Device for transmission by power-line communication in an aircraft

• US 10,305,543 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2017
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Electronics & Defense
• Original Assignee: Safran Electronics & Defense
• Inventors: Guillot, Francois
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Hirdepal
• Application Number:
  US16/089,826
• Publication Number:
  US 20190132026A1
• Time in Patent Office: 789 Days
• Field of Search: 375257
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2221/00 Electric power distribution systems onboard aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 47/00 Equipment not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5416 by adding signals to the wave form of the power source
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5425 improving S/N by matching impedance, noise reduction, gain control
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5445 Local network
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5466 using three phases conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5483 using coupling circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/548 the power on the line being DC arrangements for feeding power H04L12/10; extracting feeding power from signals H04L25/02

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for transmission by power-line communication (1) between two items of equipment (10, 20) on board an aircraft (1), comprising a transmission cable (3) configured to simultaneously transmit a power supply current and a data signal. This cable (3) comprises two twisted pairs of conductors (34, 34a, 34b). The device comprises a data sender (100) comprising a COFDM coupler (44) configured to modulate a signal by carrier modulation according to a COFDM mode, and a data receiver (200) comprising a COFDM coupler (44) configured to demodulate a signal modulated by carrier modulation according to a COFDM mode. The data sender (100) is configured to send a test signal by carrier modulation according to a COFDM mode, while the data receiver (200) is configured to detect signals corresponding to the test signals sent, and to analyze the carriers of the detected signal in regard to the signal sent and deduce therefrom the state of the transmission cable (3).

Claims

1. A device for transmission by power-line communication between two items of equipment on board an aircraft, the device for transmission by power-line communication comprising a transmission cable connecting the two items of equipment, the transmission cable being configured to simultaneously transmit a power supply and a data signal and comprising two twisted pairs of conductors, wherein the device comprises a data sender comprising a COFDM coupler configured to modulate a signal by carrier modulation according to a COFDM mode, and a data receiver comprising a COFDM coupler configured to demodulate a signal modulated by carrier modulation according to a COFDM mode, and wherein

the data sender is configured to send a test signal by carrier modulation according to a COFDM mode,

the data receiver is configured to detect signals corresponding to the sent test signals and analyse the carriers of the detected signal with respect to the sent signal and deduce therefrom the state of the transmission cable.

2. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 1, wherein the test signal is transmitted in a frequency band higher than a frequency band of the data signal.

3. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 2, wherein the sender is configured to simultaneously transmit data signals with test signals.

4. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 1, wherein the data receiver is configured to analyse the frequency response of detected signals for detecting a malfunction of at least one carrier and deduce therefrom an alteration of the transmission cable.

5. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 4, wherein the data receiver is configured to locate a malfunction along the transmission cable as a function of the frequency of an altered carrier.

6. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 1, wherein the data receiver is configured to monitor over time the amplitudes of the different carriers to identify degradations of the transmission cable.

7. The device for transmission by power-line communication according claim 1, wherein the data sender and the data receiver each comprise an inductive coupler between the COFDM coupler and the transmission line filtering the data signals by letting through only those signals having a frequency greater than the frequency of the power supply, and wherein the data sender and the data receiver each comprise a low-pass filter filtering the power supply by letting through only those signals having power less than the frequency of the data signals.

8. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 1, wherein the data sender and the data receiver are data senders/receivers, the transmission cable being configured for bidirectional transmission of data, one of the pairs of conductors being allocated to the transmission of data in one direction, the other pair of conductors being allocated to the transmission of data in the other direction.

9. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 1, wherein the data receiver comprises a measuring module of the power supply for detecting variations of the series resistance of the transmission cable.

10. The device for transmission by power-line communication according to claim 1, wherein the data sender is configured to allocate separate transmission time slots for data critical to the safety of the aircraft and data non-critical to the safety of the aircraft.