Aircraft network monitoring and attestation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022046037-A1
Application number	US-202016984226-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 4, 2020
Priority date	Aug 4, 2020
Publication date	Feb 10, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for compiling and monitoring a list of operational aircraft components to determine if a threshold is met. Utilizing the list and the threshold can provide for monitoring the network of aircraft components to monitor both health and security of the aircraft network and components thereof. The system can then indicate or alert when a threshold is met or exceeded. Such an alert can be on a display to a pilot, for example, or to a remote monitoring station.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of monitoring health and security of networked avionics on an aircraft, the method comprising:
generating a list including executables and libraries representative of the networked avionics; monitoring the list; alerting when one or more of the networked avionics provided on the list meets a predetermined threshold.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the executables and libraries include configuration files and static memory.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined threshold includes where one or more items on the list are absent from the list.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating the list further includes verifying, cryptographically, that the networked avionics represented on the list are on the aircraft or on a network in communication with the aircraft.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the list further includes relevant static memory items stored on at least one of the networked avionics.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the list is generated on a configuration management unit, a network switch, or an interface device.

7 . The method of claim 6 wherein the list is generated on the interface device, and the interface device includes a remote interface unit.

8 . The method of claim 6 wherein the list is generated on the configuration management unit, and the configuration management unit includes an aircraft architecture.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein alerting further includes indicating which functions of the aircraft can be impacted when one or more of the networked avionics meets the predetermined threshold.

10 . The method of claim 1 wherein monitoring the list includes periodically measuring aspects of the networked avionics and comparing the measured aspects to the predetermined threshold.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein periodically measuring includes continuously measuring aspects of the networked avionics.

12 . The method of claim 10 wherein periodically measuring further includes storing historical information based upon prior periodic measurements and comparing the most recent periodic measurement to at least one of the prior periodic measurements to determine a trend.

13 . The method of claim 13 wherein monitoring further includes monitoring the trend to identify unexpected behavior without meeting the predetermined threshold.

14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising updating the predetermined threshold based upon the trend.

15 . A network system for an aircraft comprising:
a set of aircraft components; a network communicatively and electronically interconnecting the set of aircraft components; a configuration management unit electronically communicable with the network and configured to detect or measure the set of aircraft components across the network, wherein the configuration management unit is configured to generate a list representing a configuration of the network and the set of aircraft components; wherein the list includes executables or libraries associated with the set of aircraft components and the network; and wherein the configuration management unit is configured to monitor the list to determine if the configuration management unit no longer approves the configuration.

16 . The network system of claim 15 wherein the monitoring the list includes one or more of monitoring throughput, monitoring throughput capacity, monitoring memory usage, monitoring memory capacity, monitoring temperature, or monitoring pressure for the set of aircraft components.

17 . The network system of claim 15 wherein the configuration management unit is part of a configuration management unit carrying an architecture for the aircraft.

18 . A method of monitoring network security in an aircraft, the method comprising:
generating a list representative of an aircraft network and one or more aircraft components on the aircraft network; periodically monitoring the list; and indicating, on a display, which functionalities of the aircraft could be impacted or are impacted when the one or more aircraft components monitored on the list reaches a predetermined threshold.

19 . The method of claim 18 wherein periodically monitoring the list further includes storing, in a memory, historical information based upon prior periodic measurements and comparing the most recent periodic measurement to at least one of the prior periodic measurements to determine a trend.

20 . The method of claim 18 wherein periodically monitoring further includes monitoring the trend to identify unexpected behavior without meeting the predetermined threshold.

Assignees

• Ge Aviat Systems Ltd

Inventors

• Schwindt Stefan Alexander
• Hussain Mustafa

Classifications

• H04L41/0803

  Configuration setting · CPC title

• H04B7/18506 Primary

  Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service · CPC title

• B64F5/60

  Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems · CPC title

• H04L2012/4028

  the transportation system being an aircraft · CPC title

• H04L12/40

  Bus networks · CPC title