Air Traffic Control Alarm Monitoring System

ATC needs a clear visual indication of the operational status of the airfield

• PAMS Workstations are provided at Controller Working Positions (CWPs) to present the key information to ATCOs in a simple to understand way, with colour change to indicate critical issues.
• Alarms can be grouped together to simplify the view and to provide redundancy indications.

ATCOs need straightforward interactions to acknowledge alarms without distracting from their core ATM role

• Small format, touch screen devices, are used to allow ATCOs to accept an alarm by simply pressing the on-screen button associated with it.

All aerodrome ground-based equipment needs to be monitored to ensure it is fully operational

• LAN based SNMP connectivity is used by PAMS for communications interfaces to modern ATM systems.
• Local I/O racks are used by PAMS to provide physical switch-to-earth (or volt-free contact) inputs for alarm outputs from older equipment.
• Remote airfield locations, either as part of a Remote Digital Tower or within the same aerodrome, can be monitored with Remote I/O racks, giving the same physical connectivity.
• UPS's and mains power supply monitoring offers a more comprehensive view of all equipment.
• Auxiliary equipment such as HVACs, equipment rack temperatures etc. can all be accounted for.

ATCOs need up to date information at all times

• LAN connectivity links the PAMS Workstations to the PAMS Site System Server to provide real-time updates for all statuses, making any failures instantly visible to ATC.

All ATC Systems need to be robust and reliable

• The PAMS Site System Server is usually connected through a UPS and located in the Tower Equipment Room.
• Redundancy improves resilience with primary and secondary Servers, RAID 10 drives and dual redundant power supplies.

Air Traffic Engineers need a more comprehensive view of the airfield equipment and infrastructure

• ATSEPs are provided with a visual indication of all input statuses, on larger screens in the Tower Equipment Room or Engineering offices.

All events need to be recorded and timestamps synchronised to the UTC time zone

• All alarm events are recorded into a database and timestamped down to milliseconds.
• PAMS uses the site's NTP Time Server (Master Clock) to synchronise time with voice recorders etc.