
Aeronautical telecommunications networks (ATN) are part of a field that is undergoing rapid change with many new technologies being introduced and challenges such as drones to be handled. This book is aimed at readers who want to get a detailed overview of air traffic contol systems and the networks that power them, whether they are looking to become developers, designers or users in this area.
The book consists of 10 varied chapters, ranging across the whole spectrum of ATN. Where the first chapters discuss the larger frameworks that facilitate the aeronautical networks of both the present and the future, later chapters focus on the wireless and wired protocols that are used in air traffic control. The discussion includes important emerging topics such as security, the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles and new wireless datalink technologies. Finally, challenges on the physical layers such as interference are detailed in several chapters, providing the lower level view of the ATN system.
The editors did a good job curating a large variation of topics throughout the book, as much of the information provided in several chapters is not easily accessible. The authors include information from proprietary standards and previously uncodified knowledge and aim to combine it in a more digestible fashion, although the book is not afraid to delve into the mathematical underpinnings where necessary.
The authors elaborate on relevant networking technologies such as MobileIP to aid the understanding of those not familiar with these concepts, tie them into their aeronautical applications, and arrange them into the larger aviation frameworks. Besides a multitude of data provided in many tables and diagrams, most chapters include a part on modelling, which not only provides the recurrent theme in this book but also some genuinely new insights on the discussed technologies such as VDL2.
With its meticulous compilation of relevant aviation standards as well as ‘ordinary’ networking and Internet standards, and a solid integration into the historical context of aviation, the book can serve as a first point of reference to the reader.
While the topics discussed in each chapter are sometimes only loosely connected, the authors integrate them with fresh academic research. This fact, and also a lack of comparable books, make the present one well worth a read.