Abstract
A new off-line simulator generates data for designing and testing air traffic control (A TC) systems. A 32-bit Perkin-Elmer 3220 simulates flight paths and computes the times at which radars detect aircraft. Written in FORTRAN 7, this system can handle 350 aircraft in scenarios using 15 radars and lasting up to 10 hours. Three-dimensional equations of motion calculate aircraft positions as functions of time during loops, turns, and speed changes. The time of radar detection is computed by numerically solving a transcendental equation. The simulated returns are sorted by time, formatted, and written to disc storage. When they are needed by an A TC system under test, a driver routine sends them to the tracking and display sections based on their time tags. Thus, an off-line simulator can pro duce data that a real-time A TC system cannot distinguish from those provided by real radars and aircraft.
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