AMHS
As demand for aviation capacity rises and both economic and environmental pressures increase, it is more important than ever for Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) to share accurate, timely information.
For many years, the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN) has played a critical role in enabling ANSPs to exchange messages that facilitate safe air travel. However, outdated technology and the limited communication capabilities of AFTN make it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of a growing domain by effectively sharing aeronautical and meteorological information, including flight plans, Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and weather bulletins.
To solve the challenge, ICAO has mandated ANSPs to migrate from AFTN to Air Traffic Services Message Handling System (AMHS). Beyond the conveyance of traditional message formats over IP networks, AMHS offers enhanced functionality, such as the ability to exchange upcoming message formats of nearly arbitrary size and deliver end-to-end message security.
Frequentis Comsoft is the market leader in the AMHS domain. Designed in close cooperation with leading ANSPs, Frequentis Comsoft’s Aeronautical Integrated Data Exchange Agent – Next Generation (AIDA-NG) is a unified message handling switch for AFTN, Common ICAO Data Interchange Network (CIDIN), and AMHS, based on EATM Communication Gateway (ECG) software.
AIDA-NG can switch a permanent load of more than 900 AMHS messages per second. The solution offers extensive flow control mechanisms to help ensure that high message loads do not affect response times for operator working positions. AIDA-NG is the only AFTN/AMHS implementation on the market that provides fully integrated and uniform message handling facilities, such as efficient queue handling and tracing for all connected networks.
Frequentis smartMessenger is designed to assist ANSPs with their migration from AFTN to AMHS. The solution is compliant to ICAO Annex 10, ICAO AMHS specification, European AMHS Community Specification and EUROCAE ED-153 Guidelines for ANS Software Safety Assurance.
smartMessenger can be configured with an open API that allows ANSPs to pass X.400 messages to other systems using protocols that comply with System Wide Information Management (SWIM) specifications. Delivering high performance, availability and flexibility, smartMessenger typically offers lower lifecycle costs than other AMHS products.
Frequentis message handling solutions enable conversion between all supported message formats—including AMHS to email, bidirectional conversion between AFTN and AMHS, and bidirectional conversion between AMHS and SWIM. In this way, the solutions provide a fast, straightforward and cost-effective path to migration.