Integrated avionics control and display arrangement

• US 4,845,495 A
• Filed: 02/17/1988
• Issued: 07/04/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alliedsignal Inc.
• Original Assignee: Alliedsignal Inc.
• Inventors: Johnston, Robert J., Bollard, Robert J., Feintuch, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Orsino, Joseph A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Swarthout, Brent A.
• Application Number:
  US07/161,229
• Time in Patent Office: 503 Days
• Field of Search: 340/971, 340/973, 340/711, 340/716, 340/945, 364/423, 364/424, 364/427, 364/428, 364/431.11, 364/431.12, 364/433, 364/434, 73/178 R, 244/1 R, 370/85
• US Class Current: 340/973
• 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: G05D 1/0077 using redundant signals or controls

Abstract

An integrated avionics control and display arrangement is disclosed which combines symbol generation, display and mission processing, and multiplex bus control in a single processor configuration. The arrangement features "home" pages for primary parameter display with selectable additional pages available in conjunction with operator-operable keys disposed around the display. A wide variety of control signals compatible with the multiplex bus format are integrated directly with the bus, and a wide variety of non-compatible signals are integrated with the bus through remote terminal units which are arranged in a redundant configuration for system failure survivability and enhanced interconnect wiring economy.

Claims

1. An integrated control and display arrangement including signal conditioning and processing means for avionics system management of an aircraft, characterized by:

an input/output multiplex bus having a predetermined format;

a first plurality of means, each of which means provides an aircraft control signal so that a first plurality of aircraft control signals are provided;

said signals being in a predetermined format compatible with the predetermined multiplex bus format, said first plurality of means communication with the multiplex bus for applying said signals thereto;

a second plurality of means providing a corresponding second plurality of aircraft control signals, said signals being in a format other than the multiplex bus format;

means communicating with the second plurality of means and receiving the second plurality of signals for conditioning said signals so that said signals are in a predetermined format compatible with the predetermined multiplex bus format, and communicating with the multiplex bus for applying the conditioned second plurality of signals thereto;

processing means communicating with the multiplex bus and receiving the first plurality of signals and the conditioned second plurality of signals for processing the received signals and for providing processed signals; and

display means connected to the processing means and responsive to the processed signals for displaying the control status of the aircraft, wherein the means communicating with the second plurality of means and receiving the second plurality of signals for conditioning said signals so that said signals are in a predetermined format compatible with the multiplex bus format, and communicating with the multiples bus for applying the conditioned second plurality of signals thereto, is characterized by;

a first pair of redundant terminal means disposed in the fore section of the aircraft for receiving first signals of the second plurality of signals; and

a second pair of redundant terminal means disposed in the aft section of the aircraft for receiving second signals of the second plurality of signals.

2. An arrangement as described by claim 1, further characterized by:

operator-operable means associated with the display means and communicating with the processing means, and operable for applying signals to the processing means in accordance with an operator selected aircraft control status;

the processing means responsive to the signals in accordance with the selected aircraft control status for processing said signals and for providing processed selected aircraft control signals; and

the display means responsive to the processed selected aircraft control signals for displaying the selected aircraft control status.

3. An arrangement as described by claim 1, further characterized by:

the display means including a first display arrangement and a second redundant display arrangement;

the processing means including a first processor and a second redundant processor; and

the first display arrangement connected to the first processor and the second display arrangement connected to the second processor.

4. An arrangement as described by claim 3, further characterized by:

the first display arrangement and the redundant second display arrangement each including a plurality of single function displays, each of which displays a particular aircraft control status, and a multifunction display for displaying multiple aircraft control statuses.

5. An arrangement as described by claim 2, further characterized by:

the display means including a first display arrangement and a second redundant display arrangement;

the first display arrangement and the second redundant display arrangement each including a plurality of single function displays, each of which displays a particular aircraft control status, and a multifunction display for displaying multiple aircraft control statuses; and

the operator-operable means associated with the display means and communicating with the processing means and operable for applying signals to the processing means in accordance with a selected aircraft control status includes first keys corresponding to each of the plurality of single function displays, and second keys corresponding to each of the multifunction displays.

6. An arrangement as described by claim 5, wherein the operator-operable means is further characterized by:

a first keyboard arranged with the first display arrangement and a second redundant keyboard arranged with the second display arrangement; and

the first and second keyboards having third keys and fourth keys.

7. An arrangement as described by claim 2, characterized by:

the operator-operable means associated with the display means and communicating with the processing means, and operable for applying signals to the processing means in accordance with a selected aircraft control status including a plurality of keys.

8. An arrangement as described by claim 3, characterized by:

the first display arrangement and the second redundant display arrangement each including a plurality of cathode ray tube displays;

the first processor and the second redundant processor each including a first mission computer having a microprocessor and a symbol generator;

the first processor driving the plurality of cathode ray tube displays in the first display arrangement; and

the second processor driving the plurality of cathode ray tube displays in the second display arrangement.