Aircraft flight data delivery and management system with emergency mode
First Claim
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1. A method of transmitting flight data from an aircraft to a ground station server using an airborne data processing unit comprising data tables and instruction sets, the method comprising:
- (a) during operation in a normal state;
(i) obtaining and analyzing flight data from a plurality of aircraft data sources;
(ii) periodically generating and transmitting a summary file containing a summary of flight data to the ground station server;
(iii) detecting a pre-defined emergency or non-emergency triggering event by continuously and quantitatively analyzing flight data to determine if a data parameter is outside a user-defined range; and
(b) in response to a pre-defined emergency triggering event, entering a demand state and collecting and transmitting as much flight data recorder data as possible to the ground station server, wherein the rate of data transmission is greater than in the normal state, and wherein the flight data recorder data is not analyzed, but rather simply gathered for transmission;
(c) in response to a pre-defined potential emergency or non-emergency triggering event, entering a demand state and creating a flight data file containing data in addition to that transmitted in the normal state and transmitting the flight data file to the ground station server at a greater rate than in the normal state, and wherein the flight data file comprises an aircraft identifier, a date and time, a GPS location, an altitude, and an airspeed, and at least one other flight data relevant to the potential emergency or non-emergency triggering event; and
(d) reverting back to the normal state upon the occurrence of a disarm trigger.
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Abstract
An automated aircraft flight data and delivery management system and method operates in a normal state and a demand state. The demand state may be self-initiated or manually-initiated, and may be triggered during situations which include but are not limited to situations when the aircraft is in a potential or confirmed emergency situation. Data transmission increases in intensity when the system is in a demand state.
52 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of transmitting flight data from an aircraft to a ground station server using an airborne data processing unit comprising data tables and instruction sets, the method comprising:
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(a) during operation in a normal state; (i) obtaining and analyzing flight data from a plurality of aircraft data sources; (ii) periodically generating and transmitting a summary file containing a summary of flight data to the ground station server; (iii) detecting a pre-defined emergency or non-emergency triggering event by continuously and quantitatively analyzing flight data to determine if a data parameter is outside a user-defined range; and (b) in response to a pre-defined emergency triggering event, entering a demand state and collecting and transmitting as much flight data recorder data as possible to the ground station server, wherein the rate of data transmission is greater than in the normal state, and wherein the flight data recorder data is not analyzed, but rather simply gathered for transmission; (c) in response to a pre-defined potential emergency or non-emergency triggering event, entering a demand state and creating a flight data file containing data in addition to that transmitted in the normal state and transmitting the flight data file to the ground station server at a greater rate than in the normal state, and wherein the flight data file comprises an aircraft identifier, a date and time, a GPS location, an altitude, and an airspeed, and at least one other flight data relevant to the potential emergency or non-emergency triggering event; and (d) reverting back to the normal state upon the occurrence of a disarm trigger. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An aircraft data transmission system for transmitting data to a ground server station, the system comprising an airborne data processing unit having:
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(a) a data acquisition module operative to obtain flight data from an aircraft; (b) a communication module operative to transmit data to the ground server station; (c) a memory comprising data tables and instruction sets; (d) a processing unit operatively connected to the data acquisition module, the communication module and the memory and operative in accordance with the instruction sets to; i. while in a normal state;
obtain, analyze and store flight data from a plurality of aircraft data sources;
periodically generate and transmit, using the communications module, a summary file containing a summary of the flight data to the ground station server; and
detect a pre-defined emergency or non-emergency triggering event by continuously and quantitatively analyzing flight data to determine if a data parameter is outside a user-defined range; andii. in response to a pre-defined emergency triggering event, entering a demand state and collecting and transmitting as much flight data recorder data as possible to the ground station server, wherein the rate of data transmission is greater than in the normal state, and wherein the flight data recorder data is not analyzed, but rather simply gathered for transmission; and iii. in response to a pre-defined potential emergency or non-emergency triggering event, entering a demand state and periodically creating a flight data file containing data in addition to that transmitted in the normal state and transmitting the flight data file to the ground station server at a greater rate than in the normal state, and wherein the flight data file comprises an aircraft identifier, a date and time, a GPS location, an altitude, and an airspeed, and at least one other flight data relevant to the potential emergency or non-emergency triggering event. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification