Providing An Interface for An Avionics Data Transfer System

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017201367-A1
Application number	US-201614990965-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 8, 2016
Priority date	Jan 8, 2016
Publication date	Jul 13, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing an efficient and configurable port interface in an avionics data transfer system are provided. For instance, in one embodiment a set of virtual ports associated with an avionics data transfer system can be defined. At least as a subset of the virtual ports can be mapped to one or more addresses in a memory space associated with the data transfer system, such that each virtual port has a fixed definition in the memory space. One or more of the virtual ports can then be associated with one or more physical ports associated with an interface between a host computing device and an end system in the data transfer system by specifying for the one or more virtual ports a plurality of port parameters that define the respective one or more physical ports.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of providing a virtual port interface for an end system in an avionics data transfer system associated with an aircraft, the method comprising:
defining a set of virtual ports associated with an avionics data transfer system; mapping at least a subset of virtual ports in the set of virtual ports to one or more addresses in a memory space associated with the avionics data transfer system, such that each virtual port is allocated to a fixed definition in the memory space associated with the avionics data transfer system; and associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports associated with an interface between a host computing device and an end system in the avionics data transfer system by assigning to the one or more virtual ports a plurality of port parameters that define the respective one or more physical ports.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports comprises associating the one or more virtual ports with one or more memory buffers or memory registers associated with the respective one or more physical ports.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the avionics data transfer system comprises an avionics full-duplex switched Ethernet data network, and wherein the end system provides a communications interface between the host computing device and a switching device associated with the avionics full-duplex switched Ethernet data network.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of parameters that define the respective one or more physical ports comprise parameters associated with a virtual link, a sub-virtual link, a UDP source port, a UDP destination port, or a destination partition.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each virtual port of the set of virtual ports is individually addressable.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each virtual port of the at least a subset of virtual ports is allocated to a contiguous address space.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein each virtual port of the at least a subset of virtual ports is allocated using a memory management unit.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the host computing device comprises at least two partitions, each partition associated with an independent application associated with the avionics data transfer system.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein each partition is associated with at least one of the one or more physical ports.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the memory management unit manages access by each partition to the at least one of the one or more physical ports associated with the partition.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying one or more system configurations associated with the data transfer system, and wherein associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports comprises associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports based at least in part on the one or more system configurations.

12 . An avionics data transfer system comprising:
one or more host computing devices configured to transmit and receive data packets over the avionics data transfer system; one or more switching devices configured to receive one or more data packets from the one or more host computing devices and to transmit the data packets to an intended destination; and one or more end systems, each configured to provide a communications interface between a host computing device and at least one of the one or more switching devices, each of the one or more end systems further configured to establish a port interface between the end system and a host computing device by:
defining a set of virtual ports associated with the end system;
mapping at least a subset of virtual ports in the set of virtual ports to one or more addresses in a memory space associated with the end system, such that each virtual port is allocated to a fixed definition in the memory space; and
associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports associated with the interface between the host computing device and the end system by assigning to the one or more virtual ports a plurality of port parameters used to communicate with the respective one or more physical ports.

13 . The avionics data transfer system of claim 12 , wherein associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports comprises associating the one or more virtual ports with one or more memory buffers or memory registers associated with the respective one or more physical ports.

14 . The avionics data transfer system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of parameters that define the respective one or more physical ports comprise parameters associated with a virtual link, a sub-virtual link, a UDP source port, a UDP destination port, or a destination partition.

15 . The avionics data transfer system of claim 12 , wherein each virtual port of the at least a subset of virtual ports is allocated contiguously using a memory management unit.

16 . The avionics data transfer system of claim 15 , wherein access to the virtual ports by the one or more host computing devices is managed by the memory management unit.

17 . An end system in an avionics data transfer system, the end system configured to provide a communications interface between a host computing device and at least one switching device in the avionics data transfer system by:
defining a set of virtual ports associated with the end system; mapping at least a subset of virtual ports in the set of virtual ports to one or more addresses in a memory space associated with the end system, such that each virtual port is allocated to a fixed definition in the memory space; and associating one or more virtual ports of the at least a subset of virtual ports with one or more physical ports associated with the end system by specifying for the one or more virtual ports a plurality of port parameters used to communicate with the respective one or more physical ports and one or more buffers or registers required to interface with the respective one or more physical ports.

18 . The end system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of parameters that define the respective one or more physical ports comprise parameters associated with a virtual link, a sub-virtual link, a UDP source port, a UDP destination port, or a destination partition.

19 . The end system of claim 17 , wherein each virtual port of the at least a subset of virtual ports is allocated contiguously using a memory management unit.

20 . The end system of claim 19 , wherein access to the virtual ports by the one or more host computing devices is managed by the memory management unit.

Assignees

• Ge Aviation Systems Llc

Inventors

• Van Stensel Jonathan Paul
• Holmwood Colin
• Molling Harry

Classifications

• G06F3/0607

  by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device · CPC title

• H04L45/74

  Address processing for routing · CPC title

• H04L5/14 Primary

  Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• G06F3/0635

  by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration · CPC title