Flight Management Systems

 The FMS has become one of the key avionics systems because of the major reduction in
pilot work load which is achieved by its use.
 In the case of military aircraft, they have enabled single crew operation of advanced
strike aircraft.

Figure is a block diagram of a typical flight management system.

The benefits they confer are briefly set out below:
 Quantifiable economic benefits – provision of automatic navigation and flight path
guidance to optimise the aircraft’s performance and hence minimise flight costs.
 Air traffic – growth of air traffic density and consequently more stringent ATC
requirements, particularly the importance of 4D navigation.
 Accurate navigation sources – availability of accurate navigation sources. For example,
INS /IRS, GPS, VOR, DME and ILS / MLS.
 Computing power – availability of very powerful, reliable, affordable computers.
 Data bus systems – ability to interconnect the various sub-systems.

The FMS carries out the following tasks:

1. Flight guidance and lateral and vertical control of the aircraft flight path.
2. Monitoring the aircraft flight envelope and computing the optimum speed for each phase of
the flight and ensuring safe margins are maintained with respect to the minimum and maximum
speeds over the flight envelope.
3. Automatic control of the engine thrust to control the aircraft speed.

Figure on the previous page shows the flight management system architecture of a modern
airliner, in this case the Airbus A380.
 Two independent Flight Management Systems; FMS-1 on the Captain’s side and FMS-2
on the First Officer’s side carry out the flight management function.
 The cockpit interfaces to the flight crew provided by each FMS comprise a Navigation
Display (ND), a Primary Flight Display (PFD), a Multi-Function Display (MFD), a
Keyboard and Cursor Control Unit (KCCU) and an Electronic Flight Instrument System
(EFIS) Control Panel (EFIS CP).
 The Multi-Function Display (MFD) displays textual data; over 50 FMS pages provide
information on the flight plan, aircraft position and flight performance. The MFD is
interactive; the flight crew can navigate through the pages and can consult, enter or
modify the data via the Keyboard and Cursor Control Unit (KCCU).
 The Keyboard and Cursor Control Unit (KCCU) enables the flight crew to navigate
through the FMS pages on the MFD and enter and modify data on the MFD, as
mentioned above, and can also perform some flight plan revisions on the lateral
Navigation Display (ND).
 The EFIS Control Panel (EFIS CP) provides the means for the flight crew to control the
graphical and textual FMS data that appear on the ND and PFD.
 There are three Flight Management Computers; FMC-A, FMC-B and FMC-C to carry
out the functional computations, which can be reconfigured to maintain the system
operation in the event of failures.
There are three different FMS operating modes; Dual Mode, Independent Mode and Single
Mode dependant on the system status.

Dual Mode

 Both flight management systems, FMS-1 and FMS-2, are healthy. Figure shows the
configuration in normal operation in the left side illustration and the configuration after a
single flight management computer failure in the right side illustration.
 In normal operation, FMC-A provides data to FMS-1, FMC-B provides data to FMC-2
and FMC-C is the standby computer.
 Of the two active computers, one FMC is the ‘master’ and the other is the ‘slave’,
depending on which autopilot is active and the selected position of the FMS Source
Select Switch.
 The two active FMCs independently calculate data, and exchange, compare and
synchronise these data. The standby computer does not perform any calculations, but is
regularly updated by the master FMC.
 In the case of a single FMC failure, for example FMC-A, FMC-C provides data to FMS-
1. as shown in the right side illustration in Figure.
IndependentMode
In the Independent Mode, FMS-1 and FMS-2 are both operative, but there is no data exchange
between them because they disagree on one or more items such as aircraft position, gross weight,
etc. This case is shown in the left side illustration in Figure.

Single Mode
The loss of two FMC’s causes the loss of either FMS-1 or FMS-2. The data from the operative
FMS is displayed to the flight crew by operating the Source Select Switch. This case is shown in
the right side illustration in Figure.
Radio Navigation Tuning
 The FMS automatically tunes the radio navigation aids, (NAVAIDs), used for the radio
position computation, the NAVAIDS for display on the Navigation Displays and the
landing system NAVAIDS. In ‘Dual’ and ‘Independent’ modes each FMS tunes its
onside NAVAIDS.
 These comprise, in the case of the A380, one VOR, four DMEs, one ILS (MLS/GLS
optional), one ADF (optional).
 In ‘Single’ FMS mode, or in the case of a communications failure between an FMS and
its onside Radio Management Panel (RMP), the available FMS will tune the NAVAIDS
on both sides.
 The tuning of the onside NAVAIDS passes through the onside RMP, to synchronise the
NAVAIDS tuning between the FMS and the RMP.
 The A380 FMS radio navigation tuning system is shown in Figure together with the
‘POSITION/ NAVAIDS Page’ display on the Multi-Function Display.
 The NAVAIDS displayed on the Navigation Displays and the landing system NAVAIDS
can also be tuned manually on the ‘POSITION/NAVAIDS’ Page of the MFD, or on the
Radio Management Panel. Manual tuning always has priority over automatic tuning.
Navigation
 The FMS combines the data from the navigational sources, comprising the inertial
systems, GPS and the radio navigation systems, in a Kalman filter to derive the best
estimate of the aircraft position. The accuracy of this estimate is also evaluated.
 Figure is a block diagram of the Kalman filtering of the navigational sources . Each FMS
computes the aircraft position and the position accuracy.
 The FMS computed position is an optimum combination of the inertial position and the
GPS or radio position, depending on which equipment provides the most accurate data.
This results in four navigation modes in decreasing order of priority:
• Inertial (IRS) – GPS.
• Inertial (IRS) – DME/DME.
• Inertial (IRS) – VOR/DME.
• Inertial (IRS) only.
 The FMS aircraft position always uses the inertial position. This computation is not
possible if the inertial position is not valid, and in this case all the FMS navigation and
flight planning functions are no longer available.
 The FMS continually computes the Estimated Position Uncertainty (EPU), and the EPU
is used, together with the Required Navigation Performance (RNP,) to define the aircraft
navigation accuracy.
The FMS continuously compares the actual EPU with the current RNP, and defines the
navigation class as:
• HIGH, if the EPU is less than, or equal to the RNP.
• LOW, if the EPU is greater than the RNP.
 The navigation class has to satisfy the Airworthiness Authorities Accuracy Requirements
(AAAR). The FMS computes ground speed, track, wind direction and velocity. (It should
be noted that the air data system provides the height information for vertical navigation.)
As stated earlier, the FMS provides both lateral and vertical guidance signals to the
autopilot to control the aircraft flight path. In the lateral case, the FMS computes the
aircraft position relative to the flight plan and the lateral guidance signals to capture and
track the flight path specified by the flight plan. Three-dimensional vertical guidance is
provided to control the vertical flight profile including the time dimension as will be
 explained in more detail later. This is of particular benefit during the descent and
approach.

