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FIX-Gateway

FIX-Gateway is the avionics data broker for the MakerPlane open-source aircraft. It is a small Python daemon that holds one real-time database of named flight parameters, and moves data between every source and every consumer through a plugin architecture — so a display never has to know where its data came from, and a sensor never has to know who will read it.

FIX = Flight Information eXchange — an open, vendor-neutral protocol family for Experimental Amateur-Built (E-AB) avionics. FIX-Gateway is the hub that speaks it (and translates everything else into it).

The mental model

Everything flows through one central database of named keys (IAS, ALT, OILP1, NAV1CRS, …):

  SOURCES  ──write──▶   ┌─────────────────────┐   ──read / subscribe──▶  CONSUMERS
  X-Plane / FlightGear  │   the FIX database   │   pyEfis EFIS display
  GPS, Stratux ADS-B    │  named, typed keys   │   pyAvMap moving map
  CAN-FIX bus           │  + quality flags     │   NetFIX network clients
  MAVLink autopilot     │  + staleness timers  │   CAN-FIX output nodes
  RPi IMU / baro / ADC  └─────────────────────┘   autopilot
  MGL / Dynon / GRT         ▲          │
  Compute (derived) ────────┘          └── every box is a plugin

A plugin is loaded for each connection you need. Source plugins write keys; consumer plugins read or subscribe to them; a few plugins do both, and others (like compute) derive new keys from existing ones. Add a sensor by writing/enabling a plugin — nothing else in the system changes.

Start here

• New to the project? → Architecture — how the broker, the database, and plugins fit together (read this first).
• Setting it up for your aircraft? → Configuration
• Understanding the parameters? → The FIX Database
• Connecting a display / writing a client? → NetFIX Protocol
• Adding a data source or feature? → Plugins and Writing a Plugin
• Flying a route? → Flight Plan Engine, and Navigator Adapter for an external GPS navigator
• Connecting a simulator or bus? → X-Plane, CAN-FIX, CANaerospace Input

Where it fits

FIX-Gateway is the runtime data hub of the MakerPlane stack — the live flight-data bus in the air:

• pyEfis — the EFIS display; connects over the NetFIX Protocol (TCP) and reads the keys FIX-Gateway publishes.
• CAN-FIX — the in-aircraft hardware bus; the canfix plugin bridges it to the database in both directions.
• Reference data (terrain, charts, panel layouts, aircraft parameter profiles) is a separate concern handled by makerplane-data — that updates at the hangar; FIX-Gateway carries what changes in flight.

Quick facts

Language	Python 3, plugin-based daemon
License	GPL v2
Network	NetFIX ASCII over TCP (default port 3490)
Config	src/fixgw/config/ — default.yaml (plugins), database.yaml (keys)
Run	./fixGw.py (server) · ./fixGwClient.py (debug client)
Use	Experimental Amateur-Built aircraft only — not FAA-approved avionics

Deeper reference

This wiki explains how the system works and how to use it. The repository carries the canonical detail:

• README.md — project overview + full plugin list
• doc/ — the reference manual (Sphinx): intro, getting started, database, plugin development, and per-plugin pages under doc/plugins/.