Man-machine interface for airport traffic control purposes

• US 6,246,342 B1
• Filed: 03/03/1999
• Issued: 06/12/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ADB Safegate BVBA
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Jelu, Andre, Vandevoorde, Jean-Claude, Castor, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C.
• Application Number:
  US09/261,261
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• Field of Search: 340/947, 340/961, 340/933, 340/953, 340/29, 342/36, 342/59, 342/456, 342/450, 701/120, 701/16, 701/301, 455/456
• US Class Current: 340/961
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• 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 5/06 for control when on the ground

Abstract

Man-machine interface (MMI) for airport traffic control purposes, in particular for safe taxiing and/or approach-departure control at an airport, having a display area on which processes and states at the airport, for example the movements and the current position of aircraft, the switching state of lighting systems, etc., can be displayed and influenced. The display area is designed with a screen whose diagonal is more than 19 inches, preferably more than 21 inches.

Claims

1. A man-machine interface (MMI) for airport traffic control, comprising:

a display area on which processes and states at the airport are displayed and by which the processes and states at the airport are controlled,

wherein said display area is provided on at least one screen having a diagonal that is greater than 19 inches and which is an interactive flat screen for an aircraft control facility, and

wherein the processes and states controlled by said display area include taxiway route directives generated for an aircraft at the airport.

2. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the airport traffic control includes safe taxiing and approach-departure control at the airport, and the processes and states include movements and current positions of aircraft and switching states of lighting systems.

3. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the diagonal of said flat screen is greater than 21 inches.

4. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flat screen is a high resolution screen designed for use in daylight.

5. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said MMI has a booster light source.

6. The MMI as claimed in claim 5, wherein said booster light source comprises at least one of gas discharge lamps or glass fiber light sources for specific pixels.

7. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is a touchscreen for integrated display and control of traffic control facilities at the airport.

8. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a keyboard and a mouse connected to said screen, for entering commands at precise points and for changing details and displays.

9. The MMI as claimed in claim 8, wherein the details and displays include the size of the displays.

10. An MMI as claimed in claim 8, wherein said MMI displays menus and windows which are completed and changed via said keyboard, and which are called up and positioned using WINDOWS technology.

11. An MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area includes display on said screen of movement areas for at least one of aircraft and vehicles at the airport.

12. An MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein the movement areas are displayed as processed video.

13. The MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein the at least one of the aircraft and the vehicles are displayed as superimposed on either a raw radar video or a processed video.

14. The MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein said display area includes at least one free area of said screen for at least one list of aircraft on an approach to the airport.

15. The MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein said display area includes at least one free area of said screen for at least one list of aircraft recently departed from the airport.

16. An MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processes and states displayed include processes and states of switchable devices at the airport, aircraft identifications and position indications for the aircraft superimposed on a video display.

17. An MMI as claimed in claim 16, wherein the switchable devices are additionally controlled by means of said display area.

18. An MMI as claimed in claim 16, wherein the processes and states displayed further include selected flight plan data for the aircraft.

19. An MMI as claimed in claim 16, wherein the processes and states displayed further include vehicle identification information received from vehicle transponders.

20. An MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein said display area comprises at least one area for displaying at least a portion of at least one of the movement areas enlarged.

21. The MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein said display area includes real-time position information for the aircraft and vehicles on the movement areas.

22. The MMI as claimed in claim 21, wherein said display area further includes identifications of responsibility for the aircraft or vehicle.

23. The MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein said display area displays and controls guidance facilities for aircraft for switching the guidance facilities either individually or in groups, the guidance facilities including at least one of stop bars, guidance lights, and centerline sections.

24. The MMI as claimed in claim 11, wherein said display area is configured to receive, switch and display routes generated by a computer facility for avoiding collisions.

25. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area is configured to receive and display specific position signals originating from sensor signal outputs.

26. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area is configured to receive and output flight plan processing actions.

27. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, further comprising filters for masking out information designated as irrelevant.

28. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area displays raw video and includes a zoom feature for enlarging details of the raw video.

29. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the raw video comprises at least one of a radar video and a television video of at least one docking position.

30. An MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area displays a synthetic video of available aircraft routes and positions of switchable information aids.

31. An MMI as claimed in claim 30, wherein said display area further displays actual aircraft positions and routes, and comprises at least one of touch elements, a keyboard, and a mouse for controlling the switchable information aids.

32. The MMI as claimed in claim 30, wherein at least one chart is superimposed on said display area for indicating at least one of an airport layout, a coordinate system, and areas which are open or closed for traffic.

33. The MMI as claimed in claim 32, wherein the chart is a partly transparent overlay on said display area.

34. The MMI as claimed in claim 30, wherein said display area selectively displays one of several available synthetic videos in response to a selected task or authorization code.

35. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area comprises an area for displaying weather condition information.

36. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area is coupled to a computer unit for performing a save operation of a given display configuration.

37. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area integrates airport operational traffic management information onto said one screen.

38. The MMI as claimed in claim 37, wherein said display area is connected to a further screen that displays other aircraft that are not at the airport but are under direct responsibility of the airport traffic control, in such a manner that display of the other aircraft transfers to the one screen when the other aircraft is at the airport.

39. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area reverts from a specific display status to a basic status after a predetermined time in the specific display status.

40. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area further displays an alarm signal for identifying special situations.

41. The MMI as claimed in claim 40, wherein the special situations include failure of an airport facility, and wherein the alarm signals are displayed as a chronological list.

42. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area further displays maintenance information.

43. The MMI as claimed in claim 7, wherein said touch-screen comprises touch elements, said MMI further comprising switching elements for supplementing said touch elements.

44. The MMI as claimed in claim 7, wherein said switching elements are provided on a frame or on a console of said MMI, and wherein at least some of said switching elements are redundant to said touch elements.

45. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is a plasma screen or a gas-discharge screen.

46. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is a liquid-crystal-display screen with background lighting.

47. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is a light-emitting-diode screen.

48. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is a projection screen.

49. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is supported in a controller'"'"'s working field of view and is arranged with an adjustable inclination.

50. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is supported above a controller'"'"'s working field of view and is operated to control the processes and states with a pointer.

51. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen is provided with a non-reflective coating and is shielded against electromagnetic interference.

52. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display area displays words selectively in at least one of a plurality of languages.

53. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the taxiway route directives generated for the aircraft are displayed on and controlled by said display area.

54. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processes and states controlled by said display area include route directives generated by airport signaling lights for an individual aircraft in the airport traffic.

55. The MMI as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processes and states controlled by said display further include route directives generated for a non-aircraft vehicle at the airport.

56. A man-machine interface for an airport traffic control station, comprising:

a display field configured as an output device to display processes and states at the airport, said display field provided on a screen having a diagonal of at least 19 inches; and

a control field imposed over, in or under said display field and configured as an input device to control the processes and states at the airport;

wherein the processes and states at the airport comprise taxiway control processes and states that direct movement of the airport traffic in taxiways of the airport.

57. The man-machine interface according to claim 56, wherein the processes and states include taxiway route directives generated by airport signaling lights for an individual aircraft in the airport traffic.

58. The man-machine interface according to claim 56, wherein the processes and states include route directives generated for a non-aircraft vehicle at the airport.

59. The man-machine interface according to claim 56, wherein:

said display field displays a graphical representation of a movement area in which the airport traffic moves;

said control field is further configured as an input device to control the graphical representation by enlarging the graphical representation in said display field.

60. The man-machine interface according to claim 56, wherein:

the processes and states include real-time position information for the airport traffic; and

the traffic control processes and states include switching states of airport lights having airport traffic signaling functions.

61. The man-machine interface according to claim 56, wherein:

the processes and states at the airport comprise control processes and states that direct movement of the airport traffic in an apron area of the airport.