ACARS messages over iridium

• US 7,904,081 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2007
• Issued: 03/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARINC Incorporated (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ARINC Incorporated (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Siegrist, Ernest Joseph, Stefani, Rolf, Pemberton, William Brian, Graves, Debra J., Williard, Alan Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): DESIR, PIERRE LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US11/767,128
• Publication Number:
  US 20070243867A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,355 Days
• Field of Search: 370/331, 455/431, 709/227, 709/230, 709/238, 342/36, 342/457
• US Class Current: 455/431
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/0053 using visual equipment, e.g. cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/0059 by communicating emergency situations to ground control or between crew members
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1965 the vehicle being an aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1966 Wireless systems, other than telephone systems, used to communicate with a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19684 Portable terminal, e.g. mobile phone, used for viewing video remotely
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/007 Details of data content structure of message packets; data protocols
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A system in a method are provided for sending and receiving messages between a point located on the ground and a point located on an aircraft via an Iridium Short Burst Data Service. The messages may conform to Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC) Specification 618. The messages may be ground-to-air messages or air-to-ground messages. The messages may be ACARS messages and at least some of the messages may have a length exceeding a maximum payload of the Iridium Short Burst Data Service. ACARS messages, which exceed the maximum payload of the Iridium Short Burst Data Service may be segmented and each of the segments may be sent in respective Iridium Short Burst Data messages via the Iridium Short Burst Data Service. When the separate Iridium Short Burst Data messages are received, the segments may be combined to reconstruct the ACARS message for delivery to an intended destination.

Claims

1. A method for receiving ACARS messages, from a ground-based data provider, the method comprising:

receiving, at a communication device aboard an aircraft, a plurality of Iridium Short Burst Data messages sent via an Iridium Short Burst Data Service, each of the plurality of Iridium Short Burst Data messages including at least a respective portion of an ACARS message and a respective added Iridium header, each of the respective added Iridium headers including an application indicator for indicating one of a plurality of applications to which the respective portion of the message pertains;

wherein if indicated by the respective added Iridium headers, combining the respective portions of one or more received Iridium Short Burst Data messages to form a combined ACARS message; and

delivering at least one of the at least a respective portion of the ACARS message and the combined ACARS message without the added Iridium header, to avionics equipment aboard the aircraft.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering at least one of the at least a respective portion of the ACARS message and the combined ACARS message without the added Iridium header, to the avionics equipment aboard the aircraft, further comprises:

delivering at least one of the at least a respective portion of the ACARS message and the combined ACARS message to the avionics equipment aboard the aircraft via a communication bus connecting the communication device aboard the aircraft with the avionics equipment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the communication device aboard the aircraft, a second ACARS message from the avionics equipment;

placing at least a portion of the second ACARS message with a second added Iridium header into a second Iridium Short Burst Data message, the second added Iridium header including a second application indicator for indicating one of a plurality of applications to which the at least a portion of the second ACARS message pertains; and

sending the Iridium Short Burst Data message via the Iridium Short Burst Data Service to a ground-based communication device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining whether a size of the second ACARS message exceeds a maximum payload size for the Iridium Short Burst Data Service;

segmenting the second ACARS message into a plurality of message segments when the size of the second message is determined to exceed the maximum payload size for the Iridium Short Burst Data Service;

adding respective second Iridium headers to each of the plurality of message segments; and

sending, to the ground-based communication device, each of the plurality of message segments, including the added respective second Iridium header, as respective Iridium Short Burst Data messages via the Iridium Short Burst Data Service.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the respective second Iridium headers includes a message identifier associating each of the plurality of message segments with a particular message, and a respective segment offset indicating a placement of each of the plurality of message segments with respect to the second ACARS message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the added Iridium header includes a message segment total indicating a number of portions of the message, and each of the portions being received in separate Iridium Short Burst Data messages.

7. A communication device for use aboard an aircraft, the communication device comprising:

at least one L-band transceiver that receives and sends Iridium Short Burst Data messages from and to a ground-based communication device;

a header stripper that discards an Iridium header from a received Iridium Short Burst Data message including at least a portion of an ACARS message the Iridium header including an application indicator that indicates one of a plurality of applications to which the at least a portion of the message pertains, a message identifier that associates a plurality of message portions of the ACARS message with a particular message, and a segment offset that indicates a placement of each of the plurality of message portions with respect to the ACARS message;

a message combiner that determines from the Iridium header whether to combine a plurality of message portions of one or more ACARS messages to form a combined ACARS message, the plurality of message portions being included in received Short Burst Data messages, each of the plurality of message portions including a respective one of the Iridium header, and each of the plurality of message portions of the received message having a same message identifier; and

a communication interface to send that sends the combined ACARS message to avionics equipment aboard the aircraft.

8. The communication device of claim 7, wherein:

the communication interface, that receives from the avionics equipment, a second ACARS message; and

the communication device further comprises;

a header adder that adds a second Iridium header to at least a portion of the second ACARS message, the second Iridium header including a second application indicator for indicating one of a plurality of second applications to which the at least a portion of the second ACARS message pertains, a second message identifier that associates a plurality of message portions of the second ACARS message with a particular second ACARS message, and a second segment offset that indicates a placement of each of the plurality of second ACARS message portions with respect to the second ACARS message.

9. The communication device of claim 8, further comprising:

a message segmenter that segments the second message into a plurality of portions when a size of the second message exceeds a maximum payload size of an Iridium Short Burst Data message.

10. A ground-based communication device that communicates with an aircraft-based communication device via an Iridium Short Burst Data Service, the ground-based communication device comprising:

a communication interface, that receives from and sends to a ground-based processing device, ACARS messages;

a header adder that adds an Iridium header to at least a portion of an ACARS message received from the ground-based processing device, the Iridium header including an application indicator for indicating one of a plurality of applications to which the at least a portion of the message pertains, a message identifier that associates a plurality of message portions of the ACARS message and a segment offset that indicates a placement of each of the plurality of message portions with respect to the ACARS message; and

an L-band transceiver that sends an Iridium Short Burst Data message to an aircraft-based communication device, the Iridium Short Burst Data message including the at least a portion of the ACARS message and the added Iridium header.

11. The ground-based communication device of claim 10, wherein:

the L-band transceiver receives a second Iridium Short Burst Data message from the aircraft-based communication device, the second Iridium Short Burst Data message including at least a portion of a second ACARS message and an added second Iridium header, the added second Iridium header including a second application indicator for indicating one of a plurality of second applications to which the at least a portion of the second message pertains, a second message identifier for associating a plurality of message portions of the second ACARS message, and a second segment offset indicating a placement of each of the plurality of message portions of the second ACARS message,

the ground-based communication device further comprises a header stripper to discard the second Iridium header from the received second Iridium Short Burst Data message, and

the communication interface sends the second ACARS message without the second Iridium header, to the ground-based processing device.

12. The ground-based communication device of claim 11, further comprising:

a message combiner that combines a plurality of message portions of the received second ACARS message to form the received second ACARS message, the plurality of message portions of the received second ACARS message being included in received second Iridium Short Burst Data messages, and each of the received plurality of message portions includes a respective one of the second Iridium headers having a same second message identifier.

13. The ground-based communication device of claim 10, further comprising:

a segmenter that determines whether a size of the ACARS message exceeds a maximum payload size for an Iridium Short Burst Data Service and segments the message into a plurality of message portions when the size of the message is determined to exceed the maximum payload size for the Iridium Short Burst Data Service, wherein each of the plurality of message portions being placed in respective payloads of Iridium Short Burst Data messages to be transmitted to the aircraft-based communication device.