Leg type entry on flight management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025391279-A1
Application number	US-202418749895-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 21, 2024
Priority date	Jun 21, 2024
Publication date	Dec 25, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an FMS configured to accept a plurality of flight legs (beyond the standard five) for consideration when developing a flight plan. Allowing an FMS to receive a plurality of flight legs, beyond just five, is achieved by calculating a lateral trajectory and a vertical trajectory based on the current state of the flight path. This may be done mid-flight or initially when a given flight plan is entered by the pilot. The sequence of leg types that are entered may be used to generate a predicted final trajectory and output a GUI (graphical user interface) of the predicted final trajectory.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving, at a control display unit (CDU) of a flight management system (FMS), a sequence of a plurality of legs for a flight plan; determining whether a type of each of the plurality of legs is compatible with a type of a respective previous leg in the sequence; responsive to determining the plurality of legs in the sequence is compatible:
determining a lateral trajectory based on the sequence;
determining a vertical trajectory based on the sequence;
generating a final trajectory of the flight plan based on the lateral and vertical trajectories; and
outputting, at the CDU, a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a visual representation of the final trajectory.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a sequence of a plurality of legs comprises:
receiving information defining a first leg for the flight plan, at the CDU; after receiving the first leg, receiving information defining a second leg for the flight plan, at the CDU; wherein determining whether each of the plurality of legs is compatible with the respective previous leg in the sequence comprises:
determining whether a type of the second leg is compatible with a type of the first leg;
identifying information from the first leg that can be used to define the second leg;
upon determining more information is needed to define the second leg, outputting, at the CDU, a request for the needed information; and
receiving, at the CDU, the needed information.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein receiving a sequence of a plurality of legs further comprises:
after receiving information defining the first leg and the second leg, receiving information defining a third leg for the flight plan, at the CDU; wherein determining whether each of the plurality of legs is compatible with the respective previous leg the sequence comprises: determining whether a type of the third leg is compatible with a type of the second leg; identifying information from the second leg that can be used to define the third leg; upon determining more information is needed to define the third leg, outputting, at the CDU, a request for the needed information; and receiving, at the CDU, the needed information.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining whether a type of the second leg is compatible with a type of the first leg further comprises:
accessing a matrix storing a transition type value at an intersection between the type of the second leg and the type of the first leg, wherein the transition type value indicates whether the second leg is permitted after the first leg.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein information used from first leg to define second leg comprises:
an end fix of the first leg defining a beginning fix of the second leg, and course headings.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the final trajectory is a three-dimensional trajectory in space generated using an origin point, a destination point, the lateral trajectory and the vertical trajectory.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the final trajectory is a four-dimensional trajectory in time and space generated using an origin point, a destination point, the lateral trajectory, the vertical trajectory, and time data.

8 . A system comprising:
a control display unit (CDU) of a flight management system (FMS), configured to receive a sequence of a plurality of legs for a flight plan; and a flight management computer (FMC) configured to:
determine whether a type of each of the plurality of legs is compatible with a type of a respective previous leg in the sequence; and
responsive to determining the plurality of legs in the sequence is compatible:
determine a lateral trajectory based on the sequence;
determine a vertical trajectory based on the sequence; and
generate a final trajectory of the flight plan based on the lateral and vertical trajectories,
wherein the CDU is further configured to output a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a visual representation of the final trajectory.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein receiving a sequence of a plurality of legs comprises:
receiving information defining a first leg for the flight plan, at the CDU; after receiving the first leg, receiving information defining a second leg for the flight plan, at the CDU; wherein determining whether each of the plurality of legs is compatible with the respective previous leg in the sequence comprises:
determining whether a type of the second leg is compatible with a type of the first leg;
identifying information from the first leg that can be used to define the second leg;
upon determining more information is needed to define the second leg, outputting, at the CDU, a request for the needed information; and
receiving, at the CDU, the needed information.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein receiving a sequence of a plurality of legs further comprises:
after receiving information defining the first leg and the second leg, receiving information defining a third leg for the flight plan, at the CDU; wherein determining whether each of the plurality of legs is compatible with the respective previous leg the sequence comprises: determining whether a type of the third leg is compatible with a type of the second leg; identifying information from the second leg that can be used to define the third leg; upon determining more information is needed to define the third leg, outputting, at the CDU, a request for the needed information; and receiving, at the CDU, the needed information.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the determining whether a type of the second leg is compatible with a type of the first leg further comprises:
accessing a matrix storing a transition type value at an intersection between the type of the second leg and the type of the first leg, wherein the transition type value indicates whether the second leg is permitted after the first leg.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein information used from first leg to define second leg comprises:
an end fix of the first leg defining a beginning fix of the second leg, and course headings.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the final trajectory is a three-dimensional trajectory in space generated using an origin point, a destination point, the lateral trajectory and the vertical trajectory.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the final trajectory is a four-dimensional trajectory in time and space generated using an origin point, a destination point, the lateral trajectory, the vertical trajectory, and time data.

15 . A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code executable by one or more computer processors to:
receive, at a CDU of an FMS, a sequence of a plurality of legs for a flight plan; determine whether a type of each of the plurality of legs is compatible with a type of a respective previous leg in the sequence; responsive to determining the plurality of legs in the sequence is compatible:
determine a lateral trajectory based on the sequence;
determine a vertical trajectory based on the sequence;
generate a final trajectory of the flight plan based on the lateral and vertical trajectories; and
transmit for display, at the CDU, a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a visual representation of the final trajectory.

16 . The computer program storage medium of claim 15 , wherein receiving a sequence of a plurality of legs comprises:
receiving information definin

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Rubio Mota David
• Vos Maxim Constantijn
• Rebollo Daniel Ramiro

Classifications

• G08G5/32

  for flight plan preparation · CPC title

• G08G5/21 Primary

  located onboard the aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/55

  for a single aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/24

  Details of user input interfaces, e.g. use of speech recognition or specific text formats · CPC title

• G08G5/23

  Details of user output interfaces, e.g. information presented · CPC title