Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VISORS (Validation Infrastructure SuppOrting Remote Simulations)
Berichtszeitraum: 2024-09-01 bis 2025-08-31
Real-Time Simulations (RTS) are largely recognized as a means to support the validation process for systems and procedures, up to the highest readiness levels and are, therefore, commonly used to support TRL6, and beyond, validation campaigns in the SESAR context. With the development of new airspace users (e.g. RPAS, drones) and new Air Traffic Management (ATM) concepts and further expected innovation for the near future (e.g. U-space, Innovative Air Mobility (AAM)), Validation & Verification (V&V) processes are becoming more and more complex with an increase in interoperability requirements for the validation infrastructures supporting those concepts and operational conditions. Moreover, with the design and implementation of new ATM concepts on a global level like planned by SESAR and the NextGen Office based on improved ways of organizing and sharing information as well as collaborative decision-making between the stakeholders of the Air Traffic System (ATS), new technologies and processes have to be developed, tested and validated under specific recognition of the needs for interaction and interconnection between involved actors and organizations. Hence, the key objective of VISORS is to evaluate technical and economic aspects of cybersecure Distributed/Federated Real-Time Simulations (D/F-RTS) as a viable means to tackle the increase in complexity in the validation process in SESAR and to develop new methods and technics that support Human Performances (HPs) and Security assessments for Human-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulations.
During the first reporting period (RP1), from 01 September 2024 to 31 August 2025, the VISORS project progressed as planned. All work packages (WPs) and tasks started as planned and no deviation with regard to the schedule of the WPs have to be reported. In total, 11 deliverables and three milestone were due in RP1. Nearly all deliverables were submitted on time and the milestone were achieved. Minor delays in the submission of two deliverables (i.e. D2.1 D3.2) were communicated to SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking in advance. The main technical work centered around WP2 "Analyses and requirement definition" and WP3 "D/F-RTS platform Implementation and Experimental Demo Test". In WP2, activities were on two main pillars. On the one hand, WP2 developed and defined three relevant use cases being (i) pure ATM – flexible use of airspace, (ii) ATM-UTM integration including remote taxi operation and (iii) RPAS integration into non-segregated airspace. These use cases shall be analyzed through distributed/ federated Real-time Simulation (D/F-RTS) exercises. On the other hand, WP2 focused on the definition of technical, operational, human performance and security requirements for the foreseen simulation environment in a distributed/ federated high-level architecture. In WP3, the main work focused on the planning and preparation of the distributed/ federated real-time simulations of the project. In essence, required interfaces and protocols between the used simulators were defined and needed steps towards updating facilities and infrastructures were taken. Furthermore, the simulation architecture was defined and initial simulator interfaces tests were conducted. In parallel, project management (WP1) and communication, dissemination and exploitation (WP5) activities were performed. These activities included monitoring the project progress, identified risks and opportunities on project level, providing guidance whenever needed and disseminating initial project results through scientific publication and at different events.
Several results beyond the state of the art have been achieved within the first reporting period. The Operational Service and Environment Description (OSED) document (Deliverable 2.2) for the SESAR solution 0506 (D/F-RTS), created within the scope of the VISORS project, outlines the operational service and environment in which the VISORS solution is intended to be implemented in distributed/federated real-time simulations within the ATM/UTM context. This document details the operational environment and, in particular, the new operating method in a distributed/federated simulation architecture highlighting required, beyond state of the art, key assumption. Furthermore, the developed Functional Requirements Document (FRD) (Deliverable 2.3) defines the functional architecture, and the functional requirements envisaged to be implemented in order to perform distributed/ federated real-time simulations in the ATM/ UTM context. Furthermore, high-level assumptions are listed that are applicable to the developed VISORS SESAR solution, which are going beyond state of the art. In addition, a peer-reviewed paper has been presented at the IEEE Integrated Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (ICNS) 2025 conference in Brussels at EUROCONTROL headquarters on 07th – 10th April 2025 and has been published. This contribution included both a scientific publication and an accompanying presentation, disseminating key VISORS insights and viewpoints on D/F-RTS to the international aviation and research community. The work focused on the presentation of the foreseen high-level simulation architecture, the comprehensive definition of experimental demonstration exercise scenarios, and the integration of human performance and cyber-security considerations with regards to remote RTS infrastructure. Finally, the VISORS project was presented at the Airspace World 2025 in Lisbon on 26th – 28th May 2025 during the SESAR Walking Tour focusing on the project’s objectives and the planned experimental demonstration use cases in order to receive valuable feedback regarding their realism, significance, and limitations from the present experts.