Air control supporting system

• US 5,742,508 A
• Filed: 12/30/1996
• Issued: 04/21/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Ito, Tatsuro, Kusui, Yoichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Teska, Kevin J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAN, THAI Q
• Application Number:
  US08/781,923
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• Field of Search: 395/500, 395/206, 395/201, 395/670, 395/676, 395/677, 395/331, 395/200.03, 395/200.01, 364/439, 364/449.3, 364/449.4, 364/260, 364/DIG. 1, 364/428, 340/990, 340/988, 342/36, 73/178 T
• US Class Current: 701/120
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/91 for traffic control G01S13/93 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/22 Producing cursor lines and indicia by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/295 Means for transforming co-ordinates or for evaluating data, e.g. using computers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91

Abstract

A user interface apparatus for an electronic operation strip control system for supporting control services by presenting electronic operation strips used in airport control to a plurality of controllers who carry out airport terminal radar control services and entering control services previously distributed and associated with each other, including an information display device and an instruction input device provided for each controller. Operation strip control information items necessary for respective distributed control services are obtained and inputted into an information processing section, where the items are edited and processed in correspondence with the distributed control services and in accordance with contents of instructions from an instruction input device. Thereafter, the processed operation strip control information items are displayed on an information display device of a corresponding control seat, in accordance with instructions from the instruction input device, and simultaneously, operation strip control information items of related control services including operation strip control information items of the other control services are displayed on the same screen. It is therefore possible to reduce loads to controllers, to supply instructions more accurately and rapidly, and to enable visual communication between pilots and controllers.

Claims

1. An air control supporting system for supporting air control services of a plurality of air control service staff members who carry out terminal radar control services and routing control services, previously distributed and related to each other, comprising:

a plurality of control seat terminal devices provided respectively for control seats of said plurality of control service staff members, each including an instruction input device for inputting an information request instruction for requesting information regarding an arbitrary airplane to be controlled, and an information transfer instruction for transferring information of an airplane, including information concerning a completed control service, to another seat, and an information display device for displaying said input information regarding said airplane to be controlled in a predetermined format;

information obtaining and managing means for obtaining necessary information for the control services of said plurality of control service staff members, one after another, for each airplane to be controlled, so as to form a database of information regarding each airplane to be controlled;

time schedule management means for managing a time schedule for each airplane to be controlled;

information processing means for reading out necessary information of corresponding airplanes to be controlled, from the information obtaining and managing means on the basis of a time schedule managed by said time schedule management means, and for reading out the information of a designated airplane when there is an information request instruction or an information transfer instruction from any one of said plurality of instruction input device, so as to edit the information in a predetermined format as a control service strip information; and

information output means for outputting the control service strip information on the basis of the time schedule obtained by said information processing means, to information display devices of associated ones of said plurality of control service terminal devices, outputting the control service strip information on the basis of the information request instruction to the information display device of the control seat terminal device via which that information request instruction was input, and outputting control service strip information on the basis of the information transfer instruction to the information display device of a designed control seat terminal device, and deleting the control service information of the corresponding airplanes to be controlled from the information display device of the control seat terminal device from which the information transfer instruction was input.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the information output means includes index display means for displaying at least a portion of the operation strip control information items, as index information; and

the information processing means includes information transfer means for transferring and processing an instructed operation strip control information item, when one of the operation strip control information items displayed as the index information is instructed as a transfer information item to be transferred.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the information output means further includes operation route display means for visually displaying an operation route, through which an operation strip control information item is transferred to a control seat of a transfer destination from a control seat of a transfer source, in the control seat of the transfer destination, when an operation strip control information item is transferred by the information processing means.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the information output means further includes warning message display means for displaying unfilled information items in the control seat as the transfer source, together with a warning message, when a check is made in the control seat as the transfer source as to whether or not operation strip control information items fulfill those information items to be received by the transfer destination and if an instruction stating that the operation strip control information items cannot be received is made through the instruction input device.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the information obtain means further includes receive message obtain means for obtaining transmitted and received message information items between airplanes and the control seats;

the information output means includes message display means for displaying the transmitted and received message information items between the airplanes and control seats, index list display means for displaying at least a portion of the received messages in form of a list of index type, and menu display means for displaying transfer a destination in form a of a menu; and

the information output means further includes transmit means for transmitting a specified message information item to a specified transmit destination, when an index is specified among the list and a transmit destination is simultaneously specified among the menu, by the instruction input device.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the information output means includes elapsed time display means for enabling visual identification and clarification that an operation strip control information item or a message is being transferred, transmitted or received.

7. A system according to claim 5, wherein:

the received message obtain means includes voice message input means for inputting a voice message of a pilot sent from an airplane to a control seat and a voice message of a controller from the control seat to the airplane, voice recognize means for recognizing the inputted voice obtained by the voice message input means, received message storage means for converting a recognition result obtained by the means into a text and for storing the text, and message interpret means for grasping contents of text messages stored in the received message storage means and for identifying and interpreting information of an item significant among the text messages; and

the information processing means includes information update means for updating a response message and an operation strip control information item to be supplied to persons related to control, pilots, and the likes, on the basis of text information items interpreted by the message interpret means.

8. A system according to claim 5, wherein:

the information processing means includes a presumption means for reading a corresponding knowledge data item from knowledge data storage means previously storing knowledge data items used for making a presumption such as presentation of an optimal guide route or confirmation of a flight plan, in response to an advice request instruction, and for making a presumption based on the knowledge data thus read, when an advice request instruction for requiring a response to an inquiry from a pilot, a validity check concerning a confirmation matter, and a transmit message to a pilot is received from the instruction input device; and

the information output means includes presumption result display means for displaying a presumption result of the presumption processing means.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein the information obtain means and the information processing means each have at least a part of functions separated and provided for terminals of the plurality of control seats, such that the operation strip control information items are controlled by mutual communication between the terminals.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein the information output means includes image display means for displaying at least a part of the operation strip control information items in form of an image like a book-strip or a file folder for each of units of airplanes to be controlled.

11. A system according to claim 1, wherein the control seats deal with control services of a feeder seat, an arrival seat, and a departure seat, and a coordinate seat deals with coordinate services of distributing operation strips to the control seats.

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the arrival seat is divided into a plurality of sub-arrival seats in correspondence with entering routes.

13. A system according to claim 12, comprising means for performing automatic transfer from the feeder seat to the plurality of sub-arrival seats in accordance with entering routes.