Several studies have shown insufficient security in air traffic communication. The increase in air traffic in recent years also increases the need for improved security. CPDLC is used to communicate in text over the data link and ADS-B determines the position of an aircraft. These techniques are looked upon and simulated in the thesis. By proving that ADS-B and CPDLC messages can be transmitted and received with cheap and easy access equipment we want to show the simplicity in performing an attack. The thesis state a foundation to simulate attacks in the future so further work concerning the lack of security can be done.

The scope of this study was to evaluate the impact of the air traffic controller-to-pilot communication standard known as CPDLC or Data-Communication on the future air traffic operations. The impact was evaluated from the double viewpoint of airport delays and air traffic controllers' workload. RAMS simulation software is used to perform all the runs and from its output data the values of terminal area delays and controllers workload are obtained. The New York Metroplex terminal area was used as a case study. Because of its complexity, where three major airports (i.e. JFK, Newark, and La Guardia) interact and constraint each other, this area was particularly interesting to be studied and the data analyzed gave a valuable insight on the possible future impact of Data-Communication in congested terminal areas. The results of the study, based on some previous man-in-the-loop simulations performed by the FAA in the nineties, showed that significant potential benefits could be obtained with the complete implementation of such technologies in the workload experienced by air traffic controllers. Moreover some small but not negligible benefits were obtained in the total delays accrued by each airport studied. On the other hand, the simulations of the future demand predicted by the FAA demonstrated that without a significant increment in capacity or limitation on the traffic growth intolerable delays would be recorded across the NAS in the future. For the complexity of the simulation model calibration and for the very time-consuming run time not all the scenarios described in the methodology were tested, demonstrating the weakness of RAMS as a ground simulation model. / Master of Science

Com o crescimento do setor aeronáutico faz-se necessário a criação de novas tecnologias para que a capacidade do sistema possa aumentar sem provocar perdas nos níveis de segurança. Para isso foi criado o CNS/ATM, um paradigma que integra tecnologias de comunicação, navegação e vigilância em um sistema de gerenciamento de tráfego aéreo global. No âmbito das comunicações entre controlador e piloto, o atual sistema de fonia via rádio analógico é substituído por um enlace de dados, chamado de Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC). Esta alteração promove polêmica entre aeronautas e autoridades, de forma que é essencial um estudo aprofundado que comprove sua eficácia. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa visa avaliar a segurança do CPDLC quando utilizado em Áreas Terminais do Espaço Aéreo. Para a realização desta pesquisa, foi criada uma metodologia de avaliação de segurança utilizando simuladores de voo, de tráfego aéreo e de comunicação CPDLC combinados com uma análise por meio de modelos de Markov. O procedimento de chegada ao aeroporto de Congonhas, situado na Terminal São Paulo, foi utilizado como referência para aplicação desta metodologia. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o sistema atual de comunicação, via voz, está no limite do atendimento dos níveis internacionais de segurança para a demanda atual. Contudo, a comunicação por enlace de dados atende, e em alguns casos inclusive melhora, o nível de segurança desta região do espaço aéreo. / With the growth of the aviation industry it is necessary to create new technologies that can increase the system capacity without loss in the safety levels. Because of this the CNS/ATM was created, a paradigm that integrates communication, navigation and surveillance technologies with a global air traffic management. For the communications between controllers and pilots, the current system of voice over analog radio is being replaced by a data link, called the Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC). This replacement raises debates between airmen and authorities, demanding a detailed study that proves its effectiveness. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the CPDLC safety when used in Terminal Airspace Areas. For this research, was created a methodology for security assessment using flight, air traffic, and CPDLC simulators combined with a Markov model analysis. The Congonhas airport arrival procedure, located in São Paulo Terminal, was used as reference for this methodology application. The results showed that the current system of voice communication is on the limit of fulfilling the international safety levels for the current demand. However, the data link communication addresses, and in some cases even improve, the safety level for this airspace region.

Com o crescimento do setor aeronáutico faz-se necessário a criação de novas tecnologias para que a capacidade do sistema possa aumentar sem provocar perdas nos níveis de segurança. Para isso foi criado o CNS/ATM, um paradigma que integra tecnologias de comunicação, navegação e vigilância em um sistema de gerenciamento de tráfego aéreo global. No âmbito das comunicações entre controlador e piloto, o atual sistema de fonia via rádio analógico é substituído por um enlace de dados, chamado de Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC). Esta alteração promove polêmica entre aeronautas e autoridades, de forma que é essencial um estudo aprofundado que comprove sua eficácia. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa visa avaliar a segurança do CPDLC quando utilizado em Áreas Terminais do Espaço Aéreo. Para a realização desta pesquisa, foi criada uma metodologia de avaliação de segurança utilizando simuladores de voo, de tráfego aéreo e de comunicação CPDLC combinados com uma análise por meio de modelos de Markov. O procedimento de chegada ao aeroporto de Congonhas, situado na Terminal São Paulo, foi utilizado como referência para aplicação desta metodologia. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o sistema atual de comunicação, via voz, está no limite do atendimento dos níveis internacionais de segurança para a demanda atual. Contudo, a comunicação por enlace de dados atende, e em alguns casos inclusive melhora, o nível de segurança desta região do espaço aéreo. / With the growth of the aviation industry it is necessary to create new technologies that can increase the system capacity without loss in the safety levels. Because of this the CNS/ATM was created, a paradigm that integrates communication, navigation and surveillance technologies with a global air traffic management. For the communications between controllers and pilots, the current system of voice over analog radio is being replaced by a data link, called the Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC). This replacement raises debates between airmen and authorities, demanding a detailed study that proves its effectiveness. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the CPDLC safety when used in Terminal Airspace Areas. For this research, was created a methodology for security assessment using flight, air traffic, and CPDLC simulators combined with a Markov model analysis. The Congonhas airport arrival procedure, located in São Paulo Terminal, was used as reference for this methodology application. The results showed that the current system of voice communication is on the limit of fulfilling the international safety levels for the current demand. However, the data link communication addresses, and in some cases even improve, the safety level for this airspace region.

Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) is a system for text-based communication between air traffic control and flight crew. It currently lacks protection against many common types of attacks, making the system vulnerable to attackers. This can have severe consequences for the safety and reliability of air travel. One such attack is alteration attacks. This thesis focuses on detecting alteration attacks with the use of machine learning. It also goes over how CPDLC messages are structured and how to prepare a dataset of CPDLC messages before applying machine learning models. Using Datawig for data imputation made it possible to prepare the dataset by filling in missing values, which could be used for machine learning. With the prepared dataset, two deep learning models, RNN and LSTM, were trained on the dataset to identify genuine and fabricated messages. The dataset consists of a combination of real and altered CPDLC messages. It was found that both models could be used, with high accuracy, to identify real and fake CPDLC messages from the dataset. The implication of this means it is possible to build and train models to detect and differentiate altered messages from genuine messages, which could be further built upon to develop a system for both detecting and preventing alteration attacks.

A modeling framework to evaluate the costs and benefits of implementation of Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC), and Air Traffic Management (ATM) decision support tools is proposed in this paper. The benefit/cost evaluation is carried out for four key alternatives namely alternative A: Do nothing scenario (only voice channel), alternative B: Voice channel supplemented with CPDLC, alternative C: Alternative B with ATM tools in a non-integrated scenario and finally alternative D: Alternative B with ATM tools in an integrated scenario. It is a bi-level model that captures the linkages between various technologies at a lower microscopic level using a daily microscopic model (DATSIM) and transfers the measures of effectives to a higher macroscopic level. DATSIM stands for Data Link and Air Traffic Technologies SIMulation and it simulates air traffic in the enroute sector and terminal airspace for a single day and captures the measures of effectiveness at a microscopic level and feeds its output to the macroscopic annual model which then runs over the entire life cycle of the system. Airspace dwell time benefit data from the microscopic model is regressed into three dimensional benefit surfaces as a function of the equipage level of aircraft and aircraft density and embedded into the macroscopic model. The main function of the annual model is to ascertain economic viability of any deployment schedule or alternative over the entire life cycle of the system. The life cycle cost model is composed of four modules namely: Operational benefits module, Safety benefit module,Technology cost module and Training cost module. Analysis using the model showed that an enroute sector gets congested at aircraft densities greater 630 per day. This is mainly because the controller workload gets saturated at that traffic volume per day. Benefits realized in alternatives B, C and D as compared to alternative A increased exponentially at traffic densities greater than 630 i.e. when controller workload for alternative A becomes saturated. / Master of Science

