Aircraft data acquisition and recording system
First Claim
1. An aircraft data acquisition and recording system for supplying retrievable digitally encoded signals representative of a pluralty of applied parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals, said plurality of parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals including analog signals and discrete signals, said aircraft data acquisition and recording system comprising:
- a data acquisition unit having a plurality of input ports, each input port being connected for receiving one of said applied parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals, said data acquisition unit including means for sequentially accessing selected ones of said applied parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals and for processing each accessed signal in response to an applied command signal, said data acquisition unit forther including means for supplying a digitally encoded signal representative of each accessed parametric flight data and aircraft performance signal;
a central processing unit connected for receiving each of said digitally encoded signals supplied by said data acquisition unit, said data acquisition unit being responsive to program instructions to sequentially supply said command signals to said data acquisition unit and being responsive to program instructions to detect the time at which a plurality of predetermined aircraft procedures are undertaken, said central processing unit further being responsive to program instructions to process said digitally encoded signals supplied by said data acquisition unit to supply a single set of digitally encoded signals representative of selected aircraft performance information each time a procedure of said plurality of predetermined aircraft procedures is undertaken;
program memory means for storage of said program instructions, said program memory means being connected to said central processing unit, said program memory means including programmable read only memory for storing program instructions that sequence said central processing unit for adapting said data acquisition unit to the specific parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals applied to said data acquisition unit, said program memory means further including memory for storing program instructions for sequencing said central processing unit for sequential access and processing of selected ones of said parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals; and
nonvolatile memory means for temporary storage of the sets of digitally encoded signals supplied by said central processing unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a combined flight data recorder data aquisition circuitry (10) and airborne integrated data circuitry (12) that can be variously packaged to supplement and update existing aircraft systems or serve as a standalone flight data recording and/or airborne integrated data system. The flight data recorder system circuitry (10) and airborne integrated data system circuitry (12) are separately programmed microprocessor based systems that are capable of processing aircraft parametric signals provided by a variety of aircraft signal sources. In the disclosed arrangement, the airborne integrated data system circuitry (12) is arranged and programmed to automatically monitor engine start and shutdown procedures, aircraft takeoff and cruise and to provide a landing report that indicates fuel consumption and landing weight. To minimize memory storage requirements and provide readily available engine condition information, the automatic monitoring consists of a single set of signals for each monitored condition and the information is converted to standard engineering units. Monitoring of selected parametric signals to detect excessive levels also is provided. Stored data is periodically retrieved by means of a ground readout unit (30).
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An aircraft data acquisition and recording system for supplying retrievable digitally encoded signals representative of a pluralty of applied parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals, said plurality of parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals including analog signals and discrete signals, said aircraft data acquisition and recording system comprising:
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a data acquisition unit having a plurality of input ports, each input port being connected for receiving one of said applied parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals, said data acquisition unit including means for sequentially accessing selected ones of said applied parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals and for processing each accessed signal in response to an applied command signal, said data acquisition unit forther including means for supplying a digitally encoded signal representative of each accessed parametric flight data and aircraft performance signal; a central processing unit connected for receiving each of said digitally encoded signals supplied by said data acquisition unit, said data acquisition unit being responsive to program instructions to sequentially supply said command signals to said data acquisition unit and being responsive to program instructions to detect the time at which a plurality of predetermined aircraft procedures are undertaken, said central processing unit further being responsive to program instructions to process said digitally encoded signals supplied by said data acquisition unit to supply a single set of digitally encoded signals representative of selected aircraft performance information each time a procedure of said plurality of predetermined aircraft procedures is undertaken; program memory means for storage of said program instructions, said program memory means being connected to said central processing unit, said program memory means including programmable read only memory for storing program instructions that sequence said central processing unit for adapting said data acquisition unit to the specific parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals applied to said data acquisition unit, said program memory means further including memory for storing program instructions for sequencing said central processing unit for sequential access and processing of selected ones of said parametric flight data and aircraft performance signals; and nonvolatile memory means for temporary storage of the sets of digitally encoded signals supplied by said central processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification