UNIT–1: INTRODUCTION TO AVIONICS

1) INTRODUCTION TO AVIONICS:

Avionics is derived from the combination of aviation and electronics. It was first used
in the USA in early 1950’s.

The avionics industry is now a major multibillion dollar industry in worldwide and the
avionics equipment on a modern military or civil aircraft can account for around 30 to 40 % of
the total cost of the aircraft.

The avionics system means any system in the aircraft which is dependent on electronics
for its operations, although the system may contain electro mechanical elements.

Example: FBW system.

2) NEED FOR AVIONICS IN CIVIL AND MILITARY AIRCRAFT AND SPACE SYSTEMS:

Avionics systems are essential

 To enable the flight crew to carry out the aircraft mission safely and efficiently.

In civil aircraft,

 The mission is carrying of the passengers to their destination safely.

In military aircraft,

 Intercepting a hostile aircraft

 Attacking a ground target
 Reconnaissance (or) maritime patrol

In space craft,

 Carrying the space craft mission safely and efficiently.

 Reduction in weight.
 Long life time mission.

MAJOR DRIVERS IN THE DESIGN OF AVIONICS SYSTEM:

A major driver in the development and introduction of avionics systems has been the
need to meet the mission requirements with minimum flight crew (namely the first pilot and the
second pilot).

In the civil aircraft,

 Minimum flight crew (namely first pilot and second pilot).

 Saving of crew salaries.
 Economic benefits like.
 Expenses and training costs.

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  Reduction in weight – It can be translated into more passengers (or) longer range
flight time on less fuel.
 Also reduction in aircraft maintenance cost.

In the military aircraft,

 A single seat fighter (or) strike (attack) aircraft is lighter.

 Costs less than an equivalent two seat version.
 Elimination of the second crew member.
 Reduction in training costs.
 Reduction in weight – long range flight time on less fuel.

OTHER VERY IMPORTANT DRIVERS FOR AVIONICS SYSTEMS:

 Increased safety.
 Air traffic control requirements.
 All weather operation.
 Reduction in fuel consumption.
 Improved aircraft performance and control and handling and reduction in
maintenance costs.

3) INTEGRATED AVIONICS AND WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Avionics systems generally comprise a number of smaller sub-systems which are

combined to form an overall system. The combination, interconnection and control of the
individual sub-systems so that the overall system can carry out its tasks effectively are referred to
as integration of avionics systems.

The first major step towards integrating avionics systems was taken in the mid-1950s
with the establishment of the weapon system concepts. These concepts were incorporated in the
1960s generation of aircraft.

The concept requires a total system approach to the task of carrying out the mission
effectively with a high probability of success. The aircraft weapon and the avionics systems
required by the crew to carry out the mission effectively must thus be considered as an integrated
combination.

The importance of finding a better way of implementing avionics systems can be

appreciated when it is realized that avionics currently account for some 30% of the total cost of a
new aircraft. Reducing these costs must play a major role in containing overall system costs and
halting the cost spiral inherent in the current federated architecture as increasing performance
and capability.

The new integrated avionics architecture offers the best prospects of meeting higher
levels of performance and system capability, so lowering costs right across the system life cycle.

The term avionics architecture is a deceptively simple description for a very complex and
multi-faceted subject. Essentially, an avionic architecture is the total set of design choices
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which make up the avionic system and result in it performing as a recognizable whole. In
effect, the architecture is the total avionics system design. The complexity of modern avionics
systems means that there are very many parts of avionics architecture and in practice the
architecture is best viewed as a hierarchy of levels which comprise,

 Functional allocation level:The arrangement of the major system components and the
allocation of system function to those components.
 Communication level:The arrangement of internal and external data pathways and data
rates, transmission formats, protocols and latencies.
 Data processing level:Central (or) distributed processing, processor types, software
languages, documentation and CASE design tools (computer aided software
engineering).
 Sensor level:Sensor types, location of sensor processing, extent to which combining of
sensor outputs is performed.
 Physical level:Racking box (or) module outline dimensions cooling provisions power
supplies.

The integrated avionic systems architecture for a modern aircraft and designed for
implementation using standard avionic modules is shown in fig.1. The essential
intercommunication system provided by the high speed multiplex data buses can be seen.

The grouping together of the systems which carry out flight critical functions such as
flight control, propulsion control, electrical power supply control, sensors and actuators.

INTEGRATED AVIONICS SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE:

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 Integrated Avionics System (IAS) is nothing but combine the various system or sub –
systems which interconnect to the data bus and combining to a single systems. This system
introduces the concept of common modules and distributed processing. The common –
module approach breaks down the various LRU tasks into such basic functions, for each of
which a common module is developed. These modules are then assembled in – racks – into
groups able to perform particular tasks. The modules are connected to a high speed data bus
which is capable of mass data transportation.

This bus enables tasks to be shared between similar modules distributed throughout the
aircraft. Signal processing, whether for the sensor system (or) electronic warfare suite, can be
performed in any one of several common modules. The overall system will not care where a
function is performed, only that it is done efficiently.

The common module approach provides redundancy without many of the overheads
currently associated with duplicating or triplicating critical LRUs.

The ability of different avionics systems to communicate rapidly and fully via a high –
speed data bus allows the sharing of scarce aircraft resources, such as good antenna locations.

VARIOUS TYPE OF AVIONICS SYSTEM INTEGRATION:

1. Cockpit integration:

Integration is all about information exchange, and the advent of thedigital data
bus has brought with it’s an information explosion inside the aircraft – and the problem
of how to present that information to the pilot.

The major problem is the limited amount of instrument panel ‘real estate’
available in an aircraft, one which is particularly acute in combat aircraft, where panel
space is severely limited.

The monochrome CRTs used initially had the ability to display clearly only a
limited amount of information at any one time. The advent of color displays allows the
information density to be increased, enabling the information previously presented on
several instruments to be integrated on a single screen.

In combat aircraft, the head – up display has become a vital source of

information, but it’s as the primary flight instruments is now being challenged by the
helmet – mounted display. The HUD still only provides information over a relatively
small region straight ahead. If the pilot looks outside its field of view, he loses the
information it provides on his aircraft, its weapons, and the target.

The helmet – mounted sight has been around for some time as a relatively simple
device able to project an aiming mark, which the pilot can place over a target by moving
his head, the position of which is sensed by one of several means. Head position can be
used to direct aircraft sensors (or) weapon seekers, minimizing the need to manoeuvre the
aircraft.

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 The design problem becomes particularly acute when the pilot wants to fly at
night. Currently he would find his way using a Forward – Looking Infra – Red (FLIR)
sensor image projected oh his HUD, augmented by helmet – mounted night vision
googles for all round vision.

Whether a pilot uses a head – up display, helmet – mounted display, or both, he

must communicate with his aircraft efficiently. In a modern data bus equipped aircraft the
most likely means of communication will be a keyboard or keys bordering a CRT
display.

The cockpit system integration involves following display system technologies

and controls.

 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
 Head – Up Display (HUD)
 Helmet – Mounted Display (HMD)
2. Sensor integration:
o Sensor integration not only reduces pilot workload, it also expands coverage,
increases confidence in target existence and identify and is mutually supportive.
o Sensor fusion is the art of combining the various target data sources automatically
and presenting the pilot with a unified and complete tactical picture with all
ambiguities resolved.
o Sensor fusion produces a robust system that is difficult to jam because all the
elements are mutually supportive.
o Radar is still primary combat – aircraft sensor, although it is often combined with
provide mainly target identify.
o Image recognition has an important role to play in blending the output of different
sensors and providing the pilot with a clear picture of the target.
3. Control integration:
o Integration of aircraft control function offers more significant benefits. The autopilot
and flight management system grouped together to reduce the pilot workload and
enables fuel – saving flight profiles to be flown accurately and consistently.
o Engine control integrated with flight control. These control system allows the engine
management system to anticipate aircraft manoeuvers and reduce the artificial
margins currently imposed to ensure that engine operating limits are not overstepped
in combat.
o The integration of flight and fire control also allows weapon release in manoeuvring,
increasing the chances both of destroying the target and of surviving against hostile
defenses.

4) TYPICAL AVIONICS SUB - SYSTEMS:

Avionics systems:

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 The avionics system or sub – system mean any system in the aircraft which is dependent
on electronics for its operations.

The major role played by the avionics system in a modern aircraft,

 To enable the flight crew to carry out the aircraft mission safely and efficiently.

Avionics system structure comprising the various layers and sub – systems used in
modern aircraft is discussed below.

The avionics sub – systems have been grouped into five layers according to their role
and functions. These are discussed below.

I. Systems which interface directly with the pilot:

These layers comprise displays, communications, data entry and control and flight
control systems.

a) Displays:
 The display systems provide the visual interface between the pilot and the aircraft
systems.
 Its comprise Head – Up Display (HUD), Helmet – Mounted Display (HMD), and
Head – Down Display (HMD).
 The prime advantage of the HUD and HMD are that they project the display
information into the pilot’s field of view so that the pilot can be head up and
concentrate on the outside world.
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  The display provide the primary flight information to the pilot such as,
o Navigation information
o Engine data
o Airframe data
o Warning information
o Primary flight data – height, air speed, Mach number, pitch, roll, yaw
angle, etc.,
 The HUD can also display a Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) video picture one
to one with the outside world from fixed FLIR imaging sensor in the aircraft.
 HMD major advantages over HUD. Since HMD allows the pilot to see the any
direction view of the outside world.
 Night Viewing Googles (NVG) also used in the HMD. This provides a
complementary night vision capability enabling the aircraft to operate at night (or)
in conditions of poor visibility.
b) Communications:
 The role played by the communication system is two – way communication
between the ground station and aircraft (or) between aircraft self-evident and is
essential for Air Traffic Control.
 In modern aircraft, several operating frequency bands used for communication
systems such as
o HF range communication (2 – 30 MHz)
o VHF range communication (30 – 100 MHz)
 In military aircraft, Ultra High Frequency used (200 – 400 MHz)
c) Data entry and control:
 These systems are essential for the crew to interact with the avionics systems.
 These systems comprise the keyboards, touch panels and Direct Voice Input
(DVI) control.
d) Flight Control System (FCS):
 A system that includes all aircraft sub – systems and components used by the
pilot to control the aircraft flight path, attitude, air speed, aerodynamic
configuration, etc.,
 FCS namely in two areas.
o Auto stabilization (or) stability augmentation
o FBW flight control systems.
II. Aircraft state sensor systems:

These systems comprise the air data systems and the inertial sensor systems.

a) Air data systems:

 Air data systems provide the accurate information on the air data quantities.
 Such as aircraft height, air speed, air stream incidence and Mach number.
b) Inertial sensor systems:
 Inertial sensor system comprise set of gyros and accelerometers which measure
the aircraft angular motion and linear motion about the aircraft axis.

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  These sensor systems to be an Inertial Navigation System (INS) which provide
accurate velocity data and position data.
 These systems are self-contained and don’t require any access to the outside
world.

III. Navigation system:

Navigation system computer compute the aircraft navigation information. i.e., aircraft
position, velocity and attitude. Navigation system can be divided into

o Dead Reckoning (DR) systems

o Radio Navigation Systems / position fixing systems
a) Dead Reckoning Systems:
 DR navigation systems derive the vehicle’s present position by estimating the
distance travelled from a known position from knowledge of the speed and
direction of motion of the vehicle.
 It’s self-contained and autonomous systems.
 The type of DR navigation systems used in aircrafts are
o Inertial Navigation System (INS)
o Doppler / Heading reference system
o Air data / Heading reference system
b) Radio navigation systems;
 The position fixing systems used are now mainly radio navigation systems based
on satellite or ground based transmitters.
 A suitable receiver in the aircraft with a supporting computer is then used to
derive the aircraft position from the signals received from the transmitters.
 The prime position fixing system is without doubt GPS. It’s a satellite navigation
system gives outstanding accuracy.
IV. External world sensor systems:

These systems comprise the radar and infra-red sensor which is enable the all-weather
and night time operation and transform the operation capability of the aircraft.

a) Radar systems:
 In the civil aircraft, weather radar is installed and is optimized to detect water
droplets and provide warning of storms, cloud turbulence and severe precipitation.
 In case of fighter aircraft, the radar roll is ground target attack, interception,
tracking and searching.
b) Infra-red systems:
 IR system can be used to provide a video picture of the thermal image scene of
the outside world either using a fixed FLIR sensor or gimbaled IR imaging sensor.
 IR system can also be used in a search and track mode.
V. Task automation systems:

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 Task automation systems reduce the crew workload and enable minimum crew
operation by automating and managing as many tasks as appropriate so that the crew role is a
supervisory management one. The task and roles of these systems are discussed below.

a) Navigation system management:

 Navigation management comprises the operation of all the radio navigation and
systems and the combination of the data from the entire navigation source such as
GPS and INS systems.
 It provides the aircraft position, velocity and aircraft orientation.
 And also manage aircraft navigation route, way points setting.
b) Auto pilots and flight management systems:
 The auto pilot relieves the pilot and reduces the pilot work load.
 It can continually fly the aircraft with automatic mode and so enables the pilot to
concentrate on other tasks with the mission.
 Auto pilot system can also provide a very precise control of the aircraft flight path
for such application as automatic landing in poor or even zero visibility
conditions.
 FMS is widely used in civil aircraft since the early 1980’s and have enabled two
crew operation of the largest, long range civil jet airliners.
 The tasks carried out by the FMS include
o Flight planning
o Navigation management
o Engine control to maintain the planned speed or Mach number
o Control of aircraft flight path to follow the optimized planned route
o Flight envelope monitoring
o Minimizing fuel consumption
c) Engine control and management:
 The task covers the control and the efficient management and monitoring of the
engines.
 Modern jet engines have Full Authority Digital Engine Control System
(FADEC). This system automatically controls the flow of fuel to the engine.
 FADEC system is thus similar in many ways to a FBW flight control system.
 Other very important engine avionics systems include Engine Health
Monitoring systems which measure, process and record a very wide range of
parameters associated with the performance and health of the engines.
d) Housekeeping management:
 The term ‘housekeeping’ management has been used to cover the automation of
the background tasks which are essential for the aircraft’s safe and efficient
operation. Such tasks include:
o Fuel management
o Electrical power supply system management
o Hydraulic power supply system management
o Cabin / cockpit pressurization systems
o Environmental control systems
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 o Warning systems
o Maintenance and monitoring systems

5) DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES:

System engineering:

System engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization

of successful systems. Its focus on defining customer needs and required functionality early in
the development cycle, document requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and
system validation while considering the complete problem:

o Operations
o Performance
o Test
o Manufacturing
o Cost and schedule
o Training and support
o Disposal

Avionics system design:

The avionics system design involves design and development and management of a total
system which includes hardware and software as well as other system life cycle elements.

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC):

The above figure shows a typical avionics system life cycle from concepts through to
disposal at the end of the useful life of the product. Individual product life cycle will differ from
this, but it is a sufficiently good model to illustrate the role of engineering in the design and
implementation of a system based products.

System design approach:

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  Top – down approach
 Bottom – up approach

Top down design approach in avionics system design:

The top down approach starts from the highest level of components and proceeds through
to lower levels. A top-down design approach starts by identifying the major components of the
system, decomposing them into their lower-level components and interacting until the desired
level of detail is achieved.

The top-down design methods often result in some form of stepwise refinement. The
most design methodologies are based on the top-down approach. It is providing a complete step-
by-step understanding of the system.

Design procedure:

o Developing a conceptual view of the system

o Establish system architecture
o Identifying data streams and data resources
o Decomposing high level function into low level function
o Establishing relationships and interconnection among components
o Developing concrete data representations
o Specifying procedure details

Avionics system design: (Top – down approach)

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Avionics system design guidelines:

1. Review the requirement specification

2. Review and expand
o External interfaces
o User dialogues
o Report formats
3. Review and refine data flow diagrams, identifying internal data stores, and elaborate
processing functions.
4. Identify functional abstractions and data abstractions.
5. Define the visible interfaces for each functional and data abstraction.
6. Define modularization criteria to be used in establishing system structure.
7. Apply techniques of chosen design method to establish system structure.
8. Iterate 4 to 7and I to 7 as necessary to achieve suitable system structure.
9. Verify that the resulting system structure satisfies the requirements.
10. Develop interface specifications for procedures in each module.
11. Conduct preliminary design review.
12. Develop concrete data representations for the data stores and data abstractions.
13. Expand procedure information to include local data structure.
14. Specify algorithmic details for the procedure in each sub – systems.

Example of standards used in avionics system design:

Implementation of the requirements of standards is intended to be through

establishment of enterprise policies and procedures that define the requirements for
application and improvement of the adopted process from the standard. This is illustrated in
following figure:

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 The relationship between EIA632 and other standards are shown in the figure. Some of
the key software engineering standards are shown for comparison since there has been an
intimate relationship between the developments of both types of standards. There has been much
activity recently in unifying the processes contained in each.

Avionics system design standards: (DOD – STD – 2167A)

The starting point for designing a digital avionics system is a clear understanding of the
mission requirements and the requirements levied by the host aircraft. If these requirements are
not clearly understood, the avionics system will never achieve its intended performance. It is
important to discuss how these top level requirements are developed and to note the differences
in development methods for civil and military avionics.

The aircraft manufacturer makes a very careful analysis of the potential customer’s route
structure, image, and operating philosophies to determine the customer’s needs and postulates a
future operating environment, especially air traffic management and relevant economic trends.
The manufacturer then designs an aircraft that provides an optimum, balanced response to the
integrated set of needs. Safety is always the highest – priority need and economical operation is a
close second.