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) proposed to introduce new operational strategies across the North Atlantic (NAT) airspace. This includes Minimum Navigation Performance Specifications (MNPS) airspace to increase the capacity and efficiency of the North Atlantic Organized Track System (NAT OTS). A numerical integration and simulation model called North Atlantic Simulation and Modeling (NATSAM) is developed to study the effects of these new strategies on NAT system performance. The model is capable of investigating the effects of implementing different operational policies and strategies proposed by ICAO such as Reduced Lateral Separation Minimum (RLatSM), NAT Region Data link mandate (DLM), Reduced Longitudinal Separation Minimum (RLongSM), cruise-climb profiles, variable Mach number profiles, step-climbs and other operational concepts to be studied by the ICAO. NATSAM models the individual flight performance using the Base of Aircraft Data (BADA) 3.9 model to calculate the flight profiles and fuel burn. The model employs simple heuristics to execute flight track assignment in the organized track system for each scenario. Detailed outputs and also aggregated outputs are provided by the model from which various key performance indicators (KPI) can be derived to assess the performance of the system. / Master of Science

Newly implemented technologies within the aviation lack, according to recent studies, built in security measures to protect them against outside interference. In this thesis we study the security and privacy status of the digital wireless Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) used in air traffic management alongside other systems to increase the safety and traffic capacity of controlled airspaces. The findings show that CPDCL is currently insecure and exposed to attacks. Any solutions to remedy this must adhere to its low levels of performance. Elliptical Curve Cryptography, Protected ACARS and Host Identity Protocol have been identified as valid solutions to the system’s security drawbacks and all three are possible to implement in the present state of CPDLC.

In this essay one has been investigating some of the reasons why aviation incidents take place and also examine what strategies there are to minimize the risks - primarily regarding miscommunication which often seems to be a contributing element or a direct cause in aviation mishaps. The aim of this study is to highlight and raise awareness about this field of study from a communicative point of view.The study has been performed using qualitative interviews with pilots, Air Traffic Controllers and other professionals within the aviation industry. The research has been somewhat hampered by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but not to an extent that would have corrupted the findings.The key results have indicated that miscommunication still is a problem in the aviation industry, but less so on the local national stage than in a global perspective. Two particular occurrences that have been given extra attention are runway incursions and the use of Controller Pilot Data-Link Communications.One has established that there are technical systems available on the market to improve communication performance and that runway incursion is a problem that grows with the complexity of the airport environment. One has also been made aware of the fact that human factors can only be mitigated so far with technology. The principal question has been: How can Miscommunication in Aviation be reduced? / I denna uppsats har vi tittat på några av de bakomliggande orsakerna till att incidenter fortfarande sker inom trafikflyget samt undersökt vilka strategier som föreligger för att minimera dessa risker - primärt pga felkommunikation vilken ofta tenderar att vara en bakomliggande eller direkt utlösande faktor i flygolyckor. Syftet med denna studie är att uppmärksamma och öka medvetenheten om dessa fenomen från en kommunikativ synvinkel.Studien har genomförts medelst en kvalitativ intervjumetod med piloter, flygledare och andra initierade yrkesgrupper inom flygindustrin. Forskningen har hämmats något pga utbrottet av COVID-19 pandemin men inte i en sådan omfattning att resultatet har förvanskats.De huvudsakliga resultaten har indikerat att felkommunikation fortfarande är ett problem inom flygbranschen, men i en långt mindre omfattning på lokal nationell nivå än i ett globalt perspektiv. Två specifika företeelser som har getts extra uppmärksamhet är rullbaneintrång samt användandet av CPDLC (datalänk).Vi har konstaterat att det finns tekniska system på marknaden för att förbättra prestandan på kommunikationen samt att rullbaneintrång är ett problem som växer med flygplatsens storlek och komplexitetsgrad. Vi har också uppmärksammats på att den mänskliga faktorn endast delvis kan undanröjas med hjälp av teknologi. Den huvudsakliga fågeställningen har varit: Hur kan felkommunikation inom flyget reduceras