The main conclusions that can be derived from the body of work and results achieved by SAPIENT Project are:
• The Project has confirmed the presence of a gap in the current definition of ATM Datalinks
• The project has proved the important role of a Solution to monitor and control ATM Datalinks in order to be proactively avoid or, at worst, mitigate through quick reaction any abnormal conditions in Datalink exploitation for Safety and Efficiency ATM CNS
• The project has highlighted the important role of a Solution to monitor and control ATM Datalinks, exploiting monitoring and control both local – by Aircraft means - and global – by Ground/System means
• The project has verified the important role of a unified set of KPI processed by all air ground datalinks to collect, disseminate and exploit 4D status information about the operation of Datalinks
• The project has focused the important role of a unified set of KPI for both manned and remotely piloted/unmanned aircraft flying not segregated in Single European Sky
• The project has emphasized the relevance that the SAPIENT Solution is defined, designed, verified and validated as an external “enabler” that complements transparently the capability set of existing and/or planned Datalinks, to effectively meet the QoS requirements of the CPDLC, ADS-C, AIS/MET and AOC applications in all relevant airspaces
• The project has shown the relevance that the SAPIENT Solution is defined, designed, verified and validated as an element of the Multilink Solution currently in definition as part of SESAR2020 P 14.2.4 to effectively meet the QoS requirements of the CPDLC, ADS-C, AIS/MET and AOC applications in continental airspaces
• The project has direct attention to the important topic that a the KPI enabled collection, dissemination and exploitation of Datalink 4D status information is able to improve the overall behaviour of ATM/CNS Datalinks in several abnormal conditions, such as frequency handover, Datalink cell overload, CNS/ATM application overload, etc.
• The project has given prominence to that the long term SATCOM service shall be interoperable with respect to the legacy services and to other future services, as soon as the same communication protocol is applied
• The project has generated the SAPIENT requirements and initial business case scenario
• The project has defined the unified set of KPIs to perform cost-effectively the monitor and control of ATM Datalinks and Multilinks
The SAPIENT solution definition and the associated SAPIENT Verification activities, performed via SAPIENT simulator, have demonstrated that the implementation of the SAPIENT solution provide positive impacts on the ATM multilink environment, that have been translated in data link measurable performances that can be assessed and verified with the developed tool:
• The integrity improves by reduction of data losses (bit, packet or frame). The SAPIENT solution implementation should allow to reduce the Packet Loss Rate (PLR), the Bit Error Rate (BER) or the Frame Error Rate (FER) depending on the selected performance indicator and the applied protocol for DL, therefore it is expected an increased service integrity
• The service continuity improves with respect to a system not implementing the SAPIENT solution.
• The service availability improves with respect to a system not implementing the SAPIENT solution.
The innovative aspects addressed in the SAPIENT Project are related to the TAS-I patent “System for Aeronautical Safety of Life Applications Providing Adaptation of Services and Communication Resources for Maximized Safety and Capacity Performance” . Significant references for the ATM Datalink aspects are the activities undergoing in SESAR on VDL2 (VHF Digital Link Mode 2) and other new generation digital datalinks and in ESA on Iris.
