System and method for holistic flight and route management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9824593-B1
Application number	US-201514860058-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 21, 2015
Priority date	Sep 21, 2015
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

A distributed system for flight and route management (FARM) of one or more aircraft of the system may include onboard processing devices for combining sensor data local to an aircraft with cloud-based data received through the system from other aircraft or from ground-based processing devices, thereby generating situation models of each aircraft relative to its flight path and in the context of current and predictive conditions (weather, traffic, terrain, threats, etc.). The FARM system may evaluate situation models against prioritized constraint sets of business rules or policies associated with each aircraft's flight plan to determine, crosscheck, and implement possible modifications to the flight plan. Localized aircraft data and flight plan modifications may be propagated through the system via a variety of communications networks to provide synchronized, holistic airspace data portraits to aircraft and ground control alike.

First claim

We claim:

1. An apparatus for managing at least one flight plan, the apparatus comprising:
at least one transceiver configured to connect to communications network, the at least one transceiver including transmitter and one or more receivers;
at least one memory configured to store at least one of 1) a flight plan associated with a first aircraft, 2) a mission profile associated with the flight plan, and 3) a sequence of one or more constraints associated with the mission profile, the sequence of one or more constraints including at least one of passenger comfort, customized business rules, and specific mission objectives;
at least one processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and couplable to at least one of an avionics component of the first aircraft and a sensor of the first aircraft, the at least one processor comprising:
a situation modeler configured to
receive at least one of first weather data and position data from at least one of the avionics component and the sensor;
receive at least one of second weather data and traffic data from an external source via the transceiver;
generate at least one situation model based on at least one of the first weather data, the position data, the traffic data, the second weather data, and the flight plan; and

at least one rerouter coupled to the situation modeler and configured to generate, based on the at least one situation model and the sequence of one or more constraints, at least one of a modification associated with the flight plan and rationale associated with the modification; and
display one or more of the at least one modification and the at least one rationale via at least one display unit coupled to the at least one processor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one external source includes at least one of a second aircraft, a ground control station, a cloud-based source, a weather station, or a weather source.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one communications network includes at least one of a ground-based IP network, an Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) network, a geostationary satellite-based network, and a low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite-based network.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flight plan is a first flight plan, and:
the second weather data includes at least one of weather data local to at least one third aircraft, a weather radar image, a regional weather model, a predictive weather model having an uncertainty level, and a severe weather model;
the traffic data includes at least one of a second flight plan associated with the at least one third aircraft, an air traffic report, an ADS-B message, and a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM); and
the at least one constraint is associated with one or more of a level of risk, a cost factor, a comfort factor, a mission objective, a business rule, a traffic directive, a time requirement, an uncertainty level, and a weight factor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one modification is associated with at least one of a hazard conflict and a recall code.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rerouter includes at least one mirror flight management system (FMS) couplable to the at least one avionics component and configured to generate at least one of a time factor associated with the at least one modification, a fuel consumption factor associated with the at least one modification, and a trajectory associated with the at least one modification.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one RFID tag configured to securely identify the apparatus to the route management system.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of one or more constraints is a sequence of one or more first constraints, and the situation modeler is configured to modify the sequence of one or more first constraints by at least one of:
adding at least one second constraint to a predetermined position in the sequence of one or more first constraints;
deleting the at least one first constraint from the sequence of one or more first constraints; and
reordering the one or more first constraints.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the situation modeler is configured to forward the at least one modification to one or more of the avionics components and the external source.

10. A distributed system for managing flight plans, the system comprising:
at least one of a first device associated with a first aircraft and at least one second device associated with a ground control station, the at least one first device and the at least one second device couplable by at least one communications network, the at least one first device comprising:
a first transceiver wirelessly couplable to the communications network, the first transceiver including at least one of a first transmitter and a first receiver;
at least one first memory configured to store at least one of 1) a flight plan associated with the first aircraft, 2) a mission profile associated with the flight plan, and 3) a sequence of one or more constraints associated with the mission profile, the sequence of one or more constraints including at least one of passenger comfort, customized business rules, and specific mission objectives; and
at least one first processor coupled to the first transceiver and the first memory, the at least one first processor comprising:
a first situation modeler configured to:
1) receive at least one of position data and first weather data from at least one of a sensor of the first aircraft and an avionics component of the first aircraft;
2) receive at least one of traffic data and second weather data from the second device via the communications network; and
3) generate at least one first situation model based on at least one of the position data, the first weather data, the traffic data, the second weather data, and the at least one flight plan; and

a first rerouter configured to:
generate, based on the at least one situation model and the sequence of one or more constraints, at least one of a first modification associated with the flight plan and a first rationale associated with the first modification; and
display the at least one of a first modification and a first rationale via a first display unit coupled to the at least one first processor; and

the at least one second device comprising:
a second transceiver couplable to the communications network and including at least one of a second transmitter and a second receiver;
at least one second processor coupled to the second transceiver and comprising:
a second situation modeler configured to:
1) generate at least one of the flight plan, the mission profile, and the sequence of one or more constraints;
2) send one or more of the flight plan, the mission profile, the sequence of one or more constraints, the traffic data, and the second weather data to the at least one first device via the second transceiver;
3) receive one or more of the first modification, the position data, and the first weather data from the at least one first device via the second transceiver;
4) receive one or more of the traffic data and the second weather data from one or more of a second aircraft and the ground control station via the second transceiver;
5) generate a second situation model associated with the at least one first aircraft based on at least one of the position data, the first weather data, the traffic data, the second weather data, and the flight plan; and

a second rerouter configured to:
1) generate, based on the at least one second situation model and the sequence of one or more constraints associated with the at least one first aircraft, at least one of a se

Assignees

• Rockwell Collins Inc

Inventors

• Kronfeld Kevin M
• Delaney Kevin
• Zogg Scott J
• Mitchell James P
• Davis Jennifer A
• Shapiro Geoffrey A

Classifications

• G08G5/0013

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/0039

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/0008

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/0043 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/727

  from a ground station · CPC title