MANAGING DATA EXCHANGE BETWEEN AN AVIONIC CORE AND AN OPEN WORLD DEVICE

• US 20160163202A1
• Filed: 12/04/2015
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Inventors: MARION, Gaetan, Mere, Jean-Claude, Neri, Pierre, BERNAT, Julien, VIE, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 9,583,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0047 Navigation or guidance aids for a single aircraft details of equipment G08G5/0017
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/046 involving vehicles, e.g. floating traffic data [FTD] or vehicle traffic prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

A flight management system includes: an avionics core implementing generic aircraft management functionalities and providing services associated with the generic functionalities; at least one remote functionality in an open world part performing a function of interfacing between the avionics core and the open world applications run on the open world part which need to communicate with the avionics core, wherein the remote functionality ensures homogeneity and consistency of data exchanged and guaranteeing integrity and security of data exchanges, and an exchange interface of between the avionics core and the open world functionality supporting data exchanges.

Claims

1. A management system for an aircraft comprising:

an avionics core including a computer system configured to provide generic aircraft management functions and to support services associated with the generic aircraft management functions;

an open world device, separate from the avionics core, configured provide remote functionality to the open world device, wherein the remote function provides data exchange between the avionics core and an open world application being executed by the open world device, wherein the remote functionality ensures homogeneity and consistency of the data being exchanged; and

an exchange interface providing a data passage for data being exchanged between the avionics core and the open world device, wherein the exchange interface interacts with the remote function program during the data exchanges.

2. The management system according to claim 1, wherein the avionics core includes:

a set of software partitions grouped on at least one computer hardware partition and implementing the generic management functionalities; and

a set of functional services in connection with the set of generic functionalities implemented by the avionics core and open to requests from applications external to the avionics core.

3. The management system according to claim 1 wherein the remote functionalities include at least one of the following:

functionalities configured to;

(i) ensure consistency, merging or consolidation of data from the open world applications to the avionics core;

(ii) perform at least one part of securing the data;

(iii) extract the data from models used by the open world applications for supplying the simplified models of the avionics core; and

(iv) export the data from the avionics core to the open world applications;

functional services offering access for the avionics core to;

(i) specific data hosted on an open world platform;

(ii) services carried by open world applications via the remote functionality; and

functional services offering access for the open world applications to;

avionics core data, and functional services in connection with the set of functionalities supported by the avionics core.

4. The management system according to claim 1 wherein the exchange interface between the avionics core and the remote functionality is a computer based system configured to perform:

bidirectional data requests;

bidirectional function execution requests;

bidirectional event warnings;

bidirectional message transfers; and

bidirectional file transfers.

5. The management system according to claim 1, wherein the exchange interface comprises a data securing module configured to automatically monitor data to be transmitted and for automatically managing an authorization to transmit data between the avionics core and the at least one remote functionality, according to the monitoring.

6. The management system according to claim 5, wherein the data securing module includes at least one of the following security applications:

an incorrect data flow detection application;

a data consistency and format checking application; and

a data decryption application.

7. The management system according to claim 5 wherein the data securing module comprises a switching element, the switching element being of one of a hardware switch and a software implemented switch.

8. The management system according to claim 1 wherein the management system is an aircraft flight management system.

9. The management system according to claim 8, wherein the generic functionalities, implemented by the avionics core, only include the following functionalities:

flight plan management;

a calculation of trajectory in space;

a calculation of deviations between a position of the aircraft and a trajectory; and

a calculation of guidance set points for locking the aircraft onto a trajectory.

10. The management system according to claim 8, wherein in that the generic functionalities, implemented by the avionics core, include at least two of the following functionalities:

flight plan management;

calculation of flight trajectory;

calculation of a prediction along the flight trajectory;

an extrapolation of meteorological conditions along the trajectory;

calculation of a position of the aircraft;

calculation of deviations between the position of the aircraft and a trajectory;

calculation of guidance set points for locking the aircraft onto a trajectory; and

one part of a data securing function.

11. A management system for an aircraft comprising:

an avionics core including a computer system with a processor and non-transitory memory storing programs configured to provide certain generic aircraft management functions and to support certain services associated with the certain generic aircraft management functions;

an open world device including a computer system with a processor and a non-transitory memory storing a remote function program configured provide remote functionality to the open world device, wherein the remote function program when executed by the processor provides data exchange between the avionics core and open world program applications being executed by the open world device, wherein the remote function program ensures homogeneity and consistency of data being exchanged; and

an exchange interface providing a data passage for data being exchanged between the avionics core and the open world device, wherein the exchange interface interacts with the remote function program during the data exchanges.