Air Traffic Management Concept Baseline Definition - The Boeing ...

A.2 Navigation
The navigation technology elements are shown in Tables A-4 and A-5. Like the
communication elements, navigation can be described in layers. Sensors, described in
Table A-4, provide service in the form of raw data to processors or directly to displays.
Processors, described in Table A-5, in turn, manipulate the raw data and turn it into useful
information for displays and for control of aircraft. The controls and displays are very
aircraft-specific and therefore are not described here.
Table A-4, Navigation Sensors, lists the elements which sense either physical phenomena
about the aircraft state or radio signals. They can, in, turn be used to determine aircraft
state. The output column describes the user of the raw data and a short list of the
parameters which are available from this sensor. The performance column describes
accuracy, availability, area of coverage, and other key characteristics for each sensor. The
availability column describes the state of development of the sensor technology.
Table A-5, Navigation Processors, describes some of the processors of navigation data
typically found on aircraft. The inputs column describes the data sources which the
processor requires to performs its function. The outputs column describes the users of the
information generated by the processor. Performance, as mentioned for all processors, is
almost entirely dependent on the quality of the raw data supplied to the processor. All of
the processors identified are in current production and in use today. The navigation data
base, although identified here as a separate processor to better illustrate the functionality,
is normally a subfunction of the navigation processor it supports.
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