The Stanswood Consulting Technical Paper Series shares practical engineering experience gained during more than 35 years of international airport projects.
These papers are not intended to promote products, software or individual vendors. Their purpose is to encourage good engineering practice, stimulate professional discussion and help airport owners, consultants, designers and contractors deliver systems that are easier to integrate, operate and maintain.
Interface Management Is More Than a Register
Successful airport integration depends upon much more than documenting interfaces between systems. While the Interface Register is an essential project management tool, it represents only one element of a broader engineering process.
Effective Interface Management begins during the concept stage, when the Airport Owner and Airport Operator define the operational philosophy, business objectives and functional requirements that will shape the future airport.
Why Interface Management Begins at Concept Stage
One of the most common misconceptions within airport projects is that Interface Management begins once the system design has been completed.
In reality, the operational concept determines which airport systems are required, what operational information must be exchanged and ultimately which interfaces must be developed.
For this reason, Master Systems Integration should be involved from the earliest stages of airport planning. Early engagement allows the MSI team to work alongside the Airport Owner, Airport Operator and design consultants before detailed design and procurement activities become fixed.
Interfaces Are Not Only Technical
Software interfaces and network communications are important, but many critical airport interfaces are operational, organisational or information-based.
The paper considers five principal categories:
- Operational interfaces
- Information interfaces
- System interfaces
- Technical interfaces
- Stakeholder and external agency interfaces
Successful integration requires cooperation between organisations as much as it requires communication between systems.
Developing the Interface Management Strategy
Rather than immediately creating an Interface Register, the MSI team should first establish how the airport will operate, which systems are required, which organisations own or operate them, what operational information must be exchanged, where that information originates and who consumes it.
This approach allows every recorded interface to be traced back to a defined operational requirement.
The Role of the Interface Register
The Interface Register provides a structured record of identified interfaces and enables them to be monitored throughout design, implementation, testing and commissioning.
The MSI should maintain one controlled airport-wide Interface Register. Dividing the register by individual discipline or contract can obscure interfaces that cross package boundaries, create duplication and make airport-wide coordination more difficult.
High-level interface schematics complement the register by providing a visual representation of the airport systems landscape and the principal information exchanges between systems and organisations.
Interface Control Documentation
The Interface Register identifies the interfaces that exist, but it does not contain sufficient engineering detail to design, implement, test and commission them.
The supporting engineering baseline may include:
- Network and Infrastructure Interface Specifications
- Software Interface Control Documents
- Interface test specifications and procedures
- Factory and Site Acceptance Test records
- System Integration Test records
- Operational acceptance records, where applicable
Before software can exchange operational information, the complete communications path must be identified, implemented and verified, including the firewalls and security controls through which the data must pass.
Verification, Validation and Lifecycle Management
Completion of interface documentation does not prove that an interface performs correctly in the operational airport environment.
Verification confirms that the interface has been designed and implemented in accordance with the approved engineering documentation. Validation confirms that the completed interface supports the operational requirement for which it was originally developed.
Interface Management should continue throughout the operational life of the airport as systems are upgraded, replaced and expanded.
What the Full Paper Covers
SC-TP-003 – Interface Management: More Than an Interface Register examines Interface Management as a complete Master Systems Integration discipline.
The full paper covers the airport systems landscape, concept-stage interface management, the main interface categories, development of the Interface Management Strategy, the role of the Interface Register, supporting Interface Control Documentation, and verification, validation and lifecycle management.
Who Should Read This Paper?
This paper is intended for Airport Owners, Airport Operators, programme directors, designers, contractors, system suppliers and operational stakeholders responsible for defining, delivering or maintaining airport systems interfaces.