Systems and methods for air-ground message prioritization

• US 9,706,563 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2015
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Papp, Matej, Svoboda, Jiri, Gotthard, Petr
• Primary Examiner(s): ANWAR, MOHAMMAD S
• Application Number:
  US14/789,519
• Publication Number:
  US 20170006619A1
• Time in Patent Office: 741 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6215 Individual queue per QOS, rate or priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 based on priority criteria

Abstract

Systems and methods for air-ground message prioritization are provided. In one embodiment, an message communication system comprises: a first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module configured to tag messages with a message tag, the message tag comprising a Class-of-Service tag and a Priority tag; a queue broker that includes a plurality of message queues, wherein each message queues is associated with a Class-of-Service defined by at least one datalink technology, wherein the queue broker assigns each of the messages to one of the plurality of message queues based on a Class-of-Service indicated by the Class-of-Service tag; and an on-board message broker that monitors datalink availability and current state indicators, wherein the on-board message broker communicates to the queue broker when to transition one or more of the message queues between a Prioritize-and-Store operating state and a Prioritize-and-Forward operating state based on the datalink availability and the current state indicators.

Claims

1. A method for message communication, the method comprising:

tagging a message with a message tag, the message tag comprising a Class-of-Service tag and a Priority tag;

adding the message to a first message queue of a plurality of message queues based on a Class-of-Service indicted by the Class-of-Service tag;

prioritizing the message relative to other messages in the first message queue based in part on content of the Priority tag and in part on a state indicator provided by an on-board messaging system; and

transitioning the first message queue between a Prioritize-and-Store operating state and a Prioritize-and-Forward operating state based on a status of at least one data link associated with the first message queue;

wherein while the first message queue is in the Prioritize-and-Store operating state, the first message queue stores the message; and

wherein while the first message queue is in the Prioritize-and-Forward operating state, the message is transmitted from the first message queue in an order of assigned priority.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the Class-of-Service tag is a two-dimensional classification including a relative cost component and a relative bandwidth capacity component.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein tagging a message with a message tag further comprises:

assigning the Priority tag to the message based on a message group category indicating a type of data carried by the message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is an uplink message and the first message queue is an on-ground uplink message queue managed by an on-ground message queue broker.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein tagging the uplink message is performed by an on-ground Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module based on a profile accessed by the on-ground Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module and defined by an air-space user.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the status of the at least one data link associated with the first message queue is based on:

receiving a message from the on-board messaging system that indicates an activation of the first message queue into the Prioritize-and-Forward operating state.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein adding the uplink message to the first message queue further comprises:

determining a number of aircraft subscribed to the first message queue; and

replicating the message within the first message queue based on the number of aircraft subscribed to the first message queue.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is a downlink message and the first message queue is an on-board downlink message queue managed by an on-board message queue broker.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein tagging the downlink message is performed by an on-board Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module based on a profile accessed by the on-board Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module and defined by an air-space user.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the status of the at least one data link associated with the first message queue is based on:

determining whether the at least one data link is available; and

determining whether the at least one data link is authorized for use based on current aircraft flight parameters.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the current flight parameter comprises at least one of:

a current phase of flight;

or

a current aircraft position.

12. A message communication system, the system comprising:

a first memory comprising an on-board message broker;

a first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module stored in one of the first memory and a second memory and configured to be processed respectively by one of a first processor coupled to the first memory or a second processor coupled to the second memory;

wherein the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module is configured to tag messages with a message tag, the message tag comprising a Class-of-Service tag and a Priority tag;

a first queue broker that includes a plurality of message queues stored in the one of the first memory and the second memory;

wherein each of the plurality of message queues is associated with a Class-of-Service defined by at least one datalink technology, wherein the first queue broker assigns each of the messages to one of the plurality of message queues based on a Class-of-Service indicated by the Class-of-Service tag; and

wherein the on-board message broker is configured to monitor datalink availability and current state indicators and communicate to the first queue broker when to transition one or more of the plurality of message queues between a Prioritize-and-Store operating state and a Prioritize-and-Forward operating state based on the datalink availability and the current state indicators.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an air-space user generated policy, stored in the one of the first memory and the second memory, accessible by the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module, wherein the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module receives an incoming message, it categorizes the message, based on the air-space user generated policy, into one of a plurality of message groups pre-defined by the air-space user in policy based on a type of data carried by the message.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module is an on-board Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module stored in the first memory, the messages received at the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module are downlink messages, the first queue broker is an on-board queue broker stored in the first memory, and the plurality of message queues comprise downlink message queues.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the current state indicators include a current flight parameter that comprises at least one of:

a current phase of flight;

or

a current aircraft position.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the Class-of-Service tag is a two-dimensional classification including a relative cost component and a relative bandwidth capacity component.

17. The system of claim 12, further comprising an air-space user generated policy accessible by the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module, wherein the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module receives an incoming message, it categorizes the message, based on the air-space user generated policy, into one of a plurality of message groups pre-defined by the air-space user in policy based on a type of data carried by the message.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module is an on-ground Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module stored in the second memory, the messages received at the first Class-of-Service and Priority Tagging Module are uplink messages, the first queue broker is an on-ground queue broker stored in the second memory, and the plurality of message queues comprise uplink message queues.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein a status of the at least one data link associated with a first uplink message queue is communicated by the on-board message broker to the on-ground queue broker via a downlink message.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the on-ground queue broker determines a number of aircraft subscribed to a first uplink message queue and replicates one or more messages stored in a first uplink message queue based on the number of aircraft subscribed to the first message queue.