Harris Corporation Completes Transition of FAA Bulk Weather Telecommunications Gateway to the FTI Network
June 20 2006 - 2:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Transition of Weather Service to FTI Network Will Save the FAA
Millions of Dollars MELBOURNE, Fla., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) today announced that it has
completed the transition of the Federal Aviation Administration's
(FAA) Bulk Weather Telecommunications Gateway service to the FAA
Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) network. The transition
moves the FAA's legacy satellite network for weather services to
FTI - the safest and most secure network operating within the civil
sector of the U.S. government. The legacy service had consumed the
most bandwidth of any of the FAA's satellite network users and its
transition to the more efficient FTI network will result in
substantial cost savings to the FAA. "This is a significant
milestone that enables the FAA to downsize its costly satellite
communications infrastructure and save millions of dollars," said
John O'Sullivan, FTI program vice president for the Harris
Government Communications Systems Division. "Having a continuously
updated, common picture of the weather throughout the National
Airspace System is critical to the safe and efficient flow of air
traffic. This transition moves the large- bandwidth Gateway from a
satellite to a terrestrial network that is much smaller and
cost-effective, while maintaining the same functionality." The
Gateway now broadcasts weather data from the FAA's Command Center
in Herndon, Virginia, to 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers
across the U.S. and the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New
Jersey, utilizing the highly secure, high-availability FTI Internet
Protocol over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (IP over ATM) network
backbone. Harris collaborated with Cisco Systems to develop Circuit
Emulation over IP, a new technology that encapsulates the
proprietary FAA Gateway protocol into IP packets and enables the
FAA to transition many of its legacy systems over a homogeneous IP
network infrastructure. During the 15-year FTI program, Harris is
upgrading and improving telecommunications and operations functions
at more than 4,400 FAA facilities nationwide, providing the FAA
with a safer, more efficient network that is expected to save more
than $600 million in operating costs over the life of the program.
FTI equipment has now been installed and accepted at more than
1,500 FAA facilities, and nearly 6,000 operational services have
been accepted and are in service nationwide. Transition from the
major legacy services, which are more costly, to the FTI network,
is expected to be completed by December 2007. Harris is leading a
team of top telecommunications companies consisting of AT&T,
BellSouth Corporation, Qwest Communications International, Sprint,
Verizon Communications, and Raytheon Technical Services. The team
is consolidating the Leased Interfacility National Airspace System
(NAS) Communications System (LINCS), the Data Multiplexing Network,
Bandwidth Manager, and the National Aviation Data Interchange
Network into an integrated telecommunications infrastructure.
Requirements include replacing more than 24,000 circuits, upgrading
switching and routing services, improving network monitoring and
control, implementing a state-of-the-art security system, and
providing network-engineering services. Harris Government
Communications Systems Division conducts advanced research studies,
develops prototypes, and produces and supports state-of-the- art,
assured communications(TM) solutions and information systems that
solve the mission-critical challenges of its military and
government customers, while serving as the technology base for the
company's diverse commercial businesses. Harris Corporation is an
international communications and information technology company
serving government and commercial markets in more than 150
countries. With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has
annual sales of over $3 billion and more than 13,000 employees,
including 5,500 engineers and scientists. The company's four
operating divisions serve markets for government communications, RF
communications, broadcast communications, and microwave
communications. For more information, visit http://www.harris.com/
. Sound interesting? Find great jobs at Harris:
http://www.careers.harris.com/ DATASOURCE: Harris Corporation
CONTACT: Sleighton Meyer, Government Communications Systems
Division, +1-321-727-6514, or , or Brent Dietz, Corporate
Headquarters, +1-321-724-3554, or , both of Harris Web site:
http://www.harris.com/
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