Logic method and apparatus for textually displaying an original flight plan and a modified flight plan simultaneously

• US 6,522,958 B1
• Filed: 10/06/2000
• Issued: 02/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Dwyer, David B., Hart, Jan G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Dalena
• Application Number:
  US09/680,279
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/201, 701/209, 701/23, 701/300, 701/120, 701/207, 701/208, 701/200, 701/206, 701/202, 701/123, 340/995, 340/961
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan

Abstract

A method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan includes displaying a textlist of waypoints, copying waypoints from the original flight plan into the modified flight plan, comparing each waypoint on the modified flight plan with waypoints on the original flight plan, determining, in a first determining step, for each modified flight plan waypoint, whether the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan, and adding, in a first adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in the determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint did not originate from a waypoint in the original flight plan. The method may also include determining, in a second determining step, a position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan relative to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan, when it is determined in the first determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and adding, in a second adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in the second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan corresponds to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

Claims

1. A method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, comprising:

simultaneously displaying a textlist of waypoints on the modified flight plan and on the original flight plan;

modifying the textlist by indicating an insertion point in the textlist to insert a proposed waypoint;

determining whether the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist; and

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is not a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a first adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein, in said determining step, the textlist is searched forward from the insertion point of the proposed waypoint to determine if the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist.

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising:

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a second adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point, and designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist after the proposed waypoint up to and including the duplicate waypoint.

4. A method according to claim 2, further comprising:

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist from the insertion point to the waypoint prior to the duplicate waypoint.

5. A method according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising:

removing waypoints from the textlist that were both added in said first adding step and designated to be removed in said designating step.

6. A method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said displaying step comprises displaying comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

8. A method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, comprising:

displaying a textlist of waypoints on the modified flight plan and on the original flight plan;

modifying the textlist by indicating an insertion point in the textlist to insert a proposed waypoint;

determining whether the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist; and

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is not a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a first adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point,

wherein, in said determining step, the original flight plan is searched backwards from the insertion point of the proposed waypoint to determine if the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist.

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising:

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a second adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point, and designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist before the proposed waypoint back to and including the duplicate waypoint.

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising:

removing waypoints from the textlist that were both added in said first adding step and designated to be removed in said designating step.

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein said displaying step comprises displaying comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein said displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

13. A method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, comprising:

displaying a textlist comprising waypoints on the modified flight plan and waypoints on the original flight plan;

copying waypoints from the original flight plan into the modified flight plan;

comparing each waypoint on the modified flight plan with waypoints on the original flight plan;

determining, in a first determining step, for each modified flight plan waypoint, whether the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and

adding, in a first adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in said determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint did not originate from a waypoint in the original flight plan.

14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising:

determining, in a second determining step, a position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan relative to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan, when it is determined in said first determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and

adding, in a second adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in said second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan corresponds to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising:

designating on the textlist, in a first designating step, waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints from a corresponding position of the waypoint in the original flight plan to an actual position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan, when it is determined in said second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan does not correspond to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein, in said second determining step, the original flight plan is searched forward from the corresponding position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the original flight plan to determine if the proposed waypoint originated from a waypoint on the original flight plan.

17. A method according to claim 15, wherein said displaying step comprises displaying comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein said displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

19. A method according to claim 15, further comprising:

designating, in a second designating step, waypoints on the original flight plan to be removed, corresponding to waypoints remaining in the original flight plan when all waypoints in the modified flight plan have been processed.

20. Computer executable code for implementing a method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, said code for executing the steps comprising:

simultaneously displaying a textlist of waypoints on the modified flight plan and on the original flight plan;

modifying the textlist by indicating an insertion point in the textlist to insert a proposed waypoint;

determining whether the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist; and

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is not a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a first adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point.

21. Computer executable code according to claim 20, wherein, in said determining step, the textlist is searched forward from the insertion point of the proposed waypoint to determine if the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist.

22. Computer executable code according to claim 21, said code for further executing the step comprising:

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a second adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point, and designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist after the proposed waypoint up to and including the duplicate waypoint.

23. Computer executable code according to claim 21, said code for further executing the step comprising:

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist from the insertion point to the waypoint prior to the duplicate waypoint.

24. Computer executable code according to claim 22 or 23, said code for further executing the step comprising:

removing waypoints from the textlist that were both added in said first adding step and designated to be removed in said designating step.

25. Computer executable code according to claim 22 or 23, wherein said displaying step comprises displaying comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

26. Computer executable code according to claim 25, wherein said displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

27. Computer executable code for implementing a method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, said code for executing the steps:

displaying a textlist of waypoints on the modified flight plan and on the original flight plan;

modifying the textlist by indicating an insertion point in the textlist to insert a proposed waypoint;

determining whether the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist; and

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is not a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a first adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point,

wherein, in said determining step, the original flight plan is searched backwards from the insertion point of the proposed waypoint to determine if the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist.

28. Computer executable code according to claim 27, said code for further executing the step comprising:

when it is determined in said determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a second adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point, and designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist before the proposed waypoint back to and including the duplicate waypoint.

29. Computer executable code according to claim 28, said code for further executing the step comprising:

removing waypoints from the textlist that were both added in said first adding step and designated to be removed in said designating step.

30. Computer executable code according to claim 28, wherein said displaying step comprises displaying comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

31. Computer executable code according to claim 30, wherein said displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

32. Computer executable code for implementing a method of simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, said code for executing the steps comprising:

displaying a textlist comprising waypoints on the modified flight plan and waypoints on the original flight plan;

copying waypoints from the original flight plan into the modified flight plan;

comparing each waypoint on the modified flight plan with waypoints on the original flight plan;

determining, in a first determining step, for each modified flight plan waypoint, whether the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and

adding, in a first adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in said determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint did not originate from a waypoint in the original flight plan.

33. Computer executable code according to claim 32, said code for further executing the steps comprising:

determining, in a second determining step, a position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan relative to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan, when it is determined in said first determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and

adding, in a second adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in said second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan corresponds to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

34. Computer executable code according to claim 33, said code for further executing the step comprising:

designating on the textlist, in a first designating step, waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints from a corresponding position of the waypoint in the original flight plan to an actual position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan, when it is determined in said second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan does not correspond to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

35. Computer executable code according to claim 34, wherein, in said second determining step, the original flight plan is searched forward from the corresponding position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the original flight plan to determine if the proposed waypoint originated from a waypoint on the original flight plan.

36. Computer executable code according to claim 34, wherein said displaying step comprises displaying comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

37. Computer executable code according to claim 36, wherein said displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

38. Computer executable code according to claim 34, said code for further executing the step comprising:

designating, in a second designating step, waypoints on the original flight plan to be removed, corresponding to waypoints remaining in the original flight plan when all waypoints in the modified flight plan have been processed.

39. An apparatus for simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, comprising:

a display device; and

a processor, said processor performing the steps comprising;

simultaneously displaying on said display device a textlist of waypoints on the modified flight plan and on the original flight plan;

modifying the textlist by indicating an insertion point in the textlist to insert a proposed waypoint;

determining whether the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist; and

when it is determined in the determining step that the proposed waypoint is not a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a first adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point.

40. An apparatus according to claim 39, wherein, in the determining step, the textlist is searched forward from the insertion point of the proposed waypoint to determine if the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist.

41. An apparatus according to claim 40, said processor further performing the steps comprising:

when it is determined in the determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a second adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point, and designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist after the proposed waypoint up to and including the duplicate waypoint.

42. An apparatus according to claim 40, said processor further performing the step comprising:

when it is determined in the determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist from the insertion point to the waypoint prior to the duplicate waypoint.

43. An apparatus according to claim 41 or 42, said processor further performing the step comprising:

removing waypoints from the textlist that were both added in the first adding step and designated to be removed in the designating step.

44. An apparatus according to claim 41 or 42, wherein the displaying step comprises displaying on said display device comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

45. An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the displaying step further comprises displaying on said display device performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

46. An apparatus for simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, comprising:

a display device; and

a processor, said processor performing the steps comprising;

displaying on said display device a textlist of waypoints on the modified flight plan and on the original flight plan;

modifying the textlist by indicating an insertion point in the textlist to insert a proposed waypoint;

determining whether the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist; and

when it is determined in the determining step that the proposed waypoint is not a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a first adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point,

wherein, in the determining step, the original flight plan is searched backwards from the insertion point of the proposed waypoint to determine if the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist.

47. An apparatus according to claim 46, said processor further performing the steps comprising:

when it is determined in the determining step that the proposed waypoint is a duplicate of a waypoint in the textlist, adding, in a second adding step, the proposed waypoint to the textlist at the insertion point, and designating on the textlist waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints in the textlist before the proposed waypoint back to and including the duplicate waypoint.

48. An apparatus according to claim 47, said processor further performing the step comprising:

removing waypoints from the textlist that were both added in the first adding step and designated to be removed in the designating step.

49. An apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the displaying step comprises displaying on said display device comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

50. An apparatus according to claim 49, wherein the displaying step further comprises displaying on said display device performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

51. An apparatus for simultaneously presenting a textual display of an original flight plan and a modified flight plan, comprising:

a display device; and

a processor, said processor performing the steps comprising;

displaying on said display device a textlist comprising waypoints on the modified flight plan and waypoints on the original flight plan;

copying waypoints from the original flight plan into the modified flight plan;

comparing each waypoint on the modified flight plan with waypoints on the original flight plan;

determining, in a first determining step, for each modified flight plan waypoint, whether the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and

adding, in a first adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in the determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint did not originate from a waypoint in the original flight plan.

52. An apparatus according to claim 51, said processor further performing the steps comprising:

determining, in a second determining step, a position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan relative to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan, when it is determined in the first determining step that the modified flight plan waypoint originated from a waypoint in the original flight plan; and

adding, in a second adding step, the modified flight plan waypoint to the textlist, when it is determined in the second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan corresponds to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

53. An apparatus according to claim 52, said processor further performing the step comprising:

designating on the textlist, in a first designating step, waypoints to be removed from the original flight plan, corresponding to waypoints from a corresponding position of the waypoint in the original flight plan to an actual position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan, when it is determined in the second determining step that the position of the originating waypoint in the original flight plan does not correspond to the position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the modified flight plan.

54. An apparatus according to claim 53, wherein, in the second determining step, the original flight plan is searched forward from the corresponding position of the modified flight plan waypoint in the original flight plan to determine if the proposed waypoint originated from a waypoint on the original flight plan.

55. An apparatus according to claim 53, wherein the displaying step comprises displaying on said display device comparative performance data for each common waypoint that is on both the original flight plan and the modified flight plan.

56. An apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the displaying step further comprises displaying performance data for all waypoints that are on the modified flight plan.

57. An apparatus according to claim 53, said processor further performing the step comprising:

designating, in a second designating step, waypoints on the original flight plan to be removed, corresponding to waypoints remaining in the original flight plan when all waypoints in the modified flight plan have been processed.