Determining a descent trajectory described by an Aircraft Intent Description Language (AIDL)

• US 20150338853A1
• Filed: 05/04/2015
• Published: 11/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Casado Magaa, Enrique Juan, D'Alto, Luis Pedro, Vilaplana Ruiz, Miguel
• Granted Patent: US 9,766,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0676 specially adapted for landing
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

Determining a descent trajectory described by an Aircraft Intent Description Language (AIDL) is disclosed. An example method includes accessing historical flight data for a recorded flight trajectory, the recorded flight trajectory having been performed by a first aircraft type of multiple aircraft types and for a first airline of multiple airlines; estimating, using a processor, an aircraft intent parameter and an initial condition of the recorded flight trajectory based on an aircraft intent description language (AIDL) representation of the recorded flight trajectory; and mapping, using the processor, the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition to a combination of the first aircraft type, the first airline, and an identified intended descent procedure.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing historical flight data for a recorded flight trajectory, the recorded flight trajectory having been performed by a first aircraft type of multiple aircraft types and for a first airline of multiple airlines;

estimating, using a processor, an aircraft intent parameter and an initial condition of the recorded flight trajectory based on an aircraft intent description language (AIDL) representation of the recorded flight trajectory; and

mapping, using the processor, the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition to a combination of the first aircraft type, the first airline, and an identified intended descent procedure.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further including, in response to a request for a prediction of an aircraft intent for an aircraft of the first aircraft type, the first airline, and the identified intended descent procedure, calculating the aircraft intent using the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, further including storing the historical flight data for the recorded flight trajectory based on observing the recorded flight trajectory by an aircraft of the first aircraft type and for the first airline, the historical flight data including positions of the aircraft during an observed time period and weather information for the observed time period, the estimating of the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition being based on the positions of the aircraft and the weather information.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the estimating of the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition includes:

calculating a lateral path of an aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory based on an operational procedure associated with an airport that is associated with the recorded flight trajectory;

calculating a vertical profile of the aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory and corresponding to the lateral path; and

calculating speeds of the aircraft over the lateral path and the vertical profile, the estimating of the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition being based on the lateral path, the vertical profile, and the speeds.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the estimating of the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition includes:

estimating a first aircraft intent parameter and a first initial condition using a first aircraft intent procedure;

estimating a second aircraft intent parameter and a second initial condition using a second aircraft intent procedure;

determining a first total error between the first aircraft intent procedure and the recorded flight trajectory;

determining a second total error between the second aircraft intent procedure and the recorded flight trajectory; and

selecting the first aircraft intent parameter as the aircraft intent parameter and the first initial condition as the initial condition when the first total error is less than the second total error.

6. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the estimating of the first aircraft intent parameter includes applying a constraint to the first aircraft intent procedure to define the first aircraft intent procedure to be within a flight envelope of the first type of aircraft.

7. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the first aircraft intent procedure is an idle descent defined based on a throttle-law instruction, and the second aircraft intent procedure is a non-idle descent defined based on an altitude-law instruction.

8. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the estimating of the first aircraft intent parameter and the first initial condition using the first aircraft intent procedure includes describing the first aircraft intent procedure using an instance of the aircraft intent description language, the instance including at least one of an idle descent or a non-idle descent and describing a deceleration process of the idle descent or the non-idle descent using at least one of a level-off segment or by a speed reduction.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the historical flight data includes combinations of a longitude coordinate, a latitude coordinate, an altitude, and a ground speed.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the initial condition includes longitude and latitude coordinates, an altitude, and a ground speed of an aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the estimating of the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition is based on an aircraft performance model of an aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory.

12. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

access historical flight data for a recorded flight trajectory, the recorded flight trajectory having been performed by a first aircraft type of multiple aircraft types and for a first airline of multiple airlines;

estimate an aircraft intent parameter and an initial condition of the recorded flight trajectory based on an aircraft intent description language (AIDL) representation of the recorded flight trajectory; and

map the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition to a combination of the first aircraft type, the first airline, and an identified intended descent procedure.

13. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to, in response to a request for a prediction of an aircraft intent for an aircraft of the first aircraft type, the first airline, and the identified intended descent procedure, calculating the aircraft intent using the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition.

14. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to store the historical flight data for the recorded flight trajectory based on observing the recorded flight trajectory by an aircraft of the first aircraft type and for the first airline, the historical flight data including positions of the aircraft during an observed time period and weather information for the observed time period, the instructions to cause the processor to estimate the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition based on the positions of the aircraft and the weather information.

15. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to estimate the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition by:

calculating a lateral path of an aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory based on an operational procedure associated with an airport that is associated with the recorded flight trajectory;

calculating a vertical profile of the aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory and corresponding to the lateral path; and

calculating speeds of the aircraft over the lateral path and the vertical profile, the instructions to cause the processor to estimate the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition based on the lateral path, the vertical profile, and the speeds.

16. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to estimate the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition by:

estimating a first aircraft intent parameter and a first initial condition using a first aircraft intent procedure;

estimating a second aircraft intent parameter and a second initial condition using a second aircraft intent procedure;

determining a first total error between the first aircraft intent procedure and the recorded flight trajectory;

determining a second total error between the second aircraft intent procedure and the recorded flight trajectory; and

selecting the first aircraft intent parameter as the aircraft intent parameter and the first initial condition as the initial condition when the first total error is less than the second total error.

17. A storage medium as defined in claim 16, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to estimate the aircraft intent parameter by applying a constraint to the first aircraft intent procedure to define the first aircraft intent procedure to be within a flight envelope of the first type of aircraft.

18. A storage medium as defined in claim 16, wherein the first aircraft intent procedure is an idle descent defined based on a throttle-law instruction, and the second aircraft intent procedure is a non-idle descent defined based on an altitude-law instruction.

19. A storage medium as defined in claim 16, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to estimate the first aircraft intent parameter and the first initial condition using the first aircraft intent procedure by describing the first aircraft intent procedure using an instance of the aircraft intent description language, the instance including at least one of an idle descent or a non-idle descent and describing a deceleration process of the idle descent or the non-idle descent using at least one of a level-off segment or by a speed reduction.

20. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the historical flight data includes combinations of a longitude coordinate, a latitude coordinate, an altitude, and a ground speed.

21. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the initial condition includes longitude and latitude coordinates, an altitude, and a ground speed of an aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory.

22. A storage medium as defined in claim 12, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to estimate of the aircraft intent parameter and the initial condition based on an aircraft performance model of an aircraft corresponding to the recorded flight trajectory.