6 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON AERONAUTICAL AND NAVIGATIONAL ELECTRONICS March

the first place there can be manual release of space on CONCLUSION

an unpublished airway if the two ends are made known We have passed the point where we can afford to use
to the controller and if he then arbitrarily assigns it a a system that is not flexible enough to envision eventual
temporary block. In this case the interlock machinery air traffic at least ten times its present magnitude. Ac-
will not function unless there are enough flights pre- ceptance of an over-all system for future air traffic con-
dicted to make it worthwhile to temporarily patch a trol is vital. When such a decision has been reached we
block board into the interlock, for such a special airway. need then only implement it in steps to keep up with
If this is not done the controller will have to resolve growing traffic. Unless this article describes it, a basic
possible conflicts manually for a few of the aircraft, as plan has not yet been evolved, and time is fast running
is done today. out in comparison to traffic needs.

The Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System *

DAVID S. CRIPPENt

Summary-This paper outlines the major advantages and targets may be unreliable when the aircraft are small
limitations of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System under and have small target-echoing areas, and because of
evaluation at the Civil Aeronautics Administration Technical De-
velopment Center. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of
the blind speed and subclutter visibility characteristics
compatibility, the system traffic capacity problems, and the need of the Moving Target Indicator system. Furthermore,
for an operational doctrine to restrict the use of interrogators. System identification of targets is difficult.
coverage, ground antenna, reply-code garbling, and reflection
problems also are discussed. The paper points out specific applica- GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
tions of the beacon system, including its ability to improve the Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the beacon system. The
reliability of aircraft position information, to provide identity for
specific aircraft targets in a traffic situation, and to furnish the interrogator transmits interrogations on a frequency of
information required for a filtered air traffic control display with a 1030 megacycles and at a repetition rate of about 300
very rapid and flexible cross-reference between aircraft identifica- interrogations per second. The corresponding transpon-
tion, plan position, and altitude. der replies are on the frequency of 1090 megacycles and
INTRODUCTION are received by the receiver portion of the interrogator
unit and are then fed to a video interconnection unit for
TpHE TECHNICAL Development Center is con- decoding of the reply pulse trains. After decoding, the
ducting technical and operational evaluation of signals are fed to a plan position indicator (ppi) for
the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System display. When primary radar and beacon targets are
under the Air Navigation Development Board and to be displayed on the same indicator, the interrogating
Civil Aeronautics Administration Project 6.2.4. The signals must be synchronized with the radar trigger,
ground and airborne equipments have been furnished and the beacon antenna must be slaved to the radar
under Department of the Navy contracts sponsored by antenna, or mounted on the same pedestal, so that the
the ANDB. The equipments, which have been furnished radar and corresponding beacon targets will be dis-
for test purposes, have characteristics that are compati- played at the same range and azimuth. The beacon sys-
ble with common system requirements, but are not tem can be used as an independent secondary radar sys-
considered to be prototypes. Therefore, primary empha- tem, if transponder-equipped aircraft only are to be
sis has been placed upon evaluation of the system per- displayed and controlled.
formance and operational utility. The transponder replies consist of pulse trains as
The primary functions of the beacon system are to shown in Fig. 2. The spacing between the first and last
provide reliable aircraft position information and air- pulses, or framing pulses, is 20.3 microseconds. Between
craft identification. The use of primary radar for air the framing pulses are six information-pulse positions
traffic control has been limited to some extent, because spaced 2.9 microseconds. At the present time, only ten
returns from precipitation may clutter the display, the reply codes have been assigned for air traffic control
use. These codes employ two information pulses which
*
Manuscript received by the PGANE, January 18, 1957. This
paper originally was presented before the RTCA Assembly Meeting occupy any of the six assigned positions, with the excep-
in Indianapolis, Ind., on October 22, 1956. tion that the pulses never occupy adjacent positions.
t Facility Evaluation Branch, Civil Aeronautics Admin. Tech. The reply codes can be selected by the pilot by means of
Dev. Ctr., Indianapolis, Ind.

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1957 Crippen: The Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System 7

~~~~~~GROUND
CONTROL AIRBORNE X :IINTERROGATION
. op--
UNIT TRANSPONDER I MICROSECONDS;
~~S IG N A L

I I
MICROSECOND?

ANT
AIRCRAFT RESPONSE SIGNAL
M ICROSECONIDS 0 2.9 5.8 8.7 11.6 14.5 17.4 20.3
PULSE POSIr TION I 2 3 4 5 6 T 6

1-* O.45 MICROSECONDS

2

3 .`4
4

5
CODE J 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-

9-E

0 OR-F
DENT.
p
Fig. 2 Codes used in secondary radar system.

it is compatible to the extent that civil ground stations

can interrogate military aircraft, and military ground
stations can interrogate civil aircraft, without the re-
quirement that the aircraft be equipped with two types
of transponders. This is a very important advantage
that must be emphasized, since the utility of any beacon
system as an air traffic control aid depends, to a large
extent, upon the degree of airborne implementation.
Unfortunately, the compatibility feature is one of the
major disadvantages, since unlimited implementation
RADAR and use of interrogators results in system traffic capacity
problems, such as the addition of excessive fruit to air
Fig. 1-Simplified block diagram of atc beacon system. traffic control (atc) displays and transponder interroga-
tion countdown. If the transponders do not reply to
a knob on the control box in the cockpit. By use of the most of the interrogations from a particular site, the
decoding equipment on the ground, the controller can targets at that site will have a ragged appearance, or
determine which reply code the aircraft is transmitting. may disappear from the display under severe countdown
Through the use of the decoder, all transponder- conditions.
equipped aircraft can be displayed as a single blip, all TRAFFIC CAPACITY PROBLEMS
aircraft transmitting the code which is selected by the
controller as a double blip, and aircraft transmitting Automatic overload control (aoc) circuits were in-
the identification of position code as a wide or "bloomer" cluded in the transponders, to protect the transmitter
blip. The aircraft equipment can be connected so that circuits from excessive power dissipation by limiting
the identification of position code will be transmitted, the interrogation duty cycle. If the number of interroga-
when the pilot presses the microphone button, or when tion signals per unit time exceeds the duty cycle for
a toggle switch on the control box is actuated. which the transmitter is designed, the interrogation
sensitivity is automatically reduced so that the duty
RESULTS OF EVALUATION cycle will not be exceeded.
From the results of evaluation work that has been When the aircraft is within a few miles of a site, the
completed, it is evident that the system has certain basic transponder is interrogated continuously, since the
advantages and limitations. Other beacon systems would levels of signals from the side and back lobes of the
have some of the same limitations, if they were to be ground antenna are sufficient to interrogate the trans-
subjected to the same operating and environmental ponder. If the aircraft is very close to several sites, the
conditions. The major advantage of the system is that total number of interrogation signals per unit time may

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8 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON AERONAUTICAL AND NAVIGATIONAL ELECTRONICS March

exceed the allowable duty cycle, and the interrogation indicator. Furthermore, the fruit tends to bunch so that
sensitivity is reduced so that the weaker signals cannot any particular target may be totally obscured for one
interrogate the transponder. Operationally, the aoc scan of the antenna. Since many aircraft will fly along
method of limiting the interrogation duty cycle has airways, the density of the fruit will be greater in sectors
advantages as well as disadvantages. When all the of the display which correspond to airways.
participating sites are within a relatively small area, The amount of fruit displayed depends upon the
the levels of the main-lobe signals from all sites should number of ground stations, the number of transponder-
be greater than the levels of some of the side-lobe signals. equipped aircraft, the distribution of the ground sta-
When such is the case, the aoc circuits will discriminate tions and the aircraft in the area, the display range, and
against some of the side-lobe signals and permit interro- the various system parameters. It is possible to assume
gation by main-lobe signals from all sites. A disadvan- aircraft distribution and ground environment conditions
tage of the aoc method is that participating sites at some such that several hundred thousand interfering pulses
distance from the aircraft may not interrogate reliably per second may be received at a particular site. The
the transponders in aircraft which are near many other amount of fruit displayed is greatest, when the aircraft
sites. Main-lobe signals from the distant sites may be and the interfering sites are near the participating site.
weaker than side-lobe signals from sites near the aircraft. Long-range en route traffic control displays are cluttered
Under these conditions, the corresponding targets at more than short-range terminal area displays, since the
the distant displays may either have a ragged appear- display time is greater and stc provisions do not reduce
ance or may disappear from the displays. the amount of fruit displayed at the longer ranges.
Tests were made to determine the variation of inter-
rogation duty cycle with range when an 18-foot beacon DEFRUITING EQUIPMENT
antenna, ANDB Type 2.3NS3, was mounted on a 60- Tests of a delay-line type of defruiting equipment,
foot tower. Generally, the range for 100 per cent inter- developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, have
rogation, or for continuous interrogation during each been made at the Technical Development Center.
complete scan of the antenna, did not exceed five miles. Basically, the equipment consists of delayed and un-
For 75, 50, and 25 per cent antenna scan interrogations, delayed video channels which are connected to a co-
the corresponding ranges were 7, 10, and 20 miles. The incidence detector. Coincidence and video output oc-
ANDB Type III transponder is designed to accept 1200 curs when video signals having the same pulse repetition
interrogations per second. The Aeronautical Radio In- frequency as the interrogator are received. Most of the
corporated Characteristic No. 532 requires that the the video signals having different pulse repetition fre-
transponder triggering level shall not be reduced by quencies are rejected. The defruiting equipment was
more than 3 db for interrogation rates up to 2000 inter- connected between the interrogator and the decoder.
rogation pairs per second. The aoc provisions in the From the results of the tests, it is evident that de-
ANDB transponders will assume control when the air- fruiting equipment can be very effective. Figs. 3 and 4
craft is approximately ten miles from six interrogators show the appearance of a display, under the interfer-
transmitting 400 pulse-pairs per second. Under the same ence conditions noted, without and with defruiting
conditions, the aoc provisions in the ARINC trans- operation. The use of such equipment will do much to
ponders will assume control when the aircraft is approxi- prevent degradation of displays under very severe inter-
mately ten miles from ten interrogators. ference conditions, but will not eliminate the need for
Replies of transponders to interrogations from sites restrictions on the operation of interrogators to prevent
other than the participating site are displayed as un- overinterrogation of transponders. Since the defruiting
synchronized replies, or fruit, at the participating site. equipment requires at least two successive replies for
When the aircraft are at some distance from the partici- each output pulse, reply countdown in the transponder
pating site, the fruit will be displayed only when the may be serious and cause the target to disappear from
participating site antenna is directed towards the air- the display.
craft. When the aircraft are near the participating site, When beacon and radar targets are to be presented on
the fruit will be displayed regardless of the direction in a common indicator, the beacon and radar equipments
which the ground antenna is pointed, since the reserve must be synchronized so that corresponding radar and
gain in the reply path is greater than the attenuation beacon targets will appear at the same range. This
provided by the directivity characteristics of the ground presents a delay line matching or delay tracking prob-
antenna. While the sensitivity-time-control (stc) pro- lem, since the pulse repetition frequency of many radars
visions in the interrogator reduce the fruit displayed at having mti is determined by the radar delay line, and
smaller ranges, they have little or no effect at display the delay of the line in the defruiting equipment must
ranges greater than approximately 30 miles. be equal to the delay of the radar line multiplied by a
Relatively small amounts of fruit can cause serious factor of two, three, or four, depending upon the pulse
degradation of displays, since radar targets, which are repetition frequency of the radar. This Center is pro-
generally smaller in size than beacon targets and some- curing temperature-controlled quartz delay line assem-
times weaker in intensity, will be displayed on the same blies for installation in the ASR-2 radar and the NRL

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 1957 Crippen: The Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System 9

defruiting equipment, to determine the feasibility of

using temperature control to maintain the required de-
lay relationships. Contracts for the development of
prototype models of the delay-line type of equipments
and for storage-tube type defruiting equipments are
being placed under projects sponsored by the ANDB.
The main advantage of the storage-tube equipment
would be the elimination of the pulse repetition fre-
quency matching problem.
OPERATIONAL DOCTRINE
The results of system traffic capacity studies and tests,
which have been completed in the New York City area
and at the Technical Development Center, show that
there is a great need for the establishment of an equip-
ment operational doctrine in those areas having many
interrogators, to prevent transponder over-interrogation
effects, and to reduce the number of unsynchronized
replies. It also was determined that defruiting equip-
ment will be required to prevent deterioration of atc
displays.
Date: November 3, 1955 In accordance with the recommendations of the Air
Display range: 45 miles Navigation Development Board Advisory Committee
Display trigger: approximately 1400 pps
Defruiter input: Bargersville remote transponder and laboratory No. 2, representatives of the military services and the
transponder each interrogated by two nonparticipating IR units at
1000 pDs and one participating IR unit. Two rf signal generators
Civil Aeronautics Administration have been working
operating at approximately 70,000 and 4000 pps respectively. on an agreement pertaining to restrictions upon the
Fig. 3-Undefruited raw video display. operation of all interrogators and transponders required
to obtain satisfactory operation for the air traffic con-
trol function with minimum restrictions upon the utility
of the system for other uses. Assuming implementation
of the systems at civil air traffic control sites, operation
will not be satisfactory for air traffic control uses in
areas such as New York City, if adequate system con-
trol is not established. It is evident that all beacon sys-
tems, or other systems requiring cooperative airborne
equipment, have finite traffic capacities, and that no
one system can be all things to all people at all times.
