Setting Up the Massive Network of the NextGen Air Traffic Control System Discussed

Imagine trying to keep track of 4,500 to 6,000 airline flights per day, as well as all the general aviation flights, while still interfacing with all the military operations. Yes, huge, and the deluge of data is no laughing matter, neither is the reality of a 100% uptime, because if all those computers crashed, well, it spells danger for all the flights in the air as well - meaning real aircraft might crash too or they might run into one another.

See how serious this is? Okay so, let's discuss this massive network of our NextGen Air Traffic Control System with a couple of think tankers; Troy Laclaire and myself. Troy suggests that we use a "gigibit interface between the computer systems and from the computer system to display, and bandwidth shouldn't be too much of a problem." Gigabyte?

Really, yes, really, consider if we are running 3D or holographic displays, we are talking about mega-amounts of data, information flow that never stops 24/7, for every ATC computer in the nation. Additionally, Troy points out that;

This would be more for the communications between local system networks, but you would then use burst transmissions for communication between long distances between systems, compressing the data into as small as possible, add a layer of encryption, and then send the data, where it will be decrypted and expanded on the other end.

Indeed, the security is almost as important as the actual system, remember cyber terrorists, foreign nations with cyber hackers, and the occasional hacker testing their skills for fun and bragging rights. It's all serious, so it must be secure, not only from outages but also from infiltrations - insiders, cyber terrorists, and hackers too. The additional layers of encryption as Troy explains has lots of benefits namely; "making the data hard to read if someone intercepts, as well as reducing the amount of necessary bandwidth necessary to send data between locations."

This should make sense to any computer programmer or IT professional. I asked about IP Address allocations - IP and frequency hopping. Troy explains that "actually using IP hopping would be the wrong thing to do as this adds another layer of complexity to the whole system, and if something happens, you have to spend more time tracing it back to the source."

Now then, if we are using vast amounts of data such as are needed for 3D and Holographic visual displays for the ATC operators, we have other things to deal. Such as you ask? Well, Troy explains it like this; "the big question would come into the refresh rate of the visual system, hence why I would prefer VR, however if the visual system could be designed to have a visual refresh rate of between 20-30ms, you should be able to have fast enough refresh to keep the system showing more or less real time. (by comparison, standard modern monitors are generally between 5-15ms)

Hmm, I thought, yet another set of issues to tackle in that case. Another problem is if the system becomes infected with a computer virus everyone gets tagged too. And the programmers have that bridge to cross too. Which is why Troy and I both agree; "That's why you have to build your protections in, both software and physical, from the beginning!" Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.