Comparison of VDL modes in the aeronautical telecommunications network

VHF Digital Link (VDL) has been identified as a method of communication between aircraft and ground stations in the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN). Three different modes of VDL have been suggested for implementation. Simulations were conducted to compare the data transfer capabilities of VDL Modes 2, 3, and 4. These simulations focus on up to 50 aircraft communicating with a single VDL ground station. The data traffic is generated by the standard File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) applications in the aircraft. Comparisons of the modes are based on the number of files and pages transferred and the response time.