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MicrowaveLandingSystemMLS

Introduction
TheMLSisasystemofprecissionapproachforlandingbyinstrumentsandconstitutesakindofanalternativeto
theILSsystem.Itprovidesinformationabouttheazimuth,optimalangleofdescentandthedistance,aswellas
dataaboutthereversecourseincaseofanunsuccessfulapproach.IthasseveraladvantagescomparedtotheILS,
forexampleagreaternumberofpossibleexecutedapproaches,amorecompactgroundequipment,andapotential
tousemorecomplicatedapproachtrajectories.Howeverforcertainreasons,inparticulartheadvancementofthe
GPSsatelitenavigation,wastheinstallationofnewdeviceshaltedandfinallyin1994completelycanceledbythe
FAAorganization.OneuropeanairportswecanratherseldomcomeacrossanMLS.
TheMLSprovidesanaccuratelandingapproachforanaircraftintheareaofthefinalapproach,wherethepathof
thefinalapproachisntidenticalwiththeenlongedrunwaysaxis.Thesystemworkswithamicrowavebeamthatis
transmittedtowardsthesectorofapproachandscansthesectorbothinthehorizontalaswellasthevericalplane.
Anaircraftintheapproachsectorreceivesthesignalandwiththehelpofthisbeamevaluatesitslocationinspace.
Theaircraftspositionisthereforedeterminedbothinthehorizontaldirectionofapproachandtheverticalplane,in
whateverpointofreachofthescanningbeam.Becausethemicrowavetechnologyisradiatedintothespaceof
approachinagiventimeanditsnotspreadoutoverdifferentdirections,nosignalinterruptionresultsfromvarious
obstaclesorterrainprotrusionsasitwaswiththeILSsystem.TheMLSsystemcanthusbesituatedalsoin
developedareas,whereanILSsystemcouldntbesetup.Anonboardcomputerenablestosolvetheapproach
manoeuvrefromarandomdirection,forvariouslyorientedrunways,evenalongacurvedofbendlandingtrajectory.
TheMLSsystemisapprovedbytheICAOforeverythreecategoriesofanaccuratelandingapproach.

BasicelementsoftheMLS
TheMLSsystemiscomprisedofgroundpiecesofequipmentthataredividedintotheprotractorcomponents,
rangefindercomponents,andtheonboardhardware.Theinformationabouttheanglesoftheapproachcourse,
descent,flareandthecourseofanunsuccessfulapproachareaquiredthroughanonboardantennaortheaircraft
itselfbymeasuringthetimebetweentwopassagesofanoscillatinglobeofahighfrequencysignal.Thedistanceis
determinedwiththehelpofanancillarydevice,theDMErangefinder.TheMLSsystemfurthersendswiththehelpof
phasemodulationandtimedivisionmultiplexingadditionaldata,asidentification,systemstatusandsoon.The
groundequipmentconsistsinthebasicconfigurationofanAzimuthTransmitter(AZ)withanaddedDME
rangefinder,perhapsevenamorepreciseDME/P,inclosedistanceofacoursetransmitterandnearanelevation
transmitter,seeFig.1.Ascaledupconfigurationissupplementedwithacoursetransmitterforanunsuccessful
approachandaflaretransmitter.

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MicrowaveLandingSystemMLS

Figure1AdisplayoftheMLScomponentsandtheirapproximateplacementbesidetherunway.
(figuresource:http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/trailblazer/SP4216/photos/p42a.JPG)

GroundDistanceMeasuringEquipment(DME)
TherangefinderunitpresentsaDMEwhichispositionedtogetherwiththecoursetransmitter.Inconnectionwith
requirementsofaccuracyoftheMLSsystemaroseademandtorefinetheDMEsystem,whichwasaccomplished
withtheaccurateDME/Prangefinder(alongwiththeDME/WandDME/N).HencethefunctionoftheDMEisto
provideapilotinformationaboutthedistancefromaspecificpointwhichisessentialforpinpointcalculationofthe
planespositioninthethreedimensionalspace.
Groundprotractorcomponents
ThegroundprincipleofbothprotractorpartsoftheMLSsystemforhorizontalandverticalhomingofanaircraftisto
createlevelledemitingdiagrams,oscillatingataconstantspeedindirectionsTOandFROM,andtomeasurethe
elapsedtimebetweentwopassagesofanoscillatingplanelobethroughanonboardMLSantenna.

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Figure2SchemeofagroundprotractorsetupoftheMLSsystem.
ArunwayfullyequippedwiththeMLSsystemcontainsfourtransmitters.Tworelayssupplyinformationaboutthe
angleoftheazimuth(horizontal)planeandarelocatedfacetotherunway,alongitsaxis.Theyareappendedwitha
DMEorDME/Prangefinderdevice,whileoneofthetransmittersisdessignatedforthecourseofapproachandthe
otherforthecourseofanunsuccessfulapproach.Theyarepositioned400600mfromtherunwaysthreshold.
Anothertworelaystransmitangularinformationforthedescentandflare(takingoverthefunctionofadescent
beaconintheILS).Thesearelocatedatadistanceof120150mfromtherunwaysaxis,whilethetransmitterof
descentsignalsissituated200300mfromtherunwaysthresholdandtheflarerelay7001000mfromthebeggining
oftherunwayinthedirectionofapproach.Iftherunwaysequippedwithbothazimuthalrelays,thentherelaywhose
antennaisturnedinthedirectionofanapproachingaircraft(thetransmitteronthefarawaysideoftherunway)
representsanapproachcoursetransmitterandtherelayclosetotheapproachingaircrafttakesoverthefunctionof
anunsuccessfulcoursetransmitter.Itssimilaralsoforthedescentandflarerelays.

Onboardequipment
OneormoreMLSantennasystems
OnboardMLSreceiverofsignalsofthegroundprotractordeviceswithacomputingsystemforrealtime
calculationofangularinformation
InterrogatoroftheDMEradiorangefinder
OnboardMLSindicator
InterconnectionoftheonboardMLSreceiversoutputandthecontrolsystems
Theonboardequipmenthastobeabletodecodeandprocessfunctionsofthelandingapproachazimuthincluding
onewithahighfrequencyofregeneration,thereverseazimuth,theangleofdescent,andnecessarydatato
accomplishprojectedflights.Informationaboutthedistanceisdecodedindependently.Thehomingangleis
determinedbymeasuringtheintervalbetweenthereceptionofthescanninglobesTOandFROM.Ifthe
equipmentisqualified,thereceiverhastheoptionofmanualorautomaticselectionofalandingapproachtrajectory,
anangleofdescentandareverseazimuth.Operatingintheautomaticmode,theselectionismadewiththeaidof
informationpresentinthecodenamesoftheprimarydata.
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Principleofoperation
TheMLSsystemoperatesatafrequencybandof5031,05090,7MHzontwoseparatechannelsatamutual
intervalof300kHz.TheprotractorpartoftheMLSsystemprovidescontinuallyinformationaboutanaircrafts
positionrelativetotherunwaybothintheverticalandhorizontalplane.Therangefinderpartenablestomeasurethe
distancebetweenanaircraftandthereferencepointsintheapproachprocess.Theangularinformationforthe
approachcourse,descent,flareandgoaroundisdeterminedbymeasuringtheintervalbetweentwopassagesofan
oscillatingplanelobethroughanonboardMLSantenna.
TheMLSsystemiscapabletoprovidecoverageofmaximum60.0intheazimuthal(horizontal)plane,wherebya
typicaldevicemakesuseofonly40.0fromtherunwaysaxisintheazimuthalplaneforthefinalapproachand
20.0foramissedapproachcourse,seeFig.3.Ofwhichtheminimalordainedproportionalhomingsectoris10.0
fromtherunwaysaxis.Thereafteristhespacecoveredintheverticalplanefrom0.9to15withacoverageupto
analtitudeof6000m,foranapproachdistanceof37km(seeFig.4)andtoaheightof1500manddistanceof9,4
kmforamissedapproach.

Figure3Anillustrationofthehorizontalsignalscoverageanditsoscillation.
(figuresource:http://accessscience.com/loadBinary.aspx?filename=424150FG0020.gif)

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Figure4Anillustrationoftheverticalsignalscoverageforvariousglideslopeangles.
(figuresource:http://www.airresearch.com/Pilots/AIM/Chap1/f0101009.gif)

Alldatastatedbelowisgraduallytransmittedonthesamefrequencywitharepetitivefrequency:
13Hzazimuth(courseguide),forsystemswiththeabilitytoswiftlyrestorethecourseinformationa
frequencyof93Hzisused.
6,5Hzmissedapproachcourse
39Hzelevation
Inordertomaintainasynchronizedtimingofthetransmissionsindividualdatablocks,areallpartsoftheMLS
synchronized.DataaboutthedistanceisreceivedseparatelyonaninterconnectedDMEchannel.UtilizingtheMLS
datawithonboardcomputersandcontrolsystems,itspossibletocarryoutaprecisionapproachandlandingin
similarfashionaswiththeILSsystem,ontopwiththeoptiontoexecutecurvedofbrokenarchedtrajectoriesof
approachandautomaticlandings.AllpartsoftheMLSsystemincludetheirownmonitorcircuitsthatinthecaseof
anoutoftolerancedeviationofsomeouterMLSparametersswitchthedevicesonabackuparray.Incaseofa
longtimedeviationthepilotgivesnoticeaboutthechangetothetrafficcontrol.
Theexactinformationaboutanaircraftspositionenablestoperformmorecomplicatedprocedures,asflyingalonga
curvedglideslopeorusingmultipleglideslopes.Anappropriateprecisionallowstoimprovetheairtrafficflowon
busyairportsthroughcurvedflypaths.ICAOquantifiestherequiredsystemsaccuracyasstatedintheICAO
regulationsAnnex10.
Thecompleteaccuracylimitsincludeallerrorscausedbytheonboardequipmentandradiowavesbroadcast.
Theyrespecifiedforapartoftheflightpathcontainingthereferenceapproachaltitudeandreferencemissed
approachheightforagoaround.Thereferencelandingheightis15m(50ft).

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