1. Airborne Internet / Collaborative Information Environment
A presentation to AIG/WG
By the Airborne Internet Collaboration/Working Group
presenting
March 3, 2004

2. Three Main Points
If the right aviation information at the right time is the goal…
…“Discovery on Demand” using XML Web Services is the solution…
…Allowing the transformation to a Collaborative Information Environment (CIE)

3. The right aviation information at the right time
Led to the concept of an Airborne Internet (AI):
A private, secure, and reliable peer-to-peer aircraft communications network that uses the same technologies as the commercial Internet
However, the AI does not currently provide a universal way to find:
“Decision quality” information

4. Knowledge Management and the Art of Decision
Wisdom
Decision Maker
“Decision quality”
information
Knowledge
Knowledge Executive
Information
Information Worker
Data
Data Entry Worker

5. Getting decision quality information to the Decision Maker
Traditional methods:
Publish and Subscribe
Push versus Pull
Client / Server
Discovery on
Demand

6. Discovery on Demand Accomplished through XML Web Services:
Software components that can be published, located, and run over the Internet using Extensible Markup Language (XML)
XML definition:
A markup language that describes data in a structured and human-readable text format
Example: <aircraft> <n-number>N500EA</n-number> <make>Eclipse</make> <model>500</model> </aircraft>

7. XML Web Services Are used to:
Allow other applications to call modules of code remotely with XML
Expose data in a database as XML
Send XML messages:
E.g. alerts and notifications
Build Service Oriented Architectures (SOA):
Flexible, reusable, and lower cost

8. Trusted-Table Security
“Embrace and Extend”
Existing Legacy - databases and applications
Oracle
Sybase
National Wx
Service
FAA
X M L
Data
Mover
UDDI, SOAP, WSDL
Transform, transmit
Trusted-Table Security
DAC “Views”
Secure
Flight
Data
Rental Car
Hotels
FBO
FAA Flight Service
Discovery, OLAP,
WebParts,
XML
Web Services™
“portals”
Heads Up Display
Secure wireless
‘reach’ client
‘rich’ client
familiar tools
Pilot/Info Consumer

9. Industry standards for interoperability
XML Web Services
Industry standards for interoperability
Enable disparate systems to work together:
Across languages, platforms, applications
Computer to computer
Inside/outside the firewall
Based on open Internet standards:
XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI
Broad industry support
Key area of vendor alignment

10. XML Web Services Next wave of Internet evolution
HTML
Technology
TCP/IP
Database connectivity
Presentation “Legacy scrape”
CIE
Connectivity
, FTP, etc.
Innovation
Web services are really a further evolution of the internet.
Initially the Web was about getting pure connectivity between remote computers and with that came development standards like TCP/IP and FTP. Basic applications like and file transfer were also supported. The next wave focused on using the Web as a presentation medium. With that we get the development of Web pages and browsers which can render images and text in a more rich format
With XML we move this even further and now we can have a programming environment where not only can I have 2 applications working across the Web but I can present the converged experience onto any device.
We are very close to thinking of the Web as a programming platform….something Microsoft understands all too well and will not miss the opportunity to lead here.
Looking at the paradigm shifts in computing, we started with main frames in the 70’s. Disruptive technologies enabled radical leaps forward in capability.
70’s – move to distributed computing using client/server technology to achieve broader reach
80’s –internet gave still broader reach and the Web browser provided a common user experience
90’s – beginnings of a common infrastructure as the internet matured and major software companies emerged. But application integration was far too costly & brittle to scale.
2000 – Web services deliver a promise of a common data format (XML), a means to move the data over intranet & internet (SOAP), and a way applications can discover (UDDI) and describe (WSDL) the service. Web services can leverage existing investments and make implementation economically practical.
Web pages
XML Web Services
Browse the Web
Program the Internet

11. Collaborative Information Environment (CIE)
The transformation of the Internet by XML Web Services
2nd generation Web (Web 1  Web 2)
Military example: SharePoint Portal Heads Up Display (HUD) experiment
Uses XML Web Services to create a CIE that combines information from:
NASA
Synchronized Air Power Management (SAPM)
Defense Collaboration Tool Suite (DCTS)
JEMPRS-NT

12. Joint Enroute Mission Planning and Rehearsal System-Near Term (JEMPRS-NT)
Operational Needs During Deployment:
Situational Awareness
Collaborative Operating Environment
Enroute SITREP/Crisis Action Planning
Support of Rapid Decisive Operations
JOA
(In Transit)
JEMPRS-NT KIT
JTF Rear
JEMPRS-NT Functions
- Voice, Video, and Data
Application Sharing
Whiteboard and Text Chat
Digital Dashboard
and FTP
XML Web Services
Network Access to Other Systems

13. Collaborative Information Environment
“Meet us in the cloud”
Airborne Internet
GPS
XML Web Services
DISCOVERY ON DEMAND
CIE Cloud
Navigation
Satcom XM
RFID
AM/FM
802.xx
Airport Services
TIS
FIS
Hospitality
Maint.
VHF Radio
VHF Radio
Line of
sight
VHF Radio
Gateway
CONNECTIVITY
DATABASE
Non-CIE
Aircraft
Internet
Weather Products
NOTAMs
Flight Service Stations
Other
NAS Services
ATM System
HUB Airports
TIS-B
VPN
ATC Controller
Original graphic courtesy of Computer Networks & Software, Inc.

14. AI / CIE removes existing aviation information barriers
The IP protocol provided by the AI will remove the barriers between equipment, but barriers will still remain between applications. This is because each manufacturer is coming up with proprietary data formats. By agreeing on common XML descriptions of the information--and using a common way to move XML "knowledge packets" around regardless of type, the CIE will remove the barriers between applications while lowering costs.
Graphic courtesy of C3D Aero, Inc.

15. AI / CIE provides decision quality information for cockpit displays
Airspace
notification
Icing Alert
Discovery on Demand MFD
Traffic Alert
Original graphic courtesy of C3D Aero, Inc.

16. Functional picture of the AI / CIE
Engine
Cockpit
Cabin
Mechanic, Manufacturer
Pilot
Passenger
Maintenance information
Flight information
Entertainment
Users
Services
Digital connectivity across all types of communications: VHF radio, Satellite, Infrared, etc.

17. AI / CIE ≠ Internet and Web 1
The AI / CIE is about:
End users, not webmasters
Edge devices, not clients and servers
XML Web Services, not web pages
XML “knowledge packets”, not just TCP/IP connections
Types: Maintenance, Flight, Entertainment, etc.
Built-in security, not security as an afterthought

18. AI / CIE interfaces securely with the following networks
The commercial Internet
Assured “extranet” connections:
OnSATS
AirTraveler.com (formerly SATS-Net)
Carries “Assured Aviation XML Web Services”
Client-side end user “intranets”

19. AI / CIE End State Every aircraft is a network node: Network In the Sky
A distributed, peer-to-peer aircraft communications grid that shares decision quality information

20. Conclusion
If the right aviation information at the right time is the goal…
…“Discovery on Demand” using XML Web Services is the solution…
…Allowing the transformation to a Collaborative Information Environment (CIE)

21. For more information: http://www.airborneinternet.com