TECH TALK
LESSONS THAT NEXTGEN CAN LEARN FROM THE TELEGRAPH (AND THE ARPANET/INTERNET)
By John Pawlicki T
11.12 2013
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he history of communications is an interesting one in which the past repeats itself. This is why an analysis of NextGen and how it might evolve (if it is allowed to) should be of interest to the
entire aviation industry. A number of the early attempts at communicating information have interesting parallels to NextGen (much like SESAR and other such air traffic management systems being rolled out internationally), and some of these highlight potential paths to take, or at least strategies to employ. Civilization has had some manner of long-distance
communication since the first warlord needed to communicate with outlying troops. From signal fires, smoke signals, reflected light, and homing pigeons to the Pony Express, mankind has always pushed the envelope on increasing the speed of sharing information. Not only has the communication speed increased over time, but the volume of information has also grown with it.
While it may not seem as if a direct correlation exists
between general-purpose communications and a dedicated use mechanism such as NextGen, there is much more to this than initially meets the eye. NextGen is a new paradigm on how we manage our air traffic management via the use of wireless data communications; hence, it is a new network. Every preceding large network,starting with the telegraph, the telephone system, radio, television, and Internet has evolved past the dreams of its early adopters to encompass many other functions and capabilities. In order to know where you are going, it helps to understand how you got there.
TELEGRAPH: NOT ONLY THE FIRST ELECTRONIC NETWORK, BUT TEXT MESSAGING, TOO
The first text messages were not sent by teenagers, but by highly-trained operators sitting in cramped cubicle- like offices all around the world (apparently not much has changed in regards to office space), hunched over their pre-
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