Method and device for automatically comparing flight trajectories of aircraft
First Claim
1. A method for automatic comparison of a first flight trajectory and a second flight trajectory for an aircraft, wherein the first flight trajectory includes a first vertical trajectory and a first lateral trajectory, and the second flight trajectory includes a second vertical trajectory and a second lateral trajectory, wherein the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory each include a succession of lateral segments, with each lateral segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which describe a shape of the lateral segment and identify respective lateral departure and arrival points for the lateral segment, and the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory each include a succession of vertical segments, with each vertical segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which describe a shape of the vertical segment and identify respective vertical departure and arrival points for the vertical segment, the method comprising:
- a) receiving the first flight trajectory and the second flight trajectory;
b) automatically carrying out at least one of the following comparison steps b1 and b2;
b1) comparing the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters describing the shapes and the respective departure and arrival points of successive lateral segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second lateral trajectories, and wherein the comparison is continued for as long as the respective successive lateral segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories are identical over a predetermined distance in a horizontal plane; and
b2) comparing the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters describing the shapes and respective departure and arrival points of successive vertical segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second vertical trajectories, and wherein the comparison is continued for as long as the respective successive vertical segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories are identical over the predetermined distance in the horizontal plane; and
c) transmitting automatically the result of the comparison carried out in step b1) or b2) to a guidance device comprising an automatic pilot and/or flight director of the aircraft, a display that presents graphical information to a crew in the aircraft cockpit and a trajectory change unit that changes the first flight trajectory of the aircraft to the second flight directory where the comparison carried out in step b1) or b2) indicates that the first and second flight trajectories are the same for the predetermined distance.
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Abstract
A method and device for automatically comparing two flight trajectories for an aircraft includes a central processing unit having a first comparison element for automatically comparing lateral trajectories of the two flight trajectories, and a second comparison element for automatically comparing vertical trajectories of these two flight trajectories, these comparisons being carried out successively leg by leg of the flights, these comparisons being carried out as long as the respective successive legs are identical and at least for a predefined distance in the horizontal plane.
7 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for automatic comparison of a first flight trajectory and a second flight trajectory for an aircraft, wherein the first flight trajectory includes a first vertical trajectory and a first lateral trajectory, and the second flight trajectory includes a second vertical trajectory and a second lateral trajectory, wherein the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory each include a succession of lateral segments, with each lateral segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which describe a shape of the lateral segment and identify respective lateral departure and arrival points for the lateral segment, and the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory each include a succession of vertical segments, with each vertical segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which describe a shape of the vertical segment and identify respective vertical departure and arrival points for the vertical segment, the method comprising:
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a) receiving the first flight trajectory and the second flight trajectory; b) automatically carrying out at least one of the following comparison steps b1 and b2; b1) comparing the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters describing the shapes and the respective departure and arrival points of successive lateral segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second lateral trajectories, and wherein the comparison is continued for as long as the respective successive lateral segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories are identical over a predetermined distance in a horizontal plane; and b2) comparing the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters describing the shapes and respective departure and arrival points of successive vertical segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second vertical trajectories, and wherein the comparison is continued for as long as the respective successive vertical segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories are identical over the predetermined distance in the horizontal plane; and c) transmitting automatically the result of the comparison carried out in step b1) or b2) to a guidance device comprising an automatic pilot and/or flight director of the aircraft, a display that presents graphical information to a crew in the aircraft cockpit and a trajectory change unit that changes the first flight trajectory of the aircraft to the second flight directory where the comparison carried out in step b1) or b2) indicates that the first and second flight trajectories are the same for the predetermined distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A device for automatic comparison of a first and a second flight trajectories for an aircraft, the first flight trajectory comprising a first vertical trajectory and a first lateral trajectory, and the second flight trajectory comprising a second vertical trajectory and a second lateral trajectory, the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory comprising a succession of a plurality of lateral segments, with each lateral segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which characterize a shape of the lateral segment and identify respective lateral departure and arrival points, and the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory comprising a succession of a plurality of vertical segments, with each vertical segment being defined by corresponding geometric parameters which characterize a shape of the vertical segment and identify respective lateral departure and arrival points, the device comprising a processing unit configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processing unit causes the device to:
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receive the first flight trajectory and the second flight trajectory; compare the first lateral trajectory and the second lateral trajectory of the first flight trajectory and the second flight trajectory, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the geometric parameters defining the shapes and the respective departure and arrival points of successive lateral flight segments of the first and second lateral flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second lateral trajectories, and the comparison being performed while the successive lateral flight segments are identical over at least a predetermined distance in a horizontal plane; and compare the first vertical trajectory and the second vertical trajectory of the first and second flight trajectories, wherein the comparison is performed by comparing the corresponding geometric parameters defining the shapes and the respective departure and arrival points of successive vertical flight segments of the first and second vertical flight trajectories, rather than comparing individual points along the first and second vertical trajectories, the comparison being performed while the successive vertical segments are identical over at least the predetermined distance; and automatically transmit results of the comparisons to a guidance device comprising an automatic pilot and/or flight director of the aircraft, a display that presents graphical information to a crew in the aircraft cockpit and a trajectory change unit that changes the first flight trajectory of the aircraft to the second flight directory when both comparisons indicate that the first and second flight trajectories are the same for the predetermined distance. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for comparing a first flight trajectory with a second flight trajectory for an aircraft, the method comprising:
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causing a guidance device comprising a trajectory change unit to have the first flight trajectory govern a flight path of the aircraft; designating the second flight trajectory as a desired flight path of the aircraft; forming a first segment of the first flight trajectory, wherein the first segment includes a starting point and the first segment is defined by geometric parameters characterizing a shape of the first segment and, besides the first segment starting point, a first segment arrival point; forming a second segment of the second flight trajectory, wherein the second segment includes the starting point of the first segment and the second segment is defined by geometric parameters characterizing a shape of the second segment and, besides the second segment starting point, a second segment arrival point; comparing the shape and the starting and arrival points of the first segment to the shape and the starting and arrival points of the second segment, rather than comparing individual points along the first segment to individual points along the second segment; based on the comparison, determining that the first segment and the second segment are or are not identical; if the determination is that the first and second segments are not identical, causing the first flight trajectory to continue governing the flight path and reporting that the second flight trajectory is not suited to govern the flight path; if the determination is that the first and second segments are identical, segmenting the first flight trajectory to form another first segment which is in succession to the first segment and segmenting the second flight trajectory to form another second segment which is in succession to the second segment; repeating the forming, comparing and determining steps until a determination is made that one of the successive first and second segments are not identical or until at least one the first and second segments extend a predetermined distance, and in response to a succession of determinations that the first and second segments are identical, causing a guidance device comprising an automatic pilot and/or flight director of the aircraft, a display that presents graphical information to a crew in the aircraft cockpit and a trajectory change unit that changes the first flight trajectory of the aircraft to the second flight trajectory to thereby govern the flight path of the aircraft and reporting to the cockpit display the change in the flight trajectory governing the flight path of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification