Method and device for monitoring radioaltimetric heights of an aircraft

• US 8,432,308 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2011
• Issued: 04/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Inventors: Delga, Philippe, Houberdon, Nour-Ed-Din
• Primary Examiner(s): Barker, Matthew M
• Application Number:
  US13/020,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20110199253A1
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 342120-122
• US Class Current: 342/120
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 5/005 altimeters for aircraft G01C5/02, G01C5/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/882 for altimeters measuring height using barometric means G01C5/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/40 Means for monitoring or calibrating

Abstract

A method and device for monitoring radioaltimetric heights of an aircraft, the device including an auxiliary height generation device that generates an auxiliary reliability height of an aircraft. The device also includes a determination device that determines with the aid of this auxiliary height, an error in incoherent data which are received from two radioaltimeters. To this end, the most reliable reading from the radioaltimeters is determined and sent to a user device.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring radioaltimetric heights of an aircraft, wherein from two distinct radioaltimeters, respectively, a first and a second radioaltimetric height are received relative to a same position of the aircraft, the method comprising:

(a) determining an auxiliary height, using an on-board auxiliary source that is dissimilar and independent from the radioaltimeters, the auxiliary height being relative to the same position of the aircraft as the first and second radioaltimetric heights, and for determining the auxiliary height, the following operations are carried out;

(a1) determining the current altitude of the aircraft from measurements carried out by on-board devices;

(a2) receiving data from a data base of the field being flown over the database containing a decomposition of the field into a plurality of adjacent cells, each of which is associated with a corresponding altitude; and

(a3) calculating the auxiliary height by subtracting from the thus determined current altitude, the altitude of a cell originating from the data in the data base, being representative of the current lateral position of the aircraft;

(b) checking the coherence between said first and second radioaltimetric heights; and

(c) should an incoherence occur between the first and second radioaltimetric heights, determining the most reliable radioaltimetric height of the first and second radioaltimetric heights using the auxiliary height; and

this determining including the following operations;

(c1) calculating a first difference corresponding to the absolute value of the difference between one of the radioaltimetric heights and the auxiliary height;

(c2) calculating a second difference corresponding to the absolute value of the difference between the other one of the radioaltimetric heights and the auxiliary height;

(c3) comparing the first and second differences; and

(c4) determining that the radioaltimetric height, for which the difference is the lowest, represents the most reliable radioaltimetric height;

(d) transmitting at least one of the radioaltimetric heights to at least one user device by performing the following operations;

(d1) should a coherence occur between the first and the second radioaltimetric heights, transmitting the first and second radioaltimetric heights to the at least one user device; and

(d2) should an incoherence occur between the first and the second radioaltimetric heights, transmitting the most reliable radioaltimetric height to the at least one user device and the other radioaltimetric height is considered as erroneous.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) includes the following operations:

(b1) calculating the difference between the first and second radioaltimetric heights;

(b2) comparing the difference with a first threshold value; and

(b3) determining that the first and second radioaltimetric heights are coherent if the difference is lower than the first threshold value for a period of confirmation;

otherwise, determining that the first and second radioaltimetric heights are incoherent.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, in step (c), the lowest of the first and second differences is compared with a second threshold value, and wherein, in step (d), the two radioaltimetric heights are transmitted to the at least one user device, if the lowest difference is higher than the second threshold value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps (a)-(d) are implemented repeatedly, using the first and the second radioaltimetric height received repeatedly from the radioaltimeters.

5. A device for monitoring radioaltimetric heights of an aircraft, the device receiving from two distinct radioaltimeters first and second radioaltimetric heights relative to a same position of the aircraft, the device comprising:

an auxiliary height generation device configured to determine an auxiliary height, using an auxiliary source being dissimilar and independent from the radioaltimeters, the auxiliary height being relative to the same position of the aircraft as the first and second radioaltimetric heights, the auxiliary height generation device comprising elements configured to respectively;

determine the current altitude of the aircraft from measurements carried out by on-board devices;

retrieve data from a data base of the field being flown over, the data base containing a decomposition of the field into a plurality of adjacent cells, each of which is associated with a corresponding altitude; and

calculate the auxiliary height by subtracting from the current altitude, the altitude of a cell originating from the data in the data base, being representative of the usual lateral position of the aircraft;

a coherence monitoring device configured to monitor the coherence between the first and second radioaltimetric heights; and

a determination device configured to determine, should an incoherence occur between the first and second radioaltimetric heights, using the auxiliary height, which one of the first and second radioaltimetric heights is the most reliable, the determination device including elements configured to respectively;

calculate a first difference corresponding to the absolute value of the difference between the first radioaltimetric height and the auxiliary height;

calculate a second difference corresponding to the absolute value of the difference between the second radioaltimetric height and the auxiliary height;

compare the first and second differences; and

determine that the radioaltimetric height, for which the difference is the lowest, represents the most reliable radioaltimetric height; and

a transmission device configured to transmit;

should a coherence occur between the first and the second radioaltimetric heights, the first and second radioaltimetric heights to at least one user device; and

should an incoherence occur between the first and the second radioaltimetric heights, the most reliable radioaltimetric height to the at least one user device, the other radioaltimetric height being considered as erroneous.

6. An aircraft comprising:

two distinct radioaltimeters; and

the device claim 5.