NEW YORK and TAMPA, Fl., June 19, 2007 – Systems & Software Technology Conference – AdaCore, provider of the highest quality Ada tools and support services, today announced that Praxis has selected AdaCore’s GNAT Pro for the implementation of the UK’s next-generation Interim Future Area Control Tools Support (iFACTS) air traffic control system for its client NATS.
iFACTS will use a new program that is being designed and implemented from the start with the SPARK Ada language, a choice based on Ada’s proven strength in developing large, long-lived, high-reliability systems. The program will be using the GNAT Pro native toolset on IBM AIX workstations as the development environment. AdaCore’s unparalleled support is one primary reason that Praxis chose AdaCore. AdaCore provides state of the art Ada compilation systems and support for this and many other native and embedded platforms.
iFACTS will provide Air Traffic Controllers with a set of advanced tools to increase capacity to meet the growing demand from the civil aviation industry. It will also alert Controllers to flights which are not following their flight plan and detect medium term conflicts, which will also enhance safety capability.
Keith Williams, Praxis’ Managing Director, said, “It is extremely exciting to be able to deploy our capability in critical software on the iFACTS project and work with partners who combine advanced technology with rigorous safety certification – AdaCore was the perfect solution for our high integrity SPARK Ada development needs.”
“iFACTS is the future of air traffic control,” said Robert Dewar, President and CEO, AdaCore. “The combination of Praxis’ experience in critical systems engineering and the high integrity of SPARK Ada enables the development of this vitally important and sophisticated system.”
NATS has pioneered research and development of advanced air traffic control tools for several years from its simulator and research centre at Hurn. The iFACTS project will deliver a subset of these tools onto the system at the company’s main en-route Control Centre at Swanwick in Hampshire. Currently undergoing trials, iFACTS will be installed at the London Area Control Centre, Swanwick. Following full development, training, and installation of a new workstation at Swanwick, iFACTS will be introduced into service.
About AdaCore
Founded in 1994, AdaCore is the leading provider of commercial software solutions for Ada, a modern programming language designed for large, long-lived applications where reliability, efficiency and safety are critical. AdaCore’s flagship product is GNAT Pro, which comes with expert online support and is available on more platforms than any other Ada technology. AdaCore has customers worldwide; see www.adacore.com/home/company/customers/ for more information.
Use of Ada and GNAT Pro continues to grow in high-integrity and safety-critical applications, including commercial and defence aircraft avionics, air traffic control, railroad systems, financial services and medical devices. AdaCore has North American headquarters in New York and European headquarters in Paris. www.adacore.com
About Praxis
Praxis is a systems engineering company specialising in safety- and mission-critical applications. Praxis leads the world in specific areas of advanced systems engineering specifically: ultra low defect software engineering, safety engineering for complex or novel systems, and tools/methods for systems engineering. Praxis offers clients a range of services including turn-key systems development, consultancy, training and R&D. Key market sectors are Aerospace, Defence, Air Traffic Management, Railways and Nuclear. The company operates internationally with active projects in the US, Asia and Europe. UK offices include London and Bath. It is wholly owned by Altran Technologies which is a global leader in innovation engineering and employs 16, 000 engineers across the world. www.praxis-his.com