FAA NextGen Data Communications Program
Data Communications Implementation Team (DCIT)
Ops Management Meeting #14
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:
April 18, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Thales USA, Inc.
2733 South Crystal Dr., Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22202
NAME
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Tracey Gibson
Jerry Smith
Gregg Anderson
Andrew Onken
Rob Mead
Andy Fry
Jonathan Smith
Franco Basti
Greg D’Crus
Joe d’Hedouville
Peter Muraca
PHONE PARTICIPANTS
PHONE
EMAIL
202-267-4161
202-510-3156
202.493.4779
410-266-2949
253-951-8447
202-510-4966
202-510-1719
703-518-6313
786.925.6684
571.340.8795
609-485-5261
tgibson@northstargroupllc.com
gsmith@thaneincorp.com
Gregg.anderson@faa.gov
aonken@arinc.com
Rob.mead@boeing.com
afry@thaneincorp.com
jonsmith@thaneincorp.com
Franco.basti@us.thalesgroup.com
Greg.dcrus@us.thalesgroup.com
Joseph.dhedouville@us.thalesgroup.com
peter.muraca@faa.gov
No Phone Participants
PRE-MEETING Operations Management Team session
 SRM Process – On schedule and will not impact November delivery date.
 Safety Side updates - The revision number is printed on the FDIO strip. HADDS never
included the revision number. The problem - The NCP on the host side is also needed on
the ERAM side. The waterfall schedule could create problems during trials if the revision
number isn’t ready when ERAM is turned on. The ERAM cost and schedule is a hurdle
the team is working with in this process. A “Plan B” is needed before the March 2013 go
live date for ERAM-Memphis. A signed document will need to be submitted to an NCP
case file. The package must contain approved documentation prior to the release of the
software for this fix.
 Thales side updates – Almost under contract and just awaiting the official letter. The
group will meet on Friday the 20th for a technical interchange meeting.
Operations Management Team session
 Jerry Smith started the official Ops meeting with an introduction and welcome to the
group.
 Proposed dates for workshops have been scheduled for ATCs to get orientation on Data
Comm, DTAP, CHI, etc.
 The Ops meeting has been separated out from the Working Group meetings for a better
group focus on the pivotal items that require more planning and discussion. The next
Ops meeting will include participation from stakeholders and the Memphis Tower.
o Tracey Gibson was introduced as Secretariat for DCIT meetings and will be a
single source of communication for the group.
1
FAA NextGen Data Communications Program
Data Communications Implementation Team (DCIT)
Ops Management Meeting #14
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:



April 18, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Thales USA, Inc.
2733 South Crystal Dr., Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22202
o The DCIT Ops Meeting will start meeting more frequently to accommodate all
upcoming changes. The team is starting out with a bi-weekly. The team is sensing
enthusiasm and buy-in from Industry and FAA.
o FedEx has mailed the official commitment letter to FAA (Sandy and Gregg).
Others are soon to follow.
Ops Management Draft Plan/Charter is being worked. A meeting with Rob Mead will
allow for the Ops Management Plan to be aligned with the Working Group Charter
document.
o Rob Mead agreed and added that members will be asked to track the progress of
these documents, at the DCIT level, to trial.
o Andrew Onken suggested that milestones be split by site, with architecture as
Tower through FTI (Operational Network), and Tech Center through FNTB (FTI
Nat’l Testbed). These are two different networks. Suggests that it is split into
DTAP connection and CSP Connection.
 Connection date could change to reflect Andrew’s suggestion
DCL Lab Testing – Andrew Onken feels it is not something that requires tracking.
However, pDTAP installation into tech center should be something that should be
tracked.
o Jerry Smith pointed out that, regarding DTAP-AOC testing, the dates assigned are
important for more than connectivity because it requires that testing includes
aircraft setup.
o Before testing with an aircraft, it is imperative that the systems are tested at
each airline’s test bench, if so equipped. Boeing and Airbus are first on the list,
and then live testing to DCIT aircraft.
DTAP-AOC Discussion – While the LAB is in testing mode, the DTAP will send messages
to aircraft, and at the same time, send a “Courtesy Copy (CC)” to the participating
Aeronautical Operations Control (AOC). To avoid test messages being sent to an AOC
(while LAB is in test mode) a mechanism needs to be in place to re-route the CC
message back to a LAB identified address.
o Pete Muraca is working on an addressing scheme to allow the CC message to be
routed back to the LAB at an end system address, versus actually being routed to
an AOC via the Communications Service Provider (CSP). This address scheme will
be at the Internet Protocol (IP) level, which is configurable and controlled in
terms of source and destination addressing.
2
FAA NextGen Data Communications Program
Data Communications Implementation Team (DCIT)
Ops Management Meeting #14
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:

April 18, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Thales USA, Inc.
2733 South Crystal Dr., Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22202
Jerry Smith edited the Ops Management Plan document as the Ops Management Group
discussed and recommended changes. The high level milestones outline the following as
major steps in the process: (Partial List – Appendix with a thorough list of milestones
with dates will be attached during the week of April 30, 2012.)
o Airline Agreement
o Avionics Testing
o AOC Testing
o Live aircraft testing
o Full End-to-End testing (Message to aircraft and AOC simultaneously)
The Group concluded and disassembled for the AOC Integration Working Group Meeting.
NEXT MEETINGS
DCIT #15: May 30 & 31 at ARINC in Annapolis
DCIT #16: July 11 & 12 at Thales in Crystal City
Respectfully Submitted,
Tracey Gibson
Data Communications Program Support
North Star Group, LLC
600 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, DC 20024
3