DISPLAY SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PREVENTING RUNWAY INCURSIONS

• US 20180233052A1
• Filed: 02/15/2017
• Published: 08/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Shamasundar, Raghu, Hosamani, Umesh, Chandrashekarappa, Mohan Gowda, Saptharishi, Hariharan, S, Narayanan, Venkataramana, Kiran Mancheiah, Kiran, Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 10,446,039 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/005 Flight directors indicating arrangements specially adapted for rotary gyroscopes G01C19/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0078 for monitoring traffic from the aircraft 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
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/06 for control when on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/065 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. for taxiing or rolling
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to display systems in the flight deck of an aircraft, and also to methods for providing such displays. More particularly, the displays and methods of the present disclosure are configured to integrate airport surface lighting information with information received from multiple air traffic control (ATC) communication channels, for purposes of increasing aircrew situational awareness and preventing runway incursions.

Claims

1. A method for providing a flight display to an aircrew of an ownship aircraft, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a multi-channel radio communications module of the ownship aircraft, at least a first voice transmission on a first radio frequency and a second voice transmission on a second radio frequency that is different than the first radio frequency, wherein the first and second radio frequencies are air traffic control frequencies selected from the group consisting of;

a ground control frequency, a tower (local) control frequency, and an approach control frequency;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, transcribing, using voice recognition techniques installed on the ownship aircraft, both the first and the second voice transmissions into an electronic, textual format, thereby generating a first transmission record and a second transmission record;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, analyzing both of the first and second transmission records for an aircraft clearance, wherein the aircraft clearance pertains to an aircraft other than the ownship aircraft, and wherein the aircraft clearance is selected from the group consisting of;

a takeoff clearance, a landing clearance, a runway crossing clearance, and a taxiing clearance;

receiving, at a synthetic vision system (SVS) of the ownship aircraft, a status indication of a ground-based clearance lighting feature in a vicinity or pathway of the ownship aircraft, wherein the ground-based clearance lighting feature is selected from the group consisting of;

runway status lights (RWSL), final approach runway occupancy signal (FAROS) lights, runway entrance lights (REL), takeoff hold lights (THL), and runway intersection lights (RIL), and wherein the status indication is selected from the group selected from, but not limited to;

clear to proceed, not clear to proceed, and use caution;

displaying, using the SVS, the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature on a cockpit display to the aircrew of the ownship aircraft in the form of a graphical representation of the environment surrounding the ownship aircraft;

displaying, using the SVS, overlaid graphical symbology on the cockpit display corresponding to the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature, wherein the overlaid graphical symbology indicates that the ownship aircraft is either clear to proceed or not clear to proceed, and wherein the overlaid graphical symbology is additional to and different from the display of the status indication of the ground-based lighting feature;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, determining whether the aircraft clearance pertaining to the aircraft other than the ownship aircraft conflicts with the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature; and

if there is determined to be a conflict and if the status indication is clear to proceed, automatically and without input from the aircrew, using the SVS, modifying the overlaid graphical symbology to indicate that the ownship aircraft is not clear to proceed;

however, if there is not determined to be a conflict or if the status indication is not clear to proceed, maintaining the overlaid graphical symbology in its current state without modification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing both of the first and second transmission records for the aircraft clearance comprises additionally analyzing for an aircraft clearance that pertains to the ownship aircraft.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving at least the first voice transmission on the first radio frequency comprises receiving a first voice transmission from a ground controller, a tower (local) controller, or an approach controller, and wherein the step of receiving at least the second voice transmission on the second radio frequency comprises receiving a second voice transmission from a ground controller, a tower (local) controller, or an approach controller that is different from where the first voice transmission is received.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transcribing both the first and the second voice transmissions is performed using an electronic speech processing system that comprises a speech recognition module and a transcription module, wherein the speech recognition module has electronic access to a keywords data store.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing both of the first and second transmission records for an aircraft clearance is performed using an electronic transmission record analysis module.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving at the synthetic vision system further comprises receiving computer-generated images that comprise external scene topography from a flight deck perspective, and that are derived from an aircraft attitude and a database consisting of:

terrain, obstacles, and relevant cultural features.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving at the synthetic vision system further comprises receiving from the group consisting of:

a visible low light television camera, an infrared camera, and millimeter wave (MMW) camera.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the status indication and displaying the overlaid graphical symbology are performed using a primary flight display.

