Solutions in Air Traffic Communication and Test Automation

AC-B is appointed by the “Bundesaufsichtsamt für Flugsicherung”, the German ATC Regulatory Authority, as Notified Body according to Article 8 of EC Regulation No 552/2004 with regard to the execution of tasks concerning the Conformance Testing of AMHS systems. The received certificate attests AC-B being an impartial test organisation to carry out inspections on AMHS implementations for the benefit of system manufacturers and operating agencies, the ANSPs (air navigation service providers).

According to Article 5 and 6 of EC Regulation No 552/2004, every AMHS system shall be subject to an EC declaration of conformity by the manufacturer and the verification by the ANSP in accordance with the relevant implementing rules before integration into the European Air Traffic Management Network (EATMN). The conformity assessment procedures involve Notified Bodies which are appointed to confirm the system’s compliance with the requirements specified in the relevant standard documentation, such as ICAO Doc 9880, the European AMHS Manual and the AMHS Community Specification.

The recognition as a Notified Body approves AC-B’s top position as AMHS testing service provider. Since 2004, AMHS testing has become a major business within AC-B. AC-B was the first company that created a test tool that was able to verify an AMHS-system’s conformance to the ICAO requirements as defined in Doc 9705-AN/956, Subvolume III, which later were transferred to ICAO Doc 9880-AN/466 – Part IIB. Since 2006, AC-B performed ten official AMHS conformance test sessions and verified AMHS systems built by six different manufacturers.

For the ANSPs conformance testing has become an indispensable task on the migration path from AFTN/CIDIN to AMHS. This was recognised in Europe and in consequence the ICAO EUR Aeronautical Fixed Service Group (AFSG) established a three-step testing strategy to be applied before a new AMHS system can be connected to the EATMN. Today, AMHS tests comprising conformance testing, interoperability testing and pre-operational testing are standardized in the European AMHS Manual. AC-B’s test tool supports the full scope of conformance tests and also subsequent phases of regression tests for software updates in a most efficient way.

AC-B will continue to provide independent and professional testing services to ANSPs and system manufacturers world-wide for the benefit of the successful transition from AFTN/CIDIN to the AMHS towards seamless operation of the EATMN.

(The list of notified bodies and their areas of responsibility is being published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union.)