Systems and methods for generating aircraft height data and employing such height data to validate altitude data
First Claim
1. A system for generating aircraft height data, such system comprising:
- a source of airborne radar-based reflection data;
at least one source of navigation data; and
a processor configured toreceive at a first rate first data comprised of airborne radar-based reflection data of a conventional, stationary reference point, wherethe conventional, stationary reference point is defined by at least a known geographic position,receive at a second rate second data comprised of internally-sourced vertical travel data provided by at least one source of navigation data, wherethe second rate is greater than the first rate,determine an instant vertical distance above the conventional, stationary reference point by updating the first data with the second data in between each period in which the first data is received, andgenerate instant height data representative of the instant vertical distance above the conventional, stationary reference point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Present novel and non-trivial systems and methods for generating aircraft height data are disclosed. A processor is configured to receive both first data comprised of radar-based reflection data of a stationary reference point based upon a horizontal distance between the geographic position of an aircraft and the geographic position of the stationary reference point (e.g., landing threshold point) and second data comprised of internally sourced vertical travel data more frequently than the first data. From the first data and second data, an instant vertical distance above the stationary reference point is determined by updating the first data with the second data. Then, instant height data representative of the instant vertical distance above the stationary reference point is generated. Provided with the instant height data, a presentation system comprised of display unit, aural alert unit and/or a tactile alert unit may present the instant vertical distance to the pilot.
17 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for generating aircraft height data, such system comprising:
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a source of airborne radar-based reflection data; at least one source of navigation data; and a processor configured to receive at a first rate first data comprised of airborne radar-based reflection data of a conventional, stationary reference point, where the conventional, stationary reference point is defined by at least a known geographic position, receive at a second rate second data comprised of internally-sourced vertical travel data provided by at least one source of navigation data, where the second rate is greater than the first rate, determine an instant vertical distance above the conventional, stationary reference point by updating the first data with the second data in between each period in which the first data is received, and generate instant height data representative of the instant vertical distance above the conventional, stationary reference point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for employing aircraft height data to validate aircraft altitude data, such system comprising:
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a source of instant height data; a source of navigation data; a source of reference point data; and a processor configured to receive instant height data representative of an instant vertical distance above a conventional, stationary reference point, where the conventional, stationary reference point is defined by at least a known geographic position, and the instant height data is based upon airborne radar-based reflection data that is updated by vertical travel data, receive navigation data comprised of first altitude data representative of a first altitude of the aircraft, receive reference point data comprised of elevation data representative of the elevation of the conventional, stationary reference point, determine second altitude data representative of a second altitude of the aircraft as a function of the instant height data and the elevation data, determine a validity of the first altitude data by comparing the first altitude data with the second altitude data, and generate validity advisory data responsive to the validity determination, where the validity advisory data is representative of validity information. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A method for generating aircraft height data, such method comprising:
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Performing the following elements, where such elements are performed by a processor; receiving at a first rate first data comprised of airborne radar-based reflection data of a conventional, stationary reference point, where the conventional, stationary reference point is defined by at least a known geographic position; receiving at a second rate second data comprised of internally-sourced vertical travel data provided by at least one source of navigation data, where the second rate is greater than the first rate; determining an instant vertical distance above the conventional, stationary reference point by updating the first data with the second data in between each period in which the first data is received; and generating instant height data representative of the instant vertical distance above the conventional, stationary reference point. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for employing aircraft height data to validate aircraft altitude data, such method comprising:
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receiving instant height data representative of an instant vertical distance above a conventional, stationary reference point, where the conventional, stationary reference point is defined by at least a known geographic position, and the instant height data is based upon airborne radar-based reflection data that is updated by vertical travel data; receiving navigation data comprised of first altitude data representative of a first altitude of the aircraft; receiving reference point data comprised of elevation data representative of the elevation of the conventional, stationary reference point; determining second altitude data representative of a second altitude of the aircraft as a function of the instant height data and the elevation data; determining a validity of the first altitude data by comparing the first altitude data with the second altitude data; and generating validity advisory data responsive to the validity determination, where the validity advisory data is representative of validity information. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification