Aircraft wireless network for fixed aircraft components

• US 10,003,973 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2015
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Aviation Systems Limited (GE Aerospace)
• Original Assignee: GE Aviation Systems Limited (GE Aerospace)
• Inventors: Bolton, Luke Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayou, Yonas
• Application Number:
  US14/969,419
• Publication Number:
  US 20160174075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/79 Radio fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing security in a wireless network for fixed aircraft components, having a wireless access point located in the aircraft and defining the boundaries of the wireless network, a wireless remote node fixedly located within the aircraft and communicating with the wireless network, and a fixed security node.

Claims

1. An aircraft wireless network for fixed aircraft components, comprising:

a wireless access point located in the aircraft and defining the boundaries of the wireless network;

a wireless remote node fixedly located within the aircraft and communicating with the wireless network, located within the boundaries of the wireless network, and whose communication defines a radio frequency (RF) fingerprint; and

more than one fixed security nodes located within the boundaries of the wireless network, having a database of authorized RF fingerprints, and receiving communications of the wireless network;

wherein the more than one fixed security nodes compare the RF fingerprint of the received remote node communication with the database,

wherein the more than one fixed security nodes a level of access of the wireless remote node to the wireless network based at least partially on the comparison of the RF fingerprint with the database based on repeated received communication, and

wherein the more than one fixed security nodes triangulate the received communications to determine the location of the wireless remote node within the boundaries of the wireless network.

2. The wireless network of claim 1, wherein each of the wireless access point and wireless remote node comprise multiple antennas, and

wherein the RF fingerprint comprises a signal sending network address.

3. The wireless network of claim 2, wherein each antenna of the multiple antennas communicates over a plurality of wireless networks having dissimilar operating radio frequencies, and each communication defines an RF fingerprint.

4. The wireless network of claim 2, further comprising a human interaction device communicatively coupled with the at least one of the more than one fixed security nodes and providing indicia of the communication based on the comparison, to a user,

the indicia of the communication further comprising sending an alert to at least an aircraft pilot.

5. The wireless network of claim 2, further comprising a second security node located within the boundaries of the wireless network away from the more than one fixed security nodes, communicatively coupled with the at least one of the more than one fixed security nodes, and receiving communications of the wireless network, wherein the at least one of the more than one fixed security nodes and the second security node collectively compare each respectively received RF fingerprint with the database.

6. The wireless network of claim 3, wherein the more than one fixed security nodes receive communications from each wireless network of the plurality of wireless networks, and wherein the more than one fixed security nodes further compare the RF fingerprint of at least one wireless remote node communication on each wireless network of the plurality of wireless networks with the database.

7. The wireless network of claim 3, further comprising a human interaction device communicatively coupled with the at least one of the more than one fixed security nodes and providing indicia of the communication based on the comparison, to a user,

the indicia of the communication further comprising at least one of a sound or a light.

8. The wireless network of claim 6, wherein the RF fingerprint comprises at least one of signal direction of arrival, signal rise time, or signal fall time.

9. The wireless network of claim 8 further comprising:

at least one of a computer or a processing element; and

at least one of a data storage unit or memory,

wherein the database of authorized RF fingerprints further comprises a predetermined database of authorized RF fingerprints, and

wherein the at least one of a computer or a processing element further comprises at least one of a flight management system, a primary flight display system, an autopilot system or an autoland system.

10. The wireless network of claim 9, further comprising a human interaction device communicatively coupled with at least one of the more than one fixed security nodes and is configured to provide indicia of the communication based on the comparison, to a user,

wherein the RF fingerprint comprises a signal wave form.

11. The wireless network of claim 1, wherein the database of authorized RF fingerprints further comprises a range of authorized RF fingerprints wherein the range takes into account a predefined variance of the authorized RF fingerprints due to at least one of aircraft cargo, passengers, varying fuel levels, environmental conditions, altitude, or humidity.

12. The wireless network of claim 1, wherein the wireless remote node further comprises a data concentrator communicatively coupled with at least one of a sensor, actuator, or line replaceable unit, such that the data provided to the data concentrator is communicated to the wireless network, and

wherein the RF fingerprint comprises at least one of signal repeat period or signal power level.

13. A method for managing security in a wireless network having a wireless access point located in the aircraft and defining the boundaries of the wireless network, a wireless remote node fixedly located within the aircraft and communicating with the wireless network, and a fixed security node, the method comprising:

receiving, in the fixed security node, a communication from the wireless remote node;

creating an RF fingerprint of the wireless remote node based on the received communication;

comparing the RF fingerprint with a database of authorized remote node RF fingerprints;

determining if the wireless remote node is an authorized wireless remote node based on the comparison,

authorizing, in the fixed security node, a level of access of the wireless remote node to the wireless network, the authorizing based at least partially on the comparison of the RF fingerprint with the database;

providing indicia to a user based upon a determination that a remote node is unauthorized;

receiving, in the fixed security node, a user input to update the database to include the unauthorized wireless remote node RF fingerprint; and

learning an RF fingerprint variance of an authorized wireless remote node based on repeated received communication,

wherein authorizing a level of access comprises at least one of granting full access, granting limited access, granting temporary access and denying access,

wherein the database comprises a computer-searchable database of information, the computer-searchable database of information including memory and one or more processors, and

wherein receiving, in the fixed security node, comprises receiving at least one communication in multiple fixed security nodes from the wireless remote node, and triangulating the at least one communication in the multiple fixed security nodes the location of the wireless remote node within the boundaries of the wireless network.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising learning an RF fingerprint variance of an authorized wireless remote node based on repeated received communications,

the wireless network having a wireless access point located in the aircraft and defining the boundaries of the wireless network,

wherein authorizing a level of access comprises granting temporary access to the wireless network.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising updating the database of authorized remote node RF fingerprints to include the RF fingerprint variance based on the learning,

the wireless remote node fixedly located within the aircraft and communicating with the wireless network.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

learning an RF fingerprint variance of an authorized remote node based on repeated received communications,

determining that the wireless remote node is an unauthorized wireless remote node based on the comparison, and

disabling one or more portions of the network being accessed by the wireless unauthorized remote node.