Flight Planning
As explained earlier, a major function of an FMS is to help the flight crew with flight planning
and it contains a database of:
• Radio NAVAIDS – VOR, DME, VORTAC, TACAN, NDB, comprising identification,
latitude/longitude, altitude, frequency, magnetic variation, class, airline figure of merit.
• Waypoints – usually beacons.
• Airways – identifier, sequence number, waypoints, magnetic course.
• Airports – identifier, latitude, longitude, elevation, alternative airport.
• Runways – length, heading, elevation, latitude, longitude.
• Airport procedures – ICAO code, type, SID, STAR, ILS, profile descent.
• Company routes – original airport, destination airport, route number, type, cruise altitudes, cost
index.
The navigation data base is updated every 28 days, according to the ICAO AiRAC cycle, and is
held in non-volatile memory. It is clearly essential to maintain the recency and quality of the data
base and the operator is responsible for the detail contents of the data base which is to ARINC
424 format.
Control of the Vertical Flight Path Profile
The FMS selects the speeds, altitudes and engine power settings during climbs, cruises and
descents taking into account the flight plan, the prevailing conditions and the optimisation of the
operation of the aircraft.
The vertical definition of a typical flight plan is shown in Figure.

The tasks which can be carried out and the facilities provided by the FMS during the various
phases of the flight are briefly summarised below:
• TAKE OFF – The critical speeds V1, VR, and V2 are inserted by the crew and displayed on the
primary flight displays.
• CLIMB – The FMS uses the manually input speed, the ATC constraint speed or the economical
speed. It determines the start of the climb during take-off and predicts the end of the climb and
the optimum cruising flight level.
• CRUISE – Five flight levels can be defined manually in the FMS. Two flight levels can be
stored for every route in the navigation data base. During the cruise, ATC or the crew may
change the cruise altitude and the FMS can perform a ‘step’ climb at economical speed or a
‘step’ descent at 1000 ft/min at an economical speed. These events are also displayed
symbolically on the navigation display.
• DESCENT – The FMS uses the manually input speed, the ATC constraint speed or the
economic speed. The altitude and speed during the descent are computed as a function of the
distance to the destination and a geometric profile is formed. The flight path is then computed
backwards to satisfy the constraints.
• APPROACH – The FMS can be coupled to the autopilot or alternatively provide guidance
information to the pilot for manual control of the aircraft. Speed is critical during this phase and
the approach speed is computed with
respect to VREF and the landing configuration (flaps, slats, etc.) and the wind at the destination.
The approach mode is entered at the end of the descent and the approach ends either with landing
or go around. Lateral guidance is provided by the FMS from the computed aircraft position and
vertical guidance from barometric altitude
when an RNAV approach has been selected. The FMS also provides speed control. At the end of
an RNAV approach the crew takes control to carry out the landing using visual references. When
an ILS approach has been selected, the FMS tunes the ILS frequency and selects the runway
heading as required for the runway selected by the crew. The approach and landing guidance is
carried out by the autopilot using the ILS localiser references for horizontal guidance and the ILS
glide slope references for the vertical guidance until the glide extension
and flare phases, unless the crew elect to carry out an automatic go around or elect to take over
control.
• GO AROUND – This is always assumed. The FMS manages the climb to the accelerating
altitude or a selected altitude and provides track guidance from the outbound track defined in the
flight plan.
Operational Modes
The FMS provides a number of very useful operational modes which are shown in the little
sketches in Figures (a)–(d).

Tangential go direct to mode – This is shown in Figure (a) and provides navigation from the
current position to any waypoint in the flight plan or entered during the flight.
• Turn anticipation – This is shown in Figure (b) and avoids overshooting waypoints. It reduces
both the distance flown and off-track manoeuvring.
• Parallel offset tracking – This is illustrated in Figure(c). The lateral offset allows ATC to
increase traffic flows in certain cases.
• Holding pattern – This is illustrated in Figure(d). The FMS produces a precision holding
pattern based on published ICAO entry procedure to reduce the pilot work load.
Typical avionics sub systems or various layers of avionics systems or Systems Which Interface
Directly with the Pilot
Display Systems
 Provide the visual interface between the pilot and the aircraft systems and comprise head up
displays (HUDs), helmet mounted displays (HMDs) and head down displays (HDDs).
 The prime advantages 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 can concentrate on the outside world.
 The HUD now provides the primary display for presenting the essential flight information to the
pilot and in military aircraft has transformed weapon aiming accuracy.
 The HUD can also display a forward looking infrared (FLIR) video picture one to one with the
outside world from a fixed FLIR imaging sensor installed in the aircraft.
 The infrared picture merges naturally with the visual scene enabling operations to be carried out
at night or in conditions of poor visibility due to haze or clouds.
 The HMD enables the pilot to be presented with information while looking in any direction, as
opposed to the limited forward field of view of the HUD.

Communications Systems
 The need for reliable two way communication between the ground bases and the aircraft or
between aircraft is self evident and is essential for air traffic control.
 Long range communication is provided by high frequency (HF) radios operating in the band 2–
30 MHz.
 Near to medium range communication is provided in civil aircraft by very high frequency (VHF)
radios operating in the band 30–100 MHz
 Military aircraft by ultra high frequency (UHF) radio operating in the band 250–400 MHz.
Equipmentis usually at duplex level of redundancy
 The VHF radios are generally at triplex level on a modern airliner.
 Satellite communications (SATCOM) systems are also installed in many modern aircraft and
these are able to provide very reliable world wide communication.
Data Entry and Control Systems
 Are essential for the crew to interact with the avionic systems. Such systems range from
keyboards and touch panels to the use of direct voice input (DVI) control, exploiting speech
recognition technology, and voice warning systems exploiting speech synthesisers.
Flight Control Systems
 Exploit electronic system technology in two areas, namely auto-stabilisation (or stability
augmentation) systems and FBW flight control systems.
 Most swept wing jet aircraft exhibit a lightly damped short period oscillatory motion about the
yaw and roll axes at certain height and speed conditions, known as ‘Dutch roll’, and require at
least a yaw auto-stabiliser system to damp and suppress this motion; a roll auto-stabiliser system
may also be required.
 Most combat aircraft and many civil aircraft in fact require three axis auto-stabilisation systems
to achieve acceptable control and handling characteristics across the flight envelope.
 FBW flight control enables a lighter, higher performance aircraft to be produced compared with
an equivalent conventional design by allowing the aircraft to be designed with a reduced or even
negative natural aerodynamic stability.
 The system can be designed to provide excellent control and handling characteristics across the
flight envelope. ‘Care free manoeuvring’ characteristics can also be achieved
  A very high integrity, failure survival system is of course essential for FBW flight control.
Aircraft State Sensor Systems
(a)Air Data Systems
 Provide accurate information on the air data quantities that is the altitude, calibrated airspeed,
vertical speed, true airspeed, Mach number and airstream incidence angle.
 This information is essential for the control and navigation of the aircraft.
 The air data computing system computes these quantities from the outputs of very accurate
sensors which measure the static pressure, total pressure and the outside air temperature.
 The air-stream incidence angle is derived from air-stream incidence sensors.
(b)Inertial Sensor Systems
 Provide the information on aircraft attitude and the direction which is essential information for
the pilot in executing a manoeuvre or flying in conditions of poor visibility, flying in clouds or at
night.
 Accurate attitude and heading information are also required by a number of avionic sub-systems
which are essential for the aircraft’s mission – for example, the autopilot and the navigation
system and weapon aiming in the case of a military aircraft.
 The attitude and heading information is provided by the inertial sensor system(s). These comprise
a set of gyros and accelerometers which measure the aircraft’s angular and linear motion about
the aircraft axes, together with a computing system which derives the aircraft’s attitude and
heading from the gyro and accelerometer outputs.
 The INS is completely self-contained and does not require any access to the outside world.
Navigation Systems
 Accurate navigation information, that is the aircraft’s position, ground speed and track angle
(direction of motion of the aircraft relative to true North) is clearly essential for the aircraft’s
mission, whether civil or military.
 Navigation systems can be divided into dead reckoning (DR) systems and position fixing
systems; both types are required in the aircraft.
(a)Dead Reckoning 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. They have the major
advantages of being completely self contained and independent of external systems.
 The main types of DR navigation systems used in aircraft are:
(a) Inertial navigation systems. The most accurate and widely used systems.
(b) Doppler/heading reference systems. These are widely used in helicopters.
(c) Air data/heading reference systems These systems are mainly used as a reversionary navigation
system being of lower accuracy
 A characteristic of all DR navigation systems is that the position error builds up with time.
(b)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’s
position from the signals received from the transmitters. The prime position fixing system is
without doubt GPS (global positioning system).
 There are also radio navigation aids such as VOR/DME and TACAN which provide the range
and bearing (R/θ) of the aircraft.
  Approach guidance to the airfield/airport in conditions of poor visibility is provided by the ILS
(instrument landing system), or by the later MLS (microwave landing system).
Outside World Sensor Systems
 These systems, which comprise both radar and infrared sensor, systems enable all weather and
night time operation and transform the operational capability of the aircraft (or helicopter).
(a)Radar Systems
 Installed in civil airliners and many general aviation aircraft provide weather warning. The radar
looks ahead of the aircraft and is optimised to detect water droplets and provide warning of
storms, cloud turbulence and severe precipitation so that the aircraft can alter course and avoid
such conditions, if possible.
 These radars can also generally operate in ground mapping and terrain avoidance modes.
 Modern fighter aircraft generally have a ground attack role as well as the prime interception role
and carry very sophisticated multi-mode radars to enable them to fulfil these dual roles.
 In the airborne interception (AI) mode, the radar must be able to detect aircraft up to 100 miles
away and track while scanning and keeping tabs on several aircraft simultaneously (typically at
least 12 aircraft). The radar must also have a ‘look down’ capability and be able to track low
flying aircraft below it.
 In the ground attack or mapping mode, the radar system is able to generate a map type display
from the radar returns from the ground, enabling specific terrain features to be identified for
position fixing and target acquisition.
(b)Infrared Sensor Systems
 Have the major advantage of being entirely passive systems.
 Infrared (IR) sensor systems can be used to provide a video picture of the thermal image scene of
the outside world.
 The thermal image picture at night looks very like the visual picture in daytime, but highlights
heat sources, such as vehicle engines, enabling real targets to be discriminated from camouflaged
decoys.
 FLIR systems can also be installed in civil aircraft to provide enhanced vision in poor visibility
conditions in conjunction with a HUD.
Task Automation Systems
 These comprise the systems which 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.
(a)Navigation Management
 Comprises the operation of all the radio navigation aid systems and the combination of the data
from all the navigation sources, such as GPS and the INS systems, to provide the best possible
estimate of the aircraft position, ground speed and track.
 The system then derives the steering commands for the autopilot so that the aircraft automatically
follows the planned navigation route. It should be noted that this function is carried out by the
flight management system (FMS) (if installed).
(b)Autopilots and FlightManagement Systems
 It has been grouped together. Because of the very close degree of integration between these
systems on modern civil aircraft.
  It should be noted, however, that the Autopilot is a ‘stand alone’ system and not all aircraft are
equipped with an FMS.
 The autopilot relieves the pilot of the need to fly the aircraft continually with the consequent
tedium and fatigue and so enables the pilot to concentrate on other tasks associated with the
mission.
 a suitably designed high integrity autopilot system can also provide a very precise control of the
aircraft flight path for such applications as automatic landing in poor or even zero visibility
conditions.
 In military applications, the autopilot system in conjunction with a suitable guidance system can
provide automatic terrain following, or terrain avoidance.
The tasks carried out by the FMS include:
• Flight planning.
• Navigation management.
• Engine control to maintain the planned speed or Mach number.
• Control of the aircraft flight path to follow the optimised planned route.
• Control of the vertical flight profile.
• Ensuring the aircraft is at the planned 3D position at the planned time slot
Flight envelope monitoring.
• Minimising fuel consumption.
(c)Engine Control and Management Systems
 Carry out the task of control and the efficient management and monitoring of the engines.
 Many modern jet engines have a full authority digital engine control system (FADEC). This
automatically controls the flow of fuel to the engine combustion chambers by the fuel control
unit.
 The control system ensures the engine limits in terms of temperatures, engine speeds and
accelerations are not exceeded and the engine responds in an optimum manner to the throttle
command.
 A FADEC engine control system is thus similar in many ways to a FBW flight control system.
 Other very important engine avionic 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. These give early warning of engine performance deterioration,
excessive wear, fatigue damage, high vibration levels, excessive temperature levels, etc.
(d)House Keeping Management
 To cover the automation of the background tasks which are essential for the aircraft’s safe and
efficient operation.
Such tasks include:
• Fuel management. This embraces fuel flow and fuel quantity measurement and control of fuel transfer
from the appropriate fuel tanks to minimise changes in the aircraft trim.
• Electrical power supply system management.
• Hydraulic power supply system management.
• Cabin/cockpit pressurisation systems.
• Environmental control system.
• Warning systems.
• Maintenance and monitoring systems.
Need of avionics in civil, military and spacecraft

Civil Aircraft

 The avionics industry is a major multi-billion dollar industry world-wide.

 The avionics equipment on a modern military or civil aircraft can account for around 30% of the
total cost of the aircraft.
 This figure for the avionics content is more like 40% in the case of a maritime patrol/anti-
submarine aircraft (or helicopter) and can be over 75% of the total cost in the case of an airborne
early warning aircraft (AWACS).
 Modern general aviation aircraft also have significant avionics content. For example, colour head
down displays, GPS satellite navigation systems, radio communications equipment. Avionics can
account for 10% of their total cost.
 The avionic systems are essential to enable the flight crew to carry out the aircraft mission safely
and efficiently, whether the mission is carrying passengers to their destination in the case of a
civil airliner, or, in the military case, intercepting a hostile aircraft, attacking a ground target,
reconnaissance or maritime patrol.
 A major driver in the development and introduction of avionic systems has been the need to meet
the mission requirements with the minimum flight crew.
 In the case of a modern civil airliner, this means a crew of two only, namely the First Pilot (or
Captain) and the Second Pilot.
 This is only made possible by reducing the crew workload by automating the tasks which used to
be carried out by the Navigator and Flight Engineer.
 The achievement of safe two crew operation has very considerable economic benefits for the
airline in a highly competitive market with the consequent saving of crew salaries, expenses and
training costs.
 The reduction in weight is also significant and can be translated into more passengers or longer
range on less fuel.
 In the military case, a single seat fighter or strike (attack) aircraft is lighter and costs less than an
equivalent two seat version.
 The elimination of the second crew member (Navigator/Observer/Radar Operator) has also
significant economic benefits in terms of reduction in training costs
 Other very important drivers for avionic systems are 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.
 The Air Traffic Control (ATC) transponder system, the Ground ProximityWarning System
(GPWS) and the Threat Alert/Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), all of which are mandatory
equipment for civil airliners.
 GPWS provides warning by means of a visual display and audio signal (‘Pull up, Pull up . . . ’)
that the aircraft is on a flight path that will result in flying into the terrain, and that action must be
taken to change the flight path.
 TCAS provides an alerting and warning display of other aircraft in the vicinity in terms of their
range, course and altitude together with advisory collision avoidance commands.
Military Aircraft

Weapon Management:
 Fire control to calculate lead angle for aiming guns and unguided rockets at other aircraft and
at ground target.
 Stores management that initializes and launches guided weapons: Missile and Bombs.
Electronic Counter Measure (ECM):
 This subsystem detects, locates and identifies enemy emitters of electromagnetic radiation.
 It may also generate jamming sgnals.
Mission Planning:
 Pre-flight mission planning is usually done at the airbase by a computer that prepares
coordinated flight plans for an entire squadron.
 On-board software replans routes through enemy defenses based on en-route observation.
 Enroute replanning requires on-board digital maps of the terrain and real time detection of
enemy radars.
 The military uses radar in fast jets to help pilots fly at low levels.
 Electro-Optic Systems(EOS) include forward looking infrared (FLIR), and passive infrared
devices (PIDS) are used to provide imagery to crews.
 This image is used for everything from search and rescue through to acquiring better
resolution on a target.
 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) and Defensive Aids (DAIDS) are used extensively to
gather information about threats or possible theats. They can be used to launch devices to
counter direct threats against the aircraft.
Air Superiority
 The primary aim of this role is to deny to an enemy the airspace over the battlefield, thus
allowing ground attack aircraft a free rein in destroying ground targets and assisting ground
forces, secure in the knowledge that the airborne threat has been suppressed.
 The air superiority aircraft is typically designed to enable the pilot to respond rapidly to a
deployment call, climb to intercept or loiter on combat air patrol (CAP) and then to engage
enemy targets, preferably beyond visual range.
 The aircraft should also have the capability to engage in close combat, or dogfight,with other
aircraft should this prove to be necessary.
 The systems must allow for accurate navigation, accurate identification of targets, prioritisation
of targets, accurate weapon aiming capability and the ability to join the tactical communications
network
Ground Attack
 The ground attack role has been developed to assist the tactical situation on the battlefield.
 The pilot must be able to identify the right target among the ground clutter and multiplicity of
targets and friendly units on the battlefield.
 The ability to designate targets by laser has enabled precision bombing to be adopted by the use
of laser-guided bombs or ‘smart’ bombs.
 The role must enable fixed targets such as buildings, radar installations and missile sites, as well
as mobile targets such as tanks, guns, convoys, ships and troop formations, to be detected,
positively identified and engaged
 Strategic Bomber
 The role of the strategic bomber is to penetrate deep into enemy territory and to carry out strikes
that will weaken defences and undermine the morale of the troops.
 The strategic bomber was usually a very high-flying aircraft capable of carrying a large load of
bombs which were released in a ‘carpet bombing’ pattern.
 The modern aircraft may choose to fly low and fast and rely on stealth to evade enemy radar
defences.
1. Explain the various “illities” of an avionics systems

Capability:

It is the capability of the system within the constraints that are exposed.

Reliability:

The system must be as reliable as possible since higher reliability generally leads to lower
maintenance costs.

Maintainability:

A good system need to have less and easy maintenance. So it must have built-in test, automated
trouble shooting and easy equipment access.

Availability:

Systems that are reliable and maintainable will yield high availability of aircraft. Aircraft that
have to be repaired often or take too long to repair are not contributing to the mission since they are not
available to fly.

Retrofit ability:

The capability of a new design of equipment to be successfully installed and operated in the place
of older one that is less capable equipment.

Supportability:

A design should use parts and support equipment’s common to other systems, so that support
costs can be spread across more than one system.
Survivability:

Capability of the system to continue to function in the presence of non-nuclear threat. It is the
function of susceptibility and vulnerability.

Susceptibility:

A measure of the probability that an object will be hit by a given threat.

Vulnerability:

It is measure of the probability that damage will occur due to the hit.

Flexibility & Adaptability:

These measure describe how easily the system can be changed or expanded as improvements
become available and additional functions are added.

Certificability:
 Certification is conducted by the regulatory agencies, is based on detailed, expert
examination of all facets of the aircraft design and operation.
 To expedite the certification process, the avionics architecture should be straight forward
and easily understandable.
 There should be no sneak circuits and non-obvious modes of operation.

2. Explain the system design for civil and military aircraft consideration:
a. Design objectives for avionics systems:
 Fulfil the required performance
 Acceptable levels of availability & failure conditions
 Ease of use and maintenance
 Environmental requirements
 System safety
b. Environmental requirements of avionics equipment’s
 Operating temperature is usually from -40o C to +70o C
 Full performance at 20,000 ft. within two minutes of take-off
 Operate under maximum acceleration (20g)
  Withstand against lightning strikes.
 An increasingly competitive environment, has led to a requirement of fault free
systems. This can be achieved either by improving the reliability of individual
components or by increasing the levels of redundancy of the components on-board the
aircraft.
c. Redundancy
 For critical systems, a spare unit can be carried on-board the aircraft.
 This can be either a hot spot spare or cold spare
 The hot spare is connected to the data bus, ready to be operational in the event of
component failure.
 The cold spare would require engineering assistance to bring it on line
d. Reliability
 Two measure of equipment reliability are generally used, both related, but dependent
on different factors.
 Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) – it is a component failure, either of the
whole device as far as the airline is concerned, or at part level for the manufacturer or
maintenance organization.
 Mean Time Between Unscheduled Removals (MTBUR)– the number times that a
component is removed from the aircraft on the ground suspected failure, irrespective
of whether it has been subsequently proved to have failed.
e. Built-In Test Equipment (BITE)
 To provide maintenance assistance to confirm pilot – generated fault reports
 To improve the accuracy of identification of a failed component
 To assess the serviceability after rectification or reinstallation.
f. Automatic Testing Equipment (ATE)
 Confirm a fault that is believed to exist
 Dragonising the fault and its location
 Testing the equipment function before reinstallation
g. System safety
 For investigation purposes, avionics system can be grouped in to two categories
 First category, failure or loss of which may indirectly affect safety
 Second category, failure or loss of which may directly affect safety

The civil aviation authority airworthiness objectives are summarised:

 Effect Permitted probability range Probability classification
Minor >1x10-3 Frequent
1x10-3 to 1x10-5 Reasonably probable
Major 1x10-5 to 1x10-7 Remote
Hazardous 1x10-7 to 1x10-9 Extremely remote
catastrophic < 1x10-9 Extremely improbable

h. Fault tolerant system

 Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue to satisfactory operation
in the presence of one or more non-simultaneous hardware or software
faults.
Redundancy – the systems use different levels of hardware redundancy (dual, triple
or quadruple), depending on the system level of criticality. Redundancy extends to
all hardware elements, such as processors, sensors, actuators, and data buses and to
the software.
Similar Redundancy- simplifies the design process and programming and
verification activates, but does not protect against generic errors.
Dissimilar Redundancy - make the system design, programming and verification
activities more complex, lengthy and expensive but protect against generic errors.
Reconfiguration – the dynamic reallocation of redundant elements by executive
level software in response to failures or changes in the aircraft mission. In the case
of advanced fault tolerance systems, the failed unit is automatically switched off
line.
 Introduction to digital computers:
1. Architecture of 8085Microprocessor:

FIG. Hardware Architecture of 8085

Control Unit

Generates signals within Microprocessor to carry out the instruction, which has been decoded. In
reality causes certain connections between blocks of the microprocessor to be opened or closed, so
that data goes where it is required, and so that ALU operations occur.
Arithmetic Logic Unit

The ALU performs the actual numerical and logic operation such as „addition, „subtraction,
„ANDed, „ORed, etc. Uses data from memory and from Accumulator to perform arithmetic.
Always stores result of operation in Accumulator.
Registers
The 8085/8080A-programming model includes six registers, one accumulator, and one flag
register, as shown in Figure. In addition, it has two 16-bit registers: the stack pointer and the
program counter. The 8085/8080A has six general-purpose registers to store 8-bit data; these are
identified as B,C,D,E,H, and L as shown in the figure. They can be combined as register pairs -
BC, DE, and HL - to perform some 16-bit operations. The programmer can use these registers to
store or copy data into the registers by using data copy instructions.
Accumulator
The accumulator is an 8-bit register that is a part of arithmetic/logic unit (ALU). This register is
used to store 8-bit data and to perform arithmetic and logical operations. The result of an
operation is stored in the accumulator. The accumulator is also identified as register A.
Flags
The ALU includes five flip-flops, which are set or reset after an operation according to data
conditions of the result in the accumulator and other registers. They are called Zero(Z), Carry
(CY), Sign (S), Parity (P), and Auxiliary Carry (AC) flags. The most commonly used flags are
Zero, Carry, and Sign. The microprocessor uses these flags to test data conditions.

For example, after an addition of two numbers, if the sum in the accumulator id larger than eight
bits, the flip-flop uses to indicate a carry -- called the Carry flag (CY) – is set to one. When an
arithmetic operation results in zero, the flip-flop called the Zero(Z) flag is set to one. The first
Figure shows an 8-bit register, called the flag register, adjacent to the accumulator. However, it
is not used as a register; five bit positions out of eight are used to store the outputs of the five
flip-flops. The flags are stored in the 8-bit register so that the programmer can examiexamine
these flags (dataconditions) by accessing the register through an instruction. These flags have
critical importance in the decision-making process of the microprocessor. The conditions (set or
reset) of the flags are tested through the software instructions. For example, the instruction JC
(Jump on Carry) is implemented to change the sequence of a program when CY flag is set.
Program Counter (PC)
This 16-bit register deals with sequencing the execution of instructions. This register is a
memory pointer. Memory locations have 16-bit addresses, and that is why this is a16-bit register.
The microprocessor uses this register to sequence the execution of the instructions. The function
of the program counter is to point to the memory address from which the next byte is to be
fetched. When a byte (machine code) is being fetched, the program counter is incremented by
one to point to the next memory location
Stack Pointer (SP)

The stack pointer is also a 16-bit register used as a memory pointer. It points to a memory
location in R/W memory, called the stack. The beginning of the stack is defined by loading 16-
bit address in the stack pointer.
Instruction Register/Decoder

Temporary store for the current instruction of a program. Latest instruction sent here from
memory prior to execution. Decoder then takes instruction and „decodes‟ or interprets the
instruction. Decoded instruction then passed to next stage.
Memory Address Register

Holds address, received from PC, of next program instruction. Feeds the address bus with
addresses of location of the program under execution.
Control Generator
Generates signals within microprocessor to carry out the instruction which has been decoded. In
reality causes certain connections between blocks of the microprocessor to be opened or closed,
so that data goes where it is required, and so that ALU operations occur.
Register Selector

This block controls the use of the register stack in the example. Just a logic circuit which
switches between different registers in the set will receive instructions from Control Unit.
2. 8085 SYSTEM BUS
Typical system uses a number of busses, collection of wires, which transmit binary numbers, one
bit per wire. A typical microprocessor communicates with memory and other devices (input and
output) using three busses: Address Bus, Data Bus and Control Bus.
Address Bus
One wire for each bit, therefore 16 bits = 16 wires. Binary number carried alerts memory to
‘open’ the designated box. Data (binary) can then be put in or taken out. The Address Bus
consists of 16 wires, therefore 16 bits. Its "width" is 16 bits. A 16 bit binary number allows 216
different numbers, or 32000 different numbers, ie 0000000000000000 up to 1111111111111111.
Because memory consists of boxes, each with a unique address, the size of the address bus
determines the size of memory, which can be used. To communicate with memory the
microprocessor sends an address on the address bus, eg 0000000000000011 (3 in decimal), to the
memory. The memory the selects box number 3 for reading or writing data. Address bus is
unidirectional, ie numbers only sent from microprocessor to memory, not other way.
Data Bus
Data Bus: carries ‘data’, in binary form, between μP and other external units, such as memory.
Typical size is 8 or 16 bits. Size determined by size of boxes in memory and μP size helps
determine performance of μP. The Data Bus typically consists of 8 wires. Therefore, 28
combinations of binary digits. Data bus used to transmit "data", ie information, results of
arithmetic, etc, between memory and the microprocessor.
Bus is bi-directional. Size of the data bus determines what arithmetic can be done. If only 8 bits
wide then largest number is 11111111 (255 in decimal). Therefore, larger number have to be
broken down into chunks of 255. This slows microprocessor. Data Bus also carries instructions
from memory to the microprocessor. Size of the bus therefore limits the number of possible
instructions to 256, each specified by a separate number.
Control Bus
Control Bus are various lines which have specific functions for coordinating and controlling uP
operations. Eg: Read/NotWrite line, single binary digit. Control whether memory is being
‘written to’ (data stored in mem) or ‘read from’ (data taken out of mem) 1 = Read, 0 = Write.
May also include clock line(s) for timing/synchronising, ‘interrupts’, ‘reset’ etc. Typically μP has
10 control lines.
Cannot function correctly without these vital control signals.
The Control Bus carries control signals partly unidirectional, partly bi-directional. Control
signals are things like "read or write". This tells memory that we are either reading from a
location, specified on the address bus, or writing to a location specified. Various other signals to
control and coordinate the operation of the system.
Modern day microprocessors, like 80386, 80486 have much larger busses. Typically 16 or 32 bit
busses, which allow larger number of instructions, more memory location, and faster arithmetic.
Microcontrollers organized along same lines, except: because microcontrollers have memory etc
inside the chip, the busses may all be internal. In the microprocessor the three busses are external
to the chip (except for the internal data bus). In case of external busses, the chip connects to the
busses via buffers, which are simply an electronic connection between external bus and the
internal data bus.
3. INSTRUCTION SET CLASSIFICATION
An instruction is a binary pattern designed inside a microprocessor to perform a specific
function. The entire group of instructions, called the instruction set, determines what functions
the microprocessor can perform. These instructions can be classified into the following five
functional categories: data transfer (copy) operations, arithmetic operations, logical operations,
branching operations, and machine-control operations.
Data Transfer (Copy) Operations:
This group of instructions copy data from a location called a source to another location called a
destination, without modifying the contents of the source. In technical manuals, the term data
transfer is used for this copying function. However, the term transfer is misleading; it creates the
impression that the contents of the source are destroyed when, in fact, the contents are retained
without any modification.
The various types of data transfer (copy) are listed below together with examples of each type:
Types Examples
1. Between Registers 1. Copy the contents of the register B into
register D.
2. Specific data byte to a register or a 2. Load register B with the data byte 32H.
memory location.
3. Between a memory location and a 3. From a memory location 2000H to register
register. B.
4. Between an I/O device and the 4.From an input keyboard to the
accumulator. accumulator.

Arithmetic Operations:
These instructions perform arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, increment, and
decrement.
Addition - Any 8-bit number, or the contents of a register or the contents of a memory location
can be added to the contents of the accumulator and the sum is stored in the accumulator. No two
other 8-bit registers can be added directly (e.g., the contents of register B cannot be added
directly to the contents of the register C). The instruction DAD is an exception; it adds 16-bit
data directly in register pairs.
Subtraction - Any 8-bit number, or the contents of a register, or the contents of a memory
location can be subtracted from the contents of the accumulator and the results stored in the
accumulator. The subtraction is performed in 2's compliment, and the results if negative, are
expressed in 2's complement. No two other registers can be subtracted directly.
Increment/Decrement - The 8-bit contents of a register or a memory location can be
incremented or decrement by 1. Similarly, the 16-bit contents of a register pair (such as BC) can
be incremented or decrement by 1. These increment and decrement operations differ from
addition and subtraction in an important way; i.e., they can be performed in any one of the
registers or in a memory location.
Logical Operations:
These instructions perform various logical operations with the contents of the accumulator.
AND, OR Exclusive-OR - Any 8-bit number, or the contents of a register, or of a memory
location can be logically ANDed, Ored, or Exclusive-ORed with the contents of the accumulator.
The results are stored in the accumulator.
Rotate- Each bit in the accumulator can be shifted either left or right to the next position.
Compare- Any 8-bit number, or the contents of a register, or a memory location can be
compared for equality, greater than, or less than, with the contents of the accumulator.
Complement - The contents of the accumulator can be complemented. All 0s are replaced by 1s
and all 1s are replaced by 0s.
Branching Operations:
This group of instructions alters the sequence of program execution either conditionally or
unconditionally.
Jump - Conditional jumps are an important aspect of the decision-making process in the
programming. These instructions test for a certain conditions (e.g., Zero or Carry flag) and alter
the program sequence when the condition is met. In addition, the instruction set includes an
instruction called unconditional jump.
Call, Return, and Restart - These instructions change the sequence of a program either by
calling a subroutine or returning from a subroutine. The conditional Call and Return instructions
also can test condition flags.
Machine Control Operations:
These instructions control machine functions such as Halt, Interrupt, or do nothing

4. 8085 ADDRESSING MODE:

Addressing modes are the manner of specifying effective address. 8085 Addressing mode can be
classified into:

1 - Direct Addressing Mode: the instruction consist of three byte, byte for the opcode of the
instruction followed by two bytes represent the address of the operand

Low order bits of the address are in byte 2

High order bits of the address are in byte 3

Ex: LDA 2000h

This instruction load the Accumulator is loaded with the 8-bit content of memory location
[2000h]

2 - Register addressing mode: The instruction specifies the register or register pair in which the
data is located .

