How country-wide RSSI monitoring improves the efficiency in radio operations

Case study

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Critical need for proactive RF signal monitoring

Radio background noise and interferences are ongoing operational challenges for air traffic control communications. These issues range from routine technical problems to potential safety concerns requiring immediate attention.

Signal degradation can be caused by multiple sources:

Environmental factors, such as ice accumulation on antennas and water intrusion into phasing equipment
Nearby equipment creating unwanted RF noise
Hardware degradation, such as aging components affecting signal transmission
Intentional interference, like jamming

Limitations of conventional radio monitoring

ANSPs have experienced troubleshooting teams equipped with sophisticated test and measurement equipment. However, the fundamental challenge lies not in local troubleshooting capabilities, but in timely problem detection and in isolating issues in space, time and frequency. This requires comprehensive visibility across the entire radio infrastructure.

Traditional test and measurement equipment provides detailed data on individual areas or specific technical parameters, but lacks the ability to present a unified, network-wide view of signal quality and noise levels.

This shortcoming means that engineering teams cannot quickly identify whether issues are isolated or part of broader patterns affecting multiple locations or frequencies.

Without this holistic perspective, problems are often identified only after:

Controllers complain about bad communications quality
Routine maintenance discovers existing problems
Service degradation impacts operations
Multiple incidents reveal systemic issues

Requirements for effective proactive radio monitoring

Network-wide visibility providing a complete overview of all sites simultaneously
Real-time RSSI measurement across all radio frequencies
Automated detection of signal quality degradation
Historical trend analysis for pattern identification
Site and region specific performance tracking
Immediate alerts when thresholds are exceeded

Without these capabilities, engineering teams operate reactively, responding to problems after they impact operations rather than preventing issues through early detection. Reliable data is essential to locating interference sources in space, time and frequency so that service engineers do not have to rely on luck to detect a problem in the field, wasting valuable time and resources.

Rohde & Schwarz solution

Comprehensive RF signal monitoring through AVQA

Rohde & Schwarz provided a leading European ANSP with advanced RSSI monitoring capabilities through the AVQA platform, enabling continuous visibility into signal quality across their entire radio infrastructure.

AVQA monitors signal strength and quality parameters continuously:

Real-time signal strength tracking for every monitored frequency
Identification of interference patterns and anomalous signals
Long data retention times allowing identification of weekly and even monthly patterns
Site-level analysis with comparative trending
Automatic notifications when signal degradation exceeds defined thresholds

Rapid problem identification workflow

AVQA enables systematic issue detection and response:

Continuous monitoring identifies signal strength deviations from baseline parameters
Dashboard visualization displays affected sites with severity indicators
Historical data comparison reveals whether issues are recurring or new
Root cause indicators help determine probable sources like antenna problems, equipment interference and environmental factors
Engineering teams dispatch technicians with specific diagnostic guidance

Advanced analysis capabilities

The platform provides sophisticated analysis tools:

Identification of patterns requiring preventive maintenance
Temporal analysis by tracking signal quality across different time periods
Performance benchmarking across multiple sites
Threshold configuration by the user
Long-term performance tracking and trend visualization for strategic planning

AVQA not only provides valuable data about the radio interface, but also deep insights into any voice over IP services of the ANSP. This includes detailed data on MOS, jitter, packet loss, delays and other key network and service metrics as well as compliance checks in line with ED‑136 and ED‑137 standards. This makes AVQA a comprehensive ATC monitoring solution.

Benefits

The ANSP achieved significant improvements across multiple operational dimensions:

Enhanced incident detection and response

Engineering teams can now assess the entire network’s signal quality status within seconds and proactively target individual problematic sites. The bird’s eye perspective enables:

Issue identification within minutes rather than hours or days
Elimination of extensive diagnostic procedures through targeted problem identification
Technician deployment with specific information about problem location and likely causes
Problem resolution before impact on operational communications

Proactive issue prevention

Equipment degradation patterns enable preventive component replacement
Anomalous signal patterns trigger investigation before potential user impact
Historical analysis reveals sites requiring infrastructure upgrades, leading to systematic improvements

Operational efficiency gains

Continuous 24/7 oversight assuring proper operation of radio infrastructure
Data-driven decisions based on historical trends
Targeted and more effective deployment of field service engineers
Smarter quality assurance by verifying that all sites maintain required signal specifications
Comprehensive records for auditing and regulatory requirements that support complianc