Mode S Surveillance Principle

Surveillance/MICA Workshop

Jérôme Bodart
26-28 February 2019
Objective

 Description of the key technical principles of Mode S radar

 Lockout,
 Interrogator Code (IC)
 more details in “Operation on II and SI Code, II/SI Code Operation”
 Coverage Maps
 more details in “Mode S Radar Coverage”
 Clusters
 Description of Mode S radar operation, interrogations and replies
 Overview of other surveillance systems:
 ADS-B
 Multilateration (WAM)
 Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS)

Mode S Surveillance Principle 2

  S = Selective
 Selectively communicate with individual aircraft

 Unique Mode S address for each aircraft (24-bit address)

 Allocated by the State at registration
 An ‘address’ for Mode S radar (IC = Interrogator Code)
 Provided by the EUROCONTROL MICA (Mode S Interrogator Code
Allocation) Cell
 Backward compatible with old systems (Mode AC)

Mode S Surveillance Principle 3

Mode S and Mode AC
Interrogations and Replies

Mode AC Mode S
transponder transponder

Mode AC and Mode S

operate on the same
Mode AC
ground
frequencies: Mode S
ground
interrogator Interrogations on 1030MHz interrogator
Replies on 1090MHz

Mode S Surveillance Principle 4

 Mode S and Mode AC interoperability

Uplink Pulse Formats (1030 MHz) Name Mode-AC Mode-S

transponder transponder
P1 P3
MODE A MODE A MODE A
MODE AC P1 8 sec P3
MODE C MODE C MODE C
21 sec
P1 P3 P4
MODE A
ALL-CALL MODE A
INTERMODE P1 P3 P4
MODE C
No Reply
ALL-CALL MODE C
P1 P2 P6
MODE S
16.25 sec MODE S Short if addressed
No Reply
MODE S P1 P2 P6 or
MODE S Long All-Call
30.25 sec

Interrogation Pulse Sequences Transponder Replies

(1090 MHz)

Mode S Surveillance Principle 5

Mode S radar interrogations

1. ACQUISITION
A Mode S radar sends All-Call interrogations to detect and acquire
incoming aircraft:
 Broadcast interrogations  addressed to all aircraft
 Aircraft reply with its 24bit Mode S address

2. SELECTIVE INTERROGATIONS
Once acquired, the Mode S radar sends selective interrogations to the
aircraft using the 24bit Mode S address received during the acquisition

3. LOCKOUT
Once acquired, the Mode S radar locks the aircraft to prevent it to reply to
All-Call interrogations (lockout request in selective interrogations)
 All-Call replies are useless once the radar has acquired the aircraft.

Mode S Surveillance Principle 6

Aircraft acquisition, selective interrogations and
lock-out
Radar Surveillance Coverage
Aircraft acquired by Radar Radar Lockout Coverage
on IC = x
Aircraft locked by Radar
on IC = x

Aircraft not in line of sight of radar or not in power budget  does not receive All-Call interrogations (broadcast)

Aircraft outside surveillance coverage  receives All-Call interrogations (broadcast) and replies, but replies not processed by radar

Aircraft acquired by radar in surveillance coverage  selective interrogations (Roll-Call)

 not locked: receive All-Call interrogations and replies
Aircraft locked by radar in lockout coverage  does not reply to All-Call interrogations

Mode S Surveillance Principle 7

Line of Sight

 SSR coverage is limited by Line of Sight

 Cone of Silence (or ‘Overhead Gap’)
 Min & Max Elevations (e.g. 0 to 60 degrees)
 Depends on antenna design and configuration
 Obstacles

Mode S Surveillance Principle 8

Aircraft Acquisition using All-Call

1. Mode S radar sends All-Call interrogations (UF11) to all aircraft

(broadcast).
 UF11 contains the IC (II or SI code) allocated to the Mode S radar
2. Mode S aircraft receives the All-Call interrogation and decodes the
IC.
 If it is not locked on this IC, the aircraft replies to the All-Call
interrogation (All-Call reply – DF11).
 The IC of the Mode S radar and the 24bits Mode S address of the
aircraft are contained in the All-Call replies.
3. Mode S radar receives All-Call replies containing its own allocated
IC
 Decodes the 24bits Mode S address of the aircraft
 Computes the aircraft position (range, azimuth)

 The aircraft is acquired

Mode S Surveillance Principle 9
 All-Call Format

Mode S Only All-Call Interrogation (UF 11) – 56 bits

UF:5 PR:4 IC:4 CL:3 spare 16 AP:24

UF 11
All-Call Interrogation PR: probability of reply + lockout override
IC and CL: II code or SI code
AP: address, Mode S only all-call is 24 * '1‘ or FFFFFF

Mode S Only All-Call Reply (DF 11) – Short: 56 bits

DF:5 CA:3 AA:24 PI:24

DF 11
All-Call Reply AA: Mode S address of the aircraft
PI: parity overlaid on the II code or SI code of the
interrogator

Mode S Surveillance Principle 10

Stochastic Acquisition and Lockout Override

 Stochastic Acquisition
 Used for acquiring targets close in range
 Probability of reply in All-Call interrogation
 Lockout Override
 Disregard aircraft lockout on IC in All-Call interrogation
 Can be stochastic
 Can be applied by sector
 Sectorised lockout override by azimuth sector
 Should not be used except for fall-back (e.g. in case of IC conflict)

Mode S Surveillance Principle 11

 Stochastic Acquisition

1 B 2 B Stochastic S/2
Interrogations
A A
with 50% set as PR
S/2
1 A and B both reply
S/2
Replies overlap in time
Both are garbled and lost
2 A decides No Reply (50%)
B replies
3 B- acquired 4 B- acquired B acquired and locked out

A A 3 B is locked out
A decides No Reply (50%)

S/2 S/2 4 B is locked out

A replies
A acquired and locked out

Mode S Surveillance Principle 12

Selective Interrogations and Lockout

 Once an Mode S aircraft is acquired, the Mode S radar knows:

 24bit Mode S address of the aircraft
 Position of the aircraft (range/azimuth)

 The Mode S radar sends selective interrogations to the aircraft

using the 24bit Mode S address:
 Only the aircraft having the correct 24bit Mode S address replies
 Request Mode A Code or Altitude (Mode C)
 Lockout request to prevent the aircraft to reply to All-Call interrogations
from the same radar (on the IC of the radar)
 All-Call replies are useless once the radar has acquired the aircraft.
 May request the transfer of aircraft registers
 BDS (Comm-B Data Selector)

Mode S Surveillance Principle 13

 Selective Interrogation and Reply Format

Surveillance Interrogation (UF 4 or 5) - 56 bits

UF 4,5 UF:5 PC:3 RR:5 DI:3 SD:16 AP:24

Altitude Request or
Identity Request AP: parity overlaid on the aircraft address
+ II/SI code, lockout and BDS extraction

Surveillance Reply (DF 4 or 5) – Short: 56 Bits (no BDS extraction)

DF 4,5 DF:5 FS:3 DR:5 UM:6 AC or ID:13 AP:24

Altitude Reply or
Identity Reply

Comm-B Reply (DF 20 or 21) – Long: 112 Bits (content of BDS – MB:56)
DF 20,21 DF:5 FS:3 DR:5 UM:6 AC:13 MB:56 AP:24
Altitude Reply or
Identity Reply
DF/20/21 are same as DF/4/5 with a 14
+ BDS
56 bit data field
Mode S Surveillance Principle
All-Call Period vs. Mode-S Period (1)

Mode-S
Period = Selective Interrogations

All-Call Mode-S Period All-Call Mode-S Period

Period Period Time

All-Call
Period = Non-Selective Interrogations

Note: The Mode S Period is also known as the Roll-Call Period

Mode S Surveillance Principle 15

 All-Call Period vs. Mode S Period (2)

Distance
Targets at different range
( range)

Time
All-Call
All-Call Period
Period IS NOT
IS LONG ENOUGH LONG ENOUGH

All-Call Mode S All-Call Mode S

Period period Period period

The length of the All-Call period must be AT LEAST long enough to allow
an all-call interrogation and reply sequence to complete (radar range).
More information in “Radar programming – MIP”
Mode S and Mode AC all-calls can be sent in the same All-Call period

Mode S Surveillance Principle 16

Elementary Surveillance (ELS)

 Basic Surveillance functionality

 24-bit technical identification
 Mode A code
 Altitude reporting to 25ft (Mode C)
 Transponder capability reports
 Datalink capability report (BDS 1,0)
 Common usage GICB report (BDS 1,7)
 Aircraft Identification - call sign (BDS 2,0)
 Flight status (airborne / on the ground)
 Including Emergency situations + SPI
 SI-Code functionality

Mode S Surveillance Principle 17

ELS Registers

 The BDS registers required for Elementary surveillance are:

 BDS 1,0 – Data Link Capability Report
 BDS 1,7 – Common Usage GICB Capability Report and
 BDS 2,0 – Aircraft Identification
 The provision of these registers is mandated for all aircraft
 These registers are requested in the first selective interrogations
 typically 3 selective interrogations in the same beam once the aircraft is
acquired
 The content of these registers should not change under normal flight
conditions
 If it does, it should be broadcasted

 EHS register availability known from BDS 1,7

Mode S Surveillance Principle 18

Enhanced Surveillance (EHS)

 3 BDS registers are in general regularly extracted

 BDS 4,0 - Selected Vertical Intention
 Selected Altitude
 Barometric Pressure Settings
 BDS 5,0 – Track and Turn
 Roll Angle
 True Track Angle
 Ground Speed
 Track Angle Rate
 True Airspeed
 BDS 6,0 - Heading and Speed
 Magnetic Heading
 Indicated Airspeed
 Mach
 Barometric Altitude Rate
 Inertial Vertical Rate
Mode S Surveillance Principle 19
Cluster – operating stations together

If an aircraft is in
the cover of
several radars,
then they could
share that
information via
ground data
links.

Mode S Surveillance Principle 20

Cluster Principle (1)
Aircraft locked by Radar A on IC = x
Aircraft cannot reply to All-Call interrogations
from Radar B on IC = x
Aircraft replies to All-Call interrogations
on IC = x from Radar A and is acquired
Aircraft un-locked on IC = x
Then Aircraft is locked on IC = x

Aircraft is selectively interrogated

by Radar A in his coverage

Aircraft is selectively interrogated

by Radar B in his coverage

Radar B coverage
Radar A coverage (surveillance = lockout)
(surveillance = lockout) IC = x (same as Radar A)
IC = x

Mode S Surveillance Principle 21

Cluster Principle (2)

(a) (b) (c)

ACII=1 ACII=1 ACII=1

All-Call
ACII=1
Selective

Interrogator 1 Interrogator 2

II-Code =1 II-Code =1

Radar 1 provides track support to radar 2

for acquisition without All-Call replies

Mode S Surveillance Principle 22

Example of Cluster

Mode S Surveillance Principle 24

ACAS / TCAS

 Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS)

 Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)

 TCAS is an airborne device
 Requires a Mode S transponder on-board

 TCAS provides collision avoidance protection

 Traffic Advisories – visual acquisition of intruder aircraft
 Resolution Advisory – recommended escape manoeuvres in the vertical
dimension

 TCAS relies on Acquisition Squitters to acquire aircrafts in vicinity

Mode S Surveillance Principle 25

TCAS Active Surveillance

 TCAS sends Mode S interrogations (UF 0) to the acquired aircraft

(intruder) to get the range, bearing and altitude
 The transponder of the acquired aircraft replies with a DF 0,
containing its altitude
 The rate of TCAS interrogations to a Mode S aircraft depends on the
range and the closure rate.
 Between 1 interrogation every 5 seconds and 1 interrogation per second

Mode S Surveillance Principle 27

TCAS Hybrid Surveillance (DO-300)

 TCAS with Hybrid Surveillance use passive surveillance to track

intruders not in near-term collision
 Use valid barometric altitude and position received in DF17 Extended
Squitters to acquire and monitor the aircraft
 Decrease Mode S surveillance interrogations done by TCAS (UF 0) and
replies (DF 0)
 Once the intruder come close to being a collision threat, it is tracked
with active surveillance

 Aircraft not broadcasting DF17 Extended Squitters are tracked

actively

Mode S Surveillance Principle 28

DO-300 – Hybrid Surveillance

Mode S Surveillance Principle 29

TCAS Extended Hybrid Surveillance (Future)

 TCAS use DF17 Extended Squitters (ADS-B) to acquire and monitor

the aircraft
 Decrease the number of interrogations (UF 0) and replies (DF 0)
 No interrogations in Extended Hybrid Surveillance (passive)
 Depends on data quality and ADS-B Version Number
 Extended Hybrid Surveillance if ADS-B Version Number ≥ 2

Mode S Surveillance Principle 30

DO-300A – Extended Hybrid Surveillance

Mode S Surveillance Principle 31

TCAS Resolution Advisory

 In case of Resolution Advisory, long Mode S messages are

exchanges for coordination:
 TCAS interrogations: UF 16
 Transponder replies: DF 16

Mode S Surveillance Principle 32

ADS-B : Automatic Dependent Surveillance-
Broadcast

GPS position GPS position

GNSS Satellite constellation

1090ES
ADS-B transmissions

ADS-B (multi-sensor) ATC

Station Surveillance Data Processing Centre

Mode S Surveillance Principle 33

ADS-B

 Broadcast per aircraft of parameters

 DF17 Extended Squitters (long Mode S message) on 1090MHz
 When aircraft is airborne, typically
 Airborne position – 2 per second
 Airborne Velocity – 2 per second
 ACID – 1 every 5 seconds
 Max 6.2 extended squitters per second

 For vehicles without transponder

 DF18 Extended Squitter is used to broadcast parameters

Mode S Surveillance Principle 34

ADS-B Equipage

 Not all aircraft are equipped with ADS-B

 Different versions of ADS-B
 v0 and v1 have very few quality indicators
 The position may not be reliable
 v2 provides good position indicators

Mode S Surveillance Principle 36

SUR Equipage per flight over Paris 2018

Mode S Surveillance Principle 37

ADS-B Surveillance Equipage Evolution

Mode S Surveillance Principle 38

Multilateration

 Signal transmitted by aircraft transponder and received at several

sensors
 Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements by ground sensors
 Central processor calculates aircraft position

 Multi-Lateration is common in Europe

 Mainly uses squitters for deriving position
 Mainly short range systems at airport
 Wide area systems are emerging
 Active interrogation is common

Mode S Surveillance Principle 39

MLAT Brno

Station Hranicky
Transmitter antenna
Receiver antenna
GPS antenna

Mode S Surveillance Principle 40

Active Multilateration Systems

 Independent of existing infrastructure

 Improved detection of Mode A/C only aircraft
 Complementary information to position (Mode A, Mode C, A/C ID)
 Increase accuracy at long range
 Care must be taken
 not to generate excess 1030/1090MHz FRUIT
 not to over occupy the Transponder (due to selective
interrogations)

Mode S Surveillance Principle 41