ONBOARD WEATHER RADAR FLIGHT STRATEGY SYSTEM WITH BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT

• US 20150310747A1
• Filed: 04/24/2014
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International SARL (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International SARL (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Frolik, Petr, Knotek, Michal
• Granted Patent: US 9,418,562 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/953 mounted on aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/20 Stereoscopic displays; Three-dimensional displays; Pseudo-three-dimensional displays
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0091 for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

This disclosure is directed to devices, systems, and methods for enabling and operating an onboard weather display system with managed bandwidth. In one example, a method includes receiving, by a hub system, initial sets of data from one or more aircraft. The method further includes receiving secondary sets of data from the aircraft, wherein the secondary sets of data are related to a significant weather condition. The method further includes transmitting an initial data stream to a particular aircraft, wherein the initial data stream is based at least in part on the initial sets of data from the one or more aircraft. The method further includes transmitting, in response to a request from the particular aircraft, a secondary data stream based at least in part on the secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a hub system, one or more initial sets of data from a first set of one or more aircraft;

receiving, by the hub system, one or more secondary sets of data from a second set of one or more aircraft from among the first set of one or more aircraft, wherein the one or more secondary sets of data are related to a significant weather condition detected by the second set of one or more aircraft;

transmitting, by the hub system, an initial data stream to a particular aircraft, wherein the initial data stream is based at least in part on the one or more initial sets of data; and

transmitting, by the hub system in response to a request from the particular aircraft, a secondary data stream to the particular aircraft, wherein the secondary data stream is based at least in part on the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the one or more initial sets of data from one or more aircraft comprises receiving one or more of sensor data, sensor range setting data, sensor angle setting data, aircraft position data, aircraft heading data, aircraft speed data, aircraft altitude data, or timestamp data, from the one or more aircraft, and

wherein transmitting, to the particular aircraft, the initial data stream based at least in part on the one or more initial sets of data from the one or more aircraft comprises transmitting one or more of the sensor data, the sensor range setting data, the sensor angle setting data, the aircraft position data, the aircraft heading data, the aircraft speed data, the aircraft altitude data, or the timestamp data, from the one or more aircraft.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sensor data comprises imaging data from an onboard weather radar, and the sensor range setting data and the sensor angle setting data comprise range and angle settings, respectively, for the onboard weather radar.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the secondary data stream comprises transmitting the secondary data stream at a higher bandwidth than the initial data stream.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the one or more secondary sets of data comprises receiving, by the hub system, the one or more secondary sets of data at a higher bandwidth than the one or more initial sets of data.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating the secondary data stream based at least in part on the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition, prior to transmitting the secondary data stream, wherein generating the secondary data stream comprises processing the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more secondary sets of data comprise weather radar data from the one or more of the aircraft, and processing the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition comprises processing the weather radar data from the one or more of the aircraft for a high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition, wherein the high-resolution graphical display has a resolution above a selected resolution threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the format enabled for the high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition is further enabled for one or more of:

display in a three-dimensional (3D) view;

display at a high frame rate, wherein the high frame rate has a frame rate above a selected frame rate threshold;

display covering a long range, wherein the long range has a range above a selected distance threshold;

or display at various points in time as determined by a position of a user input element.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, from the one or more of the aircraft from which the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition are received, one or more aircraft based at least in part on the aircraft being within a selected range of a nominal flight path of the particular aircraft from which the request is received; and

generating the secondary data stream based on the secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition from the one or more selected aircraft, and omitting data received from one or more of the aircraft that are not within the selected range of the nominal flight path of the particular aircraft from which the request is received.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request from the particular aircraft designates one or more of the aircraft from which the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition are received, the method further comprising:

generating the secondary data stream based on the secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition from the one or more designated aircraft, and omitting data received from one or more of the aircraft that are not designated in the request from the particular aircraft.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving additional data related to the significant weather condition from one or more additional sensor systems; and

generating the secondary data stream based at least in part on both the additional data related to the significant weather condition from the one or more additional sensor systems, and the one or more secondary sets of data received from the one or more of the aircraft.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more additional sensor systems comprise at least one of one or more weather satellites or one or more ground radar systems.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more secondary sets of data include additional types of data not comprised in the initial sets of data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the additional types of data comprise three-dimensional radar imaging data related to the significant weather condition.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

confirming a subscriber policy associated with the particular aircraft; and

establishing a high-bandwidth data link with the particular aircraft, prior to transmitting the secondary data stream to the particular aircraft, wherein the high-bandwidth data link has a bandwidth higher than a selected nominal bandwidth.

16. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, configured to be executable by one or more processors for causing the one or more processors to:

receive one or more initial sets of data from one or more aircraft;

receive one or more secondary sets of data from one or more of the aircraft, wherein the one or more secondary sets of data are related to a significant weather condition detected by the one or more of the aircraft;

generate an initial data stream for transmission to a particular aircraft, wherein the initial data stream is based at least in part on the one or more initial sets of data from the one or more aircraft; and

generate, in response to a request from the particular aircraft, a secondary data stream for transmission to the particular aircraft, wherein the secondary data stream is based at least in part on the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the program code is further configured for causing the one or more processors to:

generate the secondary data stream based at least in part on the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition, prior to transmitting the secondary data stream, wherein generating the secondary data stream comprises processing the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition,

wherein transmitting the secondary data stream comprises transmitting the secondary data stream at a higher bandwidth than the initial data stream.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the one or more secondary sets of data comprise weather radar data from the one or more of the aircraft, and wherein processing the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition comprises processing the weather radar data from the one or more of the aircraft for a high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition, wherein the high-resolution graphical display has a resolution above a selected resolution threshold.

19. A system for operating an onboard weather display system on an aircraft, the system being configured to:

receive an initial data stream based at least in part on one or more initial sets of data from one or more additional aircraft;

transmit a request to a hub system for a secondary data stream comprising additional data associated with a significant weather condition indicated by the initial data stream;

receive the secondary data stream, wherein the secondary data stream comprises additional data not comprised in the initial data stream; and

generate a display based at least in part on the secondary data stream.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein generating the display based at least in part on the secondary data stream comprises generating a high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition based at least in part on the secondary data stream, wherein the high-resolution graphical display has a resolution above a selected resolution threshold.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein generating the high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition based at least in part on the secondary data stream further comprises generating the high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition in a three-dimensional (3D) view and at a high frame rate, wherein the high frame rate has a frame rate above a selected frame rate threshold.

22. A hub system configured to enable an onboard weather display system on an aircraft, the hub system comprising:

means for receiving one or more initial sets of data from one or more aircraft;

means for receiving one or more secondary sets of data from one or more of the aircraft, wherein the one or more secondary sets of data are related to a significant weather condition detected by the one or more of the aircraft;

means for transmitting an initial data stream to a particular aircraft, wherein the initial data stream is based at least in part on the one or more initial sets of data from the one or more aircraft; and

means for transmitting, in response to a request from the particular aircraft, a secondary data stream to the particular aircraft, wherein the secondary data stream is based at least in part on the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition.

23. The hub system of claim 22, further comprising:

means for generating the secondary data stream based at least in part on the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition, prior to transmitting the secondary data stream, wherein generating the secondary data stream comprises processing the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition,

wherein transmitting the secondary data stream comprises transmitting the secondary data stream at a higher bandwidth than the initial data stream,

wherein the one or more secondary sets of data comprise weather radar data from the one or more of the aircraft, and processing the one or more secondary sets of data related to the significant weather condition comprises processing the weather radar data from the one or more of the aircraft for a high-resolution graphical display of the significant weather condition, wherein the high-resolution graphical display has a resolution above a selected resolution threshold.