Concept of operations

About: Concept of operations is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 964 publications have been published within this topic receiving 6845 citations. The topic is also known as: CONOPS.

Proof-of-Concept of a Networked Validation Environment for Distributed Air/Ground NextGen Concepts

Abstract: The National Airspace System (NAS) must be improved to increase capacity, reduce flight delays, and minimize environmental impacts of air travel. NASA has been tasked with aiding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in NAS modernization. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is an enabling technology that is fundamental to realization of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Despite the 2020 FAA mandate requiring ADS-B Out equipage, airspace users are lacking incentives to equip with the requisite ADS-B avionics. A need exists to validate in flight tests advanced concepts of operation (ConOps) that rely on ADS-B and other data links without requiring costly equipage. A potential solution is presented in this paper. It is possible to emulate future data link capabilities using the existing in-flight Internet and reduced-cost test equipment. To establish proof-of-concept, a high-fidelity traffic operations simulation was modified to include a module that simulated Internet transmission of ADS-B messages. An advanced NASA ConOp, Flight Deck Interval Management (FIM), was used to evaluate technical feasibility. A preliminary assessment of the effects of latency and dropout rate on FIM was performed. Flight hardware that would be used by proposed test environment was connected to the simulation so that data transfer from aircraft systems to test equipment could be verified. The results indicate that the FIM ConOp, and therefore, many other advanced ConOps with equal or lesser response characteristics and data requirements, can be evaluated in flight using the proposed concept.

Advanced Concept and Design of the Multi-satellite Operations System

Abstract: The KOMPSAT-1(KOrea Multi Purpose SATellite-1) was launched in 1999 and operated until 2008. The KOMPSAT-2 was launched in 2006 and has been normally operated. The KOMPSAT-5 will be launched in 2010 and the KOMPSAT-3 will be launched in 2011. The KOMPSAT-1 ground system and the KOMPSAT-2 ground system, each was developed according to the concept of single satellite operation. However, the KOMPSAT-3 ground system and the KOMPSAT-5 ground system are going to be developed according to the concept of multi-satellite operations. Multi-satellite operations based on each satellite are such as (1) it ensures that sufficient mission element, facility element, staff and operations are available to carry out the satellite mission and (2) it allows each project owns its element, staff and procedure but the detail parts of them can be shared with other projects. Operations are quite complex and their costs are very high because compositions of each ground system are different from those of other ground system in terms of equipment, subsystem, and operational procedure. This paper presents the concept of multi-satellite operations which is called integration-oriented mission operations. Multi-satellite operations based on core function are such as (1) it ensures that last updating and/or modifying core functions of mission element, facility element, staff and operations are available to execute the mission operations and (2) it allows last updating and/or modifying core functions can support operations of previous satellites. This kind of multi-satellite operations is well defined in case satellites have similar function and missions are operated by the same operators and organization. This paper represents concept and design of the multi-satellite operations system for next generation ground system. Multi-satellite operations system consists of mission independent module and mission specific module. The generic framework and automation are also discussed. Using these generic frameworks, the schedule and cost for new operations system development are significantly reduced.

Unmanned aircraft research in support of NextGen trajectory based operations

Abstract: The two predominately challenging issues facing the development of standards for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integration into the national air space (NAS) are collision avoidance and UAS command and control link integrity. This paper discusses an approach for addressing the collision avoidance issues affecting UAS and shows how advances in this area can contribute to the advancement of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The approach focuses on the formation of a robust surveillance picture that maximizes the utilization of new NextGen technologies to identify and track UAS flight profile conformance and to provide that fused UAS track to all the various systems and organizations/agencies that require/desire it including FAA ATC facilities. Additionally, this will provide the UAS operator actual tracks of all other aircraft (cooperative and non-cooperative) similar to traffic information service - broadcast (TIS-B) service within the same geographic area. This paper presents the results of a surveillance analysis based on sensors of opportunity in the NAS, and sensors anticipated to be available onboard the UAS. Given the available surveillance picture and expected traffic patterns, we show how the proposed application contributes to the safety assessment for a proposed concept of operations. Through more thorough applications of the proposed approach we hope to accelerate safe integration of UAS into the US airspace and support the development and deployment of trajectory based operations in the NAS.

Improving Joint Expeditionary Medical Planning Tools Based on a Patient Flow Approach

Abstract: : The current concept of operations (CONOPS) for expeditionary medical care emphasizes quickly moving patients to a series of successively more sophisticated medical facilities that provide the patients with the care necessary to ultimately treat their injuries or conditions. This process requires close coordination between the treatment facilities and the evacuation resources that link them. However, the processes and tools currently used in planning for expeditionary medical resources do not fully reflect the current CONOPS. Currently, the capability of treatment facilities is typically measured and expressed in terms of the number of hospital beds in the facility, and aeromedical evacuation capabilities are typically measured and expressed in terms of the number of teams or aircraft available. Thus, planning is not aligned with operational practice and is not well integrated across the full spectrum of echelons and functions. Expressing treatment and evacuation capabilities in terms of such measures as the numbers of beds and aircraft has two disadvantages. The first is that such measures are static measures of capacity: Beds and aircraft are fundamentally measures of the numbers of items. However, what is of concern to planners is not the number of items at each facility or function but rather the capability that can be provided by those resources. The second disadvantage is that the treatment and evacuation functions use different units of measure. With treatment resources being measured in beds and evacuation assets being measured in aircraft, it is not readily apparent how many aircraft are necessary to provide support to a field hospital of a given size.

Capturing Expertise: Some Approaches to Modeling Command Decisionmaking in Combat Analysis

Abstract: No satisfactory technique yet exists in combat models for treating one major area of command decision making: the formulation and modification of concepts of operations, that is, the basic strategy around which all the activities of one side in a combat are organized. Existing methods of treating command decisionmaking in combat models are reviewed here: 1) human participation, 2) game theory, 3) optimization, 4) mechanical-statistical techniques, 5) controlled experimentation, and 6) expert systems. Three new approaches offer useful capabilities for improved treatment of concepts of operations. In the XMOD methodology, a concept of operations provided by human experts is expanded into program inputs and mechanical-statistical rules and is currently supported on the VECTOR series of corps-through-theater campaign models. MACRO, a highly aggregate theater model fitted to the results of detailed simulated corps campaigns, takes a more abstract view, by treating each commander as an explicit optimizer on input goals and constraints. In a third approach, rule-based systems are derived to simulate the decision-making behavior of gamers, based on the analysis of wargame histories and complemented by knowledge engineering techniques.