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AircraftCommunicationsAddressingandReportingSystemWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

AircraftCommunicationsAddressingand
ReportingSystem
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inaviation,ACARS(/ekrz/anacronymforAircraftCommunicationsAddressingandReporting
System)isadigitaldatalinksystemfortransmissionofshortmessagesbetweenaircraftandgroundstations
viaairbandradioorsatellite.TheprotocolwasdesignedbyARINCanddeployedin1978,[1]usingthe
Telexformat.MoreACARSradiostationswereaddedsubsequentlybySITA.

Contents
1HistoryofACARS
2Systemdescriptionandfunctions
3ACARSmessagetypes
3.1OOOIevents
3.2Flightmanagementsysteminterface
3.3Equipmenthealthandmaintenancedata
3.4Pingmessages
3.5Manuallysentmessages
4Communicationdetails
5RoleofACARSinairaccidentsandincidents
6UsesofACARSoutsideaviation
7Seealso
8References
9Externallinks

HistoryofACARS
Priortotheintroductionofdatalinkinaviation,allcommunicationbetweentheaircraftandground
personnelwasperformedbytheflightcrewusingvoicecommunication,usingeitherVHForHFvoice
radios.Inmanycases,thevoicerelayedinformationinvolveddedicatedradiooperatorsanddigital
messagessenttoanairlineteletypesystemorsuccessorsystems.
Particularly,theairlinespaidtheflightandcabincrewsaccordingtowhethertheaircraftwasOutofthe
gate,Offtheground,Ontheground,orInthegate.Theflightcrewsreportedthesetimesbyvoiceto
geographicallydispersedradiooperators.Anecdotally,theairlinesbelievedtheflightcrews"fudged"these
reportedtimestothecrewsbenefit,sobelievedtheywouldsavenotonlythecostoftheradiooperators,but
alsowouldrealizealaborsavingsfortheflightandcabincrewsthroughmoreaccuratetimereporting.
Inanefforttoreducecrewworkloadandimprovedataintegrity,theengineeringdepartmentatARINC
introducedtheACARSsysteminJuly1978,asessentiallyanautomatedtimeclocksystem.Teledyne
ControlsproducedtheavionicsandthelaunchcustomerwasPiedmontAirlines.Theoriginalexpansionof
theabbreviationwas"ArincCommunicationsAddressingandReportingSystem".[2]Later,itwaschanged
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to"AircraftCommunications,AddressingandReportingSystem".Theoriginalavionicsstandardwas
ARINC597,whichdefinedanACARSManagementUnit(MU)consistingofdiscreteinputsforthedoors,
parkingbrakeandweightonwheelssensorstoautomaticallydeterminetheOOOItimesandgenerateand
sendastelexmessages.ItalsocontainedaMediumShiftKeying(MSK)modemusedtotransmittheOOOI
reportsovertheexistingVHFvoiceradios.Thefirstdayofoperationssawabout4,000transactions,but
ACARSdidnotexperiencewidespreadusebythemajorairlinesuntilthe1980s.TheoriginalACARS
developmentteamwasheadedbyCrawfordLaneandincludedBettyPeckaprogrammer,RalphEmoryan
engineer,andDwayneRolfsonMgrA/GOperations.Theterrestrialsite,apairofHoneywellLevel6
minicomputersandtheirsoftwarewasdevelopedbyasubcontractorEnoComptonofECOM,Inc.
EarlyACARSsystemswereextendedovertheyearstosupportaircraftwithdigitaldatabusinterfaces,
flightmanagementsystems,andprinters.

Systemdescriptionandfunctions
ACARSasatermreferstothecompleteairandgroundsystem,consistingofequipmentonboard,
equipmentontheground,andaserviceprovider.
OnboardACARSequipment[3]consistsofendsystemswitharouter,whichroutesmessagesthroughthe
airgroundsubnetwork.
Groundequipmentismadeupofanetworkofradiotransceiversmanagedbyacentralsitecomputercalled
AFEPS(ArincFrontEndProcessorSystem),whichhandlesandroutesmessages.Generally,ground
ACARSunitsareeithergovernmentagenciessuchastheFederalAviationAdministration,anairline
operationsheadquarters,or,forsmallairlinesorgeneralaviation,athirdpartysubscriptionservice.Usually
governmentagenciesareresponsibleforclearances,whileairlineoperationshandlegateassignments,
maintenance,andpassengerneeds.
TheACARSequipmentontheaircraftislinkedtothatonthegroundbythedatalinkserviceprovider.
BecausetheACARSnetworkismodeledafterthepointtopointtelexnetwork,allmessagescometoa
centralprocessinglocationtoberouted.ARINCandSITAarethetwoprimaryserviceproviders,with
smalleroperationsfromothersinsomeareas.Someareashavemultipleserviceproviders.

