IAS - IDS AeroDB Suite

 

The IDS integrated tool suite for AIS organisations

Each organisation providing Aeronautical Information Services has the need to use automated tools to improve its production processes and save time and effort.
The IAS Suite addresses all the areas of interest of AIS organisations, from data collection to data exploitation. The entire tool suite is integrated and accesses a centralised, customisable aeronautical database (AeroDB), properly structured to manage all aeronautical features and their temporal nature.

IAS is a comprehensive tool suite matching the production needs of Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) organisations such as civil and military aviation authorities, cartographic companies and airlines.

This product suite is based on powerful, off-the-shelf CAD/GIS and publishing engines.

A categorisation of the IAS products is shown below.

Digital Data Exchange	Data Administration	Data Maintenance	Data Exploitation
IAS Translators	SpecMan	FeaMan/GFeaMan	GFeaMan
	AIS Administrator	AeroCatalog	IAS Charting
		SpecMan	AeroPub
		IAS Translators	EAD Interface
			IAS Translators

The Aeronautical Database (AeroDB)

The Aeronautical Database (AeroDB) is a flexible, temporal database residing on a central server accessed by multiple client applications. In addition to storing the data from which aeronautical products are generated and maintained, AeroDB stores configuration data and rules, which drive the customisable applications environment.
AeroDB is compatible with Eurocontrol's AICM/AIXM, ARINC and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards. Basic sets of ICAO-compatible rules are provided as a default and can be used for training and further customisation purposes.
Being compatible with industry standards by default, AeroDB provides AIS organisations with the autonomy to maintain a single data source, which includes their local requirements as well as the standardised requirements of the aeronautical industry. In this way, AeroDB becomes the single point of data maintenance. The data can be exchanged with external sources through automated mechanisms. Data quality is verified making use of Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) to ensure standards required by ICAO.

IAS Modules

IAS Data Maintenance

• Customisation of AeroDB's records/tables schema to meet the unique requirements of the user's aeronautical features data format/layout is performed through SpecMan, complete set of database structuring and maintenance tools.
• Insertion and maintenance of aeronautical features data (with their attributes) into the AeroDB is performed using the tools provided with FeaMan. Furthermore it is possible to simplify and empower the capabilities of FeaMan by making use of a Geographic interactive environment as a support for temporal data insertion/extraction/updating using the functionalities of the latest module developed for such activities, GFeaMan.
• An appropriate module addressing the problems of storing and cataloguing all the produced documents, charts and templates in a common Document Repository, as part of AeroDB, is AeroCatalog.
• AIS data workflow is currently addressed by AIMS Monitor.
• Development and representation of AeroDB data reports and statistics are provided by the RepMan functionalities.

 

IAS Charting

• RuleMan provides the definition and modification of rule sets stored in the AeroDB and is used in the automatic extraction and charts symbolisation.
• The production of intelligent charts by retrieving aeronautical data stored in the AeroDB and the rules, symbolising them using the CAD/GIS engine, is performed by SymMan.
• A new optimised tool, SymMan+, allows considerable time saving in the interactive chart editing phase, providing specific functions for quick search of changed graphics and for storage of previous editing modifications.

IAS Publishing

• Generation of aeronautical publications (AIP, Amendments, Supplements etc) by retrieving aeronautical data stored ion the AeroDB is performed using the automated functionalities of AeroPub.

IAS Translators

• Translators include the modules to import/export ARINC 424 data files and XML documents into the AeroDB.
• Translators also include modules for the generation of user-customised data files containing information extracted from the AeroDB and of XML documents.

IAS EAD Interface

• The AeroEAD tool allows interfacing Eurocontrol's EAD system in data provider mode, supporting the SDO and PAMS subsystems (through the ESI interface).