CORRELATION OF FLIGHT TRACK DATA WITH OTHER DATA SOURCES

• US 20050068232A1
• Filed: 06/10/2003
• Published: 03/31/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SRA International, Inc. (General Dynamics Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rannoch Corporation (General Dynamics Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Alexander E., Cohen, Bennett
• Granted Patent: US 6,885,340 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/465
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/781 Secondary Surveillance Radar [SSR] in general
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/06 Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements G01S5/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/006 in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91

Abstract

The surveillance system provides a means to augment Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) with “look alike ADS-B” or “pseudo ADS-B” surveillance transmissions for aircraft which may not be ADS-B equipped. The system uses ground based surveillance to determine the position of aircraft not equipped with ADS-B, then broadcasts the identification/positional information over the ADS-B data link. ADS-B equipped aircraft broadcast their own position over the ADS-B data link. The system enables aircraft equipped with ADS-B and Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) to obtain surveillance information on all aircraft whether or not the proximate aircraft are equipped with ADS-B.

Claims

1. A method of determining aircraft noise, comprising the steps of:

receiving an ACARS signal from an aircraft, the ACARS signal including aircraft weight data;

calculating aircraft thrust from the aircraft weight data; and

calculating the amount of noise generated by the aircraft from the calculated aircraft thrust.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

determining aircraft flight track,

wherein said step of calculating aircraft thrust comprises the step of calculating aircraft thrust from aircraft weight and aircraft flight track.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the ACARS signal includes aircraft identification information, said method further including the steps of:

determining aircraft type from the aircraft identification information, and

determining aircraft engine type from the aircraft identification information,

wherein said step of calculating aircraft thrust further comprises the step of calculating aircraft thrust from aircraft weight, aircraft type, aircraft engine type, and flight track.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of determining aircraft flight track includes at least one of multilateration and radar.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the aircraft weight data includes at least one of actual takeoff weight, fuel weight, and number of passengers.

6. A system of determining aircraft noise, comprising:

means for receiving an ACARS signal from an aircraft, the ACARS signal comprising aircraft weight data;

means for calculating aircraft thrust from the aircraft weight data; and

means for calculating the amount of noise generated by the aircraft from the calculated aircraft thrust.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

means for determining aircraft flight track,

wherein said means for calculating aircraft thrust comprises means for calculating aircraft thrust from aircraft weight and aircraft flight track.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the ACARS signal includes aircraft identification information, said system further comprising:

means for determining aircraft type from the aircraft identification information; and

means for determining aircraft engine type from the aircraft identification information,

wherein said means for calculating aircraft thrust further comprises the means for calculating aircraft thrust from aircraft weight, aircraft type, aircraft engine type, and flight track.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said means for determining aircraft flight track includes at least one of multilateration and radar.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the aircraft weight data includes at least one of actual takeoff weight, fuel weight, and number of passengers.

11. A method of tracking aircraft, comprising the steps of:

detecting, using an ACARS signal, whether an aircraft is arriving or departing, and determining aircraft intent,

determining, using an aircraft surveillance system, physical position of an aircraft,

fusing ACARS data with aircraft surveillance data to provide a combined data stream,

transmitting the combined data stream to at least one user, and

displaying position of the aircraft to the at least one user along with the aircraft intent.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said aircraft surveillance system comprises at least one of a multilateration system and a radar system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of displaying position of the aircraft to the at least one user along with the aircraft intent comprises the step of displaying position of the aircraft and aircraft intent on an in-cockpit display.

14. A system for tracking aircraft, comprising:

means for detecting from using an ACARS signal, whether an aircraft is arriving or departing to determine aircraft intent;

an aircraft surveillance system for determining physical position of an aircraft;

means for fusing ACARS data with aircraft surveillance data to provide a combined data stream;

means for transmitting the combined data stream to at least one user; and

means for displaying position of the aircraft to the at least one user along with the aircraft intent.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said aircraft surveillance system comprises at least one of a multilateration system and a radar system.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said means for displaying position of the aircraft to the at least one user along with the aircraft intent comprises an in-cockpit display.

17. A method for real-time tracking of aircraft noise, comprising the steps of:

inputting tracking source data from at least one of a multilateration or radar system to produce aircraft position data,

determining flight track of at least one aircraft from broadcast aircraft identification data and aircraft position data,

measuring noise using a noise measuring device, and

correlating measured noise with the flight track in real-time to determine whether the aircraft has exceeded a predetermined noise limit.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:

determining if noise measured from the noise measuring device exceeds a predetermined threshold prior to correlating measured noise with the flight track.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a Mode S transponder code from the at least one aircraft, and identifying the aircraft from the Mode S transponder code.

20. A system for real-time tracking of aircraft noise, comprising:

means for inputting tracking source data from at least one of a multilateration or radar system to produce aircraft position data;

means for determining flight track of at least one aircraft from broadcast aircraft identification data and aircraft position data;

means for measuring noise using a noise measuring device; and

means for correlating measured noise with the flight track in real-time to determine whether the aircraft has exceeded a predetermined noise limit.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

means for determining if noise measured from the noise measuring device exceeds a predetermined threshold prior to correlating measured noise with the flight track.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

means for receiving a Mode S transponder code from the at least one aircraft; and

means for identifying the aircraft from the Mode S transponder code.

23. A method of triangulating aircraft transponder signals using a number of receivers connected to a central station over communication links, said method comprising the steps of:

applying at least one logic rule at each receiver to incoming transponder signals to filter redundant transponder signals,

time-stamping filtered transponder signals, and

transmitting time-stamped transponder signals to the central station.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the logic rules include at least one of altitude filtering, Mode S, Mode A/C code filtering, and change filtering.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein replies are accepted when a change in state is indicated, such that the only those replies indicating a change in state are time-stamped and sent to the central server.

26. A system for triangulating aircraft transponder signals comprising:

a central station for receiving time-stamped signals from a plurality of receivers;

a plurality of receivers connected to the central station over communication links, each of said receivers comprising;

means for applying at least one logic rule at each receiver to incoming transponder signals to filter redundant transponder signals,

means for time-stamping filtered transponder signals, and

means for transmitting time-stamped transponder signals to the central station.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the logic rules include at least one of altitude filtering, Mode S, Mode A/C code filtering, and change filtering.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein replies are accepted when a change in state is indicated, such that the only those replies indicating a change in state are time-stamped and sent to the central server.

29. A method for providing live display of aircraft flight information comprising the steps of:

obtaining aircraft data from at least two of;

aircraft position and flight information from ASDI data source,

aircraft location and identification from multilateration of aircraft transponder data source,

flight information from ACARS data source, and

flight information from an airline flight information system data source,

fusing aircraft data to integrate aircraft information from at least two of the data sources to produce integrated aircraft information, and

providing a real-time display of the integrated aircraft flight information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of providing a live display comprises the step of providing a live display over a network.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of providing a live display comprises the step of providing a live display via at least one physically connected display.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of providing a live display comprises the step of providing a live display via at least one cockpit display.

37. The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps of:

providing in at least one airport ground vehicle, a means for reporting identification,

determining position and identification of the at least one airport ground vehicle,

fusing airport ground vehicle identification and position data with the integrated aircraft information, and

displaying position of the at least one airport ground vehicle on the display.

33. An apparatus for providing live display of aircraft flight information comprising:

means for obtaining aircraft data from at least two of;

aircraft position and flight information from ASDI,

aircraft location and identification from multilateration of aircraft transponder 1090 MHz transmissions, and flight information from ACARS;

means for fusing aircraft data to integrate aircraft information from at least two data sources to produce integrated aircraft information; and

a display for displaying the integrated aircraft flight information in real-time.

34. The system of claim 33, the display comprises a display coupled to a network.

35. The system of claim 33, the display comprises at least one physically connected display.

36. The system of claim 33., wherein the display comprises at least one cockpit display.

38. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for reporting identification of at least one airport ground vehicle;

means for determining position and identification of the at least one airport ground vehicle; and

means for fusing airport ground vehicle identification and position data with the integrated aircraft information,

wherein the position of the at least one airport ground vehicle is displayed on the display.

39. A method of simulating aircraft flight dynamics including on-board instrumentation, based on actual aircraft flight data, said method comprising the steps of:

collecting aircraft position and identification data externally from aircraft surveillance and communications systems,

determining aircraft performance parameters from the externally collected aircraft position and identification data; and

simulating performance of an aircraft on a flight simulator using the aircraft performance parameters.

40. A system for simulating aircraft flight dynamics including on-board instrumentation based upon actual aircraft flight data, comprising:

an aircraft surveillance system for collecting aircraft position data;

a communications system for collecting aircraft identification data;

means for determining aircraft performance parameters from the externally collected aircraft position and identification data; and

a flight simulator, for simulating performance of an aircraft using the aircraft performance parameters.

41. A method for correcting aircraft transponder altitude data, comprising the steps of:

receiving from an aircraft transponder including a pressure sensor, a signal indicating aircraft altitude, the aircraft transponder calibrated to an arbitrary barometric pressure,

receiving from a ground-based pressure sensor of the same type included in the aircraft transponder, a signal indicating the altitude of the ground-based pressure sensor, the ground-based pressure sensor calibrated to the same arbitrary barometric pressure as the pressure sensor included in the aircraft transponder, and

subtracting from the signal indicating aircraft altitude, the signal indicating altitude of the ground-based pressure sensor to determine distance above ground level of the aircraft.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising the step of:

adding the distance above ground level of the aircraft to a predetermined altitude above sea level of the ground-based pressure sensor to determine the altitude above sea level of the aircraft.

43. A system for correcting aircraft transponder altitude data, comprising:

means for receiving from an aircraft transponder including a pressure sensor, a signal indicating aircraft altitude, the aircraft transponder calibrated to an arbitrary barometric pressure;

a ground-based pressure sensor of the same type included in the aircraft transponder for generating a signal indicating the altitude of the ground-based pressure sensor, the ground-based pressure sensor calibrated to the same arbitrary barometric pressure as the pressure sensor included in the aircraft transponder; and

means for subtracting from the signal indicating aircraft altitude, the signal indicating altitude of the ground-based pressure sensor to determine distance above ground level of the aircraft.

44. The system of claim 43, further comprising:

means for adding the distance above ground level of the aircraft to a predetermined altitude above sea level of the ground-based pressure sensor to determine the altitude above sea level of the aircraft.