NAV CANADA, the Canadian Air Navigation Service Provider, has selected Frequentis to provide its standardised and interoperable (ED137-compliant) X10 VCS for all Air Traffic Control and Flight Specialists communication facilities.
Representing one of the largest deployments of VCS and Radio/Telephone Gateways worldwide, this project will include all of NAV CANADA’s operational facilities, and support sites, significantly improving communication across the whole Canadian airspace. Frequentis X10 will interface with over 3,500 very high frequency (VHF) radios, enabling seamless ground-to-ground voice communication between NAV CANADA operational facilities, aircraft operators, and airports.
“Our next-generation VCS will reinforce the coherence of airspace operations throughout Canada and will support NAV CANADA by streamlining the project roll-out as well as providing the necessary resilience and cyber security features required today and for the future,” says Frequentis Canada managing director Michael Lang. “Maintaining the system across Canada’s vast landscape and remote locations, will be simplified with the X10 thin-client operator working position concept, based on central deployment and monitoring of all locations.”
The Frequentis X10 features a unique, multi-redundancy design, with the introduction of the aeronautical data service provisioning (ADSP) concept for voice. With its network-centric, service-oriented architecture, the software-based X10 VCS will be installed on NAV CANADA’s network infrastructure. The project will provide the highest levels of safety, availability, and flexibility benefits via sharing of data centres, phone gateways, and frequency services, including fully duplicated parallel running audio. Additionally, the flexible data centre approach supports full virtual centre capabilities, allowing easy dynamic re-sectorisation and fast contingency operation in case of unforeseen outages, including the ability for controllers to use any frequency from any site, at any time.
The X10 VCS offers its operators an intuitive, human-centric, and context-sensitive HMI design. With its on-line reconfiguration, the X10 interface is highly adaptable to various operational needs, adding value to every air traffic control (ATC) and flight service specialist’s (FSS) operation. With its approach to cyber security, the Frequentis X10 ensures that ATC communication is delivered while prioritising safety amid evolving airspace demands.
“Frequentis has been a partner of NAV CANADA for over 25 years, and we are thrilled to be cooperating with them as part of one of the largest VCS implementations globally,” says NAV Canada vice-president and chief technology and information officer Mark Cooper. “This partnership will allow us to improve the resiliency of our systems while ensuring our customers continue to receive safe and efficient air traffic services across Canada.”