Airborne audio flight information system

• US 6,335,694 B1
• Filed: 02/01/2000
• Issued: 01/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Kathol, Shawn, Beksa, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Daniel J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T.
• Application Number:
  US09/496,157
• Time in Patent Office: 700 Days
• Field of Search: 340/945, 340/951, 340/952, 340/971, 348/62, 348/117, 434/112
• US Class Current: 340/945
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0095 Aspects of air-traffic control not provided for in the other subgroups of this main group

Abstract

An audio system that may include a flight-worthy electronics package that connects into the airborne electronics of a passenger aircraft, and to that aircraft'"'"'s passenger system. The audio system may provide passengers with a variety of audio information. The audio information may include a variety of information tailored to phases of the flight plan of the aircraft. Thus, during takeoff, the system may describe the flight plan of the aircraft, whereas during descent, the system may alternately describe the distance to destination and time to destination. Other information that may be described, as desired, may include ground speed, outside air temperature, altitude, time or distance to a point of interest, and points of interest of the area that the aircraft is flying over at any particular moment. The audio system may cause these sequences of descriptions to recite automatically as determined by the preprogramming of the system. Passengers may also be provided with audio destination information. The audio system may describe the terminals and the aircraft gates. The audio system may also identify the gate at which the aircraft will be arriving, connecting flight information, including describing flight numbers, times, gates, and destination.

Claims

1. An aircraft passenger audio information system connectable to receive information data specific to aircraft flight characteristics and connectable to an audio delivery system, the audio information system comprising:

a memory device for storing the information data that is input to the audio information system,

a data control unit responsive to an aircraft flight characteristic for retrieving the information data from the memory device, and outputting the information data to the audio delivery system,

wherein the information data comprises at least one of a point of interest and a proximity to a point of interest, and wherein

the point of interest comprises at least one of a city along a flight path of the aircraft, a landform, an equator, an international dateline, a north pole and a south pole.

2. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the memory device comprises at least one of a tape recorder, a solid state memory device, a computer hard drive, an optical disk, and a digital sound storage device.

3. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the information data comprises at least one of:

a plurality of airport descriptions representative of a plurality of airports at which the aircraft may land,

a flight number, and

a landing airport at which the aircraft is to land.

4. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a receiver, for receiving at least a portion of the information data as an input from a remote transmitter, the remote transmitter comprising at least one of a ground, an airborne, and a space based transmitter, and wherein

the receiver provides the information data as an output to at least one of the memory device and the data control unit.

5. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the information data is not associated with video data.

6. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, wherein

at least a portion of the information data is processed into synthesized speech and is provided as an output to the audio delivery system.

7. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the information data comprises a plurality of airport descriptions representative of the airports at which the aircraft may land,

the information data further comprising at least one of a flight number and a landing airport at which the aircraft is to land, and wherein

the data control unit utilizes at least one of the flight number and the landing airport information to retrieve an airport description of the landing airport from the memory device and outputs the airport description to the audio delivery system for utilization by a passenger.

8. The aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 7, wherein

information data further comprises at least one of a departure flight number, a departure time, a departure gate and a destination, and wherein

the control unit outputs at least one of the departure flight number, the departure time, the departure gate, and the destination information to the audio delivery system for utilization by the passenger.

9. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 7, wherein

the information data further comprises baggage claim area information, and wherein

the control unit outputs the baggage claim area information to the audio delivery system for utilization by the passenger.

10. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 7, wherein

the information data further comprises a plurality of aircraft arrival and departure gates, and wherein

the data control unit generates a description signal, and outputs the description signal to the audio delivery system, wherein

the description signal comprises an audio description of at least one of the landing airport and at least one of the aircraft arrival and departure gates.

11. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 7, wherein

the information data further comprises at least one of a terminal, a gate, and a baggage claim area for an arriving flight, and at least one of a terminal, a gate, a flight number, and a departure time for at least one relevant departing flight, that are located at the landing airport,

the data control unit combining the airport description data retrieved from the memory device with at least a portion of the information data to generate an additional output to the audio delivery system for utilization by the passenger, wherein

the additional output comprises a description, described with respect to the physical layout of the landing airport, of at least one of the terminal, the gate, and the baggage claim area for the arriving flight, and at least one of the terminal, the gate, the flight number, and the departure time of the at least one relevant departing flight.

12. The aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, wherein

the data control unit receives at lease a portion of the information data automatically from a remote communications link.

13. An aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 12 wherein

the remote communications link utilizes at least one of a ground, an airborne, and a spaced based transmitter.

14. The aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a data entry terminal wherein the data control unit receives as an input at least a portion of the information data from the data entry terminal, wherein the data entry terminal comprises at least a computer keyboard.

