THE ATN TP4/CLNP NETWORKING SUITE FOR LINUX KERNEL 2.6.xx

This file explains what this project is all about.
							-- Tadeus Prastowo

WHAT IS ATN?

  ATN stands for aeronautical telecommunication network. It is the kind of
  communication network that the civil aviations from the countries that signed
  the Convention on International Civil Aviation, will use to coordinate their
  air traffic. It is an integral part of the communications, navigation, and
  surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems.

  The CNS/ATM systems concept identified the use of data communications and of
  satellite-based systems to overcome the limitation of air traffic management
  that the early 1980s systems had. It was the result of the work of the Future
  Air Navigation Systems (FANS) Committee.

  The FANS Committee was established by the International Civil Aviation
  Organization (ICAO) Council in 1983 because the ICAO became aware in the
  early 1980s that the air traffic management systems at that time would not be
  able to cope with the increasing air traffic in future years. Therefore, the
  FANS Committee was commissioned to study, identify, and assess new concepts
  and technology in the field of air navigation for the development of air
  navigation for international civil aviation over a period of 25 years.

WHAT IS TP4/CLNP?

  CLNP stands for connectionless network protocol, whereas TP4 stands for
  transport protocol type 4, which is a connection-oriented transport protocol.
  They are networking protocols defined respectively in the network layer and
  the transport layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) framework of
  the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). CLNP is
  standardized in ISO/IEC 8473-1, whereas COTP (TP4) is standardized in
  ISO/IEC 8073. As an analogy to the Internet networking protocol suite,
  CLNP is just like IP, whereas TP4 is just like TCP. They are used as the
  communication protocols in the digital data communication systems of the ATN
  because the ATN follows the ISO OSI standards.

WHY TP4/CLNP INSTEAD OF TCP/IP?

  Because the ICAO requires the use of communication protocols based on the ISO
  OSI standards in the ATN as stated in Annex X to the Convention on
  International Civil Aviation. Specifically, the second edition of Annex X
  Volume III Part I, which is titled Digital Data Communication Systems, in
  July 2007 states:

    3.2.1 The aeronautical telecommunication network (ATN) comprises application
    entities and communication services which allow ground, air-to-ground and
    avionics data subnetworks to interoperate by adopting common interface
    services and protocols based on the International Organization for
    Standardization (ISO) open systems interconnection (OSI) reference model.

WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT?

  To provide the implementation of the ATN TP4/CLNP Networking Suite for the
  Linux kernel in the spirit of the free software movement so that you are free
  to:
  - run the program for any purpose (freedom 0)
  - study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1)
  - redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)
  - improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that
    the whole community benefits (freedom 3)

WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE RELEVANT TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS NETWORKING SUITE?

  The following documents are of concern to the implementation of the ATN
  TP4/CLNP Networking Suite:
  - the ICAO manual of technical provisions for the ATN (Doc 9705)
  - the ISO standard documents related to OSI

  Since the ISO standard documents related to OSI have optional parts and local
  matters that are not specified, Doc 9705 specifies what optional parts are
  required for use with the ATN as well as specifying the local matters that
  are of concern to the ATN.

ON WHAT LINUX KERNEL VERSION DOES THIS NETWORKING SUITE RUN?

  This networking suite runs on Linux kernel version 2.6.xx.

WHO INITIATED AND FUNDED THIS PROJECT?

  This project was initated and funded by The Agency for the Assessment and
  Application of Technology (BPPT) [http://bppt.go.id]

REFERENCES:

  - FANS Information Services Ltd. Comprehensive ATN Manual Part I:
    Introduction and Overview. January 9, 1999. http://www.fans-is.com.
  - International Civil Aviation Organization. Annex 10 to the Convention on
    International Civil Aviation, Aeronautical Telecommunications, Volume III,
    Communication Systems, Part I - Digital Data Communication Systems, Second
    Edition. July 2007.
  - "What is Free Software?" http://www.gnu.org, accessed April 17, 2008.