ACARSmessagetypes
ACARSmessagesmaybeofthreebroadtypes:
AirTrafficControlmessages[4]areusedtorequestorprovideclearances.
AeronauticalOperationalControl
AirlineAdministrativeControl
Controlmessagesareusedtocommunicatebetweentheaircraftanditsbase,withmessageseither
standardizedaccordingtoARINCStandard633,oruserdefinedinaccordancewithARINCStandard
618.[5]ThecontentsofsuchmessagescanbeOOOIevents,flightplans,weatherinformation,equipment
health,statusofconnectingflights,etc.

OOOIevents
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AmajorfunctionofACARSistoautomaticallydetectandreportchangestothemajorflightphases,
G1,G2,G3,G4respectively(Outofthegate,Offtheground,Ontheground,andIntothegate),referredto
intheindustryasOOOI.[6]TheseOOOIeventsaredetectedusinginputfromaircraftsensorssuchasdoors,
parkingbrakeandstrutswitchsensors.Atthestartofeachflightphase,anACARSmessageistransmitted
tothegrounddescribingtheflightphase,thetimeatwhichitoccurred,andotherrelatedinformationsuch
astheamountoffuelonboardortheflightoriginanddestination.Thesemessagesareusedtotrackthe
statusofaircraftandcrews.

Flightmanagementsysteminterface
ACARSinterfaceswithFMSflightmanagementsystems,actingasthecommunicationsystemforflight
plansandweatherinformationtobesentfromthegroundtotheFMS.Thisenablestheairlinetoupdatethe
FMSwhileinflight,andallowstheflightcrewtoevaluatenewweatherconditionsoralternativeflight
plans.

Equipmenthealthandmaintenancedata
ACARSisusedtosendinformationfromtheaircrafttogroundstationsabouttheconditionsofvarious
aircraftsystemsandsensorsinrealtime.Maintenancefaultsandabnormaleventsarealsotransmittedto
groundstationsalongwithdetailedmessages,whichareusedbytheairlineformonitoringequipment
health,andtobetterplanrepairandmaintenanceactivities.

Pingmessages
Automatedpingmessagesareusedtotestanaircraft'sconnectionwiththecommunicationstation.[7]Inthe
eventthattheaircraftACARSunithasbeensilentforlongerthanapresettimeinterval,thegroundstation
canpingtheaircraft(directlyorviasatellite).ApingresponseindicatesahealthyACARScommunication.

Manuallysentmessages
ACARSinterfaceswithinteractivedisplayunitsinthecockpit,whichflightcrewscanusetosendand
receivetechnicalmessagesandreportstoorfromgroundstations,suchasarequestforweatherinformation
orclearancesorthestatusofconnectingflights.Theresponsefromthegroundstationisreceivedonthe
aircraftviaACARSaswell.EachairlinecustomizesACARStothisroletosuititsneeds.

Communicationdetails
ACARSmessagesmaybesentusingachoiceofcommunicationmethods,suchasVHForHF,eitherdirect
togroundorviasatellite,usingminimumshiftkeying(MSK)modulation.[8]
ACARScansendmessagesoverVHFifaVHFgroundstationnetworkexistsinthecurrentareaofthe
aircraft.VHFcommunicationislineofsightpropagationandthetypicalrangeisupto200nauticalmiles
athighaltitudes.WhereVHFisabsent,anHFnetworkorsatellitecommunicationmaybeusedifavailable.
Satellitecoveragemaybelimitedathighlatitudes(transpolarflights).
SampleACARSVHFtransmission
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AtypicalACARSVHFtransmission.
Mode A
Aircraft B18722
Ack

NAK

Blockid 2
Flight CI5118
Label

B9

MsgNo. L05A
Message /KLAX.TI2/024KLAXA91A1

0:00

MENU

ThesoundofanACARSVHF
transmissionmadeon130.025MHz,
recordedatPetaluma,Californiaon15
August2006.Theshort"beep"atthe
beginningofthemessageiscomposed
of16bytesat2400Hz,whichisthe
"alert"preambleintheprotocol. [9]
Thebalanceofthemessagewhich
soundslikeradiostaticistheactual
datastreamofthemessage.
Problemsplayingthisfile?Seemediahelp.

RoleofACARSinairaccidentsandincidents
InthewakeofthecrashofAirFranceFlight447in2009,therewasdiscussionaboutmakingACARSan
"onlineblackbox"[10]toreducetheeffectsofthelossofaflightrecorder.Howevernochangesweremade
totheACARSsystem.
InMarch2014,ACARSmessagesandDoppleranalysisofACARSsatellitecommunicationdataplayeda
verysignificantroleineffortstotraceMalaysiaAirlinesFlight370toanapproximatelocation.Whilethe
primaryACARSsystemonboardMH370hadbeenswitchedoff,asecondACARSsystemcalledClassic
Aerowasactiveaslongastheplanewaspoweredup,andkepttryingtoestablishaconnectiontoan
Inmarsatsatelliteeveryhour.[11]

UsesofACARSoutsideaviation
In2002,ACARSwasaddedtotheNOAAObservingSystemArchitecture.Thuscommercialaircraftcan
actasweatherdataprovidersforweatheragenciestouseintheirforecastmodels,sendingmeteorological
observationslikewindsandtemperaturesovertheACARSnetwork.NOSAprovidesrealtimeweather
maps.

Seealso
AeronauticalTelecommunicationNetwork(ATN)
FutureAirNavigationSystem(FANS)
Acronymsandabbreviationsinavionics
SELCAL

References
1. Carlsson,Barbara(October2002)."GLOBALink/VHF:TheFutureIsNow"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20060211160041/http://www.arinc.com/news/newsletters/gl_10_02.pdf)(PDF).The
GlobalLink(Pressrelease):p.4.Archivedfromtheoriginal
(http://www.arinc.com/news/newsletters/gl_10_02.pdf)(PDF)on11February2006.Retrieved24January2007.
2. http://www.arinc.com/downloads/product_collateral/acars_first_datasheet.pdf
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3. "ARINCCharacteristic7582CommunicationsManagementUnit(CMU)Mark2"
(https://www.arinc.com/cf/store/catalog_detail.cfm?item_id=555).ARINC.July2005.Retrieved27March2014.
4. "ARINCSpecification6233CharacterOrientedAirTrafficService(ATS)Applications"
(https://www.arinc.com/cf/store/catalog_detail.cfm?item_id=561).ARINC.April2005.Retrieved28March
2014.
5. "ARINCSpecification6187Air/GroundCharacterOrientedProtocolSpecification"
(https://www.arinc.com/cf/store/catalog_detail.cfm?item_id=2072).ARINC.June2013.Retrieved28March
2014.
6. "OOOIData"(http://aspmhelp.faa.gov/index.php/OOOI_Data).FAA.
7. Hoppenbrouwers,Jeroen."ACARSdocumentation"(http://www.hoppie.nl/acars/system/tech.html).ACARS.
Retrieved26March2014.
8. Tooley,MichaelH.Wyatt,David(2007).Aircraftcommunicationsandnavigationsystems:Principles,
operationandmaintenance(http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/127107537).Amsterdam:Elsevier/Butterworth
Heineman.ISBN9780750681377.Retrieved23March2014.
9. Anderson,LionelK.(2010).ACARSAUsersGuide(http://books.google.com/books?
id=sS3pAQAAQBAJ&dq=ARINC+724B&source=gbs_navlinks_s).LasAtalayas.p.5.ISBN978144578847
0.Retrieved24March2014.
10. "OnlineBlackBoxsollCrashsschnelleraufklren"[OnlineBlackBoxtosolvecrashesfaster]
(http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,628924,00.html).SpiegelOnline(inGerman).6June2009.Retrieved
6June2009.
11. Rayner,GordonCollins,Nick."MH370:Britainfindsitselfatcentreofblamegameovercrucialdelays"
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10720009/MH370Britainfindsitselfatcentreof
blamegameovercrucialdelays.html).TheTelegraph(UK).Retrieved28March2014.

Externallinks
ARINC(http://www.arinc.com/),inventorsofACARS
acarsd(http://www.acarsd.org/),freeACARSdecodersoftwareforLinux/Windows
ARINCStandardsDocumentList(https://www.arinc.com/cf/store/documentlist.cfm),listand
describetheARINCstandards
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Aircraft_Communications_Addressing_and_Reporting_System&oldid=672562871"
Categories: 1978introductions Aircraftinstruments Aviationcommunications Avionics
Meteorologicaldataandnetworks
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