15. An audio information system for aircraft passengers, in an aircraft following a flight plan, the audio information system comprising:

a receiver for receiving flight information data;

a memory device for storing a plurality of audio formats for describing flight information, and for storing a plurality of audio modes, each mode representing a specific sequence of preselected audio formats, with each audio mode corresponding to one phase of the flight plan of the aircraft,

a data control unit for determining a current phase of the flight plan, wherein

the data control unit also retrieves a sequence of audio formats for an audio mode corresponding to a determined current phase of flight, and wherein

the data control unit inserts the received flight information data into the retrieved audio formats and outputs the retrieved sequence of audio formats to an audio delivery system, and further wherein system, and further wherein

the memory device stores, for at least one phase of the flight plan, a plurality of ranges of flight information, and

the data control unit determines the current phase of the flight plan by a method comprising the steps of;

 

comparing the received flight information data with the plurality of ranges of flight information data stored by the memory device,

 

determining, out of the plurality of ranges, a current range corresponding to the received flight information data, and

 

identifying the current phase of the flight plan as being the phase corresponding to the current range.

16. The aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 15, wherein

the current phases of flight comprise at least one of a taxi out, a take off, an initial climb, a climb, an en route cruise, a proximity to a point of interest, a descent, an approach, a landing, a rollout, and a taxi in.

17. The aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 15, wherein

the flight information data comprises at least one of a ground speed, an altitude, a time from departure airport, a distance from departure airport, a time to destination airport, and a distance to destination airport.

18. An audio information system for aircraft passengers, in an aircraft following a flight plan, the audio information system comprising:

a receiver for receiving flight information data;

a memory device for storing a plurality of audio formats for describing flight information, and for storing a plurality of audio modes, each mode representing a specific sequence of preselected audio formats, with each audio mode corresponding to one phase of the flight plan of the aircraft,

a data control unit for determining a current phase of the flight plan, wherein

the data control unit also retrieves a sequence of audio formats for an audio mode corresponding to a determined current phase of flight, and wherein

the data control unit inserts the received flight information data into the retrieved audio formats and outputs the retrieved sequence of audio formats to an audio delivery system, and wherein

the current phases of flight comprise at least one of a taxi out, a take off, an initial climb, a climb, an en route cruise, a proximity to a point of interest, a descent, an approach, a landing, a rollout, and a taxi in, and further wherein

 

the point of interest comprises at least one of a city along a flight path of the aircraft, a landform, an equator, an international dateline, a north pole and a south pole.

19. The aircraft passenger audio information system as recited in claim 18, wherein

the memory device stores, for at least one phase of the flight plan, a plurality of ranges of flight information, and

the data control unit determines the current phase of the flight plan by a method comprising the steps of:

comparing the received flight information data with the plurality of ranges of flight information data stored by the memory device,

determining, out of the plurality of ranges, a current range corresponding to the received flight information data, and

identifying the current phase of the flight plan as being the phase corresponding to the current range.

20. A method of providing audio information to an aircraft passenger in an aircraft comprising the steps of:

storing information data corresponding to an audio description of at least one of (1) a point of interest, (2) aircraft flight parameters and (3) information associated with a destination airport,

automatically retrieving the stored information data, and

automatically outputting the retrieved information data to an audio delivery system, wherein the output information data further comprises at least one of;

a distance to the point of interest, a flight altitude, an outside temperature, a ground speed, an airspeed, and a plurality of relevant connecting flight information at a destination airport.

21. A method of providing audio information to an aircraft passenger as recited in claim 20, wherein the output information data further comprises at least one of:

a plurality of data describing airport descriptions representative of a plurality of airports at which the aircraft may land,

a flight number of the aircraft,

an airport at which the aircraft is to land, and

a plurality of at least one of a departure flight number, a departure time, a departure gate and a departure destination.

22. A method of providing audio information to an aircraft passenger as recited in claim 20, further comprising the step of:

receiving the information data from a remote transmitter, the remote transmitter comprising at least one of a ground, an airborne, and a space based remote transmitter.

23. An aircraft passenger audio information system connectable to receive information data specific to aircraft flight characteristics and connectable to an audio delivery system, the audio information system comprising:

a memory device for storing the information data that is input to the audio information system,

a data control unit responsive to an aircraft flight characteristic for retrieving the information data from the memory device, and outputting the information data to the audio delivery system,

wherein the information data comprises a plurality of airport descriptions representative of the airports at which the aircraft may land,

the information data further comprising at least one of a flight number and a landing airport at which the aircraft is to land, and wherein

the data control unit utilizes at least one of the flight number and the landing airport information to retrieve an airport description of the landing airport from the memory device and outputs the airport description to the audio delivery system for utilization by a passenger, wherein

the information data further comprises at least one of a terminal, a gate, and a baggage claim area for an arriving flight, and at least one of a terminal, a gate, a flight number, and a departure time for at least one relevant departing flight, that are located at the landing airport,

the data control unit combining the airport description data retrieved from the memory device with at least a portion of the information data to generate an additional output to the audio delivery system for utilization by the passenger, and further wherein

the additional output comprises a description, described with respect to the physical layout of the landing airport, of at least one of the terminal, the gate, and the baggage claim area for the arriving flight, and at least one of the terminal, the gate, the flight number, and the departure time of the at least one relevant departing flight.