SubscribeThe year 2004 will be remembered for both man-made and natural disasters. Once again war and pointless acts of terrorism were prominent with the certainty that these are going to continue. High security has become a way of life - not only for the aviation industry but also for industry as a whole and the private individual going about their daily business. The year ended with the Indonesian earthquake and resultant tsunami that caused catastrophic damage and loss of life.
Levels of security have to match the potential threat and sadly, the picture on the right denotes what is the norm in any international airport in 2005. Likewise, in providing both fixed link and Internet briefing services we have to be constantly vigilant for computer related acts of terrorism; stealth bombs such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, hackers etc and those “acts of God” that are outside of our control. The following outlines some of the measures we employ to ensure security and continuity of data and services.
At the front end we utilize various levels of security such as log-ons/passwords, the “locking-down” of workstations so that they are dedicated to eFlight services. However, Internet access to eFlight services means that authorized users can log on from any computer in the world - including an infected computer - so our Flight Data Centre includes digital versions of the security chaps above - scanners, guard dogs and downright fire(wall) power plus regular back-ups! Despite all these measures, we cannot afford to be complacent and assume that whatever has or has not been done to prevent problems – they are going to occur anyway. We have always called it good old-fashioned security and contingency planning but now national & international standards agencies have got in on the act and established an Information Security Standard ISO/IEC 17799 or BS 7799. Whilst we shall not be seeking certification, we have business risk and disaster recovery procedures in place that are compliant with the standard.
Planned releases for 2005 are BYTRON eStrips and Fuel & Navigation Planning.
BYTRON eStrips consists of a tailored Client Workstation connected to the tried and tested BYTRON Flight Data Management system (FDMS). The client workstation is MS Windows based and can be supplied on the Stratus Fault tolerant platform. The user HCI is configurable on-site to each Controller operational position, and to suit local ATM practices.
The BYTRON FDMS with eStrips is highly configurable on-site, allowing local AT management to easily setup the system to mimic the current workflow and practices. This results in Controllers being able to move strips easily through work positions, whilst updating the system, providing automatic updates to other work positions and also providing automatic statistics and a detailed audit trail.
eStrips displays digital on-screen representation of conventional paper strips. Design tools are provided so that the on-screen representation is exactly as required by local AT management. All data fields currently printed by BYTRON FDMS are displayed on-screen and where appropriate may be easily edited by Controllers, thereby updating the data system. Updates to other displays are virtually instantaneous. Controller inputs to the eStrip interface can be by touch (finger or stylus), mouse or keyboard, with the menu structure being automatically configured according to the method chosen.
The eStrips module allows easy “band-boxing” of tasks within the workflow, so that during less busy periods two or three Controller positions can be amalgamated into one.
·Integrates with BYTRON FDMS or can interface with other flight data system via AFTN, TCP/IP, Serial links.
·Controller Workstation positions can be dynamically configured to mimic any workflow role
·Supports unlimited number of Controller or repeater displays
·One-touch workflow actions
·Monitoring with and email and SMS alerts.
·Full automatic auditing of all system events and actions
·Can share information with other Airport based users through secure protocols.
·Can be configured on-site to suit varying screen sizes and resolutions
·Data interface to ground vehicle position reporting system (GPS)
·Linux/Unix platforms
Fuel & Navigation Planning is shortly to commence alpha testing. It has been a long time reaching the stage where we are happy that the degree of accuracy is consistent and correct. Alpha testing will take quite some time but we are hopeful that the application can begin beta testing early this spring with ‘live’ trials to commence shortly afterwards.
The number of Internet briefing accesses to the Flight Data Centre is increasing daily with Route Plots overlaid onto Weather and Navigation charts proving very popular with flight crews.
Feedback from FDC users indicates that the briefing requirements of general aviation are not being thoroughly addressed. As a result we are taking a serious look at the needs of the GA pilot and will keep you informed.
Less Paper Cockpit is ready for beta testing. Designed to operate on any industry standard laptop it is especially robust on computers for fieldwork such as the Panasonic Toughbook. We selected the Toughbook for these particular virtues – mainly because we were requested to do so by the military but it should be noted that LPC could be operated on any laptop computer.
Our AFTN Data Switch has been approved for connection to the NATS AIDA Message Switch.
Our applications help Airlines, Airports and ATC facilities enhance safety, reduce operating costs, maximise revenue, and manage operations efficiently. For essential applications like these, reliable hardware servers and workstations are a prerequisite. It is therefore a great pleasure for us to announce that BYTRON has entered into an ISV agreement with Stratus Technologies.
Stratus Technologies is the global provider of fault-tolerant computer servers delivering 99.999% uptime or better. Combined with BYTRON FDMS and the eStrips module, ease of operation and 24/7 uptime is assured.
We do like to hear your news, views and even complaints so please
contact us on +44 1652 688626 or eflight@bytron.com
