Flight guidance system

• US 9,612,312 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2011
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ute Marina Meissner
• Original Assignee: Deutsches Zentrum Fã¼R Luft- Und Raumfahrt E.V., Frau Ute Marita Meissner
• Inventors: Meissner, Ute Marita, Hahn, Klaus-Uwe
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Hara, Brian M
• Application Number:
  US13/989,429
• Publication Number:
  US 20130306800A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,957 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/03 Airborne
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0246 involving frequency difference of arrival or Doppler measurements G01S5/02685 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0247 Determining attitude

Abstract

The invention relates to a flight guidance system for the flight support of a aircraft (1), said system comprising a plurality of fixed ground stations (4a to 4e) respectively comprising a transmitting and/or receiving unit (5a to 5e), and at least one transmitting and/or receiving unit (6) that is arranged on the aircraft (1), the transmitting units being act up to send position signals (7) and the receiving units being set up to receive said position signals (7). The flight guidance system comprises at least one position determination unit (9, 10) that is connected to at least some of the transmitting and/or receiving units (5a to 5e, 6, 6a to 6c) and set up to determine locations of the transmitting and/or receiving unit (6) arranged on the aircraft, according to the position signals (7) that are sent by the fixed transmitting units and received by the at least one receiving unit arranged on the aircraft and/or sent by the at least one transmitting nail arranged on the aircraft and received by the fixed receiving units. The flight guidance system is designed for flight support of the aircraft according to the determined locations.

Claims

1. A flight control system for flight assistance of a flying object, comprising:

a plurality of stationary ground stations, each of which includes a stationary unit for one or both of transmitting and receiving position signals;

at least three mobile units fixed to the flying object and arranged at a distance from one another on the flying object, each mobile unit being configured for one or both of transmitting and receiving the position signals, wherein the at least three mobile units includes

a first mobile unit being arranged on a left wing of the flying object,

a second mobile unit being arranged on a right wing of the flying object, and

a third mobile unit being arranged on a fuselage of the flying object; and

at least one position determination unit which is connected to at least some of the stationary or mobile units,

wherein the at least one position determination unit is configured to determine a position of each of the at least three mobile units as a function of the position signals, each of which was either

transmitted by a stationary unit of the plurality of stationary ground stations and received by a mobile unit of the at least three mobile units, or

transmitted by a mobile unit of the at least three mobile units and received by a stationary unit of the plurality of stationary ground stations,

wherein the at least one position determination unit is configured to determine a spatial attitude of the flying object as a function of the positions of the at least three mobile units and their relative position with respect to each other, and

wherein the flight control system is configured for flight assistance to the flying object as a function of the spatial attitude of the flying object,

wherein the position determination unit is configured to determine the position of each of the at least three mobile units as a function of a signal delay time of the position signals between transmission and reception.

2. The flight control system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one position determination unit is configured to determine the position of each of the at least three mobile units as a function of a reception angle of the position signals.

3. The flight control system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one position determination unit is further configured to determine a relative velocity between at least one of the at least three mobile units and at least one of the stationary units as a function of a Doppler shift of received position signals, and to determine the position of each of the at least three mobile units as a function of the relative velocity.

4. The flight control system according to claim 1, further comprising

a control unit for synchronous transmission of the position signals, wherein of the stationary units and the at least three mobile units, those which are configured to transmit are connected to the control unit.

5. The flight control system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one position determination unit is configured for verification of a method of operation of one of the stationary units or one of the at least three mobile units that is configured for transmitting, the verification being performed as a function of the received position signals.

6. The flight control system according to claim 1,

wherein at least some of the stationary units are configured for receiving position signals and a first determination of the position of at least one of the at least three mobile units is made using the position signals received by the at least some of the stationary units,

wherein the at least one of the at least three mobile units is configured for receiving position signals and a second determination of the position of the at least one of the at least three mobile units is made using the position signals received by the at least one of the at least three mobile units, and

wherein the flight control system is configured for verification of a method of operation of the flight control system based on a comparison between the first determination and the second determination of the position of the at least one of the at least three mobile units.

7. The flight control system according to claim 1,

wherein of the stationary units and the at least three mobile units, those which are configured to transmit are further configured to code information into the position signals, and

wherein of the stationary units and the at least three mobile units, those which are configured to receive the position signals are further configured to extract the information which has been coded into the position signals.

8. A method for flight assistance of a flying object, comprising the following steps:

transmitting position signals with one or more of

a plurality of stationary units which are arranged on the ground, and

at least three mobile units fixed to the flying object and arranged at a distance from one another on the flying object, wherein the at least three mobile units includes

a first mobile unit being arranged on a left wing of the flying object,

a second mobile unit being arranged on a right wing of the flying object, and

a third mobile unit being arranged on a fuselage of the flying object;

receiving the position signals with one or more of

the at least three mobile units which are fixed to the flying object if the plurality of stationary units transmit the position signals, and

the plurality of stationary units if the at least three mobile units transmit the position signals,

determining a position of each of the at least three mobile units as a function of the received position signals,

determining a spatial attitude of the flying object as a function of the positions of the at least three mobile units and their relative position with respect to each other,

assisting flight of the flying object as a function of the spatial attitude of the flying object, and

wherein the step of determining the position of each of the at least three mobile units is performed as a function of

a signal delay time of the position signals,

a reception angle of the position signals, and

at least one relative velocity determined on the basis of a Doppler shift between at least one of the at least three mobile units and one of the stationary units.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising a step of verifying a method of operation based on position signals transmitted by at least some of the stationary units and received by at least one of the stationary units.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the determining a position step includes making a first determination of the position of at least one of the at least three mobile units using position signals received by at least some of the stationary units and making a second determination of the position of the at least one of the at least three mobile units using position signals received by the at least one of the at least three mobile units, and

further comprising a step of verifying a method of operation based on a comparison between the first determination and the second determination of the position of the at least one of the at least three mobile units.

11. A method for flight assistance of a flying object, comprising the following steps:

transmitting position signals with one or more of

a plurality of stationary units which are arranged on the ground, and

at least three mobile units fixed to the flying object and arranged at a distance from one another on the flying object, wherein the at least three mobile units includes

a first mobile unit being arranged on a left wing of the flying object,

a second mobile unit being arranged on a right wing of the flying object, and

a third mobile unit being arranged on a fuselage of the flying object;

receiving the position signals with one or more of

the at least three mobile units which are fixed to the flying object if the plurality of stationary units transmit the position signals, and

the plurality of stationary units if the at least three mobile units transmit the position signals,

determining a position of each of the at least three mobile units as a function of the received position signals,

determining a spatial attitude of the flying object as a function of the positions of the at least three mobile units and their relative position with respect to each other,

assisting flight of the flying object as a function of the spatial attitude of the flying object, and

wherein the step of transmitting includes coding of information into the position signals and transmission of the position signals with the coded information, and wherein the step of receiving the position signals includes extraction of the coded information from the position signals.