Method and systems for increasing capacity and safety of aeronautical safety-of-life services and data links

• US 10,453,347 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2016
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales Alenia Space Italia SPA (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Thales Alenia Space Italia SPA (Thales SA)
• Inventors: Winkler, Roberto
• Primary Examiner(s): Talukder, Md K
• Application Number:
  US15/770,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20180315323A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0095 Aspects of air-traffic control not provided for in the other subgroups of this main group
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18593 Arrangements for preventing unauthorised access or for providing user protection arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/00 Traffic control in data switching networks arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received H04L1/00
• 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: H04L 69/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass networks security protocols H04L9/40; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method for managing aeronautical safety-critical services or data links, comprising: receiving quality measurement data indicative of a quality parameter measured for an aeronautical safety-critical service or data link used by an aircraft; receiving a four-dimensional position associated with the quality measurement data, wherein said four-dimensional position includes a three-dimensional space position and a corresponding time that are computed based on a Global Navigation Satellite System and related to the measured quality parameter; tagging the quality measurement data with the associated four-dimensional position; determining, on the basis of the tagged quality measurement data and of a predefined task policy, a task to be performed, which task includes an adaptation of the aeronautical safety-critical service used by the aircraft or of resources allocated to the aeronautical safety-critical data link used by the aircraft, wherein said adaptation is based on said tagged quality measurement data; and performing the determined task.

Claims

1. Method for managing air-ground Safety-of-Life services or data links provided by a distributed air-ground Safety-of-Life datalink system, wherein said distributed air-ground Safety-of-Life datalink system includes:

a ground system;

a plurality of aircraft equipped, each, with an airborne system designed to be remotely connected to, and exchange data with, the ground system by means of an air-ground Safety-of-Life data link; and

one or more satellites, each equipped with a spaceborne system via which the airborne system is operable to be remotely connected to, and exchange data with, the ground system by means of the air-ground Safety-of-Life data links;

the method being characterized by comprising equipping;

each ground and airborne system with a respective first apparatus and a respective second apparatus; and

a spaceborne system with a respective first apparatus and a respective second apparatus, or only with a respective second apparatus;

wherein each first apparatus includes;

a respective first association database storing respective first association and authentication data; and

a respective tag processor;

wherein each second apparatus includes;

a respective second association database storing respective second association and authentication data;

a respective policy database storing data indicative of a respective predefined task policy; and

a respective policy and task processor;

wherein the method further comprises performing the following steps by means of a tag processor;

a) receiving quality measurement data indicative of a quality parameter measured for the air-ground Safety-of-Life service or data link used by an aircraft, along with a four-dimensional position associated with said quality measurement data, wherein said four-dimensional position includes a three-dimensional space position and a corresponding time at which said quality parameter has been measured, wherein said three-dimensional space position and said corresponding time are computed based on a Global Navigation Satellite System;

b) tagging the quality measurement data with the associated four-dimensional position;

c) identifying, on the basis of the respective first association and authentication data stored on the respective first association database, the second apparatus to which the tagged quality measurement data are to be sent; and

d) sending the tagged quality measurement data to the second apparatus identified;

wherein the method further comprises performing the following steps by means of a policy and task processor;

e) receiving the tagged quality measurement data;

f) checking whether the received tagged quality measurement data arrive from an associated and authenticated source on the basis of the respective second association and authentication data stored on the respective second association database;

g1) when the tagged quality measurement data are not received from an associated and authenticated source, discarding said tagged quality measurement data;

g2) when the tagged quality measurement data are received from an associated and authenticated source, determining a task to be performed based on the tagged quality measurement data received and the respective policy data stored on the respective policy database; and

h) performing the determined task;

wherein the determined task to be performed includes;

adapting, based on the tagged quality measurement data, the air-ground Safety-of-Life service used by an aircraft or resources allocated to the air-ground Safety-of-Life data link used by an aircraft;

or transmitting aircraft tracking data related to the air-ground Safety-of-Life service or data link used by an aircraft;

or changing quality parameter measuring;

or discarding/ignoring the tagged quality measurement data;

or updating/modifying the respective second association and authentication data stored on the respective second association database;

or forwarding the tagged quality measurement data to a first or second apparatus.

2. System designed to be used in a distributed air-ground Safety-of-Life datalink system, wherein said distributed air-ground Safety-of-Life datalink system includes:

ground systems;

an aircraft, each equipped with an airborne system designed to be remotely connected to, and exchange data with, the ground systems by means of an air-ground Safety-of-Life data link; and

one or more satellites, each equipped with a spaceborne system via which the airborne systems are operable to be remotely connected to, and exchange data with, the ground systems by means of the air-ground Safety-of-Life data links;

the system including an apparatus, that comprises;

an association database storing association and authentication data;

a policy database storing data indicative of a predefined task policy; and

a policy and task processor;

said system being designed to be integrated into the spaceborne system;

and wherein the policy and task processor is configured to carry put the steps e), f), g1), g2) and h) of the method as claimed in claim 1.

3. System designed to be used in a distributed air-ground Safety-of-Life datalink system, wherein said distributed air-ground Safety-of-Life datalink system includes:

ground systems;

aircraft, each equipped with an airborne system designed to be remotely connected to, and exchange data with, the ground systems by means of an air-ground Safety-of-Life data link; and

satellites, each equipped with a spaceborne system via which the airborne systems are operable to be remotely connected to, and exchange data with, the ground systems by means of the air-ground Safety-of-Life data links;

the system including a first apparatus and a second apparatus;

wherein the first apparatus includes;

a first association database storing first association and authentication data; and

a tag processor;

wherein the second apparatus includes;

a second association database storing second association and authentication data;

a policy database storing data indicative of a predefined task policy; and

a policy and task processor;

said system being designed to be integrated into the ground, airborne and spaceborne systems;

wherein the tag processor is configured to carry out the steps a), b), c) and d) of the method as claimed in claim 1; and

wherein the policy and task processor is configured to carry out the steps e), f), g1), g2) and h) of said method.

4. Aircraft equipped with the system as claimed in claim 3.

5. Air traffic control ground station equipped with the system as claimed in claim 3.

6. Satellite equipped with the system as claimed in claim 3.