Control device of a communication system of an aircraft

• US 10,549,856 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2017
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Chouteau, Florient, Perrin, Aymeric, Charbonnier, Christine, Gouillou, Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): Savla, Arpan P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stitt, Erik V
• Application Number:
  US15/425,339
• Publication Number:
  US 20170225786A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0015 Arrangements for entertainment or communications, e.g. radio, television
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0238 Programmable keyboards key guide holders G06F3/0224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

The control device of a communication system of an aircraft having a predefined number of communication channels comprises a processing unit and one or more sets of buttons each associated with a communication channel. The number of sets of buttons is less than the predefined number of communication channels of the communication system. The device comprises a set of call buttons comprising at least one transmission button, and a display area on a display screen, this display area being associated with the set of call buttons. The processing unit is configured to display an indication in the display area associated with the set of call buttons when the communication system receives a call on a channel with which no set of buttons is associated and to select this channel for transmission following an action of a user on the transmission button of the set of call buttons.

Claims

1. A control device of a communication system of an aircraft, the communication system having at least first, second, third, and fourth predefined communication channels coupled to the control device, each of the first, second, third, and fourth predefined communication channels being a respectively different communication channel selected from the group consisting of a first communication channel, a second radio communication channel, a third radio communication channel, a first telephone link, a second telephone link, and a link to an intercom, the first, second, and third radio communication channels being linked to one or more antennas of the aircraft, the device comprising:

a processing unit,

a display screen,

a first set of buttons having a predefined association by the processing unit with the first predefined communication channel, the first set of buttons comprising;

a first physically activatable button for setting sound volume;

a first physically activatable reception button, provided for at least one of activating or deactivating listening to the first predefined communication channel; and

a first physically activatable transmission button, provided for at least one of selecting or deselecting the first predefined communication channel for transmission,

a second set of buttons having a predefined association by the processing unit with the second predefined communication channel, the second set of buttons comprising;

a second physically activatable button for setting sound volume;

a second physically activatable reception button, provided for at least one of activating or deactivating listening to the second predefined communication channel; and

a second physically activatable transmission button, provided for at least one of selecting or deselecting the second predefined communication channel for transmission,

wherein said first set of buttons is selectively reconfigurable by the processing unit via a user interface to disassociate said first set of buttons with the first predefined communication channel and to associate said first set of buttons with one or more of the second, third, or fourth predefined communication channels,

wherein said second set of buttons is selectively reconfigurable by the processing unit via the user interface to disassociate said second set of buttons with the second predefined communication channel and to associate said second set of buttons with one or more of the first, third, or fourth predefined communication channels,

wherein the device further comprises;

a set of call buttons not having a predefined association with any of the first, second, third, or fourth predefined communication channels, the set of call buttons comprising at least one physically activatable transmission button, and a display area on the display screen, the display area being associated with the set of call buttons and arranged facing the set of call buttons, and

wherein, when the first set of buttons has a predefined association by the processing unit with the first predefined communication channel and the second set of buttons has a predefined association by the processing unit with the second predefined communication channel but the set of call buttons does not have a predefined association with any of the first, second, third, or fourth predefined communication channels, the processing unit is configured to display an indication in the display area associated with the set of call buttons when the communication system receives a call over either the third or the fourth predefined communication channel and to select this channel for transmission following an action of a user on the transmission button of the set of call buttons in response to said displaying of said indication.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to activate listening to said channel following said action of the user on the transmission button of the set of call buttons.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the set of call buttons also comprises a physically activatable button for setting sound volume.

4. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmission button of the set of call buttons corresponds to a touch-sensitive surface superimposed on the display area associated with the set of call buttons and the indication displayed by the processing unit in the display area associated with the set of call buttons comprises at least the name of said third or fourth communication channel when the communication system receives a call on said third or fourth communication channel.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the display area associated with the set of call buttons comprises several display subareas, the touch-sensitive surface comprises several touch-sensitive sub surfaces each superimposed on a display subarea and, the processing unit is configured in such a way that when the communication system receives simultaneous calls on the third and fourth communication channels, the processing unit controls the display of the names of said channels in distinct subareas of the display area and the processing unit activates a transmission on a channel out of said channels following an action of a user on the touch-sensitive subsurface superimposed on the display subarea in which the name of said channel is displayed.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured in such a way that when a user initiates a call on either the third or fourth communication channel, the processing unit in response to said initiating a call selectively associates the set of call buttons with this third or fourth communication channel.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to display an indication in the display area associated with the set of call buttons when the communication system receives a call on any of the first, second, third, or fourth communication channels.

8. An aircraft comprising a control device of a communication system as claimed in claim 1.

9. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predefined number of communication channels includes at least one communication channel corresponding to a telephone link;

wherein the device further comprises a user interface for selectively setting a telephone number to transmit a call over the telephone link.