Method and device for evaluating the licitness of the situation of a craft on the surface of an airport

• US 7,739,047 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Issued: 06/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales SA
• Original Assignee: Thales SA
• Inventors: Marty, Nicolas, Meunier, Hugues
• Primary Examiner(s): Keith; Jack W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khatib; Rami
• Application Number:
  US11/529,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20070078592A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,355 Days
• Field of Search: 701/120, 701/300, 340/998
• US Class Current: 701/300
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91

Abstract

A method for evaluating the licitness of the situation of a craft on the surface of an airport including the steps of: modelling of a first licitness cost surface covering a surface of the airport where the craft is deploying, termed the deployment surface, related to this deployment surface and defined by quantities assigned to its points, which quantities are representative of their memberships in flow constraint zones and of the severity in relation to the craft, of the flow constraints, modelling of a second licitness cost surface covering the deployment surface, related to the craft and defined by quantities assigned to its points, which quantities are representative of their memberships in a girth zone covering a neighborhood of the current position of the craft, and calculation of a score evaluating the significance of the risk of violation of a flow constraint incurred by the craft on the basis of a cross-correlation function of the two licitness cost surfaces referred to one and the same benchmark.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating licitness of the situation of a craft on the surface of an airport including:

flow constraint zones, the craft being provided with a geographical locating equipment, the method comprising the steps of;

receiving by a computer location information of the craft from the geographical locating equipment;

modelling, by operation of the computer, a first licitness cost surface covering a surface of the airport where the craft is deployed, the first licitness cost surface being defined by quantities assigned to its points, which quantities are representative of their memberships in flow constraint zones and of the severity in relation to the craft, of the flow constraints affecting the flow constraint zones concerned,

modelling, by operation of the computer, a second second licitness cost surface covering the first licitness cost surface, related to the craft and defined by quantities assigned to its points, which quantities are representative of their memberships in a girth zone covering a neighbourhood of the current position of the craft, and

calculating, by operation of the computer, a score evaluating the significance of the risk of violation of a flow constraint incurred by the craft on the basis of a cross-correlation function of the two licitness cost surfaces referred to one and the same benchmark.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the score evaluating the significance of the risk of violation of a flow constraint incurred by the craft is calculated on the basis of a cross-correlation function taking account only of a selection of the unit products, which selection is made with the aid of a consideration function involving categories of zones or of parts of zones with flow constraint.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the score evaluating the significance of the risk of violation of a flow constraint incurred by the craft is calculated on the basis of a cross-correlation function taking account only of a selection of unit products, which selection is made with the aid of a consideration function involving categories of craft.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the score evaluating the significance of the risk of violation of a flow constraint incurred by the craft is calculated on the basis of a cross-correlation function taking account only of a selection of unit products, which selection is made with the aid of a consideration function involving categories of neighbourhood zones or of parts of zones of the neighbourhood of the craft.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the quantities of the points of the second licitness cost surface related to the craft also take account of the movement of the craft.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first licitness cost surface related to the deployment surface presents, at the level of a flow constraint zone of oblong shape, a relief with transverse sections of Gaussian shape.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second licitness cost surface related to the craft presents in the neighbourhood of the craft, a relief of oblong shape with transverse sections of Gaussian shapes extending frontwards from the craft, in the direction of its movement.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the second licitness cost surface related to the craft presents in the neighbourhood of the craft, a relief whose shape corresponds to the short-term probabilities of presence of the craft at each of the points of the said neighbourhood.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first licitness cost surface related to the deployment surface presents at the level of a flow constraint zone a pyramidal relief with concentric terraces.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second licitness cost surfaces are defined in the form of samples resulting from one and the same meshing of the deployment surface.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein a flow constraint zone covering an airport runway has a rectangular contour centred on the runway so as to encompass any point at a minimum distance from the axis or from the ends of the runway and supplemented with a crenellation encompassing the thresholds for access to the runway.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second licitness cost surface related to the craft presents a relief covering the site occupied by the craft supplemented with margins taking account of the uncertainties in the determination of the position and of the heading of the craft, this relief being extended beyond the craft in the direction of its movement, over a distance dependent on its speed.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the samples of the licitness cost surfaces are associated with values of a consideration function making it possible to select the unit products used by the correlation function.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the craft is an aircraft.

15. A device for evaluating the licitness of the situation of a craft on the surface of an airport comprising flow constraint zones, said craft being provided with geographical locating equipment, said device comprising:

a terrain database storing a first licitness cost surface covering the surface of the airport where the craft is deployed, the first lictness cost defined by quantities assigned to its points, which quantities are representative of their memberships in flow constraint zones and of the severity with respect to the craft, of the flow constraints affecting the zones concerned;

a second licitness cost surface covering the deployment surface, related to the craft and defined by the quantities assigned to its points, which quantities are representative of their memberships in a girth zone covering the neighbourhood of the current position of the craft;

a computer configured to utilize information from aircraft flight instruments, the geographic locating equipment, and the terrain database, the computer comprising calculation means for producing a score evaluating the significance of a risk of violation of a flow constraint incurred by the craft on the basis of the cross-correlation function of the two dangerousness cost surfaces referred to one and the same benchmark; and

a man machine interface in electrical communication with the computer, the man machine interface configured to receive a parameter setting.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the terrain database stores, associated with the samples of the licitness cost surfaces, values of a consideration function allowing the calculation means a selection of the unit products used by the cross-correlation function.