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Leading the Way for the Future of EGNOS

Airbus-led consortiums have recently won a series of contracts to shape the future of EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service. EGNOS enhances Galileo and GPS signals to provide augmented safety of life services.

EGNOS V3, set to replace the current version, is already being developed by a consortium of 20 European companies led by Airbus. It will enable ‘Category I’ automatic landing of aircraft – with the flight crew supervising – in weather conditions where it would otherwise be dangerous or impossible to operate. 

To prepare EGNOS V3 Evolutions, the European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a new study contract to Airbus.  The focus is on the use of the augmentation service for stringent operations like Category II approach and landing under very low visibility conditions going beyond the current EGNOS V3 performance requirements.

Preceding this, Airbus has been conducting an innovative study under the ESA NAVISP Programme to assess the potential of sensor fusion techniques, for aviation applications demanding stringent performance requirements aiding operations under low visibility conditions. The study assesses the fit and the benefits of this approach to the Positioning Navigation & Timing (PNT) requirement adherence, in particular for the Satellite Navigation.

In addition, Airbus, together with European partners, has won a series of contracts from the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) and ESA to extend EGNOS service use for the safe operations of railways. The resulting projects are:

– CLUG (Certifiable Localisation Unit with GNSS): GNSS could prove a game changer for the European railway network by enabling a significant reduction of trackside equipment and by improving localisation performance. This project is performing mission analysis/needs identification and a preliminary feasibility study of an on-board localisation unit.

– GREET (GNSS for the Railway EnvironmEnT) ESA recently awarded Airbus a study for the development of a railway GNSS receiver chain to support the testing and validation of integrity concepts, algorithms, and techniques for receivers in railway environment.

– EGNSS-R (European GNSS for Rail): Rail signaling systems are used to safely control traffic in order to prevent train collisions.  The project aims to define a new GNSS augmentation service for improved rail signaling, along with an implementation roadmap.

Garmin Announce Certification of G1000 NXi Upgrade in Piper Meridian

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification and availability of the G1000 NXi upgrade for G1000-equipped Piper Meridian aircraft. The G1000 NXi integrated flight deck upgrade is available immediately for these aircraft through select Garmin dealers and features several new enhancements such as SurfaceWatch, visual approaches, geographical map overlay within the HSI and more.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005056/en/

State-of-the-art processors support faster map rendering and smoother panning throughout the G1000 NXi displays. The flight displays also initialize in seconds so pilots have immediate access to frequencies, flight plan data and more, saving valuable time in the cockpit. The G1000 NXi integrated flight deck also incorporates contemporary animations and LED back-lighting, offering increased display brightness and clarity, reduced power consumption and improved dimming performance.

– The G1000 NXi integrated flight deck boasts a comprehensive feature set with new and advanced capabilities. Unique features included as part of the G1000 NXi upgrade for the Piper Meridian include:SurfaceWatch runway monitoring technology, which provides visual and aural cues to help prevent pilots from taking off or landing on a taxiway, on a runway that is too short or on the wrong runway based on performance data entered during preflight.

– Visual approaches offer pilots enhanced guidance in visual flight conditions based on a three-degree glideslope from the threshold of the runway. Pilots can set customized minimums, select vectors or straight-in for the final approach intercept and fly a visual approach coupled with the autopilot.

– Geographical map overlay within the HSI supports the display of NEXRAD, Flight Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B) weather, weather radar, SafeTaxi airport diagrams, traffic1, terrain and more.

– Flight Stream 510 and Connext technology enables Database Concierge, the wireless transfer of aviation databases from the Garmin Pilot™ app on a mobile device to the G1000 NXi integrated flight deck. Flight Stream 510 also supports two-way flight plan transfer, the sharing of traffic, weather, GPS information and back-up attitude information.

– The G1000 NXi system supports the display of various Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) In benefits via the GTX 345R transponder.

– Pilots can optionally overlay European Visual Reporting Points (VRPs) on the moving map, as VRPs are standard within the navigation database.

– Display of sectional charts, as well as IFR low/high enroute charts are available on the MFD.

– Smart Airspace highlights the airspace nearest the aircraft’s current altitude and de-emphasizes non-pertinent airspace.

– COM frequencies are decoded and displayed on the PFD for easier interpretation.

– Decoded Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) can be viewed on the MFD.

– Split-screen functionality allows pilots to view flight plans, charts and more simultaneously.

– An optional audio panel upgrade offers advanced features such as 3D Audio, auto squelch and Bluetooth connectivity.

The G1000 NXi integrated flight deck upgrade for existing G1000-equipped Piper Meridian aircraft is available immediately through select Garmin dealers. Meridian owners and operators can easily upgrade to the G1000 NXi with minimal aircraft down time and disruption of the panel as the displays preserve the same footprint and connectors, so panel modifications are not required. The upgraded components of the G1000 NXi also come with a two-year warranty, which is supported by Garmin’s award-winning avionics product support team.