Guidance for Planning, Design, and Operations of Airport Communications Centers (2018)

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152 Industry Technical Standards 1. Standards Bodies Standards are essential for communication systems and computer networks to function prop- erly. In the United States, the following standards bodies should be of interest to airports: • The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) publishes standards for network- ing architectures, such as Ethernet networks; for network devices such as a network switch or a wireless access point; and for various electrical power, communications, and other equipment and systems. http://www.ieee.org • The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) publishes standards for telecommuni- cation facilities and for the cable plants that serve them, in addition to other standards. http:// www.tiaonline.org • The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) publishes standards for protocols and devices which operate over the Internet, including protocols for routing datagrams and Voice over Internet Protocol. An IETF standard is a special Request for Comments (RFC) or a set of RFCs. http://www.ietf.org • The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) publishes a wide range of standards and often jointly publishes telecommunication standards with the TIA. ANSI and its largely European counterpart, the International Standards Organization (ISO), also publish comple- mentary standards or cross reference their standards. http://www.ansi.org • U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes standards and guide- lines, known as Special Publications, for facility, communication, and network security which are mandatory for federal agencies, unless exempted in PL 107-296, The Homeland Security Act. U.S. Airports are generally not obligated to follow NIST standards, but these documents represent a significant resource for airports to use in modeling their own security programs and especially for network security. http://www.nist.org • The International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO is the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards. Founded in 1947, it has since published more than 19,500 international standards, covering almost all aspects of technology and business. Many IEEE and ANSI standards are also published by the ISO. http://www.iso.org • The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies. It allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits and develops the technical standards to ensure that networks and technolo- gies interconnect seamlessly. http://www.itu.int • Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI) is a professional organization supporting the information technology systems industry. The IT industry covers voice, data, electronic safety and security, and audio/video technologies. It encompasses the design, proj- ect management, and installation of pathways, spaces, distribution systems, wireless-based A P P E N D I X G

Industry Technical Standards 153 systems, and infrastructure that supports the transportation of information between and among communications and information-gathering devices. http://www.bicsi.org 2. Standards and Standards-Related Documents There is no single U.S. or internationally recognized standard for airport operations (FAA Advisory Circulars are not considered standards, although they do provide useful guidance) or for airport communications and communications centers or even for integrating physical security systems. However, the following standards-type documents may be valuable for airport communications design and planning: • “Recommend Security Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design and Construction,” issued by the TSA on May 1, 2011. See Part III, Section I, IT, Power, and Communications in particular. • “Integrated Security Systems Standard for Airport Access Control,” Document No. 230C, issued by the RTCA on June 21, 2011. See in particular Section 2, Requirements and System Design; Section 7, Security Operations Centers (SOC); and Section 8, Communications Infra- structure. The RTCA intends to publish an extensive update of this standard before the end of 2013, which will contain a new section on System Integration. • “Ergonomics Design of Control Centers,” ISO 11064, published on December 01, 2000. This baseline design document, which adopts the user-centric approach, specifies ergonomic principles, recommendations and requirements for designing control centers for process industries, transportation and other control applications. Although primarily intended for non-mobile control centers, its principles also apply to mobile control centers. • Human Factors Design Standard (HFDS), published by the FAA and updated on May 03, 2012. This standard provides in one source human factors practices and principles inte- gral to the procurement, design, development, and testing of FAA systems, facilities, and equipment. 3. Communications and Network Standards Airport communications exist in many forms, including radios for air traffic control and ground communications and the networking of control, security, and other devices. For airport communications centers, coverage of standards includes wireless and wired means of inter- connecting various devices so they can function in an integrated manner, as determined by the CONOPS. Network architectures depend on the application. The common forms are local area networks (LANs) for on-airport operations and Wide Area Networks (WANs) to extend this connectivity off airport. In both cases, the predominant architecture is Ethernet for which IEEE has published several sets of standards. The IEEE 802.3 series of “Standard for Ethernet” defines wired connectivity for Ethernet local area, access, and metropolitan area networks. IEEE 802.3 defines the physical (PHY) and media access control (MAC) layers of Ethernet transmission across wired connections of multiple media and bandwidth providers. For wireless LANs, the IEE 802.11 series apply. Generally known as the Wi-Fi bands, the most significant for airport use are • IEEE 802.11a - operating in the 5 GHz band. • IEEE 802.11b/g - operating in the 2.4 GHz band. • IEEE 802.11n - range enhancements for operations in the a/g bands.