The air traffic control radar beacon system (ATCRBS) is a system used in air traffic control (ATC) to enhance surveillance radar monitoring and separation of air traffic. It consists of a rotating ground antenna and transponders in aircraft. The ground antenna sweeps a narrow vertical beam of microwaves around the airspace. When the beam strikes an aircraft, the transponder transmits a return signal back giving information such as altitude and the Squawk Code, a four digit code assigned to each aircraft that enters a region. Information about this aircraft is then entered into the system and subsequently added to the controller's screen to display this information when queried. This information can include flight number designation and altitude of the aircraft. ATCRBS assists air traffic control (ATC) surveillance radars by acquiring information about the aircraft being monitored, and providing this information to the radar controllers. The controllers can use the information to identify radar returns from aircraft (known as targets) and to distinguish those returns from ground clutter.
Parts of the system The system consists of transponders, installed in aircraft, and secondary surveillance radars (SSRs), installed at air traffic control facilities. The SSR is sometimes co-located with the primary surveillance radar, or PSR. These two radar systems work in conjunction to produce a synchronized surveillance picture. The SSR transmits interrogations and listens for any replies. Transponders that receive an interrogation decode it, decide whether to reply, and then respond with the requested information when appropriate. Note that in common informal usage, the term "SSR" is sometimes used to refer to the entire ATCRBS system, however this term (as found in technical publications) properly refers only to the ground radar itself.
Ground Interrogation Equipment An ATC ground station consists of two radar systems and their associated support components. The most prominent component is the PSR. It is also referred to as skin paint radar because it shows not synthetic or alpha-numeric target symbols, but bright (or colored) blips or areas on the radar screen produced by the RF energy reflections from the target's "skin." This is a non-cooperative process, no additional avionic devices are needed. The radar detects and displays reflective objects within the radar's operating range. Weather radar data is displayed in skin paint mode. The primary surveillance radar is subject to the radar equation that says signal strength drops off as the fourth power of distance to the target. Objects detected using the PSR are known as primary targets.
The second system is the secondary surveillance radar, or SSR, which depends on a cooperating transponder installed on the aircraft being tracked. The transponder emits a signal when it is interrogated by the secondary radar. In a transponder based system signals drop off as the inverse square of the distance to the target, instead of the fourth power in primary radars. As a result, effective range is greatly increased for a given power level. The transponder can also send encoded information about the aircraft, such as identity and altitude.
The SSR is equipped with a main antenna, and an omnidirectional "Omni" antenna at many older sites. Newer antennas (as in the adjacent picture), are grouped as a left and right antenna, and each side connects to a hybrid device which combines the signals into sum and difference channels. Still other sites have both the sum and difference antenna, and an Omni antenna. Surveillance aircraft, e.g. AWACS, have only the sum and difference antennas, but can also be space stabilized by phase shifting the beam down or up when pitched or rolled. The SSR antenna is typically fitted to the PSR antenna, so they point in the same direction as the antennas rotate. The omnidirectional antenna is mounted near and high, usually on top of the radome if equipped. Mode-S interrogators require the sum and difference channels to provide the monopulse capability to measure the off-boresight angle of the transponder reply.
The SSR repetitively transmits interrogations as the rotating radar antenna scans the sky. The interrogation specifies what type of information a replying transponder should send by using a system of modes. There have been a number of modes used historically, but four are in common use today: mode 1, mode 2, mode 3/A, and mode C. Mode 1 is used to sort military targets during phases of a mission. Mode 2 is used to identify military aircraft missions. Mode 3/A is used to identify each aircraft in the radar's coverage area. Mode C is used to request/report an aircraft's altitude.
Two other modes, mode 4 and mode S, are not considered part of the ATCRBS system, but they use the same transmit and receive hardware. Mode 4 is used by military aircraft for the Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system. Mode S is a discrete selective interrogation, rather than a general broadcast, that facilitates TCAS for civilian aircraft. Mode S transponders ignore interrogations not addressed with their unique identity code, reducing channel congestion. At a typical SSR radar installation, ATCRBS, IFF, and mode S interrogations will all be transmitted in an interlaced fashion. Some military facilities and/or aircraft will also utilize Mode S.
Returns from both radars at the ground station are transmitted to the ATC facility using a microwave link, a coaxial link, or (with newer radars) a digitizer and a modem. Once received at the ATC facility, a computer system known as a radar data processor associates the reply information with the proper primary target and displays it next to the target on the radar scope.
Airborne Transponder Equipment The equipment installed in the aircraft is considerably simpler, consisting of the transponder itself, usually mounted in the instrument panel or avionics rack, and a small L band UHF antenna, mounted on the bottom of the fuselage. Many commercial aircraft also have an antenna on the top of the fuselage, and either or both antennas can be selected by the flight crew.
Typical installations also include an altitude encoder, which is a small device connected to both the transponder and the aircraft's static system. It provides the aircraft's pressure altitude to the transponder, so that it may relay the information to the ATC facility. The encoder uses 11 wires to pass altitude information to the transponder in the form of a Gillham Code, a modified binary Gray code.
The transponder has a small required set of controls and is simple to operate. It has a method to enter the four-digit transponder code, also known as a beacon code or squawk code, and a control to transmit an ident, which is done at the controller's request (see SPI pulse below). Transponders typically have 4 operating modes: Off, Standby, On (Mode-A), and Alt (Mode-C). On and Alt mode differ only in that the On mode inhibits transmitting any altitude information. Standby mode allows the unit to remain powered and warmed up but inhibits any replies, since the radar is used for searching the aircraft and exact location of aircraft.
Theory of operation The steps involved in performing an ATCRBS interrogation are as follows: First, the ATCRBS interrogator periodically interrogates aircraft on a frequency of 1030 MHz. This is done through a rotating or scanning antenna at the radar's assigned Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF). Interrogations are typically performed at 450 - 500 interrogations/second. Once an interrogation has been transmitted, it travels through space (at the speed of light) in the direction the antenna is pointing until an aircraft is reached.
When the aircraft receives the interrogation, the aircraft transponder will send a reply on 1090 MHz after a 3.0 μs delay indicating the requested information. The interrogator's processor will then decode the reply and identify the aircraft. The range of the aircraft is determined from the delay between the reply and the interrogation. The azimuth of the aircraft is determined from the direction the antenna is pointing when the first reply was received, until the last reply is received. This window of azimuth values is then divided by two to give the calculated "centroid" azimuth. The errors in this algorithm cause the aircraft to jitter across the controllers scope, and is referred to as "track jitter." The jitter problem makes software tracking algorithms problematic, and is the reason why monopulse was implemented.
The interrogation Interrogations consist of three pulses, 0.8 μs in duration, referred to as P1, P2 and P3. The timing between pulses P1 and P3 determines the mode (or question) of the interrogation, and thus what the nature of the reply should be. P2 is used in side-lobe suppression, explained later.
Mode 3/A uses a P1 to P3 spacing of 8.0 μs, and is used to request the beacon code, which was assigned to the aircraft by the controller to identify it. Mode C uses a spacing of 21 μs, and requests the aircraft's pressure altitude, provided by the altitude encoder. Mode 2 uses a spacing of 5 μs and requests the aircraft to transmit its Military identification code. The latter is only assigned to Military aircraft and so only a small percentage of aircraft actually reply to a mode 2 interrogation.
The reply Replies to interrogations consist of 15 time slots, each 1.45 μs in width, encoding 12 + 1 bits of information. The reply is encoded by the presence or absence of a 0.45 μs pulse in each slot. These are labeled as follows:
F1 C1 A1 C2 A2 C4 A4 X B1 D1 B2 D2 B4 D4 F2 SPI
The F1 and F2 pulses are framing pulses, and are always transmitted by the aircraft transponder. They are used by the interrogator to identify legitimate replies. These are spaced 20.3 μs apart.
The A4, A2, A1, B4, B2, B1, C4, C2, C1, D4, D2, D1 pulses constitute the "information" contained in the reply. These bits are used in different ways for each interrogation mode.
For mode A, each digit in the transponder code (A, B, C, or D) may be a number from zero to seven. These octal digits are transmitted as groups of three pulses each, the A slots reserved for the first digit, B for the second, and so on.
In a mode C reply, the altitude is encoded by a Gillham interface, Gillham code, which uses Gray code. The Gillham interface is capable of representing a wide range of altitudes, in increments. The altitude transmitted is pressure altitude, and corrected for altimeter setting at the ATC facility. If no encoder is attached, the transponder may optionally transmit only framing pulses (most modern transponders do).
In a mode 3 reply, the information is the same as a mode A reply in that there are 4 digits transmitted between 0 and 7. The term mode 3 is utilized by the military, whereas mode A is the civilian term.
The X bit is currently only used for test targets. This bit was originally transmitted by BOMARC missiles that were used as air-launched test targets. This bit may be used by drone aircraft.
The SPI pulse is positioned 4.35μs past the F2 pulse (3 time slots) and is used as a "Special Identification Pulse". The SPI pulse is turned on by the "identity control" on the transponder in the aircraft cockpit when requested by air traffic control. The air traffic controller can request the pilot to ident, and when the identity control is activated, the SPI bit will be added to the reply for about 20 seconds (two to four rotations of the interrogator antenna) thereby highlighting the track on the controllers display.
Side lobe suppression