New technologies like cellular networks and low-level radar can benefit secondary airports by lowering costs compared with traditional infrastructure. Introducing innovative products widely used outside of air traffic management offers an opportunity to improve industry performance.
The NewSense project focused on safety and capacity benefits provided by advanced surface movement guidance and control systems (A-SMGCS), typically limited to the world’s largest airports with sufficient resources to purchase surface movement radar and multilateration infrastructure. The project assessed low-cost sensors including a 5G-signal-based surveillance solution and a millimeter wave (mmWave) radar augmented with artificial intelligence (AI).
By applying deep learning algorithms to the radar data, NewSense was able to explore the potential of radiofrequency (RF) signals in measuring an object’s position and velocity in a seamless process.
The research included designing a 5G-signal-based surveillance solution for the airport surface adding a 3-dimensional vector antenna and a 5G positioning function to measure the position of cooperative targets using their transmitted 5G RF signals. It also included designing a radar-like system relying on 5G signals to calculate the position of non-cooperative target positions from reflected 5G base station RF signals. The low-cost mmWave radar provided non-cooperative surveillance that positioned and classified targets using reflected mmWave radar signals and deep learning methods.
System performance was tested through simulations, in-lab measurements and at Muret aerodrome, general aviation airfield near Toulouse. Assessed against equivalent A-SMGCS industry standards, the mmWave radar provided cost-effective surveillance up to few hundred meters with ±65° field of view, and the 5G-signal-based surveillance solution provided a super-resolution at 360⁰ and an estimated maximum range up to 2 km.
Benefits
- Detects cooperative and non-cooperative targets
- Enhanced controller situational awareness in all weather
