Representing a holding pattern on a vertical situation display

• US 7,903,000 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2008
• Issued: 03/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Chen, Sherwin Shye-Min, Tucker, Michael Jefferie, Hammack, Jason L., Gunn, Peter D., Wiedemann, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Swarthout; Brent
• Application Number:
  US12/111,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20090267800A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 340/945, 340/980, 340971-979, 340/970, 701/8, 701/14, 701/18
• US Class Current: 340/974
• 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

Abstract

Techniques for representing a holding pattern on a vertical situation display are described. The vertical situation display has a first screen area to depict the holding pattern and second screen area to show a flight path after the holding pattern. The representation of the holding pattern visually informs a flight crew of current and prospective flight conditions.

Claims

1. A user interface for an aircraft control display comprising:

a navigational display depicting a lateral navigational configuration of a flight plan including a holding pattern, the navigational display including a holding pattern terrain swath associated with the holding pattern; and

a vertical situation display (VSD) depicting a vertical navigational configuration of the flight plan bounded by the holding pattern terrain swath as depicted in the lateral navigational configuration, the VSD having a first screen area to show the holding pattern and a second screen area to show a flight path outside of the holding pattern.

2. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the vertical navigational configuration includes a plurality of waypoints for representing hold fixes as instructions to repeat the holding pattern.

3. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the hold fixes are represented by at least one of symbolic indicia, textual indicia, or an anchor line.

4. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the vertical navigational configuration represents the holding pattern as an unwound flight path.

5. The user interface of claim 4, wherein the unwound flight path includes an entry maneuver and a hold maneuver.

6. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the VSD shows a track distance of the flight plan.

7. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the vertical navigational configuration of the flight plan further comprises an iconic depiction of at least one of terrain, airspace data, weather data, or traffic data.

8. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the vertical navigational configuration of the flight plan further comprises indicia conveying an existence of the holding pattern, the indicia comprised of at least one of a text, a symbol, or a graphic.

9. A system comprising:

a flight management computer (FMC) to compute a flight plan having a holding pattern;

a display module to display the flight plan computed by the FMC, the display module comprising;

a navigational display to display a lateral navigational configuration of the holding pattern, the navigational display including a holding pattern terrain swath associated with the holding pattern; and

a vertical situation display (VSD) to display a vertical navigational configuration of the holding pattern bounded by the holding pattern terrain swath as depicted in the lateral navigational configuration and to further display a vertical navigational configuration of a portion of the flight plan that occurs after exiting the holding pattern.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the system further comprises an integrated surveillance system (ISS) to provide information to the FMC.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the VSD has a first screen area showing the vertical navigational configuration of the holding pattern and a second screen area showing the vertical navigational configuration of a portion of the flight plan that is unrepresented in the navigational display.

12. A method comprising:

displaying a flight plan of an aircraft on a display module, the display module having a navigational display presenting a lateral navigation configuration of the flight plan and a vertical situation display (VSD) presenting a vertical navigational configuration of the flight plan;

receiving a hold notification to command the aircraft into a holding pattern;

representing the holding pattern on the navigational display as a part of the lateral navigational configuration of the flight plan;

representing the holding pattern on the VSD as a part of the vertical navigational configuration of the flight plan; and

representing a hold indicia on the VSD, the hold indicia representing an instruction to repeat the holding pattern.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the representing the holding pattern on the VSD further comprises depicting one or more hold fixes on the VSD, the one or more hold fixes representing one or more waypoints of the holding pattern.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the representing the holding pattern on the VSD further comprises depicting an unwound flight path of the holding pattern on the VSD.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the representing the holding pattern on the VSD further comprises showing a track distance of the unwound flight path on the VSD.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the displaying the flight plan further comprises depicting at least one of atmospheric condition indicia, traffic indicia, or terrain feature indicia.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the representing the holding pattern on the VSD further comprises:

presenting a first portion of the flight plan associated with the holding pattern in a first screen area of the VSD; and

presenting a second portion of the flight plan that is not associated with the holding pattern in a second screen area of the VSD.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising displaying a weather alert indicia on the VSD, the weather alert indicia representing a severity and location of a weather condition proximate the flight path.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the hold notification command is received as one or more of an audio, a visual, and a tactile feedback notification.

20. One or more computer-readable media storing computer executable instructions that, when executed on a computing device, perform the method as recited in claim 12.