A eronautical Telecommunications Network is a global networking infrastructure that will extend the information superhighway to the world of aviation by connecting different types of standardized applications (AOC, ATSC, APC) over a global internet. The ATN's distinctive characteristic is support for global policy-based routing and support for mobility, that is, the ATN provides transparent connectivity to aircraft applications over various air-to-ground subnetworks including VHF digital Link Mode 2 (VDL-2), VDL-3 and SATCOM.
BCI developed and is supporting the ATN testbed at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center. The ATN testbed is currently being used to conduct interoperability testing of ATN systems in support of the CPDLC program and in support of ATN Message Handling System (AMHS) development.