FLIGHT DATA RECORDER SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVELY TRANSMITTING FLIGHT DATA FROM AN AIRCRAFT

• US 20180205658A1
• Filed: 01/17/2017
• Published: 07/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ViaSat Incorporated
• Inventors: Sullivan, William F.
• Granted Patent: US 11,026,293 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• 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 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/42 for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

The described features generally relate to a flight data recorder system for adaptively transmitting flight data from an aircraft. In particular, an aircraft may collect flight data from a first set of aircraft sensors. This collected flight data may then be transmitted from the aircraft by a communication terminal of the aircraft. A flight data communication scheduler may manage the selective transmission of the flight data from the aircraft, and monitor flight parameter values associated with the flight data collected from the first set of aircraft sensors. An indication of a trigger event may be obtained, and a second set of one or more aircraft sensors of the aircraft may be activated to collect additional flight data associated with the second set of sensors. A ground station may perform aspects of adaptively transmitting flight data from an aircraft, and store flight data in a ground-based flight data recorder.

Claims

1. An adaptive flight data recorder system, comprising:

a first set of one or more aircraft sensors;

a second set of one or more aircraft sensors;

a communication interface to communicate with a communication terminal of an aircraft; and

one or more flight data communication scheduler components to receive a first set of flight data from the first set of one or more aircraft sensors, to obtain an indication of a trigger event associated with flight conditions of the aircraft, to send an activation command to the second set of one or more aircraft sensors, and to control the communication terminal of the aircraft via the communication interface to transmit, from the aircraft, a second set of flight data received from the second set of one or more aircraft sensors based at least in part on the indication of the trigger event.

2. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the second set of one or more aircraft sensors comprises a microphone, or a camera, or an accelerometer, or a gyroscope, or a torsion sensor, or a tension sensor, or a combination thereof.

3. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to monitor an aircraft parameter of the first set of flight data, and to detect the trigger event based at least in part on a comparison of a value for the monitored aircraft parameter to a predetermined threshold associated with the aircraft parameter.

4. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to receive the indication of the trigger event from a ground station via the communication interface.

5. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, further comprising:

an input device interface in communication with a user input device to receive the indication of the trigger event from the user input device.

6. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, further comprising:

a prioritization table comprising priority information for data from the first set of one or more aircraft sensors, data from the second set of one or more aircraft sensors, and data that originated from one or more passenger devices, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components read the prioritization table to prioritize transmissions from the communication terminal.

23. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to control the communication terminal to continue to transmit the first set of flight data received from the first set of one or more aircraft sensors after the indication of the trigger event is obtained.

24. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 3, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to modify the predetermined threshold based at least in part on a stage of flight of the aircraft.

25. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to control the communication terminal to transmit, from the aircraft, the obtained indication of the trigger event, and to receive, from a ground station via the communication terminal, an instruction to activate the second set of one or more aircraft sensors, wherein the activation command is sent to the second set of one or more aircraft sensors based at least in part on the received instruction.

26. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to identify a third set of data to be transmitted from the communication terminal, wherein the third set of data originated from one or more passenger devices, and to prioritize the second set of flight data over the third set of data based at least in part on the obtained indication of the trigger event.

27. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to identify a third set of data to be transmitted from the communication terminal, wherein the third set of data originated from one or more passenger devices, and to control the communication terminal to transmit, from the aircraft, the third set of data during the transmitting of the first set of flight data, wherein the first set of flight data is prioritized over the third set of data.

28. The adaptive flight data recorder system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight data communication scheduler components are further configured to control the communication terminal to increase a transmission rate for flight data collected from the first set of one or more aircraft sensors based at least in part on the obtained indication of the trigger event.

7-22. -22. (canceled)

29. A method for flight data communication at a flight data recorder system of an aircraft, comprising:

receiving a first set of flight data from a first set of one or more aircraft sensors of the aircraft;

obtaining an indication of a trigger event associated with flight conditions of the aircraft;

sending an activation command to a second set of one or more aircraft sensors of the aircraft; and

controlling a communication terminal of the aircraft to transmit, from the aircraft, a second set of flight data received from the second set of one or more aircraft sensors based at least in part on the indication of the trigger event.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein obtaining the indication of the trigger event comprises:

monitoring an aircraft parameter of the first set of flight data;

comparing a value for the monitored aircraft parameter to a predetermined threshold associated with the aircraft parameter; and

detecting the trigger event based at least in part on the comparison.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

modifying the predetermined threshold based at least in part on a stage of flight of the aircraft.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein obtaining the indication of the trigger event comprises receiving the indication of the trigger event from a ground station via the communication terminal.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein obtaining the indication of the trigger event comprises receiving the indication of the trigger event from a user input device via an input device interface in communication with the user input device.

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

controlling the communication terminal of the aircraft to continue to transmit, from the aircraft, the first set of flight data from the first set of one or more aircraft sensors after the indication of the trigger event is obtained.

35. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

controlling the communication terminal of the aircraft to transmit, from the aircraft by the communication terminal, the obtained indication of the trigger event;

receiving, from a ground station via the communication terminal, an instruction to activate the second set of one or more aircraft sensors; and

sending the activation command to the second set of one or more aircraft sensors based at least in part on the received instruction.

36. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

identifying a third set of data to be transmitted from the communication terminal, wherein the third set of data originated from one or more passenger devices; and

controlling the communication terminal of the aircraft to prioritize the second set of flight data over the third set of data based at least in part on the obtained indication of the trigger event.

37. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

identifying a third set of data to be transmitted from the communication terminal, wherein the third set of data originated from one or more passenger devices; and

controlling the communication terminal of the aircraft to transmit the third set of data during the transmitting of the first set of flight data, wherein the first set of flight data is prioritized over the third set of data.

38. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

controlling the communication terminal of the aircraft to transmit flight data collected from the first set of one or more aircraft sensors at an increased transmission rate based at least in part on the obtained indication of the trigger event.