Aircraft communication frequency nomination

• US 6,473,675 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2000
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Sample, William G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gibson, Eric M
• Application Number:
  US09/638,086
• Publication Number:
  US 20020065586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/14, 701/200, 701/201, 701/213, 701/206
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/045 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft

Abstract

An aviation facility nominating device for an aircraft includes a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of the aircraft, an aviation data receiving component that receives aviation data associated with a plurality of aviation facilities, a facility selecting component for selecting aviation data for a selected plurality of the aviation facilities based on a position of the aircraft and a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the selected plurality of aviation facilities as a nominated aviation facility likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the position of the aircraft. In another embodiment, an aviation signal nominating device includes a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of the aircraft, an aviation signal receiving component that receives a plurality of aviation signals associated with an aviation facility, each aviation signal having a prescribed frequency, and a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the position of the aircraft.

Claims

1. An aviation facility nominating device for an aircraft comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of the aircraft;

a status receiving component that receives an aircraft status indicating a phase of flight;

an aviation data receiving component that receives aviation data and location data associated with a plurality of aviation facilities;

a facility selecting component for selecting aviation data for a selected plurality of the aviation facilities based on a distance from the aircraft to each of said selected aviation facilities; and

a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the selected plurality of aviation facilities as a nominated aviation facility likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the aircraft status and the distance from the aircraft to each of said selected aviation facilities.

2. The device according to claim 1 further comprising a speed receiving component that receives speed data indicating a current speed of the aircraft, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities based on the current speed of the aircraft.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein the status receiving component further comprises a taxi status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi-in state and a taxi-out state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi-in state or in the taxi-out state.

4. The device according to claim 1 wherein the status receiving component further comprises a taxi/airborne status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi state and an airborne state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality aviation facilities based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi state or in the airborne state.

5. The device according to claim 1 wherein the status receiving component further comprises a departure/enroute status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a departure state and an enroute state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities based on whether the aircraft is in the departure state or in the enroute state.

6. The device according to claim 1 wherein the status receiving component further comprises an enroute/arrival status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of an enroute state and an arrival state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities based on whether the aircraft is in the enroute state or in the arrival state.

7. The device according to claim 1 further comprising an altitude receiving component that receives altitude data indicating a current altitude of the aircraft, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities based on the current altitude of the aircraft.

8. The device according to claim 1 further comprising a radial receiving component that receives radial data indicating a current radial position of the aircraft relative to the selected plurality of aviation facilities, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities based on the current radial position of the aircraft relative to the selected plurality of aviation facilities.

9. The device according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the selected plurality of aviation facilities has a signal with a prescribed frequency associated with it.

10. The device according to claim 9 wherein each of the plurality of selected aviation facilities has a signal with a prescribed frequency associated with it.

11. An aviation facility nominating device for an aircraft comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of the aircraft;

an aviation data receiving component that receives aviation data and location data associated with a plurality of aviation facilities, wherein each aviation facility has a plurality of signals associated with it, each of the plurality of signals having a prescribed frequency;

a facility selecting component for selecting aviation data for a selected plurality of the aviation facilities based on a distance from the aircraft to each of said selected aviation facilities; and

a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the selected plurality of aviation facilities as a nominated aviation facility likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the distance from the aircraft to each of said selected aviation facilities, and that further nominates at least one but not all of the plurality of signals of each nominated aviation facility as a nominated signal likely to be of interest to the pilot.

12. The device according to claim 11 further comprising a taxi status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi-in state and a taxi-out state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of signals based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi-in state or in the taxi-out state.

13. The device according to claim 11 further comprising a taxi/airborne status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi state and an airborne state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality signals based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi state or in the airborne state.

14. The device according to claim 11 further comprising a departure/enroute status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a departure state and an enroute state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of signals based on whether the aircraft is in the departure state or in the enroute state.

15. The device according to claim 11 further comprising an enroute/arrival status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of an enroute state and an arrival state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of signals based on whether the aircraft is in the enroute state or in the arrival state.

16. The device according to claim 11 further comprising an altitude receiving component that receives altitude data indicating a current altitude of the aircraft, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of signals based on the current altitude of the aircraft.

17. The device according to claim 11 further comprising a radial receiving component that receives radial data indicating a current radial position of the aircraft relative to the selected plurality of aviation facilities, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of signals based on the current radial position of the aircraft relative to the selected plurality of aviation facilities.

18. An aviation signal nominating device comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of an aircraft;

a status receiving component that receives an aircraft status indicating a phase of flight;

an aviation signal receiving component that receives a plurality of aviation signals associated with an aviation facility, each aviation signal having a prescribed frequency; and

a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the aircraft status and the position of the aircraft.

19. The device according to claim 18 wherein the status receiving component further comprises a taxi status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi-in state and a taxi-out state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi-in state or in the taxi-out state.

20. The device according to claim 19 wherein the nominating component nominates only one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the aviation facility.

21. The device according to claim 18 wherein the status receiving component further comprises a taxi/airborne status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi state and an airborne state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality aviation signals based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi state or in the airborne state.

22. The device according to claim 21 wherein the nominating component nominates only one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the aviation facility.

23. The device according to claim 18 wherein the status receiving component further comprises a departure/enroute status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a departure state and an enroute state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals based on whether the aircraft is in the departure state or in the enroute state.

24. The device according to claim 23 wherein the nominating component nominates only one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the aviation facility.

25. The device according to claim 18 wherein the status receiving component further comprises an enroute/arrival status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of an enroute state and an arrival state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals based on whether the aircraft is in the enroute state or in the arrival state.

26. The device according to claim 25 wherein the nominating component nominates only one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the aviation facility.

27. The device according to claim 18 further comprising an altitude receiving component that receives altitude data indicating a current altitude of the aircraft, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals based on the current altitude of the aircraft.

28. The device according to claim 27 wherein the nominating component nominates only one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the aviation facility.

29. An aviation signal nominating device comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of an aircraft;

an aviation signal receiving component that receives a plurality of aviation signals associated with an aviation facility, each aviation signal having a prescribed frequency;

a radial receiving component that receives radial data indicating a current radial position of the aircraft relative to the aviation facility; and

a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the position of the aircraft and the current radial position of the aircraft relative to the aviation signal, wherein the nominating component nominates only one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the aviation facility.

30. An aviation signal nominating device comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of an aircraft;

an aviation signal receiving component that receives a plurality of aviation signals associated with an aviation facility, each aviation signal having a prescribed frequency;

a frequency communicating component for communicating a frequency value to another component; and

a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the position of the aircraft, wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal when the frequency of the aviation signal does not match the frequency value communicated to the other component.

31. An aviation signal nominating device comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of an aircraft;

an aviation signal receiving component that receives a plurality of aviation signals associated with an aviation facility, each aviation signal having a prescribed frequency;

a frequency display component for displaying a frequency value; and

a nominating component that nominates at least one but not all of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal likely to be of interest to a pilot based on the position of the aircraft, wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal only when the frequency of the aviation signal does not match the frequency value displayed by the frequency display.

32. The device according to claim 31 wherein the frequency display displays at least one of an active frequency value and a standby frequency value, and wherein the nominating component nominates the at least one of the plurality of aviation signals as a nominated aviation signal only when the frequency value of the aviation signal does not match the at least one of the active frequency value and the standby frequency value.

33. An aviation signal frequency value nominating device comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of an aircraft;

an aviation data receiving component that receives aviation data associated with a plurality of aviation facilities;

wherein the aviation data for each of the plurality of aviation facilities includes an aviation signal having a prescribed frequency value;

a nominating component that nominates one of the plurality of aviation facilities as a nominated aviation facility based on a position of the aircraft; and

a display for displaying information corresponding to at least selected ones of the plurality of aviation facilities together with the frequency value of their associated aviation signal in addition to the frequency value of the nominated aviation facility.

34. The device according to claim 33 wherein the display displays information corresponding to at least selected ones of the plurality of the aviation facilities in addition to the nominated aviation facility.

35. The device according to claim 34 wherein the information displayed for each aviation facility is displayed in the order of at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route.

36. The device according to claim 35 wherein the display includes a first level display that displays a header indicating a facility type and a second level display that displays information corresponding to the nominated aviation facility and the frequency value of its associated aviation signal together with the information corresponding to the selected ones of the plurality of aviation facilities and the frequency values of their associated aviation signals.

37. The device according to claim 36 wherein the information displayed in the second level display for each aviation facility is displayed in the order of at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route.

38. An aviation signal frequency value nominating device comprising;

a position receiving component that receives position data indicating a position of an aircraft;

an aviation data receiving component that receives aviation data associated with a plurality of aviation facilities, wherein the aviation data for each of the plurality of aviation facilities includes a plurality of aviation signals, each of the plurality of aviation signals having a prescribed frequency value;

a nominating component that nominates one of the plurality of aviation facilities as a nominated aviation facility based on a position of the aircraft wherein the nominating component nominates one of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the nominated aviation facility as a nominated aviation signal likely to be of interest to a pilot; and

a display for displaying the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

39. The device according to claim 38 further comprising a speed receiving component that receives speed data indicating a current speed of the aircraft, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation facility based on the current speed of the aircraft.

40. The device according to claim 38 further comprising a taxi status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi-in state and a taxi-out state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation signal based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi-in state or in the taxi-out state.

41. The device according to claim 38 further comprising a taxi/airborne status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a taxi state and an airborne state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation signal based on whether the aircraft is in the taxi state or in the airborne state.

42. The device according to claim 38 further comprising a departure/enroute status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of a departure state and an enroute state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation signal based on whether the aircraft is in the departure state or in the enroute state.

43. The device according to claim 38 further comprising an enroute/arrival status component that determines whether the aircraft is in one of an enroute state and an arrival state, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation signal based on whether the aircraft is in the enroute state or in the arrival state.

44. The device according to claim 38 further comprising an altitude receiving component that receives altitude data indicating a current altitude of the aircraft, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation signal based on the current altitude of the aircraft.

45. The device according to claim 38 further comprising a radial receiving component that receives radial data indicating a current radial position of the aircraft relative to the nominated aviation facility, and wherein the nominating component nominates the nominated aviation signal based on the current radial position of the aircraft relative to the nominated aviation facility.

46. The device according to claim 38 further comprising:

a frequency communicating component for communicating the frequency value associated with the nominated aviation signal value to another component; and

wherein the nominating component nominates a particular aviation signal only when the frequency value of the aviation signal does not match the frequency value communicated to the other component.

47. The device according to claim 38 wherein the display displays at least one of an active frequency value and a standby frequency value, and wherein the nominating component nominates a particular aviation signal only when the frequency value of the aviation signal does not match the at least one of the active frequency value and the standby frequency value.

48. The device according to claim 38 wherein the display displays frequency values of at least selected ones of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the nominated aviation facility in addition to the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

49. The device according to claim 48 wherein the display displays a cursor at the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

50. The device according to claim 38 wherein the frequency values are displayed in the order of at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route.

51. The device according to claim 38 wherein the display displays information corresponding to the nominated aviation facility.

52. The device according to claim 51 wherein the display includes a first level display displaying a header associated with the nominated aviation facility and a second level display displaying the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

53. The device according to claim 52 wherein the header indicates a name of the nominated aviation facility.

54. The device according to claim 52 wherein the header indicates a facility type of the nominated aviation facility.

55. The device according to claim 52 wherein the second level display displays frequency values of at least selected ones of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the nominated aviation facility in addition to the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

56. The device according to claim 55 wherein the second level display displays a cursor at the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

57. The device according to claim 55 wherein the frequency values are displayed in the order of at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route.

58. The device according to claim 52 wherein the second level display displays information corresponding to the nominated aviation facility.

59. The device according to claim 58 wherein the first level display displays a header indicating a facility type of the nominated aviation facility.

60. The device according to claim 58 wherein the second level display displays frequency values of at least selected ones of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the nominated aviation facility in addition to the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

61. The device according to claim 60 wherein the second level display displays a cursor at the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

62. The device according to claim 60 wherein the frequency values are displayed in the order of al least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route.

63. The device according to claim 52 wherein the header displays information corresponding to the nominated aviation facility.

64. The device according to claim 63 wherein the header indicates a name of the nominated aviation facility.

65. The device according to claim 63 wherein the first level display displays information corresponding to at least selected ones of the plurality of the aviation facilities in addition to the nominated aviation facility.

66. The device according to claim 65 wherein the information displayed for each aviation facility is displayed in the order of at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route.

67. The device according to claim 65 wherein the second level display displays frequency values of at least selected ones of the plurality of aviation signals associated with the nominated aviation facility in addition to the frequency value of the nominated aviation signal.

68. The device according to claim 67 wherein the first level display displays a first cursor at the information corresponding to the nominated aviation facility, and wherein the second level display displays a second cursor at the frequency value corresponding to the nominated aviation signal.

69. The device according to claim 67 wherein the information displayed in the first level display for each aviation facility is displayed in the order of at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to a flight route, and wherein the frequency values displayed in the second level display are displayed in the order of the at least one of proximity to the aircraft and proximity to the flight route.