Avionics system, method and apparatus for selecting a runway
First Claim
1. A method of selecting a destination runway upon which an aircraft is most likely to land, the method comprising:
- grouping at least two runways as at least one candidate airport;
selecting one candidate airport as a destination airport;
selecting one runway of the at least two runways from the destination airport as the destination runway; and
calculating a value of X for each candidate airport, the value of X being dependant at least upon—
a ratio of the distance from the aircraft to the candidate airport and a threshold range, anda ratio of a bearing angle of the aircraft to the candidate airport and a threshold angle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A destination runway selection method, system and apparatus for use with a Terrain Awareness and Warning System (“TAWS”). The method involves determining upon which of a number of candidate runways an aircraft is most likely to land so that appropriate Required Terrain Clearance (“RTC”) values and other alert thresholds may be referenced. According to a first aspect of the method, a destination airport is initially selected from among candidate airports. According to a second aspect of the method, a destination runway is selected from among the candidate runways at the destination airport. In one particular embodiment of the invention, the candidate runway is selected solely on the basis of distance calculations between the runway and the aircraft.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of selecting a destination runway upon which an aircraft is most likely to land, the method comprising:
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grouping at least two runways as at least one candidate airport; selecting one candidate airport as a destination airport; selecting one runway of the at least two runways from the destination airport as the destination runway; and calculating a value of X for each candidate airport, the value of X being dependant at least upon— a ratio of the distance from the aircraft to the candidate airport and a threshold range, and a ratio of a bearing angle of the aircraft to the candidate airport and a threshold angle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 23)
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13. A terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) for an aircraft, the TAWS comprising:
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at least one information database configured to store elevation and position information for a terrain region, at least one candidate airport and at least two candidate runways within each candidate airport; a look-ahead warning generator configured to receive indications of terrain clearance alerts and communicate the indications by at least one of a visual display and an aural warning; and a processor coupled to the information database and the look-ahead warning generator, the processor configured to employ aircraft landing approach warning values upon receiving an indication that a destination runway has been selected, wherein the processor is configured to identify a potential destination runway by identifying the at least two candidate runways from the information database as at least one candidate airport, selecting one candidate airport from the information database as a destination airport, and selecting one candidate runway of the at least two candidate runways from the destination airport as the destination runway, wherein the processor is further configured to select the destination airport based upon a fourth criteria which is that a value for X is smallest, wherein the value of X for each candidate airport is dependent at least upon a sum of a first ratio of the distance from the aircraft to the candidate airport and a threshold range, and a second ratio of a bearing angle of the aircraft to the candidate airport and a threshold angle. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24)
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25. A method of selecting a destination runway upon which an aircraft is most likely to land, the method comprising:
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grouping at least two runways as at least one candidate airport; selecting one candidate airport as a destination airport; and selecting one runway of the at least two runways from the destination airport as the destination runway, wherein selecting the destination runway comprises selecting a candidate runway having an aircraft runway end for which a distance between the end of the aircraft runway and the aircraft is decreasing.
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26. A terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) for an aircraft, the TAWS comprising:
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at least one information database configured to store elevation and position information for a terrain region, at least one candidate airport and at least two candidate runways within each candidate airport; a look-ahead warning generator configured to receive indications of terrain clearance alerts and communicate the indications by at least one of a visual display and an aural warning; and a processor coupled to the information database and the look-ahead warning generator, the processor configured to employ aircraft landing approach warning values upon receiving an indication that a destination runway has been selected, wherein the processor is configured to identify a potential destination runway by identifying the at least two candidate runways from the information database as at least one candidate airport, selecting one candidate airport from the information database as a destination airport, and selecting one candidate runway of the at least two candidate runways from the destination airport as the destination runway, wherein selecting the destination runway is based upon the criteria that the destination runway is an end of the candidate runway for which a distance between the end of the candidate runway and the aircraft is decreasing.
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27. A method of selecting a destination runway upon which an aircraft is most likely to land, the method comprising:
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selecting one of a plurality of candidate airports, as a destination airport by— calculating a value of X for each candidate airport, the value of X being dependant upon— a first ratio of a distance from the aircraft to the candidate airport over a threshold range, and a second ratio of a bearing angle of the aircraft to the candidate airport over a threshold angle, and selecting as the destination airport, the candidate airport having the lowest value of X; and selecting one of a plurality of candidate runways of the destination airport, with each candidate runway having at least one runway end, as the destination runway, based solely on distance calculations, by— monitoring over time, a distance between the aircraft and the runway end, for each runway end, and selecting as the destination runway the candidate runway for which the distance is smallest and decreasing.
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Specification