Flight management mode transitioning for aircraft trajectory management

• US 9,711,055 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2015
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Vesely, Petr, Krupansky, Petr, Klang, Pavel, Jonak, Jaroslav, Polansky, Michal
• Primary Examiner(s): Hilgendorf, Dale W
• Application Number:
  US14/733,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20160358481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 771 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/005 Flight directors indicating arrangements specially adapted for rotary gyroscopes G01C19/32
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/913 for landing purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0676 specially adapted for landing
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0008 with other aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/02 Automatic approach or landing aids, i.e. systems in which flight data of incoming planes are processed to provide landing data landing aids fitted in or to aircraft B64D45/04; visual or acoustic landing aids B64F1/18
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/045 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. determination of anti-collision manoeuvers radar or analogous systems specially adapted for anti-collision between aircraft G01S13/933

Abstract

This disclosure is directed to systems and methods for smart transitioning between aircraft trajectory management modes. In one example, a system is configured to track a speed of a target aircraft in flight ahead of an own aircraft on which the system is positioned. The system is further configured to determine whether the target aircraft has maintained a rate of change in speed within a selected range of variation in change of speed, for a selected period of time. The system is further configured to enable an activation of a merging trajectory management mode of the own aircraft in response to determining that the own aircraft is in a trajectory management mode transition airspace and that the target aircraft has maintained the rate of change in speed within the selected range of variation in change of speed, for the selected period of time.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more memory devices; and

one or more processors operably coupled to the one or more memory devices, wherein the one or more processors are configured to;

track a speed of a target aircraft in flight ahead of an own aircraft on which the system is positioned;

determine whether the target aircraft has maintained a rate of deceleration or acceleration within a selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for a selected period of time; and

enable an activation of a merging trajectory management mode of the own aircraft in response to determining that the own aircraft is in a trajectory management mode transition airspace and that the target aircraft has maintained the rate of deceleration or acceleration within the selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for the selected period of time.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory management mode transition airspace comprises an airspace designated for transitioning from a cruise trajectory management mode to the merging trajectory management mode on approach to an airport.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the cruise trajectory management mode comprises Initial Four-Dimension (I4D) Trajectory Management mode.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the merging trajectory management mode comprises Airborne Spacing-Flight Interval Management (ASPA-FIM) mode.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein determining that the own aircraft is in the trajectory management mode transition airspace comprises receiving an indication that the own aircraft is in the trajectory management mode transition airspace from an ASPA-FIM mode unit that manages the ASPA-FIM mode.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein enabling the activation of the merging trajectory management mode of the own aircraft comprises outputting a merging trajectory management mode activation signal to a Flight Management System (FMS) of the own aircraft.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to deactivate the cruise trajectory management mode in response to determining that the own aircraft is in the trajectory management mode transition airspace and that the target aircraft has maintained the rate of deceleration or acceleration, within the selected interval of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for the selected period of time.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive cooperative surveillance messages from the target aircraft, and to track the speed of the target aircraft based on the cooperative surveillance messages received from the target aircraft.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the cooperative surveillance messages comprise automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) messages, and the one or more processors are configured to track the speed of the target aircraft based on ADS-B messages received from the target aircraft.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the selected period of time is between 15 and 90 seconds.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the selected interval of variation in change of speed is less than or equal to a variation of five knots above or below a constant value of deceleration.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to output a mode transition advisory to a cockpit display/input system (CDIS) of the own aircraft.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine whether the target aircraft has maintained the rate of deceleration or acceleration within the selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration for the selected period of time according to target aircraft speed change stability criteria based on speed matrix data for the target aircraft.

14. A method comprising:

tracking, by one or more processors, a speed of a target aircraft in flight ahead of an own aircraft on which the system is positioned;

determining, by the one or more processors, whether the target aircraft has maintained a rate of deceleration or acceleration within a selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for a selected period of time;

enabling, by the one or more processors, an activation of a merging trajectory management mode of the own aircraft in response to determining that the own aircraft is in a trajectory management mode transition airspace and that the target aircraft has maintained the rate of deceleration or acceleration within the selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for the selected period of time.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the trajectory management mode transition airspace comprises an airspace designated for transitioning from a cruise trajectory management mode to the merging trajectory management mode on approach to an airport.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the cruise trajectory management mode comprises Initial Four-Dimension (I4D) Trajectory Management mode.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the merging trajectory management mode comprises Airborne Spacing-Flight Interval Management (ASPA-FIM) mode.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining that the own aircraft is in the trajectory management mode transition airspace comprises receiving an indication that the own aircraft is in the trajectory management mode transition airspace from an ASPA-FIM mode unit that manages the ASPA-FIM mode.

19. A non-transitory computer program product comprising executable instructions to cause one or more processors to:

track a speed of a target aircraft in flight ahead of an own aircraft on which the system is positioned;

determine whether the target aircraft has maintained a rate of deceleration or acceleration within a selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for a selected period of time; and

enable an activation of a merging trajectory management mode of the own aircraft in response to determining that the own aircraft is in a trajectory management mode transition airspace and that the target aircraft has maintained the rate of deceleration or acceleration within the selected range of variation in deceleration or acceleration, for the selected period of time.

20. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 19,

wherein the trajectory management mode transition airspace comprises an airspace designated for transitioning from a cruise trajectory management mode to the merging trajectory management mode on approach to an airport,

wherein the cruise trajectory management mode comprises Initial Four-Dimension (I4D) Trajectory Management mode, and

wherein the merging trajectory management mode comprises Airborne Spacing-Flight Interval Management (ASPA-FIM) mode.