Airport surface safety logic
First Claim
1. An airport surface safety logic system, comprising:
- (A) a target state machine having predetermined states independent of an airport target object, the predetermined states corresponding to stopped, taxi-ing, arriving, landing, abort landing, departing, and abort departing, respectively, the target state machine for;
receiving a plurality of tracks wherein each of the tracks includes information about the airport target object including;
a position of the airport target object,a velocity of the airport target object,an acceleration of the airport target object, anda measure of the size of the airport target object; and
determining, for each track, the state of the airport target object at an airport based upon whether the information about the airport target object corresponds to transitions between the predetermined states, thereby determining based on the predetermined states whether the airport target object is;
stopped,taxi-ing,arriving to the airport,landing at the airport,aborting a landing at the airport,departing from the airport, oraborting a departure from the airport;
(B) a prediction engine, coupled to the target state machine, having a predetermined acceleration model corresponding to each of the predetermined states, a predetermined deceleration model corresponding to each of the predetermined states, and a predetermined approach model, each of these models being created independently of the airport target object, the prediction engine utilizing, for each track received by the target state machine, at least the position, velocity, acceleration, and measure of the size of the airport target object to;
predict, using the predetermined acceleration model that corresponds to the state of the airport target object, a maximum-distance path that the airport target object could travel in a predetermined period of time,predict, using the predetermined deceleration model that corresponds to the state of the airport target object, a minimum-distance path that the airport target object could travel in the predetermined period of time, andif the state of the airport target object is that of arriving to the airport, determine, using the predetermined approach model, whether the airport target object can land on a particular runway of the airport;
(C) light-control logic, coupled to the target state machine and the prediction engine, for controlling runway-status lights on a surface of the airport based on the predictions and determinations made by the target state machine and the prediction logic; and
(D) alert logic, coupled to the target state machine and the prediction engine, for;
determining if two or more airport target objects are at risk of colliding based on the predictions and determinations made by the target state machine and the prediction logic, andgenerating visual and audible alerts in an airport control tower of the airport when it is determined that two or more airport target objects are at risk of colliding.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An airport safety logic system includes a target state machine, a prediction engine, light-control logic, and alert logic. The target state machine receives a plurality of tracks, each of which includes information about an airport target object including a track number, position, velocity, acceleration, and a measure of the size of the airport target object. The target state machine also determines, for each track, a state of the airport target object at an airport including whether the object is stopped, taxi-ing, arriving, landing, aborting a landing, departing, or aborting a departure. The prediction engine utilizes, for each track, at least the position and the velocity of the object to predict a variety of things. The predictions include a maximum and a minimum distance the airport target object could travel in a period of time, and a maximum distance path and a minimum distance path the object could follow in that time period. The prediction engine also determines, if the state of the object is "arriving," whether the airport target object can land on a particular runway of the airport. The light-control logic controls runway-status lights of the airport based on the predictions and determinations made by the prediction logic. The alert logic determines if two or more objects are at risk of colliding based on the predictions and determinations made be the prediction logic, and then generates visual and audible alerts in an airport control tower of the airport if risk of collision exists.
261 Citations
1 Claim
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1. An airport surface safety logic system, comprising:
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(A) a target state machine having predetermined states independent of an airport target object, the predetermined states corresponding to stopped, taxi-ing, arriving, landing, abort landing, departing, and abort departing, respectively, the target state machine for; receiving a plurality of tracks wherein each of the tracks includes information about the airport target object including; a position of the airport target object, a velocity of the airport target object, an acceleration of the airport target object, and a measure of the size of the airport target object; and determining, for each track, the state of the airport target object at an airport based upon whether the information about the airport target object corresponds to transitions between the predetermined states, thereby determining based on the predetermined states whether the airport target object is; stopped, taxi-ing, arriving to the airport, landing at the airport, aborting a landing at the airport, departing from the airport, or aborting a departure from the airport; (B) a prediction engine, coupled to the target state machine, having a predetermined acceleration model corresponding to each of the predetermined states, a predetermined deceleration model corresponding to each of the predetermined states, and a predetermined approach model, each of these models being created independently of the airport target object, the prediction engine utilizing, for each track received by the target state machine, at least the position, velocity, acceleration, and measure of the size of the airport target object to; predict, using the predetermined acceleration model that corresponds to the state of the airport target object, a maximum-distance path that the airport target object could travel in a predetermined period of time, predict, using the predetermined deceleration model that corresponds to the state of the airport target object, a minimum-distance path that the airport target object could travel in the predetermined period of time, and if the state of the airport target object is that of arriving to the airport, determine, using the predetermined approach model, whether the airport target object can land on a particular runway of the airport; (C) light-control logic, coupled to the target state machine and the prediction engine, for controlling runway-status lights on a surface of the airport based on the predictions and determinations made by the target state machine and the prediction logic; and (D) alert logic, coupled to the target state machine and the prediction engine, for; determining if two or more airport target objects are at risk of colliding based on the predictions and determinations made by the target state machine and the prediction logic, and generating visual and audible alerts in an airport control tower of the airport when it is determined that two or more airport target objects are at risk of colliding.
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Specification