IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - December 2020 - 70

Avionics Systems Panel Research and Innovation Perspectives
performance and failure modes to support intelligent
IVHM. In particular, AI/ML offers promising opportunities to model highly nonlinear dependencies between raw
sensor data and system performance [39]. Therefore, an
opportune exploitation of data that is largely already being
collected by on-board sensors in aerospace platforms can
support the development of diagnostic and prognostic
techniques to detect and reconfigure faulty vehicle subsystems prior to a catastrophic event.

CONCLUSION
As current, large-scale research and development initiatives
are reshaping the future of aviation and space operations, avionics systems are becoming cyber-physical and progressively
evolving into a variety of autonomous, intelligent, and
closed-loop human-machine systems. This article provided
the IEEE Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society (AESS)
Avionics Systems Panel (ASP) views on avionics systems
evolutionary pathways, with an identification of key research
challenges and industry-focused innovation opportunities.
The ever-increasing density of air traffic and the rise of
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are prompting a rapid evolution of communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic
management (CNS/ATM) and avionics (CNSþA) technologies that will provide unprecedented enhancements in terms
of safety and efficiency, thus unleashing additional airspace
and airport capacity. Several of the underlying CNS technologies have already hit the market, while other more advanced
capabilities and decision support systems are still being
researched and developed. The methodological transition to
performance-based operations (PBO) is also a quantum shift
that will have profound impacts on aviation equipment mandates and standards with very tangible benefits in terms of airspace capacity, safety, access modalities, prioritization, and
overall fairness. The PBO transition is well underway for
navigation equipment standards and operational arrival/
departure procedures, whereas communication and surveillance equipment is still currently following legacy mandates/
equipage schemes. So, the full PBO paradigm evolutions
require new harmonized CNS performance metrics and associated system-level hardware and software certification
methods for integrated CNSþA systems. Another key challenge is in the evolutions of systems engineering and lifecycle management practices to encompass cyber-physical
security and interoperability requirements. These transformations elicit the introduction of a viable certification scheme
for ground-based ATM equipment and decision support systems (increasingly connected and integrated with their airborne counterparts) and to identify a viable approach to the
safety certification of artificial intelligence (AI)/machine
learning (ML) algorithms, which are becoming an essential
technology in the CNSþA context. The conventional ATM
network and services will be expanded to include new UAS
70

and Space Traffic Management (UTM/STM) schemes for
unsegregated operations of manned and autonomous vehicles
both in atmospheric flight (including low-level and urban
operations) and in near-Earth space operations. Finally,
CNSþA technologies of the future will require advances in
the design of human-machine interfaces and interactions
(HMI2) supporting trusted autonomous operations (humanautonomy teaming) and the full exploitation of intelligent
health management technologies for a safe and automated
system reconfiguration in presence of predicted or earlydetected faults. Members of the AESS ASP are actively
engaged in academia, Government, and industry to bring
about technologies and innovation for a safer, secure, and
efficient aviation. Readers are encouraged to contact the ASP
for collaboration opportunities and exchange of ideas.

LIST OF ACRONYMS
4DT
ABAS
ACP
ADS-B
AESS
AI
ANSP
AOC
APNT
AR
ASBU
ASM
ASP
ATFCM
ATFM
ATM
ATS
ATSO
BBB
BLOS
BVLOS
C2
CARATS

Four-dimensional trajectory
Aircraft-based augmentation system
Autonomous cyber-physical
Automatic dependent surveillance broadcast
Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society
Artificial intelligence
Air navigation service provider
Airline operation centers
Alternative position navigation and timing
Augmented reality
Aviation system block upgrade
Airspace management
Avionics systems panel
Air traffic flow and capacity management
Air traffic flow management
Air traffic management
Air traffic services
Air traffic service organization
Basic building blocks
Beyond-line-of-sight
Beyond visual line-of-sight
Command and control
Collaborative action for renovation of air
traffic systems
CDM
Collaborative decision making
CNS
Communication, navigation, and surveillance
CNS/ATM Communication, navigation, and surveillance
for air traffic management
CNSþA
CNS/ATM and avionics
CPH
Cyber-physical-human
CPS
Cyber-physical systems
DAM
Dynamic airspace management
DASC
Digital avionics systems conference
DDT&E
Design, development, test, and evaluation
DSS
Decision support system
EASA
European Union Aviation Safety Agency
FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
GANP
Global air navigation plan
GBAS
Ground based augmentation system
GNC
Guidance, navigation, and control

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 2020
IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - December 2020
