SSR station and aircraft secondary surveillance network

• US 6,337,652 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2000
• Issued: 01/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Electronic Navigation Research Institute, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Navigation Research Institute, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Shiomi, Kakuichi, Imamiya, Kiyomi, Ino, Masami
• Primary Examiner(s): Sotomayor, John B.
• Application Number:
  US09/609,174
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 342/29, 342/30, 342/31, 342/32, 342/33, 342/36, 342/37, 342/38, 342/39, 342/40, 342/46
• US Class Current: 342/37
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/781 Secondary Surveillance Radar [SSR] in general

Abstract

An SSR reply, which is sent out from an aircraft, is received and separated into one SSR reply to one SSR station and the other SSR reply to the other SSR station, thereby generating aircraft information of the aircraft based on one of the one SSR reply and the other SSR reply.

Claims

1. An SSR station comprising:

interrogation transmission means for transmitting an SSR interrogation to an aircraft;

reply reception means for receiving an SSR reply which is transmitted from the aircraft in response to the SSR interrogation;

extraction means for processing the SSR reply received by the reply reception means, separating the SSR reply from the aircraft into one SSR reply and other SSR reply, and extracting both the one SSR reply and the other SSR reply; and

means for generating aircraft information of the aircraft based on one of the one SSR reply and the other SSR reply extracted from the SSR reply from the aircraft.

2. The SSR station according to claim 1, wherein the separation means stores position information of another SSR station, obtains other SSR interrogation timing from the other SSR station based on the position information and time of a common clock to extract the other SSR reply based on the other SSR interrogation timing and the one SSR reply based on one SSR interrogation repetitive cycle.

3. The SSR station according to one of claims 1 and 2, further comprising transmission timing control means for controlling transmission timing of the interrogation transmission means based on the one SSR reply and the other SSR reply extracted by the extraction means.

4. An aircraft secondary surveillance network comprising:

a plurality of SSR stations for transmitting an SSR interrogation to an aircraft, receiving an SSR reply which is transmitted from the aircraft in response to the SSR interrogation, processing the received SSR reply, separating the SSR reply from the aircraft into one SSR reply and other SSR reply, and extracting both the one SSR reply and the other SSR reply, and generating aircraft information of the aircraft based on at least one of the extracted one SSR reply and other SSR reply; and

an information communication network into which the plurality of SSR stations are selectively incorporated, for communicating information between the plurality of SSR stations.

5. An aircraft secondary surveillance network comprising:

an SSR station for transmitting an SSR interrogation to an aircraft, receiving an SSR reply which is transmitted from the aircraft in response to the SSR interrogation, processing the received SSR reply, separating the SSR reply from the aircraft into one SSR reply and other SSR reply, and extracting both the one SSR reply and the other SSR reply, and generating aircraft information of the aircraft based on at least one of the extracted one SSR reply and other SSR reply;

a passive SSR station for intercepting an SSR reply which is issued from an aircraft in response to an SSR interrogation transmitted to the aircraft from the SSR station, and generating and monitoring aircraft information of the aircraft; and

an information communication network into which the SSR station and the passive SSR station are selectively incorporated, for communicating information between the SSR station and the passive SSR station.