Romanian Air Control Takes Off with Cisco Technology

ROMATSA Implements Cisco IP Network with Integrated Security and Unified Communications for Air Traffic Control Services

BUCHAREST, Romania .- Cisco today announced that ROMATSA, the Romanian Administration for Air Traffic Services, has implemented a Cisco® Internet Protocol (IP) network to support air traffic control services. This network serves as the platform for all air traffic control communication, including air-to-ground and ground-to-ground communication, as well as all data transfers for aeronautical applications. The Cisco solution helps ROMATSA reduce operating costs and meet the requirements for high levels of resiliency and redundancy.

ROMATSA’s objective is to create a safe operational environment for air traffic in the Romanian airspace. Its 1,500 employees at 16 sites provide control, navigation, aeronautical telecommunication and information services; collect and process meteorological information; and operate a search-and-rescue service.

“In a time when civil aviation is developing dynamically, technical support for air traffic services becomes crucial. Traditionally, air traffic control meant managing different communications systems and hardware for each specific application. Whilst designing ROMATSA’s new communication network, we decided to take a fresh look at legacy systems and replace them with a flexible IP-based infrastructure that serves all areas of radio, voice and data communication, navigation, surveillance, and data processing,” said Catalin Apostol, a communications expert from ROMATSA.

“What’s more, the open architecture helps enable us to evolve our systems when required, and we are ready for IP version 6, which is expected to become the foundation for new aeronautical IT standards. Last, but not least, there is a significant cost advantage in managing one integrated infrastructure instead of diverse legacy systems,” Apostol added.

“ROMATSA’s new network architecture shows how the inherent flexibility of IP can help provide resiliency and redundancy while lowering costs. This is especially important in deployments such as air traffic control, where reliability is key and standards are particularly strict,” said Bogdan Constantinescu, general manager for Cisco Romania and Republic of Moldova.

The Cisco software and hardware solution also needed to address interoperability with multiple legacy protocols and interfaces from third-party equipment. The solution was customized, designed and implemented by Datanet Systems, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner.

The deployment for ROMATSA is based on a number of Cisco solutions. Cisco Catalyst® 7600 Series routers provide a high-performance core network solution and associated firewall and intrusion detection and prevention security features. Cisco 3800 Series Integrated Services Routers provide an access solution, and network management is supplied using the CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution and the Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (MARS). Cisco UnifiedCallManager and more than 300 Cisco IP Phones have also been supplied.