Logical Architecture of a U-Space Laboratory in Germany

For decades now, initiatives and studies have included the scientific theme of integrating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the existing airspace. As an example, the "European ATM Master Plan" already outlined in 2008 the vision of fully integrated UAS operations with conventional manned air traffic and envisions a scalable and adaptable system that was later called the U-Space digital ecosystem. Within Europe, the European Commission has published several regulations, including the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/664 describing the regulatory framework of this U-Space ecosystem. Following these regulations, in addition to other guidelines, we aim to develop and verify a fully functional and operational viable U-Space environment at DLR’s National Experimental Test Center for UAS, located at the operational Madgeburg-Cochstedt Airport in Germany.In this publication, the logical system architecture of this U-Space environment at the Magdeburg-Cochstedt Airport environment is described by using a generic system engineering approach. The approach is based on the V-model to ensure that each development steps are validated and verified. To document the process and derive specific requirements the graphic modeling language SysML is used.In total, two main perspectives (i.e. black box and white box) have been investigated in the problem domain. Within these perspectives, various key steps have been conducted in order to develop the required logical system architecture for the envisaged U-Space environment. These steps can be summarized as the system context analysis, in which relevant stakeholders and relevant use cases are identified. The relevant stakeholders include Common Information Service Providers (CISP), U-Space Service Providers (USSP) and more general stakeholders, such as UAS operators, national and international aviation authorities, or the general public. Furthermore, this step describes the fulfillment of the stakeholder requirements from the system’s perspective. Thus, it is described how the system will fulfil the use cases as intended. This step leads to a functional design which describes how different functions are fulfilled for the user, including the specific description of the interfaces. The stakeholder requirements from the system context analysis and the functional design process lead to the final step, the actual development of the logical system architecture. This architecture describes the overall U-Space system as a system of different services which have to be provided in order to fulfill the different requirements defined. The logical system architecture will be the foundation on which detailed component specifications will be derived to implement the U-Space environment. In essence, this publication paves the way for developing, implementing and commissioning an operational U-Space environment at an active airport within Europe.