sawine@0: Diploma/Master's Thesis in Computer Science
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: Supervisor: Dr. Stephan Schulz, stephan.schulz@comsoft.de
sawine@0:             Dr. Marina Müller, marina.mueller@comsoft.de
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: "An Explicit Rule Language to Express Safety Constraints for 
sawine@0:  Minimum Safe Altitude and Area Proximity Warnings" 
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: Safety Net applications are computer programs that monitor the air
sawine@0: situation based on data from sensors (radars, multilateration, ADS-B)
sawine@0: or, more often, tracker systems that integrate data from sensors over
sawine@0: time. These programs try to predict critical situations and alarm ATC
sawine@0: controllers ahead of time. Examples include Short Term Conflict Alert
sawine@0: (STCA) systems, Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW) systems, and Area
sawine@0: Proximity Warning (APW) systems. STCA systems predict the flight paths
sawine@0: of different aircraft and issue a warning up to two minutes ahead of a
sawine@0: potential separation violation. MSAW and APW systems predict single
sawine@0: aircraft trajectories and issue a warning if there is a significant
sawine@0: risk that the aircraft comes too close to a terrain feature,
sawine@0: obstacle, or prohibited region.
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: While the basic trajectory prediction is always based on the same
sawine@0: principles, the generation of warning messages is highly dependent on
sawine@0: local conditions. The quality of the sensor coverage dictates aircraft
sawine@0: separation rules. Local geography may require trajectories that would
sawine@0: normally be avoided. Availability of flight plan information can help
sawine@0: to recognize potentially dangerous situations as already anticipated
sawine@0: and under control. As an example, if a flight plan contains a cleared
sawine@0: altitude of 300 flight levels, the aircraft is expected to level off
sawine@0: its ascent there, and hence will not conflict with an aircraft at an
sawine@0: altitude of 320 flight levels, even if a naive projection based on the
sawine@0: current rate of ascent does indicate a potential conflict.
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: Currently, Safety Net systems use standard requirement engineering to
sawine@0: identify the necessary conditions for each particular
sawine@0: deployment. These requirements are then translated manually into
sawine@0: program code. However, this process is tedious and error-prone, and
sawine@0: the resulting code can be rather complex and hard to maintain. Each
sawine@0: modification requires extensive re-validation of the software.
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: The aim of this thesis is the development and implementation of a
sawine@0: language that can express the necessary conflict for an ATC Safety Net
sawine@0: in symbolic, human-readable form. Depending on the outcome of an
sawine@0: initial feasibility study, the language should be either interpreted
sawine@0: by the Safety Net System, or automatically compiled into C++ code.
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: For this purpose, first the necessary attributes and relations have to
sawine@0: to be identified. Then a proper rule semantics (prioritised, weighted,
sawine@0: non-monotonic/exception-based...) has to be determined, and finally an
sawine@0: initial prototype language needs to be designed and implemented.
sawine@0: 
sawine@0: ----
sawine@0: Comsoft is a medium-sized, privately owned company located in
sawine@0: Karlsruhe/Durlach. We continually offer interesting diploma topics,
sawine@0: practicals, and internships in computer science, signal processing,
sawine@0: electrical engineering, and related topics. For generic enquiries
sawine@0: please contact human resources at waltraud.schweitzer@comsoft.de.
sawine@0: