Aircraft data link network routing

• US 7,729,263 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2007
• Issued: 06/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Larsen, Matt E., Eckert, Richard J., Malaga, Alfonso, True, Willard R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOPATA, ROBERT J
• Application Number:
  US11/835,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20090041041A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,028 Days
• Field of Search: 370/238, 370/401, 370/235, 370/229
• US Class Current: 370/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/80 Ingress point selection by the source endpoint, e.g. selection of ISP or POP
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

A method for routing aircraft data link messages over a plurality of communications networks is disclosed. The method assigns at least one data link message routing service for an aircraft having a first message processing application based on prescribed criteria, the prescribed criteria comprising preferred networks of the plurality of communications networks. As a first preferred communications network becomes available, the method selects a first message route from the assigned routing service and transmits each of the data link messages on the first message route while the first message route satisfies the prescribed criteria. When the prescribed criteria changes over a plurality of flight phases of the aircraft, the method reassigns the at least one data link message route to continue data link message transmissions to and from the aircraft based on the latest prescribed criteria.

Claims

1. A method for routing aircraft data link messages over a plurality of communications networks, the method comprising:

selecting a first communications network from the plurality of communications networks for routing data link messages based on prescribed criteria, wherein the prescribed criteria changes based on a current flight phase of a plurality of flight phases for an aircraft, wherein the plurality of flight phases comprise at least two flight phases while the aircraft is off the ground;

transmitting each of the data link messages over the first communications network while the first communications network satisfies the prescribed criteria; and

when the prescribed criteria changes due to the aircraft entering a different flight phase, selecting a second communications network from the plurality of communications networks based on the latest prescribed criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a first communications network further comprises:

receiving instructions from a set of programmable message routing and a set of programmable network selection rules; and

incorporating each of the sets of message routing and network selection rules as functions of a communication management unit of the aircraft.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting available networks from a plurality of communications networks that satisfy the prescribed criteria;

translating at least one data type of the data link messages for at least one router to establish connectivity between the aircraft and any requested endpoints using the first communications network; and

allocating any required bandwidth for the data link messages using a converged service interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the first communications network further comprises:

routing each of the data link messages through a network adaptation interface based on at least one aircraft state input.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two flight phases while the aircraft is off the ground are selected from the group consisting of:

climb, cruise, decent, takeoff, approach, and go-around.

5. A computer program product comprising program instructions, embodied on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, the program instructions cause at least one programmable processor in an aircraft communications management unit to:

select a first communications network from the plurality of communications networks for routing data link messages based on prescribed criteria, wherein the prescribed criteria changes based on comprising a current flight phase of a plurality of flight phases for an aircraft, wherein the plurality of flight phases comprise at least two flight phases while the aircraft is off the ground;

transmit each of the data link messages over the first communications network while the first communications network satisfies the prescribed criteria; and

when the prescribed criteria changes due to the aircraft entering a different flight phase select a second communications network from the plurality of communications networks based on the latest prescribed criteria.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the program instructions that select a first communications network cause the at least one programmable processor to receive instructions from at least one set of programmable message routing rules.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the program instructions cause the at least one programmable processor to:

detect the available communications networks from a plurality of communications networks that satisfy the prescribed criteria;

translate at least one data type of the data link messages for at least one router to establish connectivity between the aircraft and any requested endpoints using the first communications network; and

allocate any required bandwidth for the data link messages using a converged service interface.

8. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the program instructions cause the at least one programmable processor to activate at least a portion of the network adaptation interface according to a set of programmable network selection rules.

19. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the at least two flight phases while the aircraft is off the ground are selected from the group consisting of:

climb, cruise, decent, takeoff, approach, and go-around.

9. An avionics communications system, comprising:

a communications management unit having a plurality of routers;

a plurality of message processing applications communicatively coupled to the communications management unit;

a plurality of network interfaces, communicatively coupled to the communications management unit, each of the network interfaces responsive to at least one wireless communications network; and

a processing unit within the communications management unit and responsive to the plurality of message processing applications and the plurality of network interfaces, the processing unit comprising;

a message routing function block responsive to the plurality of message processing applications and the plurality of routers, the message routing function block operable to receive a plurality of programmable message routing rules from the communications management unit;

a network selection and management function block responsive to the message routing function block and operable to select at least one of the plurality of network interfaces for routing at least one data link message based on;

a plurality of aircraft state inputs based on a current flight phase of a plurality of flight phases for an aircraft hosting the system, wherein the plurality of flight phases comprise at least two flight phases while the aircraft is off the ground; and

a plurality of network selection rules from the communications management unit; and

a plurality of adaptation and control blocks responsive to the plurality of routers and the processing unit, wherein each of the adaptation and control blocks are operable to route aircraft data link messages through a preferred network interface as instructed by the programmable message routing and network selection rules.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the communications management unit further comprises:

a converged service interface communicatively coupled between the plurality of message routing applications and the processing unit, the converged service interface operable to transfer the data link messages between the appropriate message processing applications; and

a network adaptation interface communicatively coupled between the processing unit and the plurality of network interfaces.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the communications management unit incorporates the plurality of programmable message routing rules and the plurality of network selection rules in at least a portion of a customizable feature set of the communications management unit.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of network interfaces comprise at least one of a very high frequency data link radio interface, a high frequency data link radio interface, a satellite communications data link radio interface, a local area network interface, a wide area network interface, and a metropolitan area network interface.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of routers form at least a portion of the processing unit.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of aircraft state inputs include one of aircraft flight phase, aircraft location, network access level, or message priority level.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one wireless communications network is a bandwidth efficient wireless communications network.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the programmable message routing rules include one of network selection based on current aircraft equipment configurations, aircraft flight phase, current aircraft position and trajectory, message priority, network availability relative to other networks, or relative cost of networks at a given point in time.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of message processing applications comprise at least one of a flight management system, an aircraft condition monitoring system, an electronic flight bag, and a communications management unit.

20. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least two flight phases while the aircraft is off the ground are selected from the group consisting of:

climb, cruise, decent, takeoff, approach, and go-around.