DOD – STD – 2167A system development cycle:

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  SRR : System Requirement Review
 SDR : System Design Review
 SSR : Software Specification Review
 PDR : Preliminary Design Review
 CDR : Critical Design Review

Avionics system requirements:

Figure shows the path from aircraft mission requirements to the avionics system
requirements.The process begins by making a top – down analysis to the aircraft missions. If the
aircraft is required to fly several types of missions, the most demanding mission should be
selected as the baseline mission and all other possible missions treated as increments from the
baseline. The baseline mission is divided into segments, and each segment is subjected to a
detailed analysis to establish the requirements for the avionics systems.

Many of the requirements which influence the avionics system design are not directly
related to the airborne performance of the aircraft. Overall aircraft performance requirements,
such as maintenance hours per flight hour and Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). It is
important to also note that some of the performance requirements may affect the design of the
avionics ground support equipment, specifically requirements related to mean time to repair and
ground turnaround time between flights.

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 Throughout the development and analysis of requirements, traceability is mandatory.
Every requirement at every level of the design must be traceable to a requirements at the next
higher level traceability becomes especially valuable when a particular requirement is proving
difficult to meet. Knowing the genesis of a requirement may aid in its possible modification to
make it more readily achievable.

As these requirements are developed, some of them may be identified as flight critical;
that is, if the function being addressed by the requirement is not met, the aircraft will be lost. It is
very important to that if an avionics function is critical for one phase of flight, it must be treated
as critical for all phases.

TWO MARK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

1) What are major drivers for avionics in civil aircraft?

A major driver in the development and introduction of avionics systems has been
the need to meet the mission requirements.
 Minimum flight crew operation (first pilot and second pilot)
 Saving of crew salaries
 Reduce the training costs
 Reduce the maintenance costs
 Weight reduction – it can be translated into more passengers
 Increased safety
 Air traffic control requirements
2) What are major drivers for avionics in military aircraft?
 Single seat fighter aircraft
 Elimination of the second crew
 Reduce the crew training cost
 All weather operation and weapon system
 Reduction in fuel consumption
 Improved aircraft performance and control
 Reduce the maintenance cost
3) Name at least five air data sensors.
 Mach meter
 Air speed indicator
 Altimeter
 Vertical speed indicators
 Air temperature indicators
4) List any three data entry control systems.
 Keyboard
 Touch panel
 Direct Voice Input (DVI) control
5) Differentiate between survivability and vulnerability.
Survivability: capability of a system to continue to function in the presence of a non –
nuclear threat.

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 Vulnerability: a measure of the characteristics that contributes to the degradation or loss
of a function in an object.
6) Give the need for standard documents in the design of avionics systems.
 Standard basic design criteria
 To assure the required reliability
 Maintainability
 Interchangeability
 Compatibility
 Quality assurance
 Timing specification
7) List the ‘illities’ in avionics system.
 Capability
 Reliability
 Maintainability
 Certificabilty
 Survivability
 Vulnerability
8) What is aliasing?
The effects from sampling data at a sampling frequency below the frequency of
the noise components present in the signal so that spurious low frequency signals are
introduced from the sampled noise.
9) What are major role of avionics?
 To enable the flight crew to carry out the aircraft mission safely and efficiently.
 The reduction in weight is also significant and can be translated into more
passengers or long range on less fuel.
 Improve the aircraft performance and controls.
10) List out any four avionics sub – systems.
 Display system
 Communication system
 Flight control system
 Navigation system
11) What is an auto pilot?
Auto pilot is to control the flight of the aircraft and maintain it on a pre – determined
path in space without any action being required by the pilot.
12) What is FMS?
FMS is a Flight Management System and reduce the pilot workload and increased
aircraft performance.
The tasks carried out by the FMS,
 Flight planning
 Navigation management
 Engine control
 Flight envelope monitoring
 Minimizing fuel consumption
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13) List the various layers of avionics system.
 Aircraft state sensors
 Navigation systems
 External world sensors
 Task automation
14) What is the need for avionics in civil aircraft?
 The avionics system to enable the flight crew to carry out the aircraft mission safely
and efficiently such as carrying of the passengers to their destination safely.
 The reduction in weight is also significant and can be translated into more
passengers.
15) List the important requirements in design of avionics systems.
 The importance of achieving minimum weight.
 The adverse operating environment particularly in military aircraft in terms of
operating temperature range, acceleration, shock, vibration, humidity range and
electro – magnetic interference.
 The importance of very high reliability, safety and integrity.
 Space constraints particularly in military aircraft.
16) What is an air data system?
Air data systems provide accurate information on quantities such as air density ratio,
aircraft height, air speed, static air temperature and Mach number. This information is
essential for the pilot to fly the aircraft safely and efficiently.

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