Aircraft communication control apparatus, aircraft, computer-readable recording medium in which aircraft communication program is stored and aircraft communication method

• US 9,408,045 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2013
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kikuchi, Shota, Miyanishi, Ippei
• Primary Examiner(s): Safaipour, Bobbak
• Application Number:
  US14/042,937
• Publication Number:
  US 20140099986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,036 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management

Abstract

When information sharing is performed among multiple aircrafts, the number of times of communication for the information sharing is reduced. An onboard terminal (30) is a communication control apparatus (20) of an aircraft (10) which performs transmission and reception of information with a consort aircraft. When performing information sharing between two or more consort aircrafts, the onboard terminal (30) performs transmission and reception of information with a predetermined consort aircraft and thereafter performs transmission and reception of information including information transmitted from the predetermined consort aircraft, with another consort aircraft. The onboard terminal (30) performs information sharing with the consort aircrafts in accordance with a routing table showing order of aircrafts (10) to perform transmission and reception of information.

Claims

1. An aircraft communication control apparatus which is provided in an aircraft and which performs transmission and reception of information with each of a plurality of consort aircrafts, wherein, in a case of performing information sharing with each of the plurality of consort aircrafts, the aircraft communication control apparatus performs transmission and reception of information with a predetermined consort aircraft among the plurality of consort aircrafts and thereafter performs transmission and reception of information transmitted from the predetermined consort aircraft and information of the aircraft, with a consort aircraft among the plurality of consort aircrafts other than the predetermined consort aircraft, and

wherein, when a number of the aircrafts is an even number, the aircrafts are divided into two groups, and information sharing between the groups is performed after information sharing is performed in each of the groups.

2. The aircraft communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the number of the aircrafts is an odd number, the aircrafts are divided into a first group that does not include a surplus aircraft and a second group that includes the surplus aircraft, and information sharing is performed between the first and second groups after information sharing in the first group is completed.

3. The aircraft communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, at the same time as information sharing is performed between consort aircrafts, information sharing is performed between the aircraft itself and another consort aircraft.

4. The aircraft communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication control apparatus performs information sharing with the consort aircrafts in accordance with table information showing order of aircrafts to perform transmission and reception of information.

5. The aircraft communication control apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the table information is generated by each of the aircrafts.

6. An aircraft comprising a communication control apparatus according to claim 1.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium in which an aircraft communication control program for performing transmission and reception of information with each of a plurality of consort aircrafts is stored, the program being for causing a computer to execute function of, in a case where an aircraft performs information sharing with each of the plurality of consort aircrafts, performing transmission and reception of information with a predetermined consort aircraft among the plurality of consort aircrafts and thereafter performing transmission and reception of information transmitted from the predetermined consort aircraft and information of the aircraft, with a consort aircraft among the plurality of consort aircrafts other than the predetermined consort aircraft, and

wherein, when a number of the aircrafts is an even number, the aircrafts are divided into two groups, and information sharing between the groups is performed after information sharing is performed in each of the groups.

8. An aircraft communication method for performing transmission and reception of information with each of a plurality of consort aircrafts, wherein, in a case where an aircraft performs information sharing with each of the plurality of consort aircrafts, transmission and reception of information is performed with a predetermined consort aircraft among the plurality of consort aircrafts and thereafter transmission and reception of information transmitted from the predetermined consort aircraft and information of the aircraft is performed with a consort aircraft among the plurality of consort aircrafts other than the predetermined consort aircraft, and

wherein, when a number of aircrafts is an even number, the aircrafts are divided into two groups, and information sharing between the groups is performed after information sharing is performed in each of the groups.