Close/intra-formation positioning collision avoidance system and method
First Claim
1. A passive intra-formation positioning collision avoidance system for a transponder-equipped host aircraft, the system comprising:
- a data link transponder, said transponder receiving broadcast data, the broadcast data comprising aircraft position; and
a passive traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) computer in communication with said transponder for receiving and processing the broadcast data from said transponder;
a mission computer unit in communication with said TCAS computer, wherein said mission computer unit receives the broadcast data from said TCAS computer and generates steering commands based on the broadcast data; and
a communication link in communication with said mission computer to transmit the steering commands to at least one other transponder-equipped aircraft for processing, the at least one other transponder-equipped aircraft capable of automatically executing the steering commands to position itself with respect to the host aircraft.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A collision avoidance system and method is based on receiving and processing Mode-S transponder messages without interrogating the transponders of the respective aircraft flying in formation. A collision avoidance computer and Mode-S transponder are used to provide distributed intra-formation control among multiple cells of aircraft flying in formation or close-in. The Mode-S transponder provides ADS-B Global Positioning System (GPS) squitter data to the computer. A mission computer is coupled to the collision avoidance computer. The mission computer may provide steering commands transmitted to other formation member aircraft. The method and system allow a safe separation between 2 to 250 aircraft flying in formation at selectable ranges.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A passive intra-formation positioning collision avoidance system for a transponder-equipped host aircraft, the system comprising:
-
a data link transponder, said transponder receiving broadcast data, the broadcast data comprising aircraft position; and
a passive traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) computer in communication with said transponder for receiving and processing the broadcast data from said transponder;
a mission computer unit in communication with said TCAS computer, wherein said mission computer unit receives the broadcast data from said TCAS computer and generates steering commands based on the broadcast data; and
a communication link in communication with said mission computer to transmit the steering commands to at least one other transponder-equipped aircraft for processing, the at least one other transponder-equipped aircraft capable of automatically executing the steering commands to position itself with respect to the host aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
Specification