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  • BSI Flex 1903 v2:2024-06 community preview

    This is an interactive version 2 of BSI Flex 1903. The aim of the standard is to create a lexicon of standard terms and acronyms used in this sector. Please note, content is still undergoing internal review and there may be minor changes at full publication.

    We welcome your engagement and comments on this version to help inform the development of the standard. We would also welcome general feedback including what terms could be considered for future versions and these can be made through our dedicated feedback page .

Terms and definitions

3.1 Terms and definitions
A

  1. advanced air mobility (AAM)  

    safe, secure and sustainable air mobility of passengers and cargo enabled by new-generation technologies integrated into a multimodal transportation system   NOTE 1 The EASA source document uses the term “innovative air mobility” (IAM). NOTE 2 AAM is a type of innovative aerial service (IAS) (3.1.96). NOTE 3 AAM envisions the use of autonomous or semi-autonomous flight capabilities. NOTE 4 AAM operations include the subsets of urban and regional air mobility. NOTE 5
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  2. aerodrome  

    defined area (including any buildings, installations, and equipment) on land or water or on a fixed, fixed offshore or floating structure intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and surface movement of aircraft   NOTE Also see related term “vertiport (VPT)” ( 3.1.144).   [SOURCE: GREAT BRITAIN. UK Regulation (EU) No. 923/2012 First edition, March 2023 UK Rules of the Air (SERA)] [3]

  3. air navigation service provider (ANSP)  

    public or private entity providing air navigation services for general air traffic, including an organization having applied for a certificate to provide such services   [SOURCE: UK CAA CAP 1430 UK Air Traffic Management Vocabulary, Second edition, August 2017] [4]

  4. airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS)  

    aircraft system based on secondary surveillance radar (SSR) (3.1.121)  transponder signals which operates independently of ground-based equipment to provide advice to the pilot on potential conflicting aircraft that are equipped with SSR transponders   NOTE 1 The terms “ACAS” and “TCAS” (traffic alert and collision avoidance system) are often used interchangeably however there is a difference between the two terms: ACAS is typically used when referring to the technical standard, concep

  5. airborne DAA  

    means by which all detect and avoid (DAA) (3.1.55) sub-functions are contained aboard the aircraft   NOTE Traffic DAA systems include interoperability between conflicting aircraft in order to coordinate avoidance manoeuvring, e.g. an airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) (3.1.4). Previous version: 1.0 Release date: September 2023 detect and avoid (DAA) (3.1.32) system where all sub-functions are contained aboard the aircraft  NOTE Traffic DAA systems might include i
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  6. aircraft to aircraft (A2A)  

    communication technology that enables aircraft to exchange information between aircraft without the need for direct human initiation and/or intervention   NOTE These technologies relate to objectives such as traffic detection, collision avoidance, and improving air traffic flow and efficiency.  

  7. aircraft to infrastructure (A2I)  

    communication technology that enables aircraft to exchange information between aircraft and infrastructure without the need for direct human initiation and/or intervention   NOTE These technologies relate to objectives such as scheduling arrival/departure slots at vertiports and ground obstacle collision avoidance.

  8. aircraft to everything (A2X)  

    communication technology that enables aircraft to exchange information, without the need for human initiation and/or intervention, with various entities in their surrounding environment. It refers to the exchange of data between aircraft to aircraft (A2A) (3.1.6)  and aircraft to infrastructure (A2I) (3.1.7)   NOTE These technologies allow for low-latency, high-bandwidth communication, can operate in various frequency ranges, and are an enabler of autonomous operation (3.1.23).

  9. airspace observer  

    person who assists the remote pilot by performing unaided visual scanning of the airspace in which the uncrewed aircraft is operating for any potential hazard in the air   NOTE The term describes one type of visual observer; the other main type of visual observer is  UAO (3.1.135)   [SOURCE: UK CAA, CAP 722D, Unmanned aircraft system operations in UK airspace: Abbreviations and master glossary] [6]   Previous version: 1.0 Release date: September 2023 person who
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  10. airspace observer beyond visual line of sight (AO-BVLOS) operations  

    beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) (3.1.35) operation where the primary means of achieving safe separation from crewed aircraft is with an airspace observer, or observers, to provide detection of potential hazards and communicate this information to the remote pilot   NOTE For these operations, the observer does not necessarily maintain visual contact with the uncrewed aircraft, whereas in uncrewed aircraft observer beyond visual line of sight (UAO-BVLOS) (3.1.136)  operations, the ob
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  11. air traffic management (ATM)  

    dynamic, integrated management of air traffic and airspace (including air traffic services, airspace management and air traffic flow management), conducted safely, economically and efficiently through the provision of facilities and seamless services in collaboration with all parties and involving airborne and ground-based functions   [SOURCE: ICAO, Unmanned aircraft systems traffic management (UTM) – A common framework with core principles for global harmonization] [7]   Pre
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  12. air traffic management (ATM) system  

    system that provides air traffic management (ATM) (3.1.11) through the collaborative integration of humans, information, technology, facilities and services, supported by air and ground- and/or space-based communications, navigation and surveillance   [SOURCE: ICAO, Unmanned aircraft systems traffic management (UTM) – A common framework with core principles for global harmonization] [7]   Previous version: 1.0 Release date: September 2023 system that provides air traffic
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  13. airworthy  

    status of an aircraft, engine, propeller, or part when it conforms to its approved design and is in a condition for safe operation   Note: Also see related term “flightworthy” (3.1.73)   [SOURCE: ICAO Annex 8 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Airworthiness of Aircraft, 13th edition, July 2022] [8]

  14. ampere-hour (AH)  

    unit for the quantity of electrical capacity obtained by integrating current in amperes over time in hours and used as a measure of battery capacity   [SOURCE: RTCA, RTCA DO-311A, Minimum operational performance standards for rechargeable lithium batteries and battery systems] [9]
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  15. artificial intelligence (AI)  

    technology that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, generate outputs such as content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing the environments they interact with   NOTE AI solutions are generally non-deterministic (3.1.105) and hence for safety-critical systems present a challenge for certification.   [SOURCE: EASA, Artificial intelligence roadmap 2.0] [10]   Previous version: 1.0 Release date: September 2023 ability of hardware and

  16. assurance  

    planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence a product, service or functional system conforms to and an organization complies with an applicable standard or acceptable means of compliance
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  17. atypical air environment (AAE)  

    specified volume of airspace where the potential for an otherwise unmitigated encounter with crewed aircraft meets an acceptable level   NOTE 1 Examples of AAE described in UK CAA CAP 2968, Consultation: Unmanned aircraft operations within an atypical air environment [11], include: • within 30 m (100 feet) of any building or structure; • within 15 m (50 feet) of a permanent linear structure, e.g. a railway, road or powerline; and • within the confines of private property
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  18. atypical beyond visual line of sight (AT-BVLOS) operations  

    beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) (3.1.35) operation where the primary means of achieving safe separation from crewed aircraft is by operating within a non-segregated atypical air environment   Previous version: 1.0 Release date: September 2023 beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) (3.1.19) operation where the primary means of achieving safe separation from crewed aircraft is by operating within a non-segregated atypical air environment where the likelihood of an otherwise unmitig

  19. automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B)  

    means by which aircraft, aerodrome vehicles and other objects can automatically transmit and/or receive data such as identification, position and additional data, as appropriate, in a broadcast mode via a data link NOTE ADS-B is a form of Electronic Conspicuity (EC) (3.1.42) . [SOURCE: ICAO Doc 4444 Procedures for Air Navigation Services, Air Traffic Management, 16th Edition, 2016] [11]

  20. automated  

    allocation of a task or operation, which might have previously been executed manually, to automation in whole or in part
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  21. autonomous  

    independently determined (system) operations, when there is no predefined rule(s) to achieve the goals/objectives set for that system
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  22. autonomous charging  

    ability of an aircraft to connect to a charging station, then initiate, monitor and complete the charging process without human intervention   NOTE 1  For an” eVTOL” (3.1.70) , this requires charging infrastructure which may be available, for example, at a “vertiport (VPT)” (3.1.143) NOTE 2 Human intervention remains possible during the charging process.
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  23. autonomous operation  

    operation during which an uncrewed aircraft operates without the remote pilot being able to intervene NOTE The terms “ autonomy” (3.1.24) and “autonomous operation” have different meanings. An autonomous operation defines a type of operation utilizing autonomy to the extent that the human is out of the loop [see human-out-of-the-loop (3.1.89). [SOURCE: UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947, modified “unmanned” replaced with “uncrewed”] [13]  
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  24. autonomy  

    characteristic of a system represented by a scale that describes the level of human oversight and control of the system   NOTE 1 Autonomy can be enabled by increasing the amount of automation of a task. This might involve AI-based development techniques. NOTE 2 The terms “autonomy” and “autonomous operation” (3.1.23) have different meanings. An autonomous operation defines a type of operation utilizing autonomy to the extent that the human is out of the loop [see human-out-of-the
    • New
B

  1. battery  

    electrochemical energy storage system   [SOURCE: EASA, Third publication of means of compliance with the Special Condition VTOL] [14]
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