While the traffic capacity of the atc Radar Beacon Sys-
tem is limited by the lack of side-lobe interrogation sup-
pression provisions, careful system planning and opera-
tional doctrine is required for any common beacon svs-
tem. Proposed changes in system parameters such as
transmitter powers, receiver sensitivities, interrogation
rates, interrogation modes, reply code structures, etc.,
must be evaluated carefully, to determine their effect
upon system traffic capacity. Failure to establish ade-
quate operational doctrines and control of system pa-
rameters may result in unsatisfactory performance at a
time when the system is most needed.
SIDE-LOBE INTERROGATION
Since no provision is made to suppress interrogation
Date: November 3, 1955 by side lobes, transponders may be interrogated by side-
Display range: 45 imiiles
Display trigger: approximately 1400 pps lobes at ranges out to approximately 50 miles. As
Defruiter input: Bargersville remote transponider an1d laboratorv pointed out in preceding paragraphs, side-lobe interro-
transponder each interrogated by two nonparticipatinig IR units at
1000 pps and one participating IR unit. Two rf signal generators gations decrease the traffic capacity of the interrogation
operating at approximately 70,000 and 4000 pps respectively. path. Fig. 5 consists of time-exposure photographs,
Fig. 4-Single defriiited raw video displav. which show the azimuthal distribution of transponder

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10 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON AERONAUTICAL AND NAVIGATIONAL ELECTRONICS March

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Fig. 5-Effect of interrogationi sensitivity upOnI side lobe interrogation (30-nautical-mile range): (a) normal beacon sensitivity,
(b) beacon sensitivity reduced 10 db, (c) beacon sensitivity reduced 15 db, and (d) beacon sensitivity reduced 20 db.

replies to the main and side lobes of an 18-foot beacon necessary to employ sensitivity-time-control (stc) in the
antenniia for normal and reduced interrogation sensitivi- interrogator, so that the receiver gain is a function of
ties. The aircraft was flown in level flight 1000 feet above aircraft range. The elimination of replies to antenna side
the ground to the range of 30 miles. An omnidirectional and back lobes from the display is required to prevent
antenina and separate receiver were used to eliminate intolerable clutter of the display and confusion of the
directivity in the reply path, and the gain of the re- controllers.
ceiver did not vary with aircraft range. The interroga- If the receiver gain is controlled to prevent the dis-
tions at the azimuth of 3400 were due to reflections play of side-lobe responses under favorable conditions,
from the ASR-2 tower and antenniia which were 75 feet target fading occurs under unfavorable transmission
from the beacon antenna. conditions. Favorable conditions are those which in-
The lack of side-lobe interrogationi suppression pro- crease the level of the reply signals and include:
visions increases system coverage problems. In order to 1) When aircraft position coincides with a maxima
prevent the display of the side-lobe responses, it is of the vertical interferenice lobe structure.

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1957 Crippen: The Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System 11

2) When the aircraft attitude is such that maximum 3) The reserve gain of the reply path could be in-
signal is received by the interrogator. creased to reduce target fading under unfavorable
3) When power radiated from the aircraft antenna is transmission conditions without increasing the
greater than normal because of aircraft configura- possibility that side-lobes will be displayed under
tion, the transmission line loss is less than normal favorable conditions, provided that reflections
or the transponder output power is greater than from objects near the ground antenna are not
the nominal value of 500 watts. limiting factors.
The converse is true for unfavorable transmission The main disadvantage of side-lobe suppression sys-
conditions. tems is that, in all probability, some modification of
existing airborne equipments would be required. For
SYSTEM COVERAGE TESTS maximum effectiveness, modifications to ground stations
After measurements and calculation of signal level to include better antennas or to incorporate side-lobe
variations with aircraft range, the stc circuits were suppression components must be made to civil and mili-
adjusted so that the display of side-lobe responses would tary sites alike on an area basis.
be negligible. During flight tests, the quality of the From the ground antenna standpoint, the system
targets was satisfactory for approximately 88 per cent frequencies of 1030 and 1090 mc are a disadvantage.
of the antenna scans, when the aircraft was flown in At these frequencies it is difficult to design antennas
level flight at altitudes of 1000, 5000, and 10,000 feet which have the desired azimuth resolution and side-
above ground and at ranges within line of sight from 0 lobe characteristics, and which can be rotated at the
to 60 miles. The target fading occurred when the air- high rates required for terminal-area control. In con-
craft passed through nulls of the vertical lobe structure. nection with the program to improve the system, the
From calculations and observations of system perform- Naval Electronics Laboratory's folded pillbox antenna
ance, it is evident that the system reserve gain is not has been installed at this Center and tests are being
sufficient to insure satisfactory targets for en route made. Except for vestigial lobes on the sides of the main
traffic control, when aircraft at ranges in excess of 100 lobe, all responses are at least 38 db below that at the
miles are in nulls of the lobe structure. The levels of nose of the main lobe. The vestigial lobes are approxi-
signals in the lower nulls may be 19 db below free-space mately 30 db below the main lobe. The Navy is to eval-
values, when the terrain near the ground antenna is uate the A. C. Cossor side-lobe interrogation suppres-
smooth. If the ground antenna can be sited so that the sion system at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent
ground reflecting surface is rough, or includes low build- River, Md.
ings, the depths of the nulls may be decreased to 3 REPLY-CODE GARBLING
or 4 db. The use of such a site would improve system
coverage greatly, and reliable operation at ranges out Identification is accomplished by means of multiple-
to 200 miles should be obtained. Some consideration pulse reply codes. The variations in the code structure
has been given to increasing interrogator and trans- are such that it is difficult to distinguish between the
ponder powers, in order to obtain reliable operation different codes visually, and electronic decoding is re-
when the aircraft is in a minima of the vertical lobe quired. Furthermore, the results of previous evaluation
structure. An increase in interrogator power would ex- work' at this Center show that range coding employ-
tend the range of side-lobe interrogation under favorable ing several blips on the display is undesirable, because
transmission conditions and reduce the traffic capacity the display becomes cluttered if many transponder-
of the interrogation path. Furthermore, it would not equipped aircraft are in the area, and confusion results
be possible to adjust the interrogator stc provisions for when the reply trains from several aircraft interleave so
satisfactory operation, when transponders having high that it is difficult to distinguish between the position
and low transmitter powers are in the area. and identification blips. The decoder eliminates, or
greatly reduces, visual garble. However, garbling within
GROUND ANTENNAS the decoder occurs when the replies from two or more
Assuming that the characteristics of the site are not aircraft interleave.2 Garbling occurs approximately 25
limiting factors, the use of ground antennas having very per cent of the time, when two aircraft are at the same
low side and back lobes, or of a side-lobe interrogation azimuth and the difference in slant range is less than 3.3
suppression system, at civil and military sites would nautical miles. When all aircraft are displayed as a single
have several significant effects upon the system: blip, one or more spurious targets between the aircraft
may appear, when the separation is less than 3.3 nautical
1) The traffic capacity of the interrogation path miles. When the selected code feature of the decoder is
would be increased so that limitations upon
I D. S. Crippen, J. E. Herrmann, and M. H. Yost, "Evaluation of
ground equipment operational doctrine could be the Rho/Theta Transponder System," Tech. Dev. Rep. No. 229;
relaxed. June, 1955.
2) Fruit on displays, due to interrogation by side- 2 D. S. Crippen, T. K. Vickers, and M. H. Yost, "Initial Tests of
the ANDB L-Band Secondary Radar System in Typical Terminal
lobes of antennas at other sites, would be reduced. Area Traffic Operations," Tech. Dev. Rep. No. 268; September, 1956.

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12 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON AERONAUTICAL AND NAVIGATIONAL ELECTRONICS March

NORMAL TARGETS NORMAL TARGETS PLUS NORMAL TARGETS PLUS

ONE PHANTOM TARGET TWO PHANTOM TARGETS
ALL A/C SWITCH ON

NQR MA TARGETS ONE TARGET KILLED BOTH TARGETS KILLED

SELECTED CODE SWITCH ON

Fig. 6-Replies from two aircraft when decoder equipment is operative.

used, one or both targets may be killed, or disappear latter case, it will be necessary to move the beacon an-
from the display, wheni the separation is less than 1.4 tenna so that the false targets will be eliminated or
nautical miles. Spurious targets and the results of killing shifted in position to avoid confusioin.
action are shown in Fig. 6. The killing circuits were
included in the decoder to decrease the possibility of SITING
wrong code indicatioins, when the replies from two or As the evaluation program progresses, it becomes
more aircraft interleave. more and more evident that the characteristics of the
ground antenna site are of the utmost importance. Sig-
REFLECTIONS nificanit improvement of system coverage can be made
During tests at this Center and at the Newark, N. J., by reducing the depth of the nulls in the vertical lobe
airport, false targets, at the same azimuth as reflecting structure. It may be possible to use counterpoise sys-
objects on the ground and at ranges slightly greater than tems to reduce null depths at the lower elevation angles
the range of the aircraft, have been observed. The false or to locate the ground antenna so that the ground re-
targets have been observed for as many as 14 consecu- flecting surface is rough or includes low buildings. From
tive scans of the antenna, and the intensity and size the results of tests made at the Technical Development
of the targets were such that it was not possible to dis- Center, it is evident that the performance of an antenna
tinguish false from real targets on an appearance basis. having very low back and side-lobe levels at a site sur-
Fig. 7 (opposite) shows two false targets at the azimuth rounded by reflecting objects will be little, if any, better
of approximately 015° and the range of 30 miles. False than the performance of antennas having normal radia-
targets may not cause confusion, if they are displayed tioii patterns. If the primary radar site is not a good
at azimuths and ranges which do not coincide with the beacon system site, it will be necessary to move the
normal traffic patterns. However, there will be con- beacon antenna to a better location. When a separate
siderable confusion, if the false targets mix with real beacon antenina installation is used, the beacon antenna
targets correspondinig to aircraft under control. In the must be slaved to the radar antenna or a display having

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1957 Crippen: The Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System 13

The four paths, which may cause interference with

the beacon system, are indicated in Table II. While the
TABLE II
INTERFERENCE PATHS
Path No. Equipments Involved
1 TACAN airborne (AN/ARN-21) to airborne beacon
transponder in the same aircraft and from aircraft to
aircraft
2 TACAN airborne to beacon ground interrogator
3 TACAN ground (AN/URN-3) to beacon transponder
4 TACAN ground to beacon interrogator.

possibilities of the beacon system interfering with

TACAN are important, they are not considered in this
paper.
The TACAN ground equipments transmit 3600
pulse pairs per second. The airborne equipment trans-
mits approximately 30 pulse pairs per second during
tracking operation, and 150 pulse pairs per second dur-
ing search conditions. The nominal width of the pulses
transmitted by the airborne and the ground equipments
Date: Julv 19, 1955 Time: 2:01:12 is 3.5 microseconds. The spacing of the pulses in the
Range scale: 30 nautical miles Decoder setting: SELECT pulse-pairs is 12 microseconds.
Aircraft location
N-12: 172 degrees 15 miles 3000 feet msl In order to minimize the effect of path No. 1 within an
N-182: 191 degrees 28 miles 5000 msl aircraft, plans have been made to connect suppression
AF37798: 058 degrees 15 miles 15,000 feet msl
Reflection from N-182. pulses from the AN/ARN-21 equipment to the beacon
Fig. 7-Double reflection at 015°. transponder to disable the transponder during
AN/ARN-21 transmissions. The use of suppression
pulses will increase slightly the transponder dead time,
time-shared sweep provisions must be used. It is possible but will prevent the spurious transponder replies which
to modify indicators to display information from two would appear as fruit on ground displays. Interference
separate radar systems on a time-sharing basis. The between equipments in different aircraft is possible,
need for slaving the antennas is eliminated when this especially when the aircraft are very close to each other.
modification is made. Correction for the physical sepa- This path is not expected to cause serious interference.
ration of the radar and beacon antennas can be accom- By means of path No. 2, AN/ARN-21 interrogations
plished by off-centering the beacon display with respect will be received by the beacon interrogator, when the
to the radar display. transmitting frequency is between approximately 1080
and 1100 mc, channels 56 to 76, depending upon the
TACAN-ATC RADAR BEACON SYSTEM INTERFERENCE range of the aircraft. The 6-db interrogator receiver
Some interference between TACAN and the atc bandwidth is approximately 10 mc and the 40-db band-
radar beacon system is expected. Extensive tests, to width is approximately 20 mc. Since the duty cycle of
determine the extent of the interference between the two the AN/ARN-21 is very low, this type of interference
systems, have not been made at the Technical Develop- should not be serious, unless many TACAN-equipped
ment Center. Plans are being made to investigate certain aircraft are in the area. The beacon decoder will reject
interference possibilities. Table I lists the operating fre- most of the interfering signals when multiple-pulse
quencies of the TACAN system. beacon codes are used. The presence of the interfering
signals may cause a slight increase in random decoder
TABLE I garble, especially when there is considerable interference
TACAN CHANNELS AND FREQUENCIES within the beacon system. If the beacon system replies
consist of single pulses, the interfering signals can be
AN/URN-3 AN/ARN-21 rejected by the use of defruiting equipment.
Channel Frequencies-mc. Frequencies-mc.
Nos. Path No. 3 could cause serious interference, if the air-
Transmit Receive Transmit Receive
craft is very close to AN/URN-3 equipment operating
1 962 1025 1025 962 on channels 60 to 63, since the duty cycle is very high.
to to to to to
63 1024 1087 1087 1024 The 6-db bandwidth of some existing transponders is
64 1151 1088 1088 1151 from approximately 9.5 to 14.5 mc. The interrogation
to to to to to
126 1213 1150 1150 1213 decoding circuits can provide a high order of protection
against interrogation by pulses which have spacings ap-

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14 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON AERONAUTICAL AND NAVIGATIONAL ELECTRONICS March

preciably different from the spacing the decoder is de- signed to aircraft in each control sector, was useful,
signed to accept. Thus, pulses spaced 12 microseconds mainly, in portions of the airway system where control
will not interrogate a transponder designed for inter- sectors are stratified by altitude. In this case, jurisdic-
rogation by pulses spaced 8 microseconds, assuming tional coding gives the Controller a means of visually dif-
that the width of the pulses at the decoder coincidence ferentiating between the aircraft in his sector and those
detector is not sufficient to provide pulse overlap. The in higher or lower sectors.
IF amplifiers of all transponders must be designed to Identification and altitude coding were the most effec-
prevent overload and pulse stretching under all inter- tive.3 Altitude coding is very effective, because altitude
ference conditions likely to be encountered in service. data, which have not been available on an automatic
The video circuits preceding the interrogation decoder basis, establish aircraft position and separation in a
must be designed to prevent pulse stretching and un- third dimension. When suitable decoders are used,
desired differentiation. If beacon interrogation pulse altitude coding can provide a filtering function so that
spacings less than 8 microseconds are used, it is necessary the controller has rapid access to the traffic situation at
to add pulse-sharpening circuitry ahead of the coinci- any desired level. Through proper use of the filtering
dence detector, to prevent interrogation by single 3.5- function, it is possible to eliminate the extraneous
microsecond pulses. targets and display only those which are pertinent to
Path No. 4 can cause interference, when the highest the situation. By reducing the controller's intake of in-
TACAN channels are used and the AN/URN-3 and formation, filtering reduces his scanning workload and
beacon interrogator installations are such that line-of- eliminates the mental workload involved in deciding
sight conditions exist. The interrogator image frequency whether targets are pertinent or extraneous. The tests
pass band is approximately 1204 to 1214 mc. It should showed that the filtering function helps the controller
be possible to eliminate this source of interference by to resolve possible conflictions very quickly with a
installing a notch-type rejection filter in series with the minimum amount of radio communications, and that
rf transmission line to the interrogator. it reduces the over-all communications workload by
Present plans are to avoid the use of TACAN chan- eliminating the need for altitude vacating reports during
nels 60 to 69, inclusive, to provide as much protection climbs and descents.
against interference between the two systems as possible The tests showed that identification coding is the most
with minimum restrictions upon the TACAN system. useful method of code assignment, since it provides a
At this time it is very difficult to predict whether the positive tie between the aircraft position and the rest
protection will be adequate when the TACAN and of the associated data elements without the need for
beacon systems are fully implemented on the ground communications or time-consuming flight maneuvers.
and in aircraft. The function of the air traffic control display is to pre-
sent to the controller, in an orderly and comprehensible
OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS form, the data needed for making control decisions and
The dynamic air traffic control simulator at the Tech- to serve as a feed-back loop to inform him of the results
nical Development Center was modified to permit study of his control actions. If the reply codes can be used for
of the uses of beacon codes. Because of limitations in- identification, it will be much easier to tie together the
herent in the simulator, it was not feasible to provide aircraft position and associated tabular flight informa-
for more than six different reply codes. tion. Identification coding reduces the high workload
The initial tests simulated the operation of a codeless involved in manually tracking each aircraft to maintain
beacon system and were made to determine the advan- the association of position and identity.
tages of the system when the radar display is cluttered It is believed that active read-out decoders will be a
by precipitation returns or by ground clutter break- useful tool for air traffic control. This type of decoder
through. When the display was cluttered so that it was automatically reads out the reply code number, when a
difficult to track radar targets, the controller workload, given target is selected on the radar indicator. Technical
communications, and traffic delays decreased as more evaluation of the Naval Electronics Laboratory de-
and more of the aircraft were beacon equipped. The coder, which writes the code number on an auxiliary
beacon targets were brighter than the radar targets, so indicator called the Matrixatron, is now under way, and
that under some conditions it was possible to track the other read-out decoders will be evaluated. Ultimately it
beacon targets and impossible to track the radar is desirable that the code numbers appear adjacent to
targets. the targets, to permit direct association of position and
Simulation runs were made to determine the advan- identity.
tages of using the reply codes to convey the following
information: 1) Control jurisdiction, 2) aircraft altitude, 3 Tirey K. Vickes, "Coding requirements for the atc radar beacon
3) aircraft identity, and 4) aircraft destination. system," presented at IRE Third Annual East Coast Conf. on Aero-
nautical and Navigational Electronics, Baltimore, Md., October 30,
Jurisdictional codinig, wherein a different code is as- 1956.

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1957 Crippen: The Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System 15

The use of identification and altitude coding in con- CONCLUSION

junction with adequate decoding and display provisions Assuming that a satisfactory equipment operational
would permit association of the elements of aircraft doctrine is established in areas where large numbers of
identity, altitude, and position in a useful and effective civil and military interrogators are concentrated, the
three-way hookup. The controller can then use one ele- Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System should over-
ment position, identity, or altitude-as an index to come many deficiencies of present air traffic control
secure the other two associated elements for any radars and make possible a more positive type of all-
equipped aircraft without the need for radio communi- weather traffic control. It should open up many new
cations. For example, if he knows the identity, he can possibilities for facilitating and simplifying the job of
secure the position and altitude of the aircraft. If he the air traffic controller. The transitory effects of de-
observes an unidentified target on the display, he can coder garbling and aircraft antenna shadowing are not
use its position as an index to secure its identity and expected to handicap greatly the use of the system,
altitude. This type of system would permit simplifica- since control personnel can be advised of, and make
tion of control procedures, reduce communication re- allowances for, these effects. In all cases, the controllers
quirements, reduce controller workload, and increase should select control procedures that make allowances
the flow of traffic. Further developments of decoders and for these transitory effects so that their occurrence will
displays are required to obtain maximum operational not compromise safety in any way.
utility of such a system. However, the techniques re- False targets, caused by reflection of interrogation
quired are within the present state of the art. The simu- and reply signals by objects on the ground and near the
lator is being modified to permit study of information site, may be of serious consequence at some sites. It is
display requirements, tests of the effects of presenting expected that false targets will not be of great concern,
position, altitude, and identification on the same dis- if they appeat at ranges and azimuths which do not
play, and of the utility of data indexing provisions. include the normal traffic patterns. If the combination
radar and beacon sites are such that the false targets are
SERVICE ENVIRONMENT TESTS displayed at the same range and azimuths as aircraft in
Plans are now being made to install the atc radar normal traffic patterns, it will be necessary to select a
beacon system during the calendar year 1957 and to better site for the beacon antenna.
start service environment tests at nine of the major air The results of tests which have been completed show
traffic control facilities in the New York City, Norfolk, that the characteristics of the site of the beacon attenna
Washington, D.C., and Chicago areas. It is expected have other important effects upon system performance.
that Civil Aeronautics Administration Flight Inspec- In order to obtain the best system coverage, the ground
tion Division, Technical Development Center, and reflection surfaces surrounding the site must be rough
military aircraft will be equipped and participate in the to the extent required to miminize the depths of the
tests. It is understood that some of the commercial air- nulls in the vertical lobe structure. When the site is free
lines will equip a portion of their fleets for participation from large reflecting objects, the use of antennas having
in the tests. The purpose of these tests is to obtain addi- very low side and back-lobe levels will improve system
tional information regarding technical problems and coverage and traffic capacity characteristics. Maximum
their solutions and information concerning the opera- improvement in system coverage cannot be realized
tional utility of the system under actual day-to-day when large reflecting objects are near the ground
operating coniditions. antenna.

C7AD

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