Wireless spread spectrum ground link-based aircraft data communication system with airborne airline packet communications
First Claim
1. An airline packet network for transferring flight data files among respective airborne aircraft in flight comprising:
- a plurality of aircraft, each aircraft having a ground data link unit, each of said ground data link units comprising,a) data store operative to accumulate and store flight data files and flight performance data related to the flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight, said data store including a buffer for storing flight data files that have been uploaded to the aircraft from another airborne aircraft for ready transfer in flight to another aircraft in flight, and an archival data store for storing flight performance data related to the flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight; and
b) a spread spectrum transceiver having a receiver and transmitter coupled to said data store that is operative to transmit flight performance data when the aircraft is on the ground and transmit and receive flight data files when the aircraft is airborne for transfer of flight data files between respective airborne aircraft when the airborne aircraft are in close proximity to each other.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An airline packet network transfers flight data files among respective airborne aircraft in flight. The network includes a plurality of aircraft each having a ground data link unit that includes a data store to accumulate and store flight data files and flight performance data related to flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight. The data store includes a buffer for storing flight data files that have been uploaded to the aircraft of another airborne aircraft for ready transferring flight to another aircraft and an archival data store for storing flight performance data. A spread spectrum transceiver has a receiver and transmitted coupled to the data store that is operative to transmit flight performance data when the aircraft is on the ground and transmit and receive flight data files when the aircraft is airborne when the airborne aircraft are within close proximity to each other.
190 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An airline packet network for transferring flight data files among respective airborne aircraft in flight comprising:
a plurality of aircraft, each aircraft having a ground data link unit, each of said ground data link units comprising, a) data store operative to accumulate and store flight data files and flight performance data related to the flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight, said data store including a buffer for storing flight data files that have been uploaded to the aircraft from another airborne aircraft for ready transfer in flight to another aircraft in flight, and an archival data store for storing flight performance data related to the flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight; and b) a spread spectrum transceiver having a receiver and transmitter coupled to said data store that is operative to transmit flight performance data when the aircraft is on the ground and transmit and receive flight data files when the aircraft is airborne for transfer of flight data files between respective airborne aircraft when the airborne aircraft are in close proximity to each other. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An airline packet network for transferring flight data files among respective aircraft in flight comprising:
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a plurality of aircraft, each aircraft having a ground data link unit that, each of said ground data link units comprising, a) data store operative to accumulate and store flight data files and flight performance data related to the flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight, said data store including a buffer for storing flight data files that have been uploaded to the aircraft from another airborne aircraft for ready transfer in flight to another aircraft in flight, and an archival data store for storing flight performance data related to the flight performance of the respective aircraft in flight; and b) a spread spectrum transceiver having a receiver and transmitter coupled to said data store that is operative to transmit flight performance data when the aircraft is on the ground and transmit and receive flight data files when the aircraft is airborne for transfer of flight data files to at least another airborne aircraft when the airborne aircraft are within about ten miles in proximity to each other; and an airport based spread spectrum transceiver comprising a receiver that receives the spread spectrum communication signal from an airborne aircraft when the aircraft is within close proximity to the airport and demodulates the spread spectrum communication signal to obtain the flight data file. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for transferring flight data files among respective aircraft in flight comprising the steps of:
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accumulating and storing flight data files within a buffer of a data store within respective ground data link units of respective airborne aircraft, and accumulating and storing flight performance data related to the flight performance of an aircraft in flight within an archival data store of the data store; and transmitting flight performance data when the aircraft is on the ground to an airport based spread spectrum transceiver, and transmitting and receiving flight data files between airborne aircraft when the aircraft is airborne for transfer of flight data files between respective airborne aircraft when the airborne aircraft are within about 10 miles in proximity to each other. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification