TIS-B: The ADS-B Bridge

The great promise of ADS-B is that it will eventually offer free traffic and weather services for those pilots willing to pay for the equipment and displays. But until everyone has ADS-B Out-required by 2020-a technology called TIS-B (Traffic Information Services-Broadcast) will fill the trafffic gap, allowing you to see everything ATC sees within a reasonable range of a radar site, presuming you and the radar site are suitably equipped. Lets explore how TIS-B works and how it fits into the current state of ADS-B.

Key Takeaways:

• TIS-B (Traffic Information Services-Broadcast) supplements ADS-B by providing ADS-B-equipped aircraft with radar and WAM-derived positions of non-ADS-B aircraft, filling a critical traffic information gap until universal ADS-B Out adoption.
• To receive TIS-B, an aircraft must be an active ADS-B participant (client) to trigger updates within a specific "hockey puck" service volume, relying on adequate ground station and surveillance coverage.
• TIS-B includes features like target suppression for privacy and clarity, and traffic information is uplinked via UAT and 1090ES datalinks with minimal delay.
• Crucially, TIS-B is not a collision avoidance system but an aid for visual traffic acquisition and "see and avoid," and passive reception without being a TIS-B client can lead to an incomplete or misleading traffic picture.

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