Methods, apparatus and computer program products for determining the vertical speed of an aircraft

• US 6,430,479 B1
• Filed: 09/18/2001
• Issued: 08/06/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Johnson, Steven C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US09/955,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20020032504A1
• Time in Patent Office: 322 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/7, 701/3, 701/4, 701/14, 701/5, 701/213-215, 701/220, 701/221, 701/120, 701/301, 342/29, 342/30, 342/36, 342/46, 342/49, 342/32, 342/50, 342/57, 342/355-358, 342/357.11, 342/462, 342/457, 342/464, 340/970, 340/977, 340/945, 340/963, 340/980, 340/974, 340/988, 340/961, 244/180, 244/181, 244/182, 244/188, 733/84, 733/87, 733/86, 341/6, 341/7, 341/13
• US Class Current: 701/7
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 5/005 altimeters for aircraft G01C5/02, G01C5/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 13/025 indicating air data, i.e. flight variables of an aircraft, e.g. angle of attack, side slip, shear, yaw
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 21/025 for measuring speed of fluids; for measuring speed of bodies relative to fluids for measuring volume flow G01F25/10
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/50 for measuring linear speed G01P3/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/62 Devices characterised by the determination or the variation of atmospheric pressure with height to measure the vertical components of speed measuring pressure in general G01L
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/64 Devices characterised by the determination of the time taken to traverse a fixed distance
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/15 Aircraft landing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/47 the supplementary measurement being an inertial measurement, e.g. tightly coupled inertial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/52 Determining velocity

Abstract

A method, an apparatus and a computer program product are provided for accurately determining the vertical speed of an aircraft in a manner independent of signals provided by an air data computer, an inertial reference system and an inertial navigation system. Initially, a first vertical velocity of the aircraft is determined based upon a pressure altitude value associated with the aircraft. A second vertical velocity of the aircraft is also obtained from a GPS receiver carried by the aircraft. The first and second vertical velocities are then combined to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft. In this regard, the first and second vertical velocities are combined by complimentarily filtering the first and second vertical velocities. More particularly, the first vertical velocity is typically low pass filtered to remove high frequency noise that is attributable to the relatively low resolution of the first vertical velocity value. Additionally, the second vertical velocity is typically high pass filtered to reduce errors due to long-term drift. Thus, the vertical speed of the aircraft is determined according to the present invention so as to have the best attributes of both the first and second vertical velocity values while eliminating the most common types of errors included within the first and second vertical velocity values.

Claims

1. A method for determining vertical speed of an aircraft comprising:

determining a first vertical velocity of the aircraft based upon a pressure altitude value associated with the aircraft;

obtaining a second vertical velocity of the aircraft from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver carried by the aircraft; and

combining the first and second vertical velocities to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft in a manner independent of signals provided by an air data computer (ADC), an inertial reference system (IRS) and an inertial navigation system (INS).

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein combining the first and second velocities comprises combining the first and second velocities to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft based only upon the pressure altitude value and the second vertical velocity obtained from the GPS receiver.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein combining the first and second vertical velocities further comprises weighting at least one of the first and second vertical velocities based upon its respective resolution.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein weighting at least one of the first and second vertical velocities comprises weighting the first vertical velocity based upon the resolution of the pressure altitude value.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining the first vertical velocity of the aircraft comprises determining a rate of change of the pressure altitude value over time.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein obtaining the second vertical velocity of the aircraft comprises:

receiving a series of altitude values from the GPS receiver over time; and

determining a rate of change of the altitude values provided by the GPS receiver.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein obtaining the second vertical velocity of the aircraft further comprises low pass filtering the rate of change of the altitude values provided by the GPS receiver.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein obtaining the second vertical velocity of the aircraft comprises receiving the second vertical velocity of the aircraft from the GPS receiver.

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein obtaining the second vertical velocity of the aircraft comprises repeatedly obtaining values for the second vertical velocity of the aircraft over time, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining if at least a predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver; and

maintaining the second vertical velocity equal to a prior value of the second vertical velocity if less than the predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver.

10. A method according to claim 9 further comprising providing a signal to indicate that the vertical speed is unreliable if less than the predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver for a continuous period that is at least as great as a predetermined time.

11. An apparatus for determining vertical speed of an aircraft comprising:

a processor for determining a first vertical velocity of the aircraft based upon a pressure altitude value associated with the aircraft, and for obtaining a second vertical velocity of the aircraft from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver carried by the aircraft,

wherein said processor is adapted to combine the first and second vertical velocities to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft in a manner independent of signals provided by an air data computer (ADC), an inertial reference system (IRS) and an inertial navigation system (INS).

12. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said processor is adapted to combine the first and second velocities to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft based only upon the pressure altitude value and the second vertical velocity obtained from the GPS receiver.

13. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said processor is adapted to combine the first and second vertical velocities by weighting at least one of the first and second vertical velocities based upon its respective resolution.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said processor weights at least one of the first and second vertical velocities by weighting the first vertical velocity based upon the resolution of the pressure altitude value.

15. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said processor determines the first vertical velocity of the aircraft by determining a rate of change of the pressure altitude value over time.

16. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said processor obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by receiving a series of altitude values from the GPS receiver over time, and determining a rate of change of the altitude values provided by the GPS receiver.

17. An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said processor obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by also low pass filtering the rate of change of the altitude values provided by the GPS receiver.

18. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said processor obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by receiving the second vertical velocity of the aircraft from the GPS receiver.

19. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said processor obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by repeatedly obtaining values for the second vertical velocity of the aircraft over time, and wherein said processor is further adapted to determine if at least a predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver, and to maintain the second vertical velocity equal to a prior value of the second vertical velocity if less than the predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19 wherein said processor is further adapted to provide a signal to indicate that the vertical speed is unreliable if less than the predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver for a continuous period that is at least as great as a predetermined time.

21. A computer program product for determining vertical speed of an aircraft, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein, said computer readable program code means comprising:

first computer instruction means for determining a first vertical velocity of the aircraft based upon a pressure altitude value associated with the aircraft;

second computer instruction means for obtaining a second vertical velocity of the aircraft from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver carried by the aircraft; and

third computer instruction means for combining the first and second vertical velocities to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft in a manner independent of signals provided by an air data computer (ADC), an inertial reference system (IRS) and an inertial navigation system (INS).

22. A computer program product according to claim 21 wherein said third computer instruction means combines the first and second velocities to determine the vertical speed of the aircraft based only upon the pressure altitude value and the second vertical velocity obtained from the GPS receiver.

23. A computer program product according to claim 21 wherein said third computer instruction means combines the first and second vertical velocities by weighting at least one of the first and second vertical velocities based upon its respective resolution.

24. A computer program product according to claim 23 wherein said third computer instruction means weights at least one of the first and second vertical velocities by weighting the first vertical velocity based upon the resolution of the pressure altitude value.

25. A computer program product according to claim 21 wherein said first computer instruction means determines the first vertical velocity of the aircraft by determining a rate of change of the pressure altitude value over time.

26. A computer program product according to claim 21 wherein said second computer instruction means obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by receiving a series of altitude values from the GPS receiver over time, and by determining a rate of change of the altitude values provided by the GPS receiver.

27. A computer program product according to claim 26 wherein said second computer instruction means obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by also low pass filtering the rate of change of the altitude values provided by the GPS receiver.

28. A computer program product according to claim 21 wherein said second computer instruction means obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by receiving the second vertical velocity of the aircraft from the GPS receiver.

29. A computer program product according to claim 21 wherein said second computer instruction means obtains the second vertical velocity of the aircraft by repeatedly obtaining values for the second vertical velocity of the aircraft over time, and wherein the computer program product further comprises:

fourth computer instruction means for determining if at least a predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver; and

fifth computer instruction means for maintaining the second vertical velocity equal to a prior value of the second vertical velocity if less than the predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver.

30. A computer program product according to claim 29 further comprising sixth computer instruction means for providing a signal to indicate that the vertical speed is unreliable if less than the predetermined number of satellites are in view of the GPS receiver for a continuous period that is at least as great as a predetermined time.