9. A flight display system installed in an ownship aircraft for providing a flight display to an aircrew of the ownship aircraft, wherein the flight display system is configured, using electronic components of the ownship aircraft, to perform the following functions:

receive, at a multi-channel radio communications module of the ownship aircraft, at least a first voice transmission on a first radio frequency and a second voice transmission on a second radio frequency that is different than the first radio frequency, wherein the first and second radio frequencies are air traffic control frequencies selected from the group consisting of;

a ground control frequency, a tower (local) control frequency, and an approach control frequency;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, transcribe, using voice recognition techniques installed on the ownship aircraft, both the first and the second voice transmissions into an electronic, textual format, thereby generating a first transmission record and a second transmission record;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, analyze both of the first and second transmission records for an aircraft clearance, wherein the aircraft clearance pertains to an aircraft other than the ownship aircraft, and wherein the aircraft clearance is selected from the group consisting of;

a takeoff clearance, a landing clearance, a runway crossing clearance, and a taxiing clearance;

receive, at a synthetic vision system (SVS) of the ownship aircraft, a status indication of a ground-based clearance lighting feature in a vicinity or pathway of the ownship aircraft, wherein the ground-based clearance lighting feature is selected from the group consisting of;

runway status lights (RWSL), final approach runway occupancy signal (FAROS) lights, runway entrance lights (REL), takeoff hold lights (THL), and runway intersection lights (RIL), and wherein the status indication is selected from the group selected from, but not limited to;

clear to proceed, not clear to proceed, and use caution;

display, using the SVS, the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature on a cockpit display to the aircrew of the ownship aircraft in the form of a graphical representation of the environment surrounding the ownship aircraft;

display, using the SVS, overlaid graphical symbology on the cockpit display corresponding to the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature, wherein the overlaid graphical symbology indicates that the ownship aircraft is either clear to proceed or not clear to proceed, and wherein the overlaid graphical symbology is additional to and different from the display of the status indication of the ground-based lighting feature;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, determine whether the aircraft clearance pertaining to the aircraft other than the ownship aircraft conflicts with the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature; and

if there is determined to be a conflict and if the status indication is clear to proceed, automatically and without input from the aircrew, using the SVS, modify the overlaid graphical symbology to indicate that the ownship aircraft is not clear to proceed;

however, if there is not determined to be a conflict or if the status indication is not clear to proceed, maintain the overlaid graphical symbology in its current state without modification.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of analyzing both of the first and second transmission records for the aircraft clearance comprises additionally analyzing for an aircraft clearance that pertains to the ownship aircraft.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of receiving at least the first voice transmission on the first radio frequency comprises receiving a first voice transmission from a ground controller, a tower (local) controller, or an approach controller, and wherein the function of receiving at least the second voice transmission on the second radio frequency comprises receiving a second voice transmission from a ground controller, a tower (local) controller, or an approach controller that is different from where the first voice transmission is received.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of transcribing both the first and the second voice transmissions is performed using an electronic speech processing system that comprises a speech recognition module and a transcription module, wherein the speech recognition module has electronic access to a keywords data store.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of analyzing both of the first and second transmission records for an aircraft clearance is performed using an electronic transmission record analysis module.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of receiving at the synthetic vision system further comprises receiving computer-generated images that comprise external scene topography from a flight deck perspective, and that are derived from an aircraft attitude and a database consisting of:

terrain, obstacles, and relevant cultural features.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the function of receiving at the synthetic vision system further comprises receiving from the group consisting of:

a visible low light television camera, an infrared camera, and millimeter wave (MMW) camera.

16. A method for providing a flight display to an aircrew of an ownship aircraft, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving at least a first voice transmission on a first radio frequency and a second voice transmission on a second radio frequency that is different than the first radio frequency;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, transcribing both the first and the second voice transmissions into an electronic format, thereby generating a first transmission record and a second transmission record;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, analyzing both of the first and second transmission records for an aircraft clearance, wherein the aircraft clearance pertains to an aircraft other than the ownship aircraft;

receiving, at a synthetic vision system (SVS) of the ownship aircraft, a status indication of a ground-based clearance lighting feature in a vicinity or pathway of the ownship aircraft;

displaying, using the SVS, the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature on a cockpit display to the aircrew of the ownship aircraft in the form of a graphical representation of the environment surrounding the ownship aircraft;

automatically, and without input from the aircrew, determining whether the aircraft clearance pertaining to the aircraft other than the ownship aircraft conflicts with the status indication of the ground-based clearance lighting feature; and

if there is determined to be a conflict and if the status indication is clear to proceed, automatically and without input from the aircrew, using the SVS, modifying the overlaid graphical symbology to indicate that the ownship aircraft is not clear to proceed;

however, if there is not determined to be a conflict or if the status indication is not clear to proceed, maintaining the overlaid graphical symbology in its current state without modification.