METHODS AND SYSTEM FOR TIME OF ARRIVAL CONTROL USING AVAILABLE SPEED AUTHORITY
First Claim
1. A vehicle control system using a reference time profile including an upper control bound and a lower control bound, said system comprising:
- an input device configured to receive a required time of arrival at a waypoint;
a processor communicatively coupled to said input device, said processor programmed to;
determine an intermediate control point wherein the intermediate control point is a point along the upper and lower control bounds where a difference between the upper and lower control bounds is equal to approximately 2α
Tol, where Tol is an RTA tolerance and α
is a scaling factor;
determine an intermediate control time wherein the intermediate control time is approximately halfway between an upper control bound time and a lower control bound time such that a margin of approximately α
Tol is provided on either side of the intermediate control time;
generate a first speed profile wherein the first speed profile is the speed profile necessary to meet the intermediate control time, starting from the current aircraft position at the current time;
generate a second speed profile wherein the second speed profile is the speed profile necessary to meet the RTA starting from the intermediate control point at the intermediate control time; and
generate the reference time profile using the first speed profile up to the intermediate control point and the second speed profile between the intermediate control point and the RTA waypoint; and
an output device communicatively coupled to the processor, said output device configured to transmit a speed control signal based on the reference time profile to a vehicle speed control system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and a system for a vehicle control system using a reference time profile including an upper control bound and a lower control bound are provided. The system includes an input device configured to receive a required time of arrival at a waypoint and a processor communicatively coupled to said input device wherein the processor is programmed to generate a reference time profile using a first speed profile up to an intermediate control point and a second speed profile between the intermediate control point and an RTA waypoint. The system also includes an output device communicatively coupled to the processor wherein the output device is configured to transmit a speed control signal based on the reference time profile to a vehicle speed control system.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicle control system using a reference time profile including an upper control bound and a lower control bound, said system comprising:
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an input device configured to receive a required time of arrival at a waypoint; a processor communicatively coupled to said input device, said processor programmed to; determine an intermediate control point wherein the intermediate control point is a point along the upper and lower control bounds where a difference between the upper and lower control bounds is equal to approximately 2α
Tol, where Tol is an RTA tolerance and α
is a scaling factor;determine an intermediate control time wherein the intermediate control time is approximately halfway between an upper control bound time and a lower control bound time such that a margin of approximately α
Tol is provided on either side of the intermediate control time;generate a first speed profile wherein the first speed profile is the speed profile necessary to meet the intermediate control time, starting from the current aircraft position at the current time; generate a second speed profile wherein the second speed profile is the speed profile necessary to meet the RTA starting from the intermediate control point at the intermediate control time; and generate the reference time profile using the first speed profile up to the intermediate control point and the second speed profile between the intermediate control point and the RTA waypoint; and an output device communicatively coupled to the processor, said output device configured to transmit a speed control signal based on the reference time profile to a vehicle speed control system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of controlling a speed of a vehicle along a track, said method comprising:
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receiving a required time of arrival (RTA) at a predetermined waypoint; determining a late time bound representing the latest time the vehicle could arrive at a point along the track and still arrive at the predetermine waypoint at the RTA while transiting at a maximum available speed; determining an early time bound representing the earliest time the vehicle could arrive at a point along the track and still arrive at the predetermine waypoint at the RTA while transiting at a minimum available speed; applying a control aggressiveness scaling factor γ
that is selected to provide a control aggressiveness to at least one of the late time bound and the early time bound, scaling factor γ
controlling a frequency of speed corrections and a magnitude of speed corrections;generating a speed control signal based on the early and late time bounds; and outputting a speed signal to a vehicle speed control system. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of controlling a speed of a vehicle, said method comprising:
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determining a required time of arrival (RTA) deadband including an activate late control that generates a first speed control signal and an activate early control that generates a second speed control signal, where the RTA represents the required time-of-arrival at an RTA waypoint; and outputting at least one of the first speed control signal and the second speed control signal to a vehicle speed control system. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification