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EUROCONTROL > Research & Development > PHARE > Concepts > Multi-Sector Planning 

Multi-Sector Planning
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Multi-Sector Planning Concept
 Multi-Sector Planning Concept (click to view a larger image)
One of the essential ideas of the PHARE concepts was to have a more layered planning system that connected the Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) level planning to the control of the aircraft in the sector. For this, a more active task was given to the sector Planning Controller and a new layer is introduced through the Multi Sector Planner (MSP).

Air Traffic Flow Management provides a strategic planning service several hours before the aircraft enters the air traffic control sector, where the Tactical Controllers are operating only a few minutes ahead of the aircraft conflicts. The role of an Multi Sector Planner is to offer medium-level strategy rather than tactical solutions to overcome traffic complexity. Aircraft trajectories are planned over several sectors. The aim is to reduce the workload of sector controllers and provide more optimal trajectories for suitably equipped aircraft.
A layered planning environment is one where flight planning is gradually refined and sector Planning Controllers have a more important role in eliminating planning conflicts for a sector. Conflict resolution remains an ATC responsibility.

A Multi Sector Planner is responsible for the medium-term planning of the trajectories of the aircraft that enter the region of airspace, called a Multi-Sector Area (MSA), with which he is associated. Currently, this role does not exist in any operational ATC system.

As the name suggests, a Multi-Sector Area comprises a number of “traditional” sectors. A different team of controllers is responsible for providing the ATC service in each sector. The purpose of the Multi Sector Planner is to ensure that the controllers of the individual sectors are never subjected to a workload that is so high that safety is jeopardised.

As part of the PHARE Advanced Tools programme the Tactical Load Smoother (TLS) was developed to assist the MSP perform his tasks.
  Link to Tactical Load Smoother
The Tactical Load Smoother provides the Multi Sector Planner with information regarding the future “complexity” of the planned air traffic situation. The Multi Sector Planner monitors the indicators generated by the Tactical Load Smoother to determine the times and places where the complexity of the air-traffic situation is predicted to be so high that the associated sector controllers would have an excessively difficult task. The MSP plans the trajectories of aircraft within his Multi-Sector Area to reduce the predicted future complexity.

There are 3 main indicators of future complexity in the Multi-Sector Area: the total number of aircraft; the number of conflicts; the complexity of the trajectories as assessed by number of vector changes. The look-ahead time, the length of time into the future for which the complexity prediction is made, ranges from 10 to 40 minutes.

For further information

The concept of multi-sector planning is discussed in further detail in:
  Acrobat 95-70-01 PD/3 Demonstration Project Plan Annexes (specifically Annex A)79 Kb
  Acrobat 95-70-02 PD/3 Demonstration Operational Specification175 Kb
  Acrobat 97-70-04 PD/3 Operational Scenarios Document (Volume 1)279 Kb
  Acrobat 97-70-08 PD/3 Operational Scenarios Document (Volume 2)303 Kb
  Acrobat 97-70-14 Trajectory Negotiation in a Multi-sector Environment131 Kb
  Acrobat 97-70-15 PD/3 IOCP Programme: En-Route Multi Sector Planning Procedures1,236 Kb
  Acrobat 99-70-01 Volume 1 of PD/3 Final Report - PHARE Demonstration 3 (PD/3) Synthesis Report204 Kb
  Acrobat 99-70-02 PHARE Ground Human Machine Interface (GHMI) project: summary report2,196 Kb
The tools which support Multi-Sector Planning are documented in:
  Acrobat 98-70-18 PATs Project Final Report Volume 1880 Kb
  Acrobat 98-70-18 PATs Project Final Report Volume 8 Problem Solver365 Kb
  Acrobat 98-70-18 PATs Project Final Report Volume 9 Tactical Load Smoother436 Kb