standards 

applied. The ATCT assumes responsibility of aircraft once 

they pass the FAF; in the U.S., the FAF is usually five 

nautical miles from the runway. In the event of a runway 

configuration change, a determination is made as to which 

aircraft will be the last to land on the current configuration, 

and the first aircraft for each arrival runway of the new 

configuration.

Terminal airspace 

operations for 

departures

Primarily aircraft are assigned to runways depending on 

their initial flight direction. Because of noise abatement 

procedures, aircraft always navigate via predefined 

standard instrument departure (SID) or via an assigned 

departure procedure. 

Departure aircraft are assigned runways based on initial 

direction of flight. To optimize spacing, aircraft are 

sequenced such that there are divergent headings 

(normally a minimum of 15 degrees) immediately after 

departure between successive departures. Departures will 

either be navigating via SIDs, or based on headings 

assigned by the controller. 
9

ATC Operations Germany U.S.

Airport surface 

area

The airport surface is segmented into the maneuvering 

area and the apron. While the maneuvering area is 

controlled by ATC, the apron area is controlled either by 

the airport or ATC. The border for the handover between 

both areas is marked in the aerodrome charts published in 

the AIP of every airport. There are no marks on the 

taxiways, so there is no interruption in the taxi phase on 

the airport surface either from touchdown to engines off,

and vice versa. 

The airport surface is divided into movement and nonmovement areas. It is quite common that the airlines lease 

gates and hence have control over all activity in the ramp 

area. The border between these responsibilities is marked 

by “spots” at many high density airports. Every departure 

aircraft is cleared to proceed to a spot by the airline ramp 

controller. There, ATC specifically the ground controller,

assumes responsibility for the aircraft and assigns a

departure runway.

Airport surface 

operations for 

arrivals

Arriving aircraft are handed over from the “local 

controller” of TWR to the “ground controller” of TWR

shortly after touchdown. While leaving the runway, the 

ground controller assigns a taxi route and confirms the 

gate. If control of the apron area is conducted by the 

airport operator, the ground controller hands over to 

apron control before the aircraft enters the apron area.

Arrival aircraft are assigned an arrival runway which is 

usually closest to the arrival fix they have crossed upon 

entering the terminal area. The ATCT assumes 

responsibility of aircraft once they pass the FAF. The “local 

controller” issues a landing clearance; upon exiting the 

runway, the flight crew contacts the “ground controller” 

who issues clearance to the ramp or non-movement area, 

with necessary restrictions incorporated. Once arrival 

aircraft enter the ramp area, the “ramp controller” 

assumes their responsibilities. 
10

ATC Operations Germany U.S.

Airport surface 

operations for 

departures

Departing aircraft get their enroute and start-up clearance 

(via voice or datalink communications) by clearance 

delivery in the ATCT, and pushback clearance from apron 

controller. When ready for taxi, apron controller assigns a 

taxi route in its area of responsibility. Before the aircraft 

pass the border of responsibility, the apron controller 

hands the aircraft over to the ground controller. Before the 

aircraft arrive at the departure runway, the ground 

controller instructs the aircraft to switch to the local 

controller who gives the line-up and take-off clearance.

Aircraft movements are generally under the control of a 

“ramp controller” who is responsible for aircraft in the 

ramp area. While in this area, flight crews will obtain the 

Automatic Terminal Information Service information as 

well as their pre-departure clearance from the tower 

clearance delivery position. At many high density facilities, 

there are “spots” where departing aircraft wait for ATC to 

provide clearance into the movement area. Ground 

controller will provide clearance for aircraft to taxi to their 

departure runway. Departures are often subject to delays 

based on either constraints at the departure airport, or 

delays imposed based on considerations in the enroute 

environment or at the destination airport. The local 

controller will issue take-off clearance followed by a 

frequency change to the departure controller (located in 

the TRACON) shortly after the aircraft is airborne.
11

The basic objectives of the air traffic control systems in Germany and the United States are the same, i.e. 

to provide for the safe and efficient movement of aircraft. Although fundamentally the same, there are 

differences in procedures, airspace structure, roles/responsibilities, among others as described in this 

section. In Germany the general problem is the dense airspace caused by overflights of European air traffic 

and the small airport surface. With the consideration of noise abatement and the avoidance of storm cells, 

the rising traffic demand needs to be handled in the same airspace area. DLR is investigating how the 

present traffic demand can fully use the allocated capacity. In the U.S., the problem is the large number 

of aircraft and in many cases, limited surface area; there are, of course, many other aspects of the air 

traffic flow process and supporting elements that affect capacity and efficiency. There are on-going 

research efforts to address many facets of the airspace system in Germany and the U.S.

3. Tools and Capabilities

3.1. German Aerospace Center (DLR) Tools

There are three well known concepts in Europe to handle arrival, departure, and surface traffic. These 

concepts are Arrival Management (AMAN), Departure Management (DMAN), and Surface Management 

(SMAN). 

Reference 2 defines AMAN as “a general term given to the process of safely and effectively arranging 

arrivals into a smooth efficient flow for landing at a destination airport. Although no agreed definition is 

in place, when people consider or talk about dedicated Arrival Management software, they are usually 

considering this type of software specifically designed to provide assistance in metering and sequencing 

arrival streams of traffic and which gives, via electronic display, all the time management, and other 

information needed to implement efficient arrival management.”

Reference 3 defines DMAN as “a planning system to improve departure flows at an airport by calculating 

the target take-off time (TTOT) and target start-up approval time (TSAT) for each flight, taking multiple 

constraints and preferences into account.” 

Reference 4 defines SMAN as “a tool within Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System 

(A-SMGCS2) that will determine the optimal surface movement plans involving the calculation and 

sequencing of movement events and optimizing resource usage, while minimizing the environmental 

impact.”

Based on these concepts, DLR developed research prototypes for decision support tools called 4 

Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager (4D-CARMA), Controller Assistance for Departure Optimization 

 

2 A-SMGCS is “a system providing routing, guidance and surveillance for the control of aircraft and vehicles in order 

to maintain the declared surface movement rate under all weather conditions within the aerodrome visibility 

operational level (AVOL) while maintaining the required level of safety.” (skybrary, 

http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Advanced_Surface_Movement_Guidance_and_Control_System_%28ASMGCS%29 [last access: 2014-10-29]).
12

(CADEO), and Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and Controlling (TRACC) for AMAN, DMAN, and SMAN, 

respectively.

4D-CARMA is the DLR arrival management system that builds an arrival sequence, assigns an arrival time 

at the threshold, continuously adapts to the actual situation, predicts trajectories for all aircraft, and 

transforms them into appropriate guidance instructions for the air traffic controller (ref. 5). For any 

arrivals, 4D-CARMA’s planning responsibility begins when an aircraft enters the terminal maneuvering 

area, and ends when the aircraft touches down. The corresponding working positions are approach 

controller in the ACC (refer to table 1 for ACC definition).

CADEO is the DLR departure management system that optimizes the departure sequence at the runways

while considering arrivals on the same runway or a dependent runway. It provides the calculations of 

TTOT and TSAT to Airport Collaborative Decision Making System (A-CDM)3. Departure queues at the 

runway are mostly avoided and the environmental stress is minimized (ref. 6). For any departures, 

CADEO’s planning responsibility begins approximately 20 minutes before an aircraft’s target off-block time 

(TOBT4), and ends when the aircraft takes off. The corresponding working positions are local, ground 

controller, and also clearance delivery controller in the TWR (refer to table 1 for TWR definition).

TRACC is the DLR surface management system that generates conflict-free taxi routes from gate to runway 

and vice versa to meet TTOTs with a minimum of speed changes during the taxi process. Furthermore, it 

provides guidance instructions (speed and route) for the air traffic controller (ref. 7). For any arrivals, 

TRACC’s planning responsibility begins approximately five minutes before an aircraft’s target landing time 

(TLDT) and ends when the aircraft arrives at the gate. For any departures, TRACC’s planning responsibility 

begins approximately five minutes before an aircraft’s TOBT and ends when the aircraft lines up for 

departure. The corresponding working positions are ground controller and apron controller either seated 

in the air traffic control tower or a dedicated control facility.

3.2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Tools

System-Oriented Runway Management (SORM) consists of Runway Configuration Management (RCM) 

and Combined Arrival Departure Runway Scheduling (CADRS). RCM is subdivided into two different time 

horizons with different capabilities for different stakeholder (refs. 8, 9). RCM consists of a strategic and a 

tactical element. Research in the area of strategic runway configuration management is focused on 

balancing traffic demand and capacity in the NAS over a time horizon of six hours to support traffic flow 

management. TRCM calculates airport configurations and the configuration change time between these 

configurations over a time horizon of 90 minutes.

 

3 European A-CDM was based on the U.S. concept of Collaborative Decision Making to improve airport’s decision 

making by sharing accurate and timely information (skybrary, http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Main_Page [last 

access: 2014-10-29]).

4 Target off-block time (TOBT) is the time that an aircraft operator or ground handler estimates that an aircraft will 

be ready, all doors closed, boarding bridge removed, push-back vehicle available, and ready to start up / push back 

immediately upon reception of clearance from the airport traffic control tower.
13

Only the tactical runway configuration element of SORM will be used in this collaboration. TRCM provides 

runway configuration and runway usage recommendations intended for use by traffic flow managers and 

supervisors. The TRCM capability primarily considers overall transit time and delay for arrivals and 

departures. For arrivals, calculations for transit from arrival fix (normally at the terminal boundary (entry 

point to TRACON airspace) to the ramp area. For departures, it is the time from the ramp area to the 

departure fix, also at the terminal boundary. The 90 minute planning horizon used is based on the tactical 

nature of runway changes. After a configuration change is made, no additional configuration changes will 

be recommended by the algorithm for a 30 minute period5. The current version of TRCM primarily 

considers traffic demand and weather information. The longer-term vision incorporates airport operator 

constraints, system user preferences, and traffic flow considerations. TRCM is intended for use by those 

making runway management decisions (usually supervisors or traffic flow managers) in the approach and 

departure control facility and the airport traffic control towers. 

4. Analysis of the Integrated System

In this section, the manner in which the aforementioned tools are combined to form the proposed 

integrated system is analyzed using functional analysis. Section 4.1 describes functional analysis. Data 

requirements for all tools are defined in section 4.2. Section 4.3 presents the integrated system.

4.1. Functional Analysis

Functional Analysis is a study of process activities that arranges functions in logical sequences, 

decomposes higher-level functions into lower-level functions, and identifies all internal and external 

functional interfaces. The tools used to model the functional behavior of a system are functional flow 

block diagram (FFBD) and N-squared (N2) diagramming techniques. The FFBD technique details the logical 

and environmental sequence of the system, while the N2 diagramming technique provides the data 

environment of the system. Both the FFBD and N2 diagrams provide complementary functional behavior 

of the system.

4.2. Data Requirements

Table 3 defines all necessary data requirements for all tools along with their associated potential data 

sources. Data are categorized into seven groups, each with different colors: 

• Airport adaptation

• Flight information 

• TRCM optimization parameters

• BADA6 aircraft database

• TRCM output

• TRCM user selection

• Environmental data

 

5 The 30-minute period may be dependent on airport environment, and is a subject for further investigation.

6 Base of Aircraft Data (BADA) is a database containing performance and operating procedure coefficients for 

different aircraft types. The coefficients include those used to calculate thrust, drag and fuel flow and those used to 

specify nominal cruise, climb and descent speeds. 
14

For every mentioned data category, the respective information that corresponds to the category and the 

allocation to the decision support tool are listed in Table 3. The “X” indicates which tool uses the 

respective data either as input or output. An “(X)” indicates that this information is important but used 

indirectly, and “F” indicates future work that has to be done. 

Table 3: Data Category

Data Description TRCM CADEO 4D-CARMA TRACC

Airlines X

Airline-to-Gate Assignment X

Configurations X (X) X (X)

Departure Runway SID Separations X X

Departure Runway Speed Separations X X

Departure Runway Wake Vortex Separations X X

Fixes X

Gates X

Gate-to-Spot Assignment X

Path Stretching Procedures X

Routes from Arrival Fix to Threshold X

Runway Policies X

Runways X X X X

Runway-to-STAR Assignment X

SIDs X

Spots X

Spot-to-Taxiway Assignment X

STARs X

Taxiways (Node-link) X X

Transition Routes X

Variable Taxi Time (VTT) X X

Waypoints with Constraints X

Airspace Operational Status (VMC or IMC) X

Arrival Runway Wake Vortex Separations X X

Airport Resource Constraints (e.g., Runway Closure) X

Controller Working Positions X F

Standard Taxi Routes X Airport Adaptation
15

Table 3: Data Category (continued)

Data Description TRCM CADEO 4D-CARMA TRACC

Flight Information - Assigned Fix X

Flight Information - Assigned Runway X X X X

Flight Information - Assigned Spot/Gate/Stand X X X

Flight Information - Call Sign X X X X

Flight Information - Calculated Take-Off Time (CTOT) X

Flight Information - Flight Plan X X X X

Flight Information - Target Landing time (TLDT) X X X X

Flight Information - Service Type X X X

Flight Information - Unimpeded Spot/Gate Time X

Flight Information - Target Off-Block Time (TOBT) X X F

Flight Information - Estimated Landing Time (ELDT) X X X

Flight Information - Unimpeded Time at Runway for 

Arrivals or Unimpeded Landing Time X

Flight Information - Unimpeded Time at Runway for 

Departures 

X

Flight Information - Target Start-Up Approval Time 

(TSAT) X X F

Flight Information - Target Take-Off Time (TTOT) X X

Flight Information - Position Data from Radar Data X

Flight Information - Position Data from A-SMGCS X X

Flight Information - Clearance Inputs from Controller X X

Flight Information - Earliest Take-Off time (ETT) X Flight Information
16

Table 3: Data Category (continued)

4.3. The Integrated System

Because available data sources and data necessary for DLR and NASA tools generally differ, the analysis 

of the integrated system presented here will be at the higher level of details, where the FFBD is applicable 

to both the German and the U.S. air traffic environments. The lower FFBD levels vary depending upon to 

where the integrated system is tailored, (i.e., the German or the U.S. airports.) Reference 1 (unpublished)

provides all lower FFBD levels tailored for a German airport, given all data sources needed for all tools are 

available at the centralized A-CDM of the German airport.

Figure 1 shows the highest level FFBD of the AMAN, DMAN, SMAN (collectively referred to as A/D/S-MAN)

and TRCM integration and, therefore, provides an excellent way to overview of the integration. The

Data Description TRCM CADEO 4D-CARMA TRACC

Current (Active) Configuration X

Alternative Configurations X

TRCM Planning Horizons X

TRCM Freeze Horizon X

TRCM Minimum Time between Configuration Change X

TRCM Alternative Runway Policies X

TRCM Objective Function Metric X

Baseline Configuration X

Baseline Objective Function Metrics X

Baseline Flight List (Flight-Runway Assignment) X

Optimal Configuration X X

Optimal Objective Function Metrics X

Optimal Flight List (Flight-Runway Assignment; the 

last flight on the active configuration, and the first 

flight on the new configuration)

X X X

Optimal Configuration Changetime X X TRCM User Selection

User Selection on Configuration (Change or 

NoChange) X

Aircraft Taxi Speed X

Aircraft Take-Off or Landing Speed X X

Aircraft Weight Class X X

Rate of Climb and Descent / True Airspeed X

Diverse calculation coefficients for Thrust and Drag X

Wind Velocity X

Ceiling and Visibility X

Noise Constraints X Environmental Data TRCM Parameter TRCM Output BADA
17

underlined function names in the FFBD indicate that the function can be decomposed into lower-level 

functions. 

Figure 1: Preliminary functional overview of the Arrival/Departure/Surface Management and 

Tactical Runway Configuration Management integration.

At the high level, there are three main systems for the integrated system: TRCM (functions 1 and 2), the 

interface (functions 3, 4, and 8), and A/D/S-MAN (functions 5, 6, and 7). 

TRCM evaluates the current and the optimal runway configurations (F.1) and repeats the evaluation 

process at a predetermined time-based planning frequency. At this predetermined re-planning time,

TRCM takes snapshots of the current air traffic system as input to its optimization algorithm. TRCM then 

provides advisory (both the current active and the optimal) configurations along with its performance 

metrics to the air traffic personnel (supervisors or traffic flow managers) (F.2). The controller can choose 

to accept or reject the recommended configuration (F.3). The rejection of the recommended 

configuration implies no change to the current active configuration, and TRCM will wait until the next 

planning cycle to repeat the evaluation process. If the recommended configuration is selected, the airport

configuration is updated (F.4) and will be used in planning by A/D/S-MAN in the next functions. Function 

4 represents this interface communication between TRCM and A/D/S-MAN. Functions 5–7 represent 

A/D/S-MAN. A/D/S-MAN generally re-evaluates whenever there is an update to the air traffic system. As 

opposed to the TRCM’s time-based re-planning cycles, A/D/S-MAN uses event-based re-planning cycles. 

Whenever there is an event occurring to a flightsuch as clearance inputs from controllers, non-occurrence 

of expected events, and deviation from previously planned eventsincluding a configuration change event, 

etc., the corresponding tool is triggered for re-planning. After any re-planning cycle of A/D/S-MAN, an 

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Name: Integrate Arrival/Departure/Surface Management Tools with TRCM Capability

Author:

NASA – LaRC and DLR-FL Date: 2013-11-05 Number: 0

Perform TRCM F.1 Provide Advisory Airport Configurations

F.2 Receive User Selection of TRCM Configurations

F.3 Perform 4D-CARMA (AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC (SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO (DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport configuration change F.4

AND

Send current flight information of ADS-MAN F.8 After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
18

update on flight information takes places (F.8) so that TRCM has access to the latest flight information for 

its next planning cycle.

Function 3 requires controller interactions with the integrated tool. If controllers fail to interact with the 

tool, then the tools default to “no system change.” The tools continue their planning with the existing 

information as they are the latest information the tools have. Function 8 may require controller 

interactions, but an automatic retrieval may be conceivable. 

As already mentioned in section 4.1, there is also an N2 chart corresponding to the functional flow block 

diagrams. It is a way to display the information flows between all the different functions of the integrated 

system design. All functions are put in the diagonal of a matrix. Information that goes from function to a 

following function is displayed at the right side and is located above the function that receives it. 

Information that goes from a function to a previous function is displayed at the left side and stands below 

the function that receives it. Information that stands above the level of function (F.1) comes from outside 

the whole system. 

Figure 2 is a snapshot of the N2 chart that corresponds with the integrated system shown in Figure 1. It 

is based on the defined data categories to keep it readable (see section 4.2). The color coded cells from 

Figure 2 can also be referred to Table 3 for specific data requirement for each respective tool.

In the next subsections, the lower-level FFBDs are shown and described. It is important to note that the 

lower-level FFBDs provided here are based on the research states as of September 2014. As the research 

in A/D/S-MAN progresses, these FFBDs may need to be revised accordingly.
19

Figure 2: Preliminary N-squared chart for the Arrival/Departure/Surface Management and Tactical Runway Configuration Management

integration.

Airport Adaptation Airport Adaptation Airport Adaptation Airport Adaptation

Flight Information Flight Information Flight Information Flight Information

Environmental Data

TRCM Parameters

BADA BADA

F.1

Perform TRCM

F.2

Provide Advisory Airport 

Configuration

F.3

Receive User Selection of 

TRCM Configuration

F.4 Flight Information

Communicate airport 

configuration change Airport Adaptation

F.5

Perform CADEO

F.6

Perform 4D-CARMA

F.7

Perform TRACC

F.8

Send current flight information 

of ADS-MAN

Flight Information

Flight Information

Flight Information

Flight Information

TRCM Output

TRCM Output

TRCM User Selection

Flight Information Flight Information
20

4.3.1. Perform Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM) Function (F.1)

This function (Figure 3) receives three types of information: static information (F.1.1), dynamic 

information (F.1.2), and user preference’s TRCM parameters (F.1.3). The updated flight information from 

A/D/S-MAN (via F.8) is a part of the dynamic information (F.1.2).

Figure 3: Perform Tactical Runway Configuration Management function (F.1).

Load Static Information Function (F.1.1)

Function 1.1, Load Static Information (Figure 4), generally relates to airport-specific physical information

(F.1.1.1 to F.1.1.11), compliances to FAA or ICAO regulations (F.1.1.12 to F.1.1.13), and BADA aircraft 

database (F.1.1.14 to F.1.1.16). The airport-specific physical information include all (inactive and active) 

runways, arrival and departure fixes, spots (only for U.S. airports, the hand-off location between the ramp 

and tower controllers, or a separation of movement and non-movement surface area), gates, taxiways 

(node-link surface network), and airlines. TRCM also requires operational and/or modeling information 

that assigns airline to gate, assigns gate to spot, assigns spot to taxiway, defines runway policy7, and 

defines variable taxi time. For German airports, there is no spot on the airport surface area. As such, 

TRCM requires an assignment of gate to taxiway directly.

Compliances to FAA or ICAO regulations are flight rules, either instrument (IFR) or visual (VFR), for 

aircrafts, which in turn, define the wake vortex separation standard according to the regulations. Wake 

vortex separation standard depends on the weight class of aircraft. Weight class of aircraft can be 

retrieved from BADA aircraft database along with its taxi, take-off, and landing speeds. TRCM uses all 

compliances, taxi, take-off, and landing speeds to calculate the earliest times at runway for all flights 

during the planning horizon.

 

7 Runway policy determines how arrival and departure fixes are assigned to runways.

Load Static 

Information

F.1.1

AND

Evaluate 

Runway 

Configurations

F.1.4

Receive Dynamic 

Information

F.1.2

Receive TRCM 

Parameters User 

Preference

F.1.3

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform 

TRCM

F.1

Provide 

Advisory 

Airport 

Configuration

s

F.2 Receive User 

Selection of 

TRCM 

Configuration

s

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform 

TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform 

CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate 

airport 

configuration 

change 

F.4

AN

D

Send current flight 

information of ADSMAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
21

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform 

TRCM

F.1 Provide 

Advisory 

Airport 

Configuration

s

F.2 Receive User 

Selection of 

TRCM 

Configuration

s

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform 

TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform 

CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate 

airport 

configuration 

change 

F.4

AN

D

Send current flight 

information of ADSMAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface

Figure 4: Load Static Information function (F.1.1).

Receive Dynamic Information Function (F.1.2)

Function 1.2, Receive Dynamic Information (Figure 5), relates to information that evolves over time. 

Dynamic information includes environmental-related information (F.1.2.1) and flight-related information

(F.1.2.2 to F.1.2.3). Environmental-related information includes forecast weather-related information and 

noise-abatement constraints that will limit the selection of optimal configurations by TRCM.

Flight-related dynamic information can be broken down into short-term (less than 45 minutes from 

current time) and long-term flight information (more than 45 minutes). TRCM receives short-term flight 

information directly from AMAN (arrivals), DMAN (departures), and SMAN (both arrivals and departures). 

This short-term flight information is more accurate and is updated whenever there is new re-planning 

flight information available by A/D/S-MAN. TRCM uses this information to properly account for runway 

management times (e.g., target runway queue entry time, target runway queue exit time, target runway 

entry time, target runway exit time) for all flights from this short-term flight list. TRCM currently does not 

allow any configuration changes for the next 45 minutes from current time. Therefore, it will not affect all 

flights from this short-term flight list. 

Define Runways

F.1.1.1

Define Fixes

F.1.1.2

Define Spots

F.1.1.3

Define Gates

F.1.1.4

Define Taxiways

F.1.1.5

Define Runway Policies

F.1.1.7

List Airlines

F.1.1.6

AND Define Gate-to-Spot 

Assignment

F.1.1.9

Define Airline-to-Gate 

Assignment

F.1.1.8 AND

AND

AND

AND

AND

Define Spot-to-Taxiway 

Assignment

F.1.1.10

AND

Define Variable Taxi Time (VTT)

F.1.1.11

Comply to Separation Standard

F.1.1.13

Comply to Flight Rule

F.1.1.12

Define Aircraft Taxi Speed

F.1.1.14

Define Aircraft Take-Off or 

Landing Speed

F.1.1.15

Define Aircraft Weight Class

F.1.1.16

OR
22

For the long-term flight dynamic information, TRCM receives this information from the flight plan, usually 

available in the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM for German system) or traffic flow management 

systems, for flights with the planning horizon beyond the short-term duration (i.e., long-term). TRCM 

currently plans for the next 90 minutes. Only flights having the unimpeded8time at gate/spot (departures)

or the unimpeded time at arrival fix (arrivals) that falls within the next 90 minutes are used by TRCM to 

determine the optimal configurations. 

Figure 5: Receive dynamic information function (F.1.2).

Receive Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM) Parameters User 

Preference Function (F.1.3)

This function (Figure 6) allows the controllers (users) to change parameters used in TRCM. The controllers 

can define (1) the baseline configuration (usually is the current active configuration), (2) a list of all 

configurations to be evaluated, (3) freeze and planning times, (4) minimum time between configuration 

changes, (5) runway policy, and (6) performance metric used as an objective function. 

The freeze horizon is the time duration (from current time) where the algorithm will not generate a new 

runway configuration recommendation. Currently, TRCM defines this freeze horizon as the next 45 

minutes. The planning horizon is the time duration (from current time) where TRCM looks ahead. The 

current TRCM tool defines this as the next 90 minutes from current time. Because the first 45 minutes is 

the freeze horizon, runway configuration changes are only allowed in the last 45 minutes. 

Having a minimum time between changes prevents excessive recommended configuration changes. TRCM 

only considers the next change at least this minimum from the last change. The current algorithm defines 

 

8 Unimpeded time is the earliest time for the aircraft if it is the only aircraft in the system.

Receive ShortTerm Flight 

Information

F.1.2.1

Receive 

Environmental 

Information

F.1.2.2

AND

Receive LongTerm Flight 

Information

F.1.2.3

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform 

TRCM

F.1

Provide 

Advisory 

Airport 

Configuration

s

F.2 Receive User 

Selection of 

TRCM 

Configuration

s

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform 

TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform 

CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate 

airport 

configuration 

change 

F.4

AN

D

Send current flight 

information of ADSMAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
23

this as 30 minutes. If the last change occurred at time 1:00 pm, then the next change TRCM could consider 

is at 1:30 pm because of the 30 minute minimum time between changes.

The runway policy relates to the way in which TRCM assigns aircraft to the active runways, given that 

there is more than one active runway. The users assign arrival and departure fixes to runways. If any fix is 

assigned to more than one active runway, the users need to define the rule on how to select the runway. 

This rule (often referred to as runway policy) generally can be either a runway balancing concept, “taxi 

easy” (shortest taxi distance), or “taxi right” (based on fix location). TRCM checks any aircraft with the 

defined fix to determine how to assign a runway to the aircraft. If there is more than one active runway 

available (because the fix is assigned to more than one active runway), then TRCM uses the runway policy 

that users defined earlier to make the runway assignment.

The users can define which performance metric to be considered as the objective function in TRCM. The 

current algorithm uses total travel time (between fixes and gates) of all aircrafts during the next 90 

minutes as the objective. Any configuration schedule that minimizes this total will be the optimum 

configuration. 
24

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform 

TRCM

F.1 Provide 

Advisory 

Airport 

Configuration

s

F.2 Receive User 

Selection of 

TRCM 

Configuration

s

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform 

TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform 

CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate 

airport 

configuration 

change 

F.4

AN

D

Send current flight 

information of ADSMAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface

Figure 6: Receive Tactical Runway Configuration Management parameters user 

preference function (F.1.3).

Evaluate Runway Configurations Function (F.1.4)

TRCM performs re-planning every 15 minutes. It takes all flights with the unimpeded time at gate/spot

(departures) or the unimpeded time at arrival fix (arrivals) within the next 90 minutes into consideration 

for each planning cycle. It evaluates the current active (baseline) configuration by using all inputs in 

functions 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 in calculation of the earliest times at runway for all flights during the planning 

horizon of 90 minutes (see Figure 7). These earliest times at runway are then used to sequence flights 

based on a first-in-first-out rule. That is, flights with the earliest times at runway will be the first in 

sequence, and flights with the latest times at runway will be the last in the sequence. TRCM uses the 

wake-vortex separation standards to ensure that there is no violation on the separations between 

pairwise flights in the sequence. TRCM uses a simple queuing-based performance prediction to compute 

travel time (between fixes and gates) for all flights. The objective function for current TRCM is to calculate

the travel times of all flights. This objective value is recorded for the baseline configuration. 

Name: Receive TRCM Parameters User Preference

Author:

NASA – LaRC and DLR-FL Date: 2013-11-05 Number: 1.3

Receive Baseline Configuration F.1.3.1

Receive All Available Configurations F.1.3.2

AND AND

Receive freeze and planning horizons

F.1.3.3

Receive Minimum Time between Configuration Change

F.1.3.4

Receive Selected Runway Policy F.1.3.5

Back

Receive Objective Function Metric F.1.3.6
25

TRCM next evaluates all available configurations. The evaluation is similar to that of the baseline. After 

evaluations of all configurations, only the best configuration (with the minimum objective function) is 

recorded and recommended as the optimal configuration.

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform 

TRCM

F.1 Provide 

Advisory 

Airport 

Configuration

s

F.2 Receive User 

Selection of 

TRCM 

Configuration

s

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform 

TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform 

CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate 

airport 

configuration 

change 

F.4

AN

D

Send current flight 

information of ADSMAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface

Figure 7: Evaluate runway configurations function (F.1.4).

4.3.2. Provide Advisory Airport Configurations Function (F.2)

After TRCM completes the evaluation from the previous section (F.1), it then provides the advisory airport 

configurations to the users (controllers). Figure 8 depicts the lower-level diagram for function 2, Provide 

Advisory Airport Configurations. Two sets of configurations are available to the controllers: baseline 

configuration (F.2.1) and TRCM-based configuration (F.2.2). For each set, configuration, its corresponding 

objective function value, and the corresponding flight list (the flight-to-runway assignment list) are given. 

Check for Replanning 

F.1.4.1

Evaluate Baseline 

Configuration

F.1.4.2

Evaluate Optimal 

Configuration

F.1.4.3

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configuration

F.2

OR

AND OR Check for Replanning 

F.1.4.1

OR

Not at re-planning time

Or

User request to re-plan

AND
26

 

Figure 8: Provide advisory airport configuration function (F.2).

4.3.3. Receive User Selection of Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM) 

Configurations Function (F.3)

After TRCM provides advisory configurations to users, who make runway management decisions (usually 

supervisors or traffic flow managers) in the approach and departure control facility and the airport traffic 

control towers (F.2), the users can select to accept or reject the recommended configuration (F.3). The 

rejection of the recommended configuration implies no change to the current active configuration, and 

TRCM will wait until the next planning cycle to repeat the evaluation process. The airport configuration

and the flight-to-runway assignment are only updated by function 4 if the recommended configuration is 

accepted. 

4.3.4. Communicate Airport Configuration Change Function (F.4)

Figure 9 gives the lower-level diagram for function 4, Communicate Airport Configuration Change. The 

earliest configuration change time recommended by TRCM is 45 minutes ahead (configurable). Therefore, 

there is no change to the short-term flight information, which is within the 45 minute period. There is no 

impact on the A/D/S-MAN for the current planning cycle (< 45 minute horizon.) The recommended change 

will trigger their future re-planning cycles. For 4D-CARMA, the recommended change time and the new 

configuration will be input into its database for future re-planning cycles in function 4.1. For CADEO and 

TRACC, because future flights have not started taxiing, the only update for these flights is done by 

operators responsible for revising their flight plans to reflect the recommended configuration change 

(F.4.2). The CADEO and TRACC will then use the latest flight plans in the future re-planning cycles. 

Display Baseline

F.2.1

Display TRCM

F.2.2

AND AND

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
27

 

Figure 9: Communicate airport configuration change function (F.4).

4.3.5. Perform Departure Management - Controller Assistance for Departure 

Optimization (CADEO) Function (F.5)

CADEO’s main functionalities are displayed in Figure 10. This function receives two types of information: 

static information (F.5.1) and dynamic information (F.5.2). It then uses the information to sequence 

departures (F.5.3). Once the sequence is calculated, it is given to the controllers for clearance advisories 

along with TSAT and TTOT (F.5.4). 

 

Figure 10: Perform Departure Management - Controller Assistance for Departure Optimization 

(CADEO) function (F.5).

Generally, CADEO uses the required data to schedule or plan departing aircraft within its planning horizon. 

It considers all departures within 20 minutes (configurable) prior to their TOBTs to determine the 

departure schedule. The tool re-plans whenever certain events occur in the air traffic system. Examples 

of updates that will trigger the re-planning are clearance inputs of controllers, non-occurrence of expected 

events, or any deviation to the previously planned events. The planning horizon is flight-based, and begins 

Name: Communicate airport configuration change

Author:

NASA – LaRC and DLR-FL Date: 2013-11-12 Number: 4 Back

Update AMAN-related configuration change in 4D-CARMA database F.4.1

F.4.2 AND AND Modify all affected flight plans by operators for DMAN and SMAN future planning

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface

F.5.3

Schedule departures

F.5.4

Provide time-based 

clearance advisories

F.5.1

Load static 

information

AND

F.5.2

Receive dynamic 

information

Consider dynamic information 

for new planning cycle.

AND

Send current flight 

information of CADEO

F.8.2

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
28

20 minutes before the departure’s off-block and ends when it departs. In other words, each departure 

has its own planning duration depending upon the traffic demand surrounding the departure. For 

example, departures during the busy hours (peak demand) generally have longer planning durations than 

those of the off-peak-hour departures. When there is a configuration change recommended by TRCM and 

it is accepted by the controllers at least 45 minutes ahead (i.e., at the end of TRCM’s freeze horizon), there 

are two possible groups of departures. The first group is for departures with the old departure runway 

before the change time. The second group is for departures with the new departure runway after the 

change time. For the first group, a TRCM recommendation does not affect how CADEO operates. For the 

second group, since the configuration change is known 45 minutes in advance, flight plans which are part 

of the dynamic information (F.5.2) have to be modified by the responsible operators accordingly. CADEO 

has to ensure safe coordination between the two departure groups. For example, sufficient time 

separation between the departing aircraft of the old and the new configurations must be used if they are

on the same runway moving in opposite flow directions. This implementation needs further evaluation if 

this function is part of automation or operator responsibility.

Load Static Information Function (F.5.1)

Figure 11 shows the lower-diagram for Load Static Information. Static information usually does not change 

frequently within the planning horizon time. The information includes runways, standard instrument 

departures (SIDs), variable taxi times (VTTs), controller working positions (F.5.1.8), and departure runway 

separations for departure-departure pairwise separations(F.5.1.5 to F.5.1.7). Controller working positions 

are important for CADEO in order to provide time-based clearance advisories appropriate to all air traffic 

controllers’ working positions: clearance delivery, apron (ramp), ground, and local controllers. 

Note that in referring to the Figure 11, the application of departure separation standards represent those 

used in the German system although there are similarities with the U.S. system. There are three types of 

separation criteria applied to departing aircraft: (1) wake vortex separations (F.5.1.5), (2) separations for 

aircraft that will fly a SID (F.5.1.6), and (3) speed separations (F.5.1.7). Wake vortex separations are 

normally dependent on the ICAO classification of aircraft. The separation values for the airport are 

provided to CADEO as a predefined data table. Departure runway SID separations and speed separations 

are dependent on the first turn in the SID of departures, regardless of the direction of their routes. The 

time separation or speed separation required between two flights sharing the same or common-path SIDs 

are provided to CADEO as predefined data tables. Separation is irrelevant between two flights with their 

first turns in different paths. When more than one pairwise separation is available, the greater separation 

will be used in CADEO to guarantee compliance with regulations. 
29

Figure 11: Load static information function (F.5.1).

Load Dynamic Information Function (F.5.2)

Dynamic information (Figure 12) for each departure includes flight information, taxi clearance inputs from 

the controller, and position information by A-SMGCS (a.k.a. ASDE-X in the U.S., see section 3.1) Flight 

information includes flight plan, call sign, assigned runway, assigned gate, and (dynamic) target off- block 

time (TOBT9). If CADEO has not received confirmation for taxi clearance from the controller, the tool will 

re-compute the target start-up approval time (TSAT10) for this departure during the next planning cycle.

Figure 12: Receive dynamic information function (F.5.2).

 

9 TOBT is the time that an aircraft operator or ground handler estimates that an aircraft will be ready, all doors 

closed, boarding bridge removed, push-back vehicle available, and ready to start up / push back immediately upon 

reception of clearance from the TWR.

10 TSAT is the time provided to air traffic controller taking into account target off block time (TOBT), calculated takeoff time (CTOT) and/or the traffic situation that an aircraft can expect start-up / push back approval. CTOT is the 

time calculated and issued by the traffic flow management, at which a flight is expected to become airborne.

F.5.1.4

Retrieve Variable 

Taxi Times (VTT)

F.5.1.2

Retrieve SIDs

F.5.1.1

Retrieve Runways

F.5.1.8

Load controller and 

clearance models

AND

F.5.1.6

Retrieve departure 

runway SID 

separations 

F.5.1.7

Retrieve departure 

runway speed 

separations 

F.5.1.5

Retrieve departure 

runway wake vortex 

separations 

F.5.1.3

Retrieve Parking 

positions incl. 

pushback procedures

AND

AND AND

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface

F.5.2.3 Receive position information by A- SMGCS (optional)

F.5.2.1 Receive flight information (plus updates) AND F.5.2.2 Receive clearance inputs of controller

Back Name:

Receive dynamic information

Author:

DLR-FL and NASA-LaRC Date: 2013-11-12 Number: 5.2

AND NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
30

Schedule Departures Function (F.5.3)

Figure 13 shows the lower-level diagram for function 5.3, Schedule Departures. CADEO tool uses the 

required information in function 5.1 and function 5.2 to schedule departing aircraft within 20 minutes

prior to their TOBTs. CADEO calculates the earliest take-off time (ETT) of all departures using the TOBT 

and variable taxi times (VTTs). The tool also retrieves the target landing times (TLDTs11) of all arrivals from 

AMAN at the time of planning cycles. It then uses both ETT and TLDT, along with any required departure 

runway separations (from F.5.1), to determine the optimal departure sequence at the departure runway. 

Once CADEO computes the target take-off times (TTOTs), the departure sequence is determined. Based 

on the TTOT, the TSATs are determined for all departing aircraft by back calculating from TTOT. 

 

Figure 13: Schedule departures function (F.5.3).

Provide Time-Based Clearance Advisories Function (F.5.4)

This function provides the recommended time-based clearance advisories to the controllers. When 

controllers confirm the clearance, CADEO will receive this input through function 5.2. If controllers do not 

confirm the clearance, CADEO will assume there is a non-occurrence of expected prior events (e.g., push 

back needs longer time, etc.) for this departure causing the controllers to fail to confirm departure 

clearance. CADEO will continue to re-compute this departure’s TTOT and/or TSAT in the next re-planning 

cycle.

4.3.6. Perform Arrival Management – 4 Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager 

(4D-CARMA) Function (F.6)

The main functionalities of 4D-CARMA are displayed in Figure 14. This function receives two types of 

information: airspace information (F.6.1) and dynamic information (F.6.2). It then uses the information to 

schedule or plan arrivals (F.6.3). Once the arrival schedule is planned, it is given to the controllers with 

guidance instructions for implementation (F.6.4). 

 

11 TLDT is the target time from the Arrival management process at the runway threshold, taking runway sequence 

and constraints into account. 

F.5.3.1

Calculate Earliest 

Takeoff Times (ETT) F.5.3.4

F.5.3.2

Consider Target 

Landing Times of 

arrivals (TLDT)

F.5.3.3

Calculate Target Take-off Times 

(TTOT)

by optimizing sequences at 

runways used by departures

Calculate Target 

Start-up Times 

(TSAT)

AND AND

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
31

 

Figure 14: Perform Arrival Management – 4 Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager (4DCARMA) function (F.6).

Generally, 4D-CARMA tool uses the required data to schedule or plan arriving aircraft within its planning 

horizon. Each arrival has its own planning duration (similar to the DMAN concept), depending on the traffic 

demand. The planning horizon for each arrival begins when the arrival enters a pre-defined radius around 

the airport (or terminal airspace), and ends when it passes the runway threshold. 4D-CARMA detects 

arrivals entering the approach control airspace serving the airport. It then takes all of these arrivals to 

sequence for an arrival runway. The tool re-plans whenever there is an update of the flight or position 

information. 

When there is a configuration change recommended by TRCM, and it is accepted by air traffic personnel 

(supervisors or traffic flow managers), arrivals are divided into two groups for the purpose of runway 

assignment. The first group is for arrivals with their earliest and latest arrival times at the runway 

thresholds before the change time. Specifically, the arrival time intervals are before the change time. For 

the first group, there is no impact on the arrivals with respect to runway assignment. The second group is 

for all other arrivals. For this group, a new configuration will trigger a change in the airspace layout in 

function 6.1. The change in the airspace layout will be used in the future re-planning cycles for arrivals in 

the second group. Currently there is no implementation of the transition from one configuration to the 

other. Because of the planning horizon of TRCM, all affected aircraft of the second group are not yet in 

the approach airspace of the airport. Flight operators have to be informed by the air traffic controllers in 

the ACCs (enroute control centers as defined in Table 1) before entering the approach airspace. As the 

affected aircraft enters the approach airspace, it will be detected by 4D-CARMA. The tool will include this 

aircraft in the future planning cycles with the new airspace layout corresponding to the new configuration.

F.6.4

Provide guidance 

instructions for Air 

Traffic Controller

F.6.1

Load airspace

AND

F.6.2

Receive dynamic 

information Event-based 

planning

F.6.3

Sequence arrivals

Send current flight 

information of 4D-CARMA

F.8.1

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
32

Load Airspace Function (F.6.1)

This function (Figure 15) loads an airspace model necessary for the 4D-CARMA tool. Approach routes and 

active runways vary depending upon the runway configuration. All possible routes for all possible 

configurations must be modelled before running the integrated system. 

The airspace model data for all possible configurations includes active runways (F.6.1.3), airport-specific 

runway-to-STAR assignment (F.6.1.4), routes from the arrival fix to the runway threshold (F.6.1.5), and 

waypoints with altitude and speed constraints (F.6.1.6). 

Figure 15: Load airspace function (F.6.1).

Receive Dynamic Information Function (F.6.2)

This function (Figure 16) receives flight information and radar data for all arrivals within the approach 

airspace. Flight information includes flight plan, call sign, and assigned runway. The radar data gives 

aircraft current positions and is updated every five seconds to reflect the latest aircraft positions. In 

4D-CARMA, there is no input from the controller. The impact of controller commands, given through voice 

communication, can be seen only through an update of radar data. Meanwhile there is an on-going 

research to extent 4D-CARMA by automatic speech recognition to react much faster and more accurate

to changes (ref. 15).

Figure 16: Receive dynamic information function (F.6.2).

F.6.1.2

F.6.1.3

Derive Active Runways

F.6.1.5

Derive Routes from 

Arrival Fix to Runway 

Threshold

F.6.1.4

Derive Runway-toSTAR Assignment

(depends on airport)

F.6.1.1

Define Configuration

F.6.1.6

Derive Waypoints with 

Constraints

AND AND

Derive STARs

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface

F.6.2.2 Receive radar data

F.6.2.1 Receive flight information AND

Every 5 seconds 

inputs by the air traffic 

ve no time to make inputs 

uation. The adherence to given 

an update of radar data that 

t“ (Active Listening Assistant) at 

s that problem by investigating if 

e read by automatic speech 

hat the aircraft will do before 

.

AND NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
33

Sequence Arrivals Function (F.6.3)

Figure 17 shows the lower-level diagram for function 6.3, Sequence Arrivals. The 4D-CARMA tool uses the 

airspace layout (from F.6.1) along with aircraft radar data (from F.6.2) to predict the shortest and longest 

routes from their current position to the active runways (F.6.3.1). Given the known aircraft make and 

model from the flight plan, the tool uses the BADA database to determine aircraft-specific approaching 

speeds and descent profiles. Using the shortest and longest distances along with the aircraft-specific 

approaching speeds and descent profiles, 4D-CARMA calculates the earliest and latest arrival times (or 

the arrival time intervals) at the runway threshold for all arrivals within the approach airspace (F.6.3.2). 

These predicted arrival time intervals are then used to sequence all arriving aircraft at the threshold based 

on a scheduling constraint set of conflicting objectives (F.6.3.3 and F.6.3.4). Given the arriving sequence

from F.6.3.4, the tool then computes the required time of arrivals (RTA) at the runway threshold with a 

consideration of wake vortex separations. 4D-CARMA predicts 4D-trajectories (F.6.3.6 to F.6.3.7) for all 

arriving aircraft to meet the computed RTA. The prediction of the RTA 4D-trajectory is done using an 

aircraft-specific approaching speed and descent profile from the BADA database.

 

Figure 17: Sequence arrivals function (F.6.3).

Provide Guidance Instructions for Air Traffic Controller Function (F.6.4)

The predicted RTA 4D-trajectory, RTA at the threshold, and the landing sequence number (from the arrival 

sequence) are displayed to the controller along with specific guidance instructions (e.g., speed, descent, 

turn, etc.) for implementation.

4.3.7. Perform Surface Management - Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and 

Controlling (TRACC) Function (F.7)

Figure 18 shows the functional flow diagram of TRACC. This function receives two types of information: 

airport-specific node-link models (F.7.1) and dynamic information (F.7.2). It then uses the information to 

F.6.3.2

Calculate earliest -

latest interval

F.6.3.4

Sequence arriving aircraft 

at the threshold

F.6.3.1

F.6.3.3

Receive scheduling 

constraints

Predict shortest and 

longest route from 

present position to 

runway

F.6.3.5

Assign runway and landing time 

at the threshold

F.6.3.6

Receive BADA data from 

aircraft performance 

database

F.6.3.7

Calculate 4Dtrajectories

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
34

calculate surface trajectories (F.7.3). Once the surface trajectories are planned, they are provided to the 

controllers together with guidance instructions (F.7.4.) for implementation. 

Figure 18: Perform Surface Management - Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and Controlling 

(TRACC) function (F.7).

Generally, TRACC uses the required data to plan conflict-free optimized taxi routes for all aircraft which 

are close to their landing or off-block times (approximately five minutes before landing or off-block times). 

All aircraft meeting this criterion are put into an internal flight list. The internal flight list contains all flights 

(arrivals and departures) to be optimized by TRACC. The optimization process can occur for two cases. 

First, there is a new aircraft introduced into the planning horizon. Second, TRACC detects a deviation from 

the previously planned taxi route or taxi time of any existing aircraft which leads to conflicts or a missed 

target time. As soon as departures/arrivals reach their departure runways/their arrival gates, TRACC will 

no longer optimize their taxi-routes. 

When there is a configuration change recommended by TRCM and it is accepted by the controllers at least 

45 minutes ahead (i.e., at the end of TRCM’s freeze horizon), there are two possible groups for departures 

and two groups for arrivals. The first group is for departures with the old departure runway before the 

change time. There is no impact of TRCM recommendation to this first group. The second group is for 

departures with the new departure runway after the change time. Since the configuration change is 

known 45 minutes in advance, the second group’s flight plans which are part of the dynamic information 

(F.7.2) will be modified by ATC accordingly. 

F.7.2

Receive dynamic 

information

F.7.3

Calculate surface 

trajectories

F.7.4

Provide guidance 

instructions for Air 

Traffic Controller

F.7.1

Load node-link model of 

airport (incl. standard routes)

AND

Event-based

planning

Send current flight 

information of TRACC

F.8.3

AND

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
35

For arrivals, the first (second) group is for arrivals with their touchdown times before (after) the change 

time. There is no impact of TRCM’s recommendation to the first group of arrivals. Since the TRACC’s 

optimization process begins five minutes before landing, TRACC uses the most recent information about 

landing time and runway to provide a conflict-free taxi route for all aircraft for the second group. A 

possible configuration change has not been tested yet.

Load Node-Link Model of Airport Function (F.7.1)

TRACC loads the airport-specific node-link surface model which will be used to determine a conflict-free 

taxi-route in the downstream function (F.7.3). If the airport has a predefined set of standard taxi routes, 

TRACC will include these routes as part of the node-link surface model.

Receive Dynamic Information Function (F.7.2)

Dynamic information (Figure 19) for each aircraft includes flight information, clearance inputs from 

controller, and position information by A-SMGCS (a.k.a. ASDE-X in the U.S., see section 3.1). Flight 

information includes a flight plan, call sign, assigned runway, assigned gate, TOBT (for departures), and 

TLDT (for arrivals). In case there is no “target” time available, TRACC will use the estimated 

landing/departure times. If those estimated times are not available, TRACC will use the scheduled 

landing/departure times. Flights without any of these time values will not be optimized or even considered

by the tool. 

Figure 19: Receive dynamic information function (F.7.2).

Calculate Surface Trajectories Function (F.7.3)

Figure 20 shows the lower-level diagram for function 7.3, Calculate Surface Trajectories. Generally, the

TRACC tool uses the required data from function 7.1 and function 7.2 to plan conflict-free and optimized 

taxi-routes for all flights in its internal flight list. The internal flight list contains all flights with 

approximately five minutes before landing (arrivals) or with approximately five to fifteen minutes before

off-block (departures). These flights have not yet reached their arriving gates or departure runway. 

F.7.2.2 Receive position information by A- SMGCS

F.7.2.1 Receive flight information

AND

Back Name:

Receive dynamic information

Author:

DLR-FL and NASA-LaRC Date: 2013-11-12 Number: 7.2

F.7.2.3 Receive clearance/ command inputs of controller

AND NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
36

The optimization can occur for two cases. First, there is a new aircraft introduced to the internal flight list. 

The TLDTs (arrivals) and TOBTs (departures) are used to determine when they are to be considered as a 

new aircraft. A standard taxi-route from a set of predefined airport-dependent routes is allocated to the 

new aircraft. For arriving aircraft, TRACC selects the most probable runway exit to allocate a taxi route. 

Five minutes before the TLDT (arrivals) and approximately five to fifteen minutes before TOBT

(departures) of the new aircraft, TRACC will optimize the taxi route of this aircraft. Second, TRACC detects 

a deviation from the previously planned taxi route or taxi time of any already taxiing aircraft. For this case, 

TRACC will adapt the planned trajectory to the actual position and speed, and check the new trajectory 

for conflicts or missed target times. If a problem occurs, TRACC will re-optimize only the flight with 

deviation. 

Both cases, the time optimization algorithm (TOA) is triggered (F.7.3.2) in an attempt to evaluate an 

optimal speed profile for the deviated taxi-route of the aircraft. The deviated taxi-route can be either the 

standard taxi-route (for the first or second cases) or the adapted taxi-route from previous optimization 

cycle(s) (for the second case). If speed solution from the TOA is not sufficient, TRACC will re-optimize this 

flight for a better route using a more complex algorithm called the route optimization algorithm (ROA) as 

shown in F.7.3.5. In other words, TRACC will not try to change other flights’ planned speed profiles or taxiroutes, but only try to adjust this flight speed or route to have a conflict-free taxi-route with all others’ 

existing routes.

Figure 20: Calculate surface trajectories function (F.7.3).

Provide Guidance Instructions for Air Traffic Controller Function (F.7.4)

New aircraft are shown to the controller via a “planned flight list”. The planned flight list is a smaller list 

(from the internal flight list) to display only to the controller, while the internal flight list is the list for 

F.7.3.1

Allocate standard 

taxi routes 

for every A/C

Case of new A/C

Case of detection of 

route/time deviation of 

existing A/C

OR OR

5min 

before touchdown

(arrivals) and 

appr. 1 5min before 

take-off (departures)*

F.7.3.2

Perform Total Optimization 

Algorithm (TOA)

F.7.3.3

Check of solution OR

F.7.3.5

Perform Route Optimization 

Algorithm (ROA)

Cannot be solved 

by speed adation

F.7.3.4

Provide adaption of speed 

Can be solved 

by speed 

adaption

F.7.3.6

Provide adaption of route 

OR

NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
37

TRACC to optimize the surface operations. For all new aircraft, the standard taxi-route is provided as the 

first approach. The controller has an option to view this route by clicking on the flight entry in the planned

flight list, but no associated commands are shown at this time. A trajectory with an adjusted speed profile 

or a completely adapted route is shown to the controller only for optimized aircraft with five minutes 

before its TOBT or TLDT. Necessary advisories for these optimized trajectories are presented to the 

controllers (90 seconds plus a command-dependent buffer) before the advisories have to be applied.

4.3.8. Send Current Flight Information of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management 

(A/D/S-MAN) Function (F.8)

After any re-planning cycle of A/D/S-MAN, an update on flight information takes places in this function so 

that TRCM has access to the latest flight information for its next planning cycle. This latest information is 

part of the dynamic information in function 1.2. TRCM uses it in the planning cycle as part of the freeze 

horizon, where no change can be made to the flights and airport configuration. Figure 21 gives the flow 

diagram of this function. There are three sub-functions, one for each A/D/S-MAN tools. Each sub-function 

will provide slightly different flight information, depending on the tool capabilities.

 

Figure 21: Send current flight information of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management function 

(F.8).

4D-CARMA (F.8.1) provides three types of information to TRCM: the flight plan, assigned runway for 

landing, and the TLDT. This information is all part of the short-term flight information. TRCM uses them in 

its planning cycle as part of the freeze horizon. Similarly, CADEO (F.8.2) provides three types of 

information to TRCM: the flight plan, assigned departure runway, and the TTOT. They are part of the shortterm flight information. TRACC (F.8.3) sends the flight plan, gate information, and the TSAT (for 

departures) to TRCM as part of the short-term flight information.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have 

collaborative research effort focused on the integration of arrival/departure/surface management tools

and a runway managementtool. This document first compares the operational environments for air traffic 

management (ATM) in Germany and in the United States in which the respective tools were developed.

Name: Send current flight information of ADS- MAN

Author:

NASA – LaRC and DLR-FL Date: 2013-11-12 Number: Back 8

AND

Send current flight information of 4D-CARMA F.8.1

Send current flight information of CADEO F.8.2

Send current flight information of TRACC F.8.3 AND NASA: TRCM DLR: 4D-CARMA, CADEO, TRACC

Perform TRCM

F.1

Provide Advisory 

Airport 

Configurations

F.2

Receive User 

Selection of TRCM 

Configurations

F.3

Perform

4D-CARMA 

(AMAN)

F.6

Perform TRACC 

(SMAN)

F.7

Perform CADEO 

(DMAN)

F.5

Communicate airport 

configuration change 

F.4

AND

Send current flight 

information of ADS-MAN 

F.8

After replanning cycles

Accept Configuration Change

NASA-DLR Interface
38

The basic objectives of the air traffic control systems in Germany and the United States are the same, i.e. 

to provide for the safe and efficient movement of aircraft. Although fundamentally the same, there are 

differences in procedures, airspace structure, roles/responsibilities, among others as described in this 

document. 

In a general sense, the problems seem to be the same, though slightly different. In Germany, the general 

problem is the dense airspace through overflights of European air traffic and the small airport surface. 

With the consideration of noise abatement and the avoidance of storm cells, the rising traffic demand 

poses a capacity and efficiency challenge for the airspace area. In the U.S., the problem is the large number 

of aircraft and in many cases, limited surface area; there are, of course, many other aspects of the air 

traffic flow process and supporting elements that affect capacity and efficiency. There are on-going 

research efforts to address many facets of the airspace system in Germany and the U.S.

DLR has developed research prototypes of decision support tools for three well-known concepts in Europe 

to handle arrival, departure, and surface traffic. Four Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager (4DCARMA) is the DLR arrival management tool that builds an arrival sequence, assigns an arrival time at the 

runway threshold, predicts trajectories for all aircraft, and transforms them into appropriate guidance 

instructions for the air traffic controller. For any arrivals, 4D-CARMA’s planning responsibility begins when 

an aircraft enters the terminal maneuvering area, and ends when the aircraft touches down. The 

corresponding working positions are approach controllers.

Controller Assistance for Departure Optimization (CADEO) is the DLR departure management tool that 

optimizes the departure sequence at the runways while considering arrivals on the same runway or a 

dependent runway. For any departures, CADEO’s planning responsibility begins approximately 20 minutes 

before an aircraft’s target off-block time (TOBT), and ends when the aircraft departs. The corresponding 

working positions are local, ground controller, and also clearance delivery controller in the airport traffic 

control tower.

Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and Controlling (TRACC) is the DLR surface management tool that 

generates conflict-free taxi routes from gate to runway and vice versa to meet target take-off times(TTOT)

with a minimum of speed changes during the taxi process. For any arrivals, TRACC’s planning responsibility 

begins approximately five minutes before an aircraft’s target landing time (TLDT) and ends when the 

aircraft arrives at the gate. For any departures, TRACC’s planning responsibility begins approximately five 

minutes before an aircraft’s TOBT and ends when the aircraft lines up for departure. The corresponding 

working positions are ground controller and apron (ramp) controller either seated in the airport traffic 

control tower or a dedicated control facility.

NASA has developed a tactical runway configuration management (TRCM) tool that provides runway 

configuration and runway usage recommendations intended for use by traffic flow managers and 

supervisors. TRCM makes runway recommendations that optimize overall transit time for arrivals and 

departures scheduled to be within the terminal boundary for the next 90 minutes from current time. The 

90 minute planning horizon used is based on the tactical nature of runway changes.
39

Functional Analysis of individual tools and of an integrated system are described next. Functional Analysis 

is a study of process activities that arranges functions in logical sequences, decomposes higher-level 

functions into lower-level functions, and identifies all internal and external functional interfaces. The tools 

used to model the functional behavior of a system are functional flow block diagram (FFBD) and N-squared 

(N2) diagramming techniques. The FFBD technique details the logical and environmental sequence of the 

system, while the N2 diagramming technique provides the data environment of the system. Both the FFBD 

and N2 diagrams provide complementary functional behavior of the system.

Because available data sources and data necessary for DLR and NASA tools generally differ, the analysis 

of the integrated system presented in the document will be at the higher level of details, where the FFBD 

is applicable to both the German and the U.S. air traffic environments. At the highest level of the 

integrated system, TRCM evaluates the current and the optimal runway configurations, and repeats the 

evaluation process at a predetermined time-based planning frequency. At this predetermined re-planning 

time, TRCM takes snapshots of the current air traffic system as input to its optimization algorithm. TRCM 

then provides advisory (both the current active and the optimal) configurations along with its 

performance metrics to the air traffic personnel (supervisors or traffic flow managers). The personnel can 

choose to accept or reject the recommended configuration. The rejection of the recommended 

configuration implies no change to the current active configuration, and TRCM will wait until the next 

planning cycle to repeat the evaluation process. If the recommended configuration is selected, the airport 

configuration is updated and will be used in planning by arrival, departure, and surface management 

(A/D/S-MAN) tools. A/D/S-MAN generally re-evaluates whenever there is an update to the air traffic 

system. As opposed to the TRCM’s time-based re-planning cycles, A/D/S-MAN uses flight-based replanning cycles. Whenever there is an event occurring to a flightsuch as clearance inputs from controllers, 

non-occurrence of expected events, and deviation from previously planned events including a 

configuration change event, etc., the corresponding tool is triggered for re-planning. After any re-planning 

cycle of A/D/S-MAN, an update on flight information takes places so that TRCM has access to the latest 

flight information for its next planning cycle. The update of flight information may require controller 

interactions, but an automatic retrieval may be conceivable. For all tools, if the users fail to interact with 

the tool, then the tools default to “no system change.” The tools continue their planning with the existing 

information as they are the latest information the tools have. 

As the FFBD of the integrated system was assessed in the document, the future collaborative research 

efforts is to provide a high-level concept of operations (ConOps) detailing how the NASA runway 

management and DLR arrival, departure, and surface management tools will function together to the 

benefit of each. Specifically, the future efforts to fully develop the ConOps will include:

 developing scenarios to fully test environmental, procedural, and data availability assumptions;

 executing the analysis by a walk-through of the integrated system using these scenarios;

 defining the appropriate role of operators in terms of their monitoring requirements and 

decision authority;

 executing the analysis by a walk-through of the integrated system with operator involvement;
40

 characterizing the environmental, system data requirements, and operator role assumptions for 

the ConOps.

Acronyms

4D-CARMA 4 Dimensional Cooperative Arrival Manager

A/D/S-MAN Arrival, Departure and Surface Management System

ACC Area Control Center

A-CDM airport collaborative decision making

AIP aeronautical information publication

AMAN Arrival Management System

APP Approach Control Center

ARTCC Air Route Traffic Control Center

ASDE-X Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X

A-SMGCS Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System

ATC air traffic control

ATCO air traffic control operator

ATCSCC Air Traffic Control System Command Center

ATCT Airport Traffic Control Tower

ATFCM air traffic flow and capacity management

ATIS Automatic Terminal Information Service

ATM air traffic management

AVOL aerodrome visibility operational level

BADA base of aircraft data

CADEO Controller Assistance for Departure Optimization

CADRS combined arrival/departure runway scheduling

CFMU central flow management unit

ConOps concept of operations

CTOT calculated take-off time

DFS German Air Navigation Service Provider - Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH

DLR German Aerospace Center - Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt

DMAN Departure Management System

ETT earliest takeoff time

FAA Federal Aviation Administration 

FAF final approach fix 

FFBD functional flow block diagram 

ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization

IFR Instrument flight rules
41

NAS National Airspace System

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NMOC Network Management Operations Center

RCM runway configuration management

RNAV area navigation

ROA route optimization algorithm

RTA required time of arrival

SESAR Single European Sky ATM Research Program

SID standard instrument departure 

SMAN Surface Management System

SORM System-Oriented Runway Management

STAR standard terminal arrival route 

TLDT target landing times 

TOA time optimization algorithm

TOBT target off-block time

TRACC Taxi Routing of Aircraft: Creation and Controlling

TRACON Terminal Radar Approach Control

TRCM tactical runway configuration management

TSAT target start-up approval time

TTOT target take-off time

TWR Air Traffic Control Tower 

VFR visual flight rules

VTT variable taxi times 

References

[1] Okuniek, N., Schaper, M., Christoffels, L., Lohr, G., Phojanamongkolkij, N., and Latorella, K., 

Conceptual Approach for an Integrated Capability of Arrival/Departure/Surface Management 

with Tactical Runway Management, internal report, March 14, 2014.

[2] Hasevoets, N., P. Conroy, Arrival Manager - Implementation GUIDELINES and Lessons Learned, 

http://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/default/files/content/documents/nm/fasti-aman-guidelines2010.pdf [last access: 2013/06/10].

[3] Tuinstra, E., K. Haschke, Generic Operational Concept for Pre-departure Runway Sequence 

Planning and Accurate Take-Off Performance-Enabled by DMAN interaction with Airport CDM 

and A-SMGCS concepts, EUROCONTROL HQ, Brussels, 2009.
42

[4] SESAR consortium, The ATM Target Concept D3, 2007, http://www.sesarju.eu/newspress/documents/d3-atm-target-concept--424 [last access: 2013/03/26].

[5] Helmke, H., R. Hann, M. Uebbing-Rumke, D. Müller, D. Wittkowski, Time-Based Arrival 

Management for Dual Threshold Operation and Continuous Descent Approaches, 8th ATM 

Seminar, Napa, USA, 2009.

[6] Schaper, M., CADEO Controller Assistance for Departure Optimisation - a brief introduction, 

2010.

[7] Gerdes, I., Taxi routing for aircraft: Creation and Controlling - Ground Movements with time 

constraints, 2nd SESAR Innovation Days, November 27th – 29th, Braunschweig, Germany, 2012.

[8] Lohr, Gary, S. Atkins, “System Oriented Runway Management Concept of Operations,” NASA 

TM/0000-000000 (in review), 2014.

[9] Atkins, S., Toward System Oriented Runway Management, 29th Digital Avionics Systems 

Conference, October 3rd- 7

th, Salt Lake, USA, 2010.

[10] Deutsche Flugsicherung, Regulation of the Implementation of Air Traffic Control (Ger. 

Betriebsanweisung Flugverkehrskontrolle), Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management, Langen, 

Germany, 2014.

[11] U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Organization 

Policy, Order JO 7110.65, April 3, 2014.

[12] Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), “Working in the control tower”, online available on: 

https://www.dfs.de/dfs_homepage/en/Air%20navigation%20services/Control%20centre%20an

d%20tower/Working%20in%20the%20control%20tower/ [last access: 2014-10-27]

[13] Klußmann, N., A. Malik, Lexikon der Luftfahrt (engl. Encyclopedia of Aeronautics), Springer, 3rd

edition, 2012.

[14] Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), German Aeronautical Information Publication, Enroute 

Part (ENR 1.5), Langen, Germany, 2013.

[15] Helmke, H., H. Ehr, M. Kleinert, F. Faubel, D. Klakow, Increased Acceptance of Controller 

Assistance by Automatic Speech Recognition, 8th ATM Seminar, Chicago, 2013.
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved

OMB No. 0704-0188

2. REPORT TYPE 

Technical Memorandum

 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Functional Analysis for an Integrated Capability of 

Arrival/Departure/Surface Management with Tactical Runway 

Management 

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

 6. AUTHOR(S)

Phojanamongkolkij Nipa; Okuniek, Nikolai; Lohr, Gary W.; Schaper, 

Melin; Lothar, Christoffels; Latorella, Kara A.

 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

NASA Langley Research Center

Hampton, VA 23681-2199

 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546-0001

 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

 REPORT NUMBER

L-20466

10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)

NASA

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Unclassified - Unlimited

Subject Category 66

Availability: NASA CASI (443) 757-5802

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON

STI Help Desk (email: help@sti.nasa.gov)

14. ABSTRACT

The runway is a critical resource of any air transport system. It is used for arrivals, departures, and for taxiing aircraft and is universally acknowledged as a 

constraining factor to capacity for both surface and airspace operations. Both the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA have developed concepts and 

tools to improve atomic aspects of coordinated arrival/departure/surface management operations and runway configuration management.

In December 2012, NASA entered into a Collaborative Agreement with DLR. Four collaborative work areas were identified, one of which is called “Runway 

Management.” As part of collaborative research in the “Runway Management” area, the goal is to develop an integrated system comprised of the three DLR 

tools (arrival, departure, and surface management) and NASA’s tactical runway configuration management tool. To achieve this goal, it is critical to prepare a 

concept of operations (ConOps) detailing how the NASA runway management and DLR arrival, departure, and surface management tools will function 

together to the benefit of each. To assist with the preparation of the ConOps, the integrated NASA and DLR tools are assessed through a functional analysis 

method described in this report. Future efforts to fully develop the ConOps are also provided. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Arrival management; Departure management; Runway management; Surface management

18. NUMBER

 OF 

 PAGES

19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code)

(443) 757-5802

a. REPORT

U

c. THIS PAGE

U

b. ABSTRACT

U

17. LIMITATION OF 

 ABSTRACT

UU 47

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)

3. DATES COVERED (From - To)

5b. GRANT NUMBER

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

5d. PROJECT NUMBER

5e. TASK NUMBER

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

11. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT

 NUMBER(S)

NASA/TM-2014-218553

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF:

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, 

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and 

Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person 

shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number.

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.

1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)

01- 11 - 2014