Wideband avionics data retrieval system
First Claim
1. A system for transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising:
- one or more black boxes that can store the aircraft operational data, one or more transmitters that can wirelessly transmit the stored aircraft operational data from the aircraft; and
one or more sensors, each sensor being able to enable the wireless transmission of the aircraft operational data by the one or more transmitters upon sensing the occurrence of an event.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An aircraft operation data transmission and retrieval system. The system includes one or more black boxes, such as a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder, that stores aircraft operational data received from sensors on the aircraft. A flight data acquisition unit that is connected to sensors around the aircraft may provide the aircraft operational data. The black boxes store data during a flight that, in the event of an accident, can assist investigators in determining the cause of the accident. If the aircraft systems or the pilots believe that an accident is about to occur, a triggering device is activated to cause the black boxes to output their data to a formatting device. This can occur when an abnormal operating condition is sensed by one or more of the sensors. The data is then formatted and sent to a transmitter for wireless transmission. Formatting can include data compression and the insertion of error correction codes. Either a ground based receiver or a satellite receiver receives the data, thereby allowing for the efficient and effective retrieval of aircraft operational data.
34 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A system for transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising:
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one or more black boxes that can store the aircraft operational data, one or more transmitters that can wirelessly transmit the stored aircraft operational data from the aircraft; and
one or more sensors, each sensor being able to enable the wireless transmission of the aircraft operational data by the one or more transmitters upon sensing the occurrence of an event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22)
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17. A system for transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising:
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a flight data recorder that can store a first set of the aircraft operational data;
a cockpit voice recorder that can store a second set of the aircraft operational data;
one or more transmitters that can wirelessly transmit the first and second set of the aircraft operational data; and
one or more sensors, each sensor being able to enable the wireless transmission of the first and second set of aircraft operational data upon sensing the occurrence of an event. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising the steps of:
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storing aircraft operational data in a black box;
sensing the occurrence of an abnormal operational event in the aircraft; and
wirelessly transmitting the stored aircraft operational data upon sensing the occurrence of the abnormal operational event. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising the steps of:
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storing a first set of the aircraft operational data in a flight data recorder;
storing a second set of the aircraft operational data in a cockpit voice recorder;
sensing the occurrence of an abnormal operational event in the aircraft, and wirelessly transmitting the first and second set of the aircraft operational data upon sensing the occurrence of the abnormal operational event. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. A system for transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising:
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a black box that can store the aircraft operational data, a processor/modem that receives the aircraft operational data from the black box and compresses the aircraft operational data;
a transmitter that can wirelessly transmit the compressed aircraft operational data from the aircraft; and
a sensor that enables the wireless transmission of the compressed aircraft operational data by the transmitter from the aircraft upon sensing the occurrence of an event. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A system for transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising:
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a flight data recorder that can store a first set of the aircraft operational data;
a cockpit voice recorder that can store a second set of the aircraft operational data;
a processor that receives the first and second set of aircraft operational data from the flight data recorder and from the cockpit voice recorder, respectively, and compresses the first and second set of aircraft operational data;
a transmitter that can wirelessly transmit the compressed first and second set of the aircraft operational data; and
a sensor that enables the wireless transmission of the compressed first and second set of aircraft operational data upon sensing the occurrence of an event.
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45. A method of transmitting aircraft operational data from an aircraft, comprising the steps of:
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storing aircraft operational data in a black box;
compressing the aircraft operational data;
sensing the occurrence of an abnormal operational event in the aircraft; and
wirelessly transmitting the compressed aircraft operational data upon sensing the occurrence of the abnormal operational event. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47)
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48. A source of operational data from an aircraft, comprising:
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a transmitter; and
one or more sensors disposed on the aircraft wherein the transmitter can transmit operational data from the aircraft in response to the detection of an abnormal operating event by one of the sensors.
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Specification