Under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) FENS contract Frequentis will work together with Verizon to transition the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) to a modern IP network.
The NAS supports more than one billion passengers per year. In the FAA’s mission to continue to provide the safest and most efficient aerospace system in the world, the FENS programme will update the FAA’s telecommunications network across the United States. The prime contract was recently awarded to Verizon, with Frequentis supporting all phases of the programme.
Under the terms of the FENS contract, Verizon will build a dynamic, highly available and secure enterprise network for the FAA, in order to support the agency’s mission-critical applications across the NAS. FENS will support the Air Traffic Management (ATM) of more than 45,000 flights and 2.9 million airline passengers per day travelling across the 29 million square miles that make up the NAS.
Under the terms of the contract with Verizon, Frequentis will provide its mission- and safety-critical network products vitalsphere® VCX-IP and NetBroker for versatile, modern, and network-enabled ATM operations in the NAS. The Frequentis products will enable Verizon and the FAA to support voice communications, radar, automation, and other NAS requirements with legacy interfaces while moving to an IP-based network.
“Frequentis is proud to have been selected by Verizon for the important objective of interfacing the FAA’s operational ATM systems to the FENS backbone. Our VCX-IP and NetBroker have been designed for this exact purpose. We are looking forward to supporting Verizon’s FENS team in its evolution of the FAA’s network infrastructure,” says Dieter Eier, President, Frequentis USA. “Under the contract, Frequentis will also supply enterprise services for configuration and network management, along with architecture and integration support.”
FENS is the successor to the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) contract implemented in 2002 to provide consolidated telecom services for the NAS and the agency’s mission support functions. FENS will serve as the primary means for the FAA’s telecommunications services and forms the basic infrastructure for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen.
Frequentis will be an integral enabler for the FAA’s TDM-to-IP (Time Division Multiplexing to Internet Protocol) migration in the NAS, a change which will enhance data communication among various locations using adaptable point-to-cloud paths.
Frequentis is also currently delivering the Interim Voice Switch Replacement (IVSR) to the FAA, which is already in use at over 220 towers and Terminal Radar Approach Control Facilities (TRACONs). It's the only air traffic control voice switch currently in production that is approved for use in the NAS. Frequentis also provides IP-gateways and electronic flight strips to the FAA. Through the FENS programme, Frequentis is further establishing its role in helping the FAA modernise for NextGen capabilities.
