NECTAR : New map editor for the benefit of Air Traffic

This project started at the beginning of 1995. It will be very useful to people who concern themselves with creating and updating maps for typical controller system interface systems, FLASH, HEGIAS, PHIDIAS and other SPECTACLE.

General presentation

The project

This project which is part of the STNA/CENA collaboration about SPECTACLE DEMON and ... PHIDIAS will generate a map editor representing :

• A tool being part of SPECTACLE distribution which will make it possible for people who prepare the SPECTACLE exercise environment to create maps from existing maps and update them,
• A map editor prototype adapted to the new environment which PHIDIAS will induce.It will make it possible to refine operational tool specifications to be provided with PHIDIAS,
• A tool which could be used within CENA for different projects needing to produce this type of data.

This map editor is an off-line tool permitting to create and modify typical objects of maps. These objects are stored as data files. The different computer systems air traffic control disposes of (control position, supervision systems....) already use data of this kind in different formats. This editor will allow to retrieve existing maps under these different formats and to produce maps we can use at the same time in new systems such as SPECTACLE and DEMON but also in former systems. This editor proves to be an evolution of the previous tools developed either by STNA (map editor DEMON), or by CENA (map editor VIDEOMAP for HEGIAS).

The team

The team developing this product is principally forme by members of the teamHEGIAS : Dominique Ruiz and Jean-Marie Heugebaert, with the support of Isabelle Vicente and Didier Pavet.

Products - dates

A first version of NECTAR 1.0 will be issued with SPECTACLE in March 96.
An announcement will be made as soon as a "presentable"software in beta version is available so that the persons who have interest in CENA could evaluate the product.

Detailed presentation

Technical environment

This tool will work on typical equipment PHIDIAS (DEC alpha under OSF), machine DEC 3000, SUN SPARC under SUNOS then SOLARIS. This tool is developed in X11 and uses MOTIF, ICS radar widget.

Data format constraints

The editor will be able to read or include map files in the formats :

• binary videomap,
• text videomap( there are several kinds of them),
• new storing format (see below),
• maybe other data import formats which should be mentioned later on; we can note : map format of DEMON, ...

And of course the editor will be able to store these maps into the new format, but also it will be able to save the maps in the former videomap format (binary format) so as to be used as a single tool permitting handling of these objects.

Contraintes d'utilisation des cartes

The ICS radar widget can read these maps(in format NECTAR) without any difficulty. In particular the new graphic objects of arc type are actually interpreted and created in the form of an arc: objects defined by the new map format are compatible with the possibilities that the radar widget offers.

The maps created by the editor could also be transformed into videomaps which could be interpreted by the former displaying systems(control position 670, other system).

New functionalities

New objects

The maps will make it possible to manage new elements or the following element attributes :

• arc, circle, polyline, hippodrome,
• types of lines : solid line, broken, solid with distance marker, combined (line+dot), solid and double, broken and double, double with distance marker, double and combined,
• thickness of line,
• symbols : a group of symbols pertaining to Air Traffic Control has been established. Nevertheless it will be a good thing to provide a certain flexibility : the characters to be displayed could belong to a character font,
• priority : each object will have a priority attribute allowing the sequence of visibility to be known,
• colour : we'll associate a symbolic colour with each object. The relationship between the real colour and the symbolic colour will be given in a table of correspondence (colour reference entity),
• surfacing : for certain objects we could indicate the character "full" or "not full" of the object in question,
• style of filling : in case of surfacing a style of filling (pattern) could be defined,
• association : elementary entities could be associated so as to form a composite entity.

New functions

Among which :

• environmental functions: (import,/export, data reading/writing in different formats ),
• interface functions pertaining to the appearance of new objects,
• functions of new modes of construction:
  • construct a point as the intersection of a circle (centre on a reference point,radius being determined) with a bearing line(according to a certain angle),
  • construct a line from a point at a given distance and according to a precise angle, -other modes are to be subtly determined with potential users.

New format of map description

A new map storing format has been defined;this is a text format close to ADEXP (format used as a flight plan data exchange standard) or MAFF (this format used in project MASS to describe data pertaining to the simulator configuration is derived from ADEXP).

It has the following capacities :

• it has a structure(a syntax has to be defined as a meta-language so as to precise how the dictionary associated with the data description must be written),
• we can decode it easily ("parsable"),
• optional fields are accepted (not informed),
• it is self-descriptive (syntax used must allow to interpret information easily),
• it is expandable: a set of data pertaining to a data dictionary could be interpreted by a tool having a more complete dictionary (this notion will be precised later on).

available references

[1]

Memo STNA/94.1684 S.Boisse

[2]

Memo CENA/N94333/JL.Théret

[3]

Memo CENA/N94362/JL.Théret

[4]Map editor description VIDEOMAP

Memo CENA/NT95112/JM.Heugebaert

[5]Map editor prior study NECTAR

Memo CENA/NT95160/D.Pavet

Interface Nectar / Radar Widget- reference manual

Memo CENA/NT96077/JM.Heugebaert

Specification file- data format Nectar

Memo CENA/NT96078/JM.Heugebaert

Interface between NECTAR editor and database

Memo CENA/NT96167/JM.Heugebaert

Works in progress

• nectar 1.0 interface specification finalization
• NECTAR 1.0 software development
• nectar 1.0 map format specification editing

Last modified : 09/11/2004 at 13:12:17

© CENA/ICS 1998