Aircraft communication systems and methods

• US 10,348,633 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2015
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Inventors: Emberger, Luc, Facon, Julie
• Primary Examiner(s): Thier, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cox, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US14/955,009
• Publication Number:
  US 20160182390A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,317 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40006 Architecture of a communication node current supply arrangements H04L12/10; intermediate storage or scheduling H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/4028 the transportation system being an aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/34 ensuring sequence integrity, e.g. using sequence numbers

Abstract

The disclosure herein proposes minimizing the processing and transmission time of an urgent message from an aircraft and relates to a communication system of an aircraft including a set of communication devices or systems intended to transmit data streams, the system including a data processing interface configured to transmit a data stream by dividing it into several data packets and by making the data packets simultaneously pass through different communication devices or systems from among the set of communication devices or systems.

Claims

1. An aircraft communication system comprising a set of communication devices or systems to transmit different data streams, the aircraft communication system comprising a data processing interface configured to transmit, in response to a triggering event, an urgent message as a data stream by:

dividing the urgent message into a sequence of data packets;

deactivating an initial routing strategy for routing data streams to the set of communication devices or systems and changing into a simultaneous transmission mode to transmit the urgent message;

assigning each data packet of the urgent messages to a respective one of the set of communication devices or systems using a set of counters associated with the set of communication devices or systems, including incrementing the counter for each communication device or system in response to assigning a data packet to the communication device or system and allocating a significance to each counter as a function of a data rate of the communication device or system associated with the counter; and

simultaneously transmitting at least a first and second data packet from the sequence of data packets by transmitting, out of sequence, the first data packet on a first communication device or system assigned to the first data packet and the second data packet on a second communication device or system assigned to the second data packet;

wherein the data processing interface comprises;

routers connected to the communication devices or systems, the routers defining different exchange protocols and being configured to make the different data streams pass through the communication devices or systems according to the initial routing strategy;

a controller configured to receive the data stream, the controller being further configured to deactivate the initial routing strategy implemented by the routers and to divide the data stream into the sequence of data packets, wherein the controller is configured to allocate each data packet of the urgent messages with an address of a reconstruction module of a ground station configured to reconstruct the data stream; and

a selector connected to the controller and to the routers, the selector being configured to browse through the set of communication devices or systems and to assign the data packets to the different communication devices or systems as a function of the counters;

wherein the routers comprise at least a first router configured for routing using an internet protocol (IP) exchange protocol, at least a second router configured for routing using an aircraft communication addressing and reporting system (ACARS) exchange protocol, and at least a third router configured for routing using an aeronautical telecommunications network (ATN) exchange protocol; and

wherein the controller is configured to divide the data stream into data packets having sizes compatible with the different exchange protocols relative to the routers, and wherein the selector is configured for assigning at least a first plurality of data packets each having a packet size above a threshold size to the first router using the IP exchange protocol and for assigning at least a second plurality of data packets equal to or below the threshold size to the second router using the ACARS exchange protocol.

2. An on-board computer comprising the communication system as claimed in claim 1.

3. An aircraft comprising the communication system as claimed in claim 1.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein assigning each data packet of the urgent messages to a respective one of the set of communication devices or systems comprises selecting communication devices or systems in an order of counters associated with the communication devices or systems from lowest to highest.

5. A method of communication in an aircraft comprising a set of communication devices or systems to transmit data streams, comprising:

in response to a triggering event, determining, at a data processing interface, to transmit an urgent message as a data stream in a simultaneous transmission mode;

dividing, at the data processing interface, the urgent message to be transmitted into a sequence of data packets;

deactivating, at the data processing interface, an initial routing strategy for routing data streams to the set of communication devices or systems and changing into the simultaneous transmission mode to transmit the urgent message;

assigning, at the data processing interface, each data packing of the urgent message to a respective one of the set of communication devices or systems using a set of counters associated with the set of communication devices or systems, including incrementing the counter for each communication device or system in response to assigning a data packet to the communication device or system and allocating a significance to each counter as a function of a data rate of the communication device or system associated with the counter; and

simultaneously transmitting, at the data processing interface, at least a first and second data packet from the sequence of data packets by transmitting, out of sequence, the first data packet on a first communication device or system assigned to the first data packet and the second data packet on a second communication device or system assigned to the second data packet;

wherein the data processing interface comprises;

routers connected to the communication devices or systems, the routers defining different exchange protocols and being configured to make the different data streams pass through the communication devices or systems according to the initial routing strategy;

a controller configured to receive the data stream, the controller being further configured to deactivate the initial routing strategy implemented by the routers and to divide the data stream into the sequence of data packets, wherein the controller is configured to allocate each data packed of the urgent messages with an address of a reconstruction module of a ground station configured to reconstruct the data stream; and

a selector connected to the controller and to the routers, the selector being configured to browse through the set of communication devices or systems and to establish the correspondence between the data packets and the different communication devices or systems as a function of the values defined by the counters

wherein the routers comprise at least a first router configured for routing using an internet protocol (IP) exchange protocol, at least a second router configured for routing using an aircraft communication addressing and reporting system (ACARS) exchange protocol, and at least a third router configured for routing using an aeronautical telecommunications network (ATN) exchange protocol; and

wherein the controller is configured to divide the data stream into data packets having sizes compatible with the different exchange protocols relative to the routers, and wherein the selector is configured for assigning at least a first plurality of data packets each having a packet size above a threshold size to the first router using the IP exchange protocol and for assigning at least a second plurality of data packets equal to or below the threshold size to the second router using the ACARS exchange protocol.