Onboard Device for Managing Data Exchanged by an Aircraft with the Ground or Other Aircraft

• US 20080163093A1
• Filed: 02/08/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Thales SA
• Original Assignee: Tales
• Inventors: Lorido, Didier
• Application Number:
  US11/816,621
• Publication Number:
  US 20080163093A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft

Abstract

The invention concerns the device, on board an aircraft, of data received or exchanged without any audio communication with the ground or with other aircraft by means of a data management device provided with display means showing, in a dedicated area of an interactive multi-purpose screen, shared with the flight primary instruments and the flight management computer, a set of different windows, one (LOGON) assigned to the management of an air-ground link designed to run messages with the ground, and each of the others (CPDLC, ADS, FIS, AOC, APC) being assigned to different specialized services and a selection system (a) with constantly visible tabs in the foreground, enabling any one of the management windows to be selected and focused by means of a pointing and inputting device.

Claims

1. An onboard device for managing the digital data exchanged, without vocal step, by an aircraft, with the ground or other aircraft within specialized services, comprising means for display on an auxiliary quadrant of an interactive screen associated with a pointing and alphanumeric data input device in the manner of the screen of a computer terminal, the display surface of said interactive screen being split into several quadrants of which the main ones are assigned to the primary flight parameters and to a navigation map and said display means showing, in an auxiliary quadrant of the interactive screen and in overlaid planes, various management windows assigned, in the one case to the management of an air-ground link intended to convey the data with the ground and, in the case of each of the other management windows to a different specialized service and a tab-based selection system, the tabs of which are always visible in the foreground, allowing any one of the management windows to be selected and placed in the foreground by means of the pointing and input device.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display means configures management windows with three successive display levels:

a greeting level where the window considered presents various task types that may be envisaged,

a level for selecting types of action and report, request or response message that may be envisaged for accomplishing a task type selected beforehand, and

a level for parametrizing an action and report, request or response message selected beforehand.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display means splits the management windows horizontally into two information fields:

an upper information field reserved for the action and message reports, and a lower information field reserved for the selection, preparation and parametrization of an action and report, response or request message.

4. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display means configures the management windows with, at their base, a lower horizontal task bar comprising activated or unactivated actuation buttons depending on the prevailing licitness of the tasks that they govern.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lower horizontal task bar comprises an actuation button triggering the execution of a task of displaying the journal of the actions and messages processed from a mission start.

6. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the lower horizontal task bar furthermore comprises at least one pop-up menu with rubrics activated as a function of the prevailing licitness of the tasks to which they relate.

7. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means configures the management windows with two horizontal task bars:

a first lower horizontal task bar placed at the base of the windows and a second middle horizontal task bar placed at the limit of the report field and of the selection, preparation and parametrization field, said horizontal task bars comprising activated or unactivated actuation buttons depending on the prevailing licitness of the tasks that the two horizontal task bars govern.

8. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means configure the management windows additionally with an auxiliary information field recalling the last task performed or the next task to be performed.

9. The device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the display means site the auxiliary information field level with the middle horizontal task bar.

10. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means depict the action and message reports in the report field in different guises depending on their prevailing processing states:

in progress, terminated or archived.

11. The device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the display means depict the action and message reports in the report field on local display backgrounds of different colors depending on their prevailing processing states:

in progress, terminated or archived.

12. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means depict, in the selection, preparation and parametrization field of a management window placed at selection display level, a gamut of action and report, response or request message captions suitable for a task type selected beforehand at the greeting level or ensuing from the greeting level when the latter authorizes only a single task.

13. The device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the display means depict the action and report, response and request message captions in the selection, preparation and parametrization field in different guises depending on their prevailing properties:

default action or message, licit action or message at this point in the processing, illicit action or message at this point in the processing.

14. The device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the display means depict the action and report, response and request message captions in the selection, preparation and parametrization field as entries of different colors depending on their prevailing properties:

default action or message, licit action or message at this point in the processing, illicit action or message at this point in the processing.

15. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means depict in the selection, preparation and parametrization field of a management window placed at the parametrization display level, at least one alphanumeric data input box appropriate to the parametrization of a report, response or request message selected beforehand at the selection display level or ensuing from the greeting level when the latter authorizes only the preparation and dispatch of a message.

16. The device as claimed in claim 15, wherein said input box or boxes appearing in the selection, preparation and parametrization field of a management window placed at the parametrization display level are accompanied by captions defining their contents.

17. The device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the various input boxes appearing in the selection, preparation and parametrization field of a management window when processing the set of tasks to which the relevant window gives access are placed at different positions in the selection, preparation and parametrization field so as not to overlap and to be able to be assembled by overlaying to satisfy the prevailing input box requirements.

18. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means depict a mission licence as report field caption.

19. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means depict, during the processing of a response to a message, a timer counting down a delay granted for the response, as report field caption.

20. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display means depict a rubric recalling the task currently being executed as selection, preparation and parametrization field caption.

21. The device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the display means site the auxiliary information field level with the middle horizontal task bar.