TERRAIN AUGMENTED 3D FLIGHT PATH DISPLAY FOR FLIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
First Claim
1. In a flight management system having a display wherein a flight plan representation is underlaid by a terrain representation, a method for reducing the computation and data load for producing the display, comprising:
- defining an area proximate to the representation of the flight plan on the display, displaying the terrain representation in the area proximate to the representation of the flight plan in relatively high detail, and displaying the terrain representation outside the area proximate to the representation of the flight plan in relatively lower detail.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The computation and data load for producing a flight plan and terrain display for a flight management system is reduced through the use of intelligent level of detail control which computes and displays flight plan areas and related terrain with a high level of detail. The outer terrain details, i.e., those further removed from the flight path, are processed and displayed in a manner that shows all significant terrain features, e.g., peaks, towers, and the like, but with much less detail so as to significantly reduce the overall computational load for producing such 3D flight path displays in real time. This ensures that all-important information relative to the flight path is correctly processed and displayed while secondary information is shown with important features to provide broad awareness of areas surrounding the intended flight path.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. In a flight management system having a display wherein a flight plan representation is underlaid by a terrain representation, a method for reducing the computation and data load for producing the display, comprising:
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defining an area proximate to the representation of the flight plan on the display, displaying the terrain representation in the area proximate to the representation of the flight plan in relatively high detail, and displaying the terrain representation outside the area proximate to the representation of the flight plan in relatively lower detail. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A flight deck display system comprising:
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a display having a display screen for graphical display of data, a graphics processor for receiving terrain data from at least a terrain data base and flight plan information from a source of navigational data and for providing input data to the display screen, the display displaying a representation of the flight plan on the display screen and displaying a representation of the terrain underlying the flight plan, the representation of the terrain proximate to the representation of the flight plan being rendered in greater detail than the representation of the terrain elsewhere on the display. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. In a flight management system having a graphics processor for providing display data to a display wherein a flight plan representation is underlaid by a terrain representation, a method for reducing the computation and data load on the graphics processor for producing the display, comprising:
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constructing an error bound terrain height array defining an area of terrain to be displayed on the display using a selected error bound, such that the display renders useful terrain detail while allowing an acceptable processing load on the graphics processor, projecting the flight plan on the terrain representation, and selecting smaller error bound values for the terrain display in the area proximate to the representation of the flight plan. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification