The

Avionics
Handbook

The Electrical Engineering Handbook Series

Series Editor

Richard C. Dorf
University of California, Davis

Titles Included in the Series

The Avionics Handbook, Cary R. Spitzer
The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, 2nd Edition, Joseph D. Bronzino
The Circuits and Filters Handbook, Wai-Kai Chen
The Communications Handbook, Jerry D. Gibson
The Control Handbook, William S. Levine
The Digital Signal Processing Handbook, Vijay K. Madisetti & Douglas Williams
The Electrical Engineering Handbook, 2nd Edition, Richard C. Dorf
The Electric Power Engineering Handbook, Leo L. Grigsby
The Electronics Handbook, Jerry C. Whitaker
The Engineering Handbook, Richard C. Dorf
The Handbook of Formulas and Tables for Signal Processing, Alexander D. Poularikas
The Industrial Electronics Handbook, J. David Irwin
The Measurement, Instrumentation, and Sensors Handbook, John G. Webster
The Mechanical Systems Design Handbook, Osita D.I. Nwokah
The RF and Microwave Handbook, Mike Golio
The Mobile Communications Handbook, 2nd Edition, Jerry D. Gibson
The Ocean Engineering Handbook, Ferial El-Hawary
The Technology Management Handbook, Richard C. Dorf
The Transforms and Applications Handbook, 2nd Edition, Alexander D. Poularikas
The VLSI Handbook, Wai-Kai Chen
The Mechatronics Handbook, Robert H. Bishop

The

Avionics
Handbook
Edited by

CARY R. SPITZER
AvioniCon, Inc.
Williamsburg,Virginia

CRC Press
Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The avionics handbook / edited by Cary R. Spitzer.
p. cm. -- (Electrical engineering handbook series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8493-8348-X (alk. paper)
1. Avionics. I. Spitzer, Cary R. II. Series.
TL695 .A8163 2000
629.135dc21

00-048637
CIP

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with
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2001 by CRC Press LLC
No claim to original U.S. Government works
International Standard Book Number 0-8493-8348-X
Library of Congress Card Number 00-048637
Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Printed on acid-free paper

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Preface

Avionics is the cornerstone of modern aircraft. More and more, vital functions on both military and civil
aircraft involve electronic devices. After the cost of the airframe and the engines, avionics is the most
expensive item on the aircraft, but well worth every cent of the price.
Many technologies emerged in the last decade that will be utilized in the new millennium. After proof
of soundness in design through ground application, advanced microprocessors are finding their way onto
aircraft to provide new capabilities that were unheard of a decade ago. The Global Positioning System
has enabled satellite-based precise navigation and landing, and communication satellites are now capable
of supporting aviation services. Thus, the aviation world is changing to satellite-based communications,
navigation, and surveillance for air traffic management. Both the aircraft operator and the air traffic
services provider are realizing significant benefits.
Familiar technologies in this book include data buses, one type of which has been in use for over 20
years, head mounted displays, and fly-by-wire flight controls. New bus and display concepts are emerging
that may displace these veteran devices. An example is a retinal scanning display.
Other emerging technologies include speech interaction with the aircraft and synthetic vision. Speech
interaction may soon enter commercial service on business aircraft as another way to perform some
noncritical functions. Synthetic vision offers enormous potential for both military and civil aircraft for
operations under reduced visibility conditions or in cases where it is difficult to install sufficient windows
in an aircraft.
This book offers a comprehensive view of avionics, from the technology and elements of a system to
examples of modern systems flying on the latest military and civil aircraft. The chapters have been written
with the reader in mind by working practitioners in the field. This book was prepared for the working
engineer and his or her boss and others who need the latest information on some aspect of avionics. It
will not make one an expert in avionics, but it will provide the knowledge needed to approach a problem.

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Biography

Cary R. Spitzer is a graduate of Virginia Tech and George Washington University. After service in the
Air Force, he joined NASA Langley Research Center.
During the last half of his tenure at NASA he focused on avionics. He was the NASA manager of a
joint NASA/Honeywell program that made the first satellite-guided automatic landing of a passenger
transport aircraft in November 1990. In recognition of this accomplishment, he was nominated jointly
by ARINC, ALPA, AOPA, ATA, NBAA, and RTCA for the 1991 Collier Trophy for his pioneering work
in proving the concept of GPS aided precision approaches. He led a project to define the experimental
and operational requirements for a transport aircraft suitable for conducting flight experiments and to
acquire such an aircraft. Today, that aircraft is the NASA Langley B-757 ARIES flight research platform.
Mr. Spitzer was the NASA representative to the Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee. In 1988
he received the Airlines Avionics Institute Chairmans Special Volare Award. He is only the second federal
government employee so honored in over 30 years.
He has been active in the RTCA, including serving as chairman of the Airport Surface Operations
Subgroup of Task Force 1 on Global Navigation Satellite System Transition and Implementation Strategy,
and as Technical Program Chairman of the 1992 Technical Symposium. He was a member of the Technical
Management Committee.
In 1993 Mr. Spitzer founded AvioniCon, an international avionics consulting firm that specializes in
strategic planning, business development, technology analysis, and in-house training.
Mr. Spitzer is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and an Associate
Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He received the AIAA 1994
Digital Avionics Award and an IEEE Centennial Medal and Millennium Medal. He is a Past President of
the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society. Since 1979, he has played a major role in the highly
successful Digital Avionics Systems Conferences, including serving as General Chairman.
Mr. Spitzer presents one-week shortcourses on digital avionics systems and on satellite-based communication, navigation, and surveillance for air traffic management at the UCLA Extension Division.
He has also lectured for the International Air Transport Association.
He is the author of Digital Avionics Systems, the first book in the field, published by McGraw-Hill and
Editor-in-Chief of The Avionics Handbook, published by CRC Press.
He and his wife, Laura, have a son, Danny.
His hobbies are working on old Ford products and kite flying.

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Contributors

Kathy H. Abbott

James L. Farrell

Myron Kayton

Federal Aviation Administration

NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA

VIGIL, Inc.
Severna Park, MD

Kayton Engineering Co.

Santa Monica, CA

Christian Favre

Michael S. Lewis

Aerospatiale
Toulouse, France

NASA Langley Research Center

Hampton, VA

Thomas K. Ferrell

Thomas M. Lippert

Ferrell and Associates Consulting

Vienna, VA

Microvision Inc.
Bothel, WA

Uma D. Ferrell

Robert P. Lyons, Jr.

Boeing
Seattle, WA

Ferrell and Associates Consulting

Vienna, VA

United States Air Force

Arlington, VA

Douglas Beeks

Daniel G. Baize
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA

John G. P. Barnes
Caversham
Reading, U.K.

Gregg F. Bartley

Lee Harrison

James N. Martin

Rockwell Collins
Cedar Rapids, IA

Galaxy Scientific Corp.

Egg Harbor Twp., NJ

The Aerospace Corporation

Chantilly, VA

Barry C. Breen

Steve Henely

Daniel A. Martinec

Honeywell
Monroe, WA

Rockwell Collins
Cedar Rapids, IA

Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC)

Annapolis, MD

Dominique Briere

Richard Hess

Frank W. McCormick

Honeywell
Phoenix, AZ

Certification Services, Inc.

Eastsound, WA

Ellis F. Hitt

James Melzer

Battelle
Columbus, OH

Kaiser Electro-Optics, Inc.

Carlsbad, CA

Peter Howells

Jim Moore

Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics

Portland, OR

Smiths Industries
Cheltenham, U.K.

Sally C. Johnson

Michael J. Morgan

NASA Langley Research Center

Hampton, VA

Honeywell
Olathe, KS

Aerospatiale
Toulouse, France

Ronald Brower
United States Air Force
Wright Patterson AFB, OH

Ricky W. Butler
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA

Christian P. deLong
Honeywell, Defense Avionics
Systems
Albuquerque, NM
2001 by CRC Press LLC

Dennis Mulcare

John Satta

Pascal Traverse

Science Applications
International Co.
Marietta, GA

Zycad, Inc.
Dayton, OH

Aerospatiale
Toulouse, France

Dennis L. Schmickley

Terry Venema

Boeing Helicopter Co.

Mesa, AZ

Zycad, Inc.
Dayton, OH

Grant Stumpf

David G. Vutetakis

Zycad, Inc.
Dayton, OH

Douglas Battery Co.

Winston-Salem, NC

Cary Spitzer

Randy Walter

Airbus Industrie
Blagnac, France

AvioniCon, Inc.
Williamsburg, VA

Smiths Industries
Grand Rapids, MI

Arun Ramakrishnan

Russell V. Parrish
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA

Michael Pecht
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

J. P. Potocki de Montalk

Jack Strauss

Robert B. Wood

University of Maryland
College Park, MD

Zycad, Inc.
Dayton, OH

Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics

Portland, OR

Gordon R. A. Sandell

Toby Syrus

Boeing
Seattle, WA

University of Maryland
College Park, MD

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Contents

SECTION I
Introduction

Elements
Daniel A. Martinec

AS 15531/MIL-STD-1553B Digital Time Division Command/Response

Multiplex Data Bus Chris deLong

ARINC 429

Commercial Standard Digital Bus

Head-Up Displays

Head-Mounted Displays

Display Devices: RSD (Retinal Scanning Display)

Daniel A. Martinec
Lee H. Harrison

Robert B. Wood and Peter J. Howells

James E. Melzer

Thomas M. Lippert

Night Vision Goggles

Speech Recognition and Synthesis

Human Factors Engineering and Flight Deck Design

10

Batteries

SECTION II
Introduction

11

Dennis L. Schmickley
Douglas W. Beeks

David G. Vutetakis

Functions
Peter Potocki de Montalk

Boeing B-777: Fly-By-Wire Flight Controls

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Kathy H. Abbott

Gregg F. Bartley

12

Electrical Flight Controls, From Airbus A320/330/340 to Future Military

Transport Aircraft: A Family of Fault-Tolerant Systems
Dominique Briere, Christian Favre, and Pascal Traverse

13

Navigation Systems

14

Navigation and Tracking

15

Flight Management Systems

16

Synthetic Vision

Myron Kayton
James L. Farrell
Randy Walter

Russell V. Parish, Daniel G. Baize, and Michael S. Lewis

17

Enhanced Situation Awareness

18

TCAS II

Steve Henely

SECTION III
Certification
Introduction

Barry C. Breen

Requirements, Design Analysis, Validation, and

Ellis F. Hitt

19

Setting Requirements

20

Digital Avionics Modeling and Simulation

Cary R. Spitzer

Jack Strauss, Terry Venema, Grant Stumpf, and John Satta

21

Formal Methods

22

Electronic Hardware Reliability

Sally C. Johnson and Ricky W. Butler

Arun Ramakrishnan, Toby Syrus, and Michael Pecht

23

Certification of Civil Avionics

24

Processes for Engineering a System

25

Electromagnetic Environment (EME)

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Frank McCormick
James N. Martin
Richard Hess

SECTION IV Software
Introduction

Robert P. Lyons, Jr.

26

Ada

27

RTCA DO-178B/EUROCAE ED-12B

J. G. P. Barnes

Thomas K. Ferrell and Uma D. Ferrell

SECTION V Implementation
Introduction

Cary R. Spitzer

28

Fault-Tolerant Avionics

29

Boeing B-777

30

New Avionics Systems Airbus A330/A340

Ellis F. Hitt and Dennis Mulcare

Michael J. Morgan

J.P. Potocki de Montalk

31

McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Avionics System

32

Lockheed F-22 Raptor

33

Advanced Distributed Architectures

2001 by CRC Press LLC

Ronald W. Brower
Jim Moore

Gordon R. A. Sandell