AIRCRAFT CREW USER INTERFACE FOR AN AIRCRAFT ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

• US 20110004832A1
• Filed: 07/01/2009
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales Avionics Incorporated (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Thales Avionics Incorporated (Thales SA)
• Inventors: Arnold, Carla Ree, Canal, Eric, Walley, Pennie
• Granted Patent: US 8,984,421 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Provided is a system and method for displaying a graphic on a crew user interface. The system comprises a crew user interface comprising an input and an output, a server accessed by the crew user interface comprising a display application program that retrieves screen configuration data stored in a non-volatile memory of a database connected to the server and an aircraft entertainment system connected to the crew user interface. The output comprises the graphic that is produced during run-time by the application program interpreting the screen configuration data.

Claims

1. A method for displaying a graphic on a display of a crew user interface, the method comprising:

accessing by the crew user interface a server to retrieve screen configuration data stored in a non-volatile memory of a database connected to the server; and

displaying the graphic on the display according to the screen configuration data retrieved from the non volatile memory, the graphic controlled by the screen configuration data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the graphic with a frame and a function area.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

displaying a plurality of graphical elements in the frame and the function area.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing, as a part of the screen configuration data, data specifying the location in which the each graphical element is displayed.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing, as a part of the screen configuration data, information specifying at least one of the size, shape and color of each graphical element.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

displaying at least one of the graphical elements in the function area that is a stored multimedia file.

7. The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of:

receiving changes to the screen configuration data; and

displaying the graphic according to the modified screen configuration data.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing, for the screen configuration data, a menu structure for the crew user interface and the services available on each menu.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying at least one graphical element in the function area that represents a section of a layout of an aircraft.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying a plurality of graphical elements in the function area that represent seats in the section.

11. A system for displaying a graphic on a crew user interface, the system comprising:

a crew user interface comprising an input and an output;

a server accessed by the crew user interface comprising a display application program that retrieves screen configuration data stored in a non-volatile memory of a database connected to the server,

the output comprising the graphic that is produced during run-time by the application program interpreting the screen configuration data; and

an aircraft entertainment system connected to the crew user interface.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the graphic comprises a menu in a menu hierarchy and the screen configuration data comprises data specifying the menu hierarchy and a format of the menu.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the graphic comprises a plurality of seats and at least one status indicator for at least one of the plurality of seats.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the output of the crew user interface displays chat room messages.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the graphic comprises a frame and a function area.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the function area comprises passenger orders received by the aircraft entertainment system that are displayed.

17. The system of claim 15, both the frame and the function area comprise a plurality of graphical elements that are displayed and at least one graphical element that is selectively activated through the input of the crew user interface to cause a service to be delivered by the aircraft entertainment system to an entity selected from the group consisting of a seat, a section, and an entire aircraft.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the screen configuration data comprises data specifying a size, shape and placement of each graphical element in the frame and the function area.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the service is playing a video or playing an audio message.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the frame and function area comprise a plurality of graphical elements that are displayed, and at least one graphical element that is selectively activated through the input of the crew user interface to cause a cause a service to be restricted from being delivered.