Ex: MOV A,B

Here the content of B register is copied to the Accumulator.

3 - Register indirect addressing mode: The instruction specifies a register pair which contains
the memory address where the data is located.

Ex. MOV M , A

Here the HL register pair is used as a pointer to memory location. The content of Accumulator is
copied to that location

4- Immediate addressing mode: The instruction contains the data itself. This is either an 8 bit
quantity or 16 bit (the LSB first and the MSB is the second)

Ex: MVI A , 28h LXI H , 2000h

First instruction loads the Accumulator with the 8-bit immediate data 28h Second instruction
loads the HL register pair with 16-bit immediate data 2000h.
5. MULTIPLEXER

A Multiplexer or Mux is a device that has many inputs and a single output. The selected line decides
which i/p is connected to the o/p, and also increases the amount of data that can be sent over an n/w
within a certain time. A multiplexer is also called as a data selector. The best example of non-electronic
circuit of the multiplexer is a single-pole, multi-position switch, which is generally used in
many electronics circuits. The main purpose of mux is to perform high speed switching and is constructed
by a basic electronic components. These are accomplished by handling both analog and digital
applications. In analog applications, these are made up of transistor switches and relays, whereas in digital
applications, these are made up of logic gates. When the mux is used in digital applications, it is called as
a digital multiplexer.

4-to-1 Multiplexer
The 4X1 multiplexer comprises 4-input bits, 1- output bit, and 2- control bits. The four input bits are
namely 0, D1, D2 and D3, respectively; only one of the input bit is transmitted to the output. The o/p ‘q’
depends on the value of control input AB. The control bit AB decides which of the i/p data bit should
transmit the output. The following figure shows the 4X1 multiplexer circuit diagram using AND gates.
For example, when the control bits AB =00, then the higher AND gate are allowed while remaining AND
gates are restricted. Thus, data input D0 is transmitted to the output ‘q”
If the control input is changed to 11, then all gates are restricted except the bottom AND gate. In this case,
D3 is transmitted to the output and q=D0. If the control input is changed to AB =11, all gates are disabled
except the bottom AND gate. In this case, D3 is transmitted to the output and q = D3.The best example of
4X1 multiplexer is IC 74153. In this IC, the o/p is same as the i/p. Another example of 4X1 multiplexer is
IC 45352. In this IC, the o/p is the compliment of the i/p
Applications of Multiplexers
A Multiplexer is used in various applications wherein multiple data can be transmitted using a single line.

Communication System – A Multiplexer is used in communication systems, which has a transmission

system and also a communication network. A Multiplexer is used to increase the efficiency of the
communication system by allowing the transmission of data, such as audio & video data from different
channels via cables and single lines.

Computer Memory – A Multiplexer is used in computer memory to keep up a vast amount of memory
in the computers, and also to decrease the number of copper lines necessary to connect the memory to
other parts of the computer.

Telephone Network – A multiplexer is used in telephone networks to integrate the multiple audio signals
on a single line of transmission.

Transmission from the Computer System of a Satellite:

A Multiplexer is used to transmit the data signals from the computer system of a satellite to the ground
system by using a GSM communication.

6. DE-MULTIPLEXER
A demultiplexer is a device, that has one input and multiple output lines which is used to send a signal to
one of the various devices. The most prominent distinction between a multiplexer and demultiplexer is
that a multiplexer takes two or a lot of signals and encodes them on a wire, whereas a demultiplexer
reverses what the multiplexer does.

1-4 De-multiplexers
The 1-to-4 demultiplexer comprises 1- input bit, 4-output bits and – control bits. The 1X4 demultiplexer
circuit diagram is shown below.

The i/p bit is considered as Data D. This data bit is transmitted to the data bit of the o/p lines, which
depends on the AB value and the control i/p.
When the control i/p AB = 01, the upper second AND gate is permitted while the remaining AND gates
are restricted. Thus, only data bit D is transmitted to the output and Y1 = Data.

If the data bit D is low, the output Y1 is low. IF data bit D is high, the output Y1 is high. The value of the
output Y1 depends upon the value of data bit D, the remaining outputs are in a low state.

If the control input changes to AB = 10,then all the gates are restricted except the third AND gate from
the top. Then, data bit D is transmitted only to the output Y2; and, Y2 = Data. . The best example of 1X4
demultiplexer is IC 74155.

Applications of Demultiplexer
Demultiplexers are used to connect a single source to multiple destinations. These applications include
the following:

Communication System – Multiplexer and Demultiplexer both are used in communication systems to
carry out the process of data transmission. A De-multiplexer receives the output signals from the
multiplexer; and, at the receiver end, it converts them back to the original form.

Arithmetic Logic Unit – The output of the arithmetic logic unit is fed as an input to the De-multiplexer,
and the o/p of the demultiplexer is connected to a multiple registers. The output of the ALU can be stored
in multiple registers.

Serial to Parallel Converter – The serial to parallel converter is used to reform parallel data. In this
method, serial data are given as an input to the De-multiplexer at a regular interval, and a counter is
attached to the demultiplexer at the control i/p to sense the data signal at the demultiplexer’s o/p. When
all data signals are stored, the output of the demultiplexer can be read out in parallel.
Memory: