Posted on: December 18, 2014
The King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah is getting ready for the future with state-of-the-art radiocommunications and IP-based voice communications systems from Rohde & Schwarz.
KAIA is one of the main airports in the Middle East. The modernization measures will not only benefit business in Jeddah, but also Haj & Omrah for placing enormous demands on air traffic. The new airport capacity will initially support up to 30 million passengers per year.
As part of this extensive airport construction project, numerous R&S Series4200 radios will be installed at several radio locations at the airport. In the apron segment, the R&S VCS-4G voice communications system will be integrated with the R&S Series4200 transmitters and receivers to form a fully IP-based end-to-end solution from the controller working position to the radio. With its distributed architecture, the R&S VCS-4G provides state-of-the-art air-ground and ground-ground communications capabilities, based on future-oriented VoIP technology. Existing legacy infrastructure is integrated into the communications system using gateways, providing protection of investment. With the latest generation of voice communications systems and digital, software defined radios, the airport will be well-equipped for efficient and safe air traffic control.
Voice over IP (VoIP) in line with EUROCAE ED-137 has established itself as the communications technology for ATC, replacing the obsolete TDM-based systems. The fully IP-based R&S VCS-4G voice communications system and R&S Series4200 radios adhere to this standard.
The R&S VCS-4G features a redundant design with an extensive number of interfaces to external systems such as voice recording systems and telephone lines. Due to its unique architecture, the system is highly scalable and can be easily expanded without replacing existing equipment. The R&S VCS-4G meets next-generation ATC requirements such as asset sharing, facility consolidation, geographical distribution, virtual center and remote tower, effectively supporting the efficiency and safety objectives of global aviation.
The R&S Series4200 is the newest generation of software defined radios for civil and military air traffic control. It covers all radio interfaces such as AM voice and VDL mode 2 for data transmission, as well as various analog and digital interfaces for the connection to the VCS in the ground segment.