The use of wireless networks for the surveillance and control of vehicles in an airport environment

Abstract

The paper focusses on the use of wireless networks, with special emphasis on Wi-Fi, in the manoeuvering and apron areas of an airport to control the ground vehicles movements in those areas and, consequently, to improve user safety, efficiency of operations and airport security. The use of Wi-Fi for these purposes constitutes a novel approach in an airport environment. Other wireless networks, namely CDMA and Tetra, are also experimented in this project as a lower bit-rate alternative to Wi-Fi. The platform consists of an onboard system in each vehicle, a centralised ground system and wireless networks to allow the communication between the vehicles and ground system. The architecture, protocols and network configurations in use are analysed as well as the respective deployment made in the airport of Porto in Portugal. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2006.