Methods and systems for controlling the flight of aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9947231-B2
Application number	US-201615178553-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 9, 2016
Priority date	Jun 26, 2015
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

Methods and systems for controlling the flight of aircraft are disclosed. An example method includes in response to a first time of arrival at a first waypoint, determining first cruise speeds and corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival; in response to a second time of arrival at a second waypoint, determining second cruise speeds and corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival, at least one of the first waypoint or the second waypoint being in a descent phase of a flight; identifying a third cruise speed and a third descent speed based on the first cruise and descent speeds and the second cruise and descent speeds, the first cruise and descent speeds including the third cruise speed and the third descent speed, the second cruise and descent speeds including the third cruise speed and the third descent speed; and identifying a trajectory of an aircraft that satisfies the third cruise speed and the third descent speed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
in response to a first time of arrival at a first waypoint, determining, by executing an instruction with at least one flight management computer, first cruise speeds and corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival;
in response to a second time of arrival at a second waypoint, determining, by executing an instruction with the at least one flight management computer, second cruise speeds and corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival, at least one of the first waypoint or the second waypoint being in a descent phase of a flight;
identifying, by executing an instruction with the at least one flight management computer, a third cruise speed and a third descent speed based on the first cruise and descent speeds and the second cruise and descent speeds, the first cruise and descent speeds including the third cruise speed and the third descent speed, the second cruise and descent speeds including the third cruise speed and the third descent speed;
identifying, by executing an instruction with the at least one flight management computer, a trajectory of an aircraft that satisfies the third cruise speed and the third descent speed; and
causing, by executing an instruction with the at least one flight management computer, at least one of: 1) the aircraft to travel along the trajectory or 2) the trajectory to be displayed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein two or more of the first cruise speeds, the first descent speeds, the second cruise speeds, and the second descent speeds are determined independently.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival includes selecting cruise speeds and descent speeds that satisfy the first time of arrival.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the second cruise speeds and the corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival includes selecting cruise speeds and descent speeds that satisfy the first time of arrival.

5. The method of claim 1 , further including accessing the first time of arrival at the first waypoint and accessing the second time of arrival at the second waypoint, the first waypoint being different than the second waypoint.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the third cruise speed and the third descent speed based on the first cruise and descent speeds and the second cruise and descent speeds includes executing a root-finding algorithm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival includes establishing a contour map including a first isocontour, the first isocontour associated with the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the second cruise speeds and the corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival includes establishing a second isocontour on the contour map, the second isocontour associated with the second cruise speeds and the corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein identifying the trajectory of the aircraft that satisfies the third cruise speed and the third descent speed is based on the first isocontour and the second isocontour.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein identifying the trajectory of the aircraft that satisfies the third cruise speed and the third descent speed is based on an intersection between the first isocontour and the second isocontour.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival is based on one or more of flight conditions, weight of the aircraft, a cruise altitude of the aircraft, aircraft speed range, measured wind, a flight plan, a weather forecast, or temperature.

12. The method of claim 1 , further including determining fourth cruise speeds and corresponding fourth descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival;
determining fifth cruise speeds and corresponding fifth descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival; and
identifying a sixth cruise speed and a sixth descent speed based on the fourth cruise and descent speeds and the fifth cruise and descent speeds.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the fourth cruise and descent speeds and the fifth cruise and descent speeds is based on a change in flight conditions.

14. The method of claim 12 , further including identifying a trajectory of the aircraft that satisfies the sixth cruise speed and the sixth descent speed.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first distance to the first waypoint and a second distance to the second waypoint are different.

16. An apparatus, comprising:
a flight management computer, the flight management computer to:
in response to a first time of arrival at a first waypoint, determine first cruise speeds and corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival;
in response to a second time of arrival at a second waypoint, determine second cruise speeds and corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival, at least one of the first waypoint or the second waypoint being in a descent phase of a flight;
identify a third cruise speed and a third descent speed based on the first cruise and descent speeds and the second cruise and descent speeds, the first cruise and descent speeds including the third cruise speed and the third descent speed, the second cruise and descent speeds including the third cruise speed and the third descent speed;
identify a trajectory of an aircraft that satisfies the third cruise speed and the third descent speed; and
cause at least one of: 1) the aircraft to travel along the trajectory or 2) the trajectory to be displayed.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein two or more of the first cruise speed, the first descent speed, the second cruise speed, and the second descent speed are determined independently.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the flight management computer is to determine the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival by selecting cruise speeds and descent speeds that satisfy the first time of arrival.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the flight management computer is to determine the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival by establishing a contour map including a first isocontour, the first isocontour associated with the first cruise speeds and the corresponding first descent speeds for the first waypoint at the first time of arrival.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the flight management computer is to determine the second cruise speeds and the corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second time of arrival by establishing a second isocontour on the contour map, the second isocontour associated with the second cruise speeds and the corresponding second descent speeds for the second waypoint at the second tim

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Garrido Lopez David

Classifications

• G08G5/0052 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G05D1/101

  specially adapted for aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/0034

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/32

  for flight plan preparation · CPC title

• G08G5/55

  for a single aircraft · CPC title