AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM
First Claim
1. An aircraft position reporting system comprising:
- means for determining the Cartesian coordinates of an aircraft from a ground location including a VOR receiver system;
a distance measuring transmitter and receiver;
a resolver connected to said VOR receiver and said distance measuring receiver to produce said signals proportional to the Cartesian coordinates of said aircraft relative to said ground location;
an altitude transducer on the aircraft;
an identification generator for producing a signal for identifying said aircraft;
an aircraft proximity reporting encoder receiving said X and Y position coordinates, the output of the altitude transducer and the output of the identification generator and encoding such intelligence into a signal for transmission;
a send gate connected between said aircraft proximity reporting encoder and said distance measuring transmitter; and
an area navigation system receiving inputs from said VOR receiver and said distance measuring receiver.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aircraft traffic control system which has a first portion that allows aircraft to detect other aircraft in their vicinity so that they are aware of them and which also allows an aircraft to maintain a particular spacing with respect to a selected aircraft to alleviate the load on the ground air traffic controllers, is disclosed. The identification, altitude and coordinates of an aircraft is transmitted and received by other aircraft and/or by ground stations to allow other aircraft to be aware of the position of traffic, and the ground stations may utilize the information for local and en route control so that monitoring and control of all aircraft may be maintained throughout the system. Various instrumentations and implementations are disclosed which allow existing facilities to be used with modifications which are simple and relatively inexpensive.
21 Citations
9 Claims
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1. An aircraft position reporting system comprising:
- means for determining the Cartesian coordinates of an aircraft from a ground location including a VOR receiver system;
a distance measuring transmitter and receiver;
a resolver connected to said VOR receiver and said distance measuring receiver to produce said signals proportional to the Cartesian coordinates of said aircraft relative to said ground location;
an altitude transducer on the aircraft;
an identification generator for producing a signal for identifying said aircraft;
an aircraft proximity reporting encoder receiving said X and Y position coordinates, the output of the altitude transducer and the output of the identification generator and encoding such intelligence into a signal for transmission;
a send gate connected between said aircraft proximity reporting encoder and said distance measuring transmitter; and
an area navigation system receiving inputs from said VOR receiver and said distance measuring receiver.
- means for determining the Cartesian coordinates of an aircraft from a ground location including a VOR receiver system;
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2. In an aircraft position reporting system according to claim 1, an aircraft proximity monitoring receiver carried on said aircraft and receiving signals from other craft indicative of the other craft'"'"''"'"'s altitude, identification, and its X and Y Cartesian coordinates relative to said ground location, and means for presenting the positions of said other craft which are within preset altitude ranges relative to the position of the aircraft.
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3. An aircraft system according to claim 2 comprising means on said aircraft for selecting a particular identified aircraft and for presenting it in a distinctive manner so that it may be distinguished from other aircraft.
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4. An aircraft system according tO claim 2 comprising a distance measuring system having a transmitter and a receiver at a ground station receiving signals from distance measuring transmitters in aircraft, decoding means at said ground station connected to the distance measuring receiver and means for presenting the positions of said aircraft.
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5. An aircraft system according to claim 4 wherein the decoding means at the ground station decodes the altitude of said aircraft and supplies it to the presentation means.
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6. An aircraft system according to claim 5 comprising a memory system at said ground station for storing information from said aircraft connected to said decoder, and roll call means connected to said memory and said transmitter for periodically interrogating said aircraft.
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7. An aircraft system according to claim 2 including a decoder receiving the output of said aircraft proximity receiver, an identification decoder receiving an output from said decoder and a gate connected between the output of the decoder and the presentation means receiving an input from the identification decoder.
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8. An aircraft system according to claim 7 wherein said area navigation has a way point computer and the presentation means presents the aircraft'"'"''"'"'s position relative to a selected way point and the positions of other aircraft are presented relative to said aircraft.
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9. An aircraft system according to claim 8 wherein the aircraft selected by said identification selector has a distinctive presentation.
Specification