Lesson 202

Introduction to EXCEED-S and System Hardware Interaction

• EXCEED-S is the newer electronic flight data system that the training modules will focus on.
• The Touch Screen Policy: While the monitors are touch screens, users are strongly advised to use the mouse instead of the touch interface. Touching the screen and then attempting to use a mouse on the CSIP or NARDS display can cause the system to "hang up" or experience input lag. The preferred instructional method is to treat the screen as a standard display and interact with it solely via the mouse.
• Historical Context of Flight Data: In the early era of aviation (referred to by the instructor as "thousands of years ago" and the 1980s), air traffic controllers used written strips of paper. These paper strips were placed inside plastic strip holders. This manual system was colloquially termed "PowerPoint" in the 1980s because of how the data was physically presented.
• Replacement and Backups: EXCEED-S replaced written strips with digital strips. In high-traffic centers like London, the backup for an EXCEED-S failure involved a supervisor pressing a centralized button to print out all Nav Canada flight plans on paper strips, necessitating a return to manual strip-based procedural separation. However, this training focuses on the electronic management of data rather than backup manual processes.

System Integration and Automation

• Interlinking of CSIP and EXCEED-S: In the field, CSIP (the situation display) and EXCEED-S are natively linked. If a controller right-clicks on a target on the situational display and changes the altitude to $370$, the digital strip in EXCEED-S automatically updates to reflect $Flight Level 370$.
• NARDS Limitations: The NARDS system is noted to be deficient in its linking capabilities compared to CSIP. For the purposes of this simulator, manual updates to EXCEED-S are required in addition to radar operations to ensure flight data is current. This simulates a environment where the controller is constantly updating the board so that if radar fail, the data is accurate for non-radar procedural control.
• Labor Impact of Electronic Passing: Previously, busy sectors required two controllers: one for radar/radio work and a "coordinator" for the strip board and telephone coordination. The billions spent on electronic passing systems like EXCEED-S allowed Nav Canada to eliminate roughly $150$ controller positions by automating the transfer of data between sectors.
• The "Two Heads" Philosophy: The instructor notes an ethical/practical tradeoff: while the electronic system is efficient, it removes the second controller who provided a safety oversight (e.g., catching a pilot's increasing speed or monitoring a sequence of $12$ aircraft).

Functional Definitions and Structural Organization

• EXCEED-S Acronym: The Extended Computerized Display System.
• FDE (Flight Data Entry): Formerly known as "strips," these are the digital entries representing aircraft data.
• Organization by Altitude: In high-level en-route sectors, FDEs are stacked by altitude (e.g., all $Flight Level 400$ strips together, then $390$, $380$, etc.). If multiple aircraft share an altitude, they are sorted by time (earliest at the bottom). This differs from terminal environments, which often organize strips based on arrival/departure time relative to a specific fix or identifier (e.g., CYZ).
• Bay Posting: The simulator uses specific geographical postings based on longitude, specifically $95 West$ and $100 West$. Aircraft transiting east or west will typically have strips in both postings. Transiting north-south aircraft may only require a single posting.

FDE Data Fields and Symbology

• Orientation:
  • Westbound Flights: Header is on the left side of the strip ($180$ to $359$ degrees).
  • Eastbound Flights: Header is on the right side of the strip ($360$ to $179$ degrees).
• FDE Components:
  • Aircraft Identification: The call sign (e.g., "Air Canada 123").
  • SSR Code: The discrete four-digit transponder code assigned by the system.
  • Weight Category and Type: Identifying the aircraft's physical characteristics.
  • Equipment Suffix: The character code for navigation equipment. "Whiskey" ($W$) denotes the aircraft is RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) certified, allowing it to fly above $Flight Level 290$. Approximately $99.9\%$ of aircraft in high-level segments are RVSM certified.
  • Filed True Airspeed (TAS): The speed filed in the flight plan. Note that ground speed (observed on radar) will differ from TAS based on wind (e.g., an aircraft with a $450\,knot$ TAS and a $150\,knot$ tailwind will show a $600\,knot$ ground speed).
  • Points of Origin and Destination: The three or four-letter identifiers for the airports.
  • Routing: Often truncated for relevance. A flight from London Heathrow (EGLL) to Dallas may be shown as "EGLL…" followed by the fixes relevant to the current sector.
  • Altitude Data: Includes the requested/filed altitude and the coordinated altitude. The "Tick Mark" ($✓$) is used to validate that an aircraft has been reported level via voice or observed level on the radar for at least three sweeps.
  • Estimates: The time the aircraft is expected to cross a specific fix. In a radar environment, controllers do not typically ask pilots for estimates, though they may update them manually if they differ from the machine's projection.

Lower Status Bar and Auxiliary Functions

• Flight Level and Altimeters:
  • Static Altimeter: The pressure setting taken at a specific observation time (e.g., $1955$).
  • Now Altimeter/Wins: Real-time atmospheric data provided by systems or the ATIS ($Automatic Terminal Information Service$).
  • ATIS: A continuous recorded loop providing current weather, active runways, and specific notices (e.g., migratory bird activity, broken approach lights). Pilots must acknowledge receipt of this information (e.g., "Information Alpha") on initial contact.
• Management Buttons:
  • L (Language): Used to denote French-speaking requirements, which turns the strip yellow (not used in this specific simulation block).
  • Restore: Allows a controller to bring back a deleted FDE if it was removed in error.
  • Tide: The button used to delete an FDE from the board manually.
  • C-YZ: Used to activate or indicate specific blocks of airspace.

Strip Board Management: Cocking and Colors

• Grayed-out Strips: These represent aircraft not yet integrated into the active board. They appear in an "inbox" (typically from a departure or an adjacent sector). Once the controller communicates with the aircraft and validates its altitude, the strip is "integrated" and turns from gray to black.
• Cocking a Strip: A term carried over from paper boards where a strip was physically angled in its rail. In EXCEED-S, it is an electronic offset.
• Purpose of Cocking: To highlight that the controller needs to take action, resolve a conflict, or relay specialized information (e.g., an engine out, severe icing reported at $Flight Level 390$, or aircraft violating separation).
• Warning Indicators: Red W's or warning arrows populate FDEs when the system detects two aircraft within a certain time/distance parameter (e.g., $2\,minutes$) at the same altitude.

Scanning and Conflict Resolution Procedures

• Scanning Routine: Controllers must not "relax" and look at the board as a whole. They must scan each bay (e.g., $95W$, $100W$) individually.
  • Check altitude boxes for vertical separation ($1,000\,ft$).
  • If altitudes match, ensure another form of IFR separation exists.
  • Follow individual flights through the sector to check for converging or crossing tracks.
• Manual Coordination: High-level sectors require electronic passing of estimates through CATS (Computer Assisted Tracking System).
  • The 30-Mile Rule: Anything (altitude changes, reroutes) happening within $30\,miles$ of the sector boundary must be coordinated verbally on the hotline/landline rather than assuming the electronic update will suffice.
  • The 15-Minute Rule: Flight data must be forwarded to the next unit at least $15\,minutes$ before the aircraft enters their airspace. If the electronic link fails, this must be done verbally.
• Hand-offs: Verbal hand-offs are initiated at approximately $20\,miles$ from the boundary.

The CATS System and Flight Profiles

• Profile Maintenance: For electronic estimates to distribute correctly, the "profile" (flight plan) in CATS must be maintained. If a controller gives a pilot a major reroute (e.g., "Direct Sault Ste. Marie"), they must update the routing in the system so the machine can calculate the correct exit time and pass it to the next unit.
• Minor Deviations: Small vectors ($5-10\,miles$ off track) that rejoin the original profile do not require a profile update, as they stay within the system's margin of error.
• Inhibited States: Controllers can manually inhibit CATS from passing estimates to external units, though this is rare (e.g., military exercises simulating a "drug runner" where the flight plan data needs to be hidden from certain automated receivers).

Strip Removal (Clearing the Board)

• Timing of Removal: A strip (FDE) should not be removed until all actions are met.
• Frequency Change: The primary trigger for removing a strip is the frequency change. Once the pilot reads back the new frequency (e.g., "Contact Martin Center $128.5$") and the controller no longer needs to provide clearances, the FDE is deleted.
• Centerline Crossing: In the provided simulation, once an eastbound aircraft crosses the centerline of the sector, the controller can remove the West-side strip and work solely from the East-side strip.
• Non-Radar Completion: In non-radar environments (procedural), the strip is retained until a position report confirms the aircraft has passed the first fix outside the controller's area of responsibility.