Database augmented surveillance
First Claim
1. An aircraft traffic alerting system, comprising:
- a traffic alerting device onboard a subject aircraft having at least a high sensitivity mode and a low sensitivity mode;
a position determining device onboard the subject aircraft and configured to communicate a determined position of the subject aircraft to the traffic alerting device;
a database comprising (i) locations of airspaces, (ii) airspace classes and corresponding locations of the airspace classes, and (iii) aircraft types and characteristics of each aircraft type, the database being coupled in communication with the traffic alerting device, wherein at least one of the locations of airspaces and the locations of airspace classes includes predetermined airspace boundaries;
responsive to the position determining device communicating the determined position of the subject aircraft, the traffic alerting device (a) searching the database using the determined position, by comparing the determined position to the locations of airspaces and predetermined airspace boundaries as stored in the database, and (b) minimizing false alarms and unnecessary alerts by automatically entering the low sensitivity mode when the determined position of the subject aircraft is within a predetermined airspace boundary of an airspace found in the database by the traffic alerting device, and automatically entering the high sensitivity mode when the determined position of the subject aircraft is outside of any predetermined airspace boundary of the airspaces found in the database by the traffic alerting device, wherein the position determining device continuously determines the position of the subject aircraft and the traffic alerting device continuously compares a presently determined position to the locations of airspaces and predetermined airspace boundaries stored in the database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aircraft traffic alert system that minimizes false alarms and unnecessary alerts by automatically adjusting the sensitivity of the system based on proximity to an airport. The system also can use information from a flight management system (FMS) or GPS navigation system (GNS) to only adjust the sensitivity near a destination airport and to suppress potential alerts for possible collisions with other aircraft that will be moot based on planned course changes of the subject aircraft. The system also can suppress alerts related to another aircraft when the other aircraft is landing on a parallel runway to the runway on which the subject aircraft is landing. The system may use multiple sensitivity levels based on different airspace classes, each class being associated with a different sensitivity level.
34 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An aircraft traffic alerting system, comprising:
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a traffic alerting device onboard a subject aircraft having at least a high sensitivity mode and a low sensitivity mode; a position determining device onboard the subject aircraft and configured to communicate a determined position of the subject aircraft to the traffic alerting device; a database comprising (i) locations of airspaces, (ii) airspace classes and corresponding locations of the airspace classes, and (iii) aircraft types and characteristics of each aircraft type, the database being coupled in communication with the traffic alerting device, wherein at least one of the locations of airspaces and the locations of airspace classes includes predetermined airspace boundaries; responsive to the position determining device communicating the determined position of the subject aircraft, the traffic alerting device (a) searching the database using the determined position, by comparing the determined position to the locations of airspaces and predetermined airspace boundaries as stored in the database, and (b) minimizing false alarms and unnecessary alerts by automatically entering the low sensitivity mode when the determined position of the subject aircraft is within a predetermined airspace boundary of an airspace found in the database by the traffic alerting device, and automatically entering the high sensitivity mode when the determined position of the subject aircraft is outside of any predetermined airspace boundary of the airspaces found in the database by the traffic alerting device, wherein the position determining device continuously determines the position of the subject aircraft and the traffic alerting device continuously compares a presently determined position to the locations of airspaces and predetermined airspace boundaries stored in the database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of alerting of aircraft traffic, comprising:
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determining a position of a subject aircraft; accessing a database containing (i) positions and predetermined boundaries of airports, (ii) location and class of airspaces, and (iii) aircraft characteristics in said database being searchable by a traffic alerting system; searching the database using the determined position by comparing the determined position to known positions of airports and to predetermined boundaries of each airport as stored in the database, said searching and comparing being by the traffic alerting system; minimizing false alarms and unnecessary alerts by;
automatically setting the traffic alerting system in the subject aircraft to a high sensitivity level when the determined position of the subject aircraft is outside of any predetermined boundary of each airport and automatically setting the traffic alerting system in the subject aircraft to a low sensitivity level when the determined position of the subject aircraft is within the predetermined boundary of an airport; andrepeating said determining, searching and minimizing, wherein said determining is repeatedly performed such that respective presently determined positions of the subject aircraft are determined, and said searching by comparing is repeated using the respective presently determined position of the subject aircraft, and continuous minimizing of false alarms and unnecessary alerts results. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification