More safety in air traffic: R&S AQUA from Rohde & Schwarz ensures voice service quality

12/03/2019

At World ATM Congress 2019 in Madrid, Rohde & Schwarz will launch R&S AQUA, the world’s first ATC voice quality assurance system. The system gives air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and airport operators full control over their voice service quality.

Munich, March 12, 2019 — High quality communication based on state-of-the-art air traffic control (ATC) communications systems is paramount to the continuity of airspace operation. Modern VoIP communications technology provides ANSPs and airport operators with the advantages of IP based communications, such as higher availability, security and flexibility. To ensure flawless user experience, the minimum requirements are specified in ED-136 and ED-137. Monitoring these requirements is essential for proper network operation.

With R&S AQUA, Rohde & Schwarz introduces an ATC voice quality assurance system that gives ANSPs full control over their voice service quality. It is based on proven, high-quality voice network monitoring technology, which has been adapted to the specific requirements within ANSP environments. It provides live analysis of voice traffic at multiple sites (e.g. area control centers, towers, radio sites), correlating this information in a central system – the R&S AQUA manager.

R&S AQUA allows for the evaluation of the voice streams with very concise presentation of the overall voice service quality, therefore providing the supervisor with an enhanced situational awareness of the operation. The quality is analyzed in unique, continuous 5 s time slicing intervals to provide precise information about the user experience. Automated statistical evaluation of the impairment patterns increases the diagnostics quality and speed. In addition, it significantly reduces effort and time for trouble shooting and remedy actions. R&S AQUA helps provide live quality reporting for operation administrators, internal quality assurance and civil aviation authority (CAA) reports.

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