System and method of integrating data link messages with a flight plan

• US 9,881,504 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2014
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Dominic, Maria John Paul, Pereira, Leonard, Kommuri, Siva, Pendyala, Anil Kumar, Kumar, Rakesh, He, Xiaozhong, Judd, Thomas D., Pepitone, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Nga X
• Application Number:
  US14/334,568
• Publication Number:
  US 20160019794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,293 Days
• Field of Search: 701484, 701 14- 16, 701 1- 3
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00

Abstract

In one embodiment, an aerospace system is provided. The aerospace system comprises at least one display unit configured to display flight data and a memory configured to store one or more flight plan associations. Each flight plan association is an association between a data link message and a respective waypoint in a flight plan. The aerospace system also comprises a processing unit configured to determine when each respective waypoint in the flight plan is reached based on a comparison of current location data to the flight plan. When each respective waypoint is reached, the processing unit is configured to identify any data link messages associated with the respective waypoint based on the flight plan associations and to direct the at least one display unit to display a respective notification for each identified data link message associated with the respective waypoint.

Claims

1. An aerospace system comprising:

a first display unit onboard an aircraft and configured to display flight data including a graphical depiction of a flight plan;

a second display unit onboard the aircraft and physically separate from the first display unit, wherein the second display unit is a text-only display unit configured to display data link messages;

a memory configured to store one or more flight plan associations, wherein each flight plan association is an association between a data link message and a respective waypoint in the flight plan; and

a processing unit configured to identify any data link messages associated with the respective waypoint based on the flight plan associations and to direct the first display unit to display a respective notification for each identified data link message associated with the respective waypoint on the graphical depiction of the flight plan to provide a visual reminder to a pilot that a particular data link message is applicable when the respective waypoint is reached;

wherein the second display unit is configured to display a corresponding downlink message screen when the respective waypoint is reached and a datalink message is to be sent.

2. The aerospace system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to cause each of the first and second display units to display the respective notification for each identified data link message.

3. The aerospace system of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second display units comprises a Multi-function Control and Display Unit (MCDU), a Multi-input Interactive Display Unit (MIDU), a Vertical Situation Display (VSD), or a Multi-Function Display (MFD) associated with a Communication Management Unit (CMU) or a Flight Management System (FMS).

4. The aerospace system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to analyze received uplink data link messages to identify terms and to generate the one or more flight plan associations based on the identified terms.

5. The aerospace system of claim 1, wherein the aerospace system includes a user input device configured to receive input from a user, wherein the one or more flight plan associations are generated based on input received via the user input device.

6. The aerospace system of claim 1, wherein the aerospace system includes a user input device configured to receive input from a user, wherein the processing unit is configured to direct the second display unit to display the corresponding downlink message screen in response to input from a user via options presented in the respective displayed notification.

7. The aerospace system of claim 1, wherein the one or more flight plan associations are pre-configured and loaded into a flight computer with the flight plan prior to a flight.

8. A method of integrating data link messages with a flight plan, the method comprising:

associating each of one or more data link messages with a respective one or more waypoints in the flight plan;

displaying flight data including a graphical depiction of the flight plan on a first display unit onboard an aircraft;

for each data link message associated with a respective waypoint, displaying a respective notification associated with the respective waypoint on the graphical depiction of the flight plan to provide a visual reminder to a pilot that a particular data link message is applicable when the respective waypoint is reached; and

displaying a corresponding downlink message screen on a second display unit, which is onboard the aircraft and physically separate from the first display unit, when the respective waypoint is reached and a datalink message is to be sent;

wherein the second display unit is a text-only display unit configured to display data link messages.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein associating each of the one or more data link messages with the respective one or more waypoints in the flight plan includes:

pre-configuring associations between the one or more data link messages and the respective one or more waypoints; and

uploading the preconfigured associations to a flight computer with the flight plan.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein associating each of the one or more data link messages with the respective one or more waypoints in the flight plan includes:

analyzing received uplink data link messages to identify terms; and

generating one or more associations between the one or more data link messages and the respective one or more waypoints based on the identified terms.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein associating each of the one or more data link messages with the respective one or more waypoints in the flight plan includes associating each of the one or more data link messages with the respective one or more waypoints based on data input by a user.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein displaying the respective notification includes displaying prompts for user input to take action based on the respective notification.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein displaying the corresponding downlink message screen is in response to user input received via the displayed prompts.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein displaying the corresponding downlink message screen comprises displaying a downlink message verification screen, the downlink message verification screen automatically populated with data corresponding to the downlink message.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein displaying the respective notification comprises displaying an icon with the respective waypoint on the graphical depiction of the flight plan, the icon indicating that an association exists between one of the one or more data link messages and the respective waypoint.

16. A program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable medium on which program instructions are embodied, wherein the program instructions are configured, when executed by at least one processor, to cause the at least one processor to:

associate each of one or more data link messages with a respective one or more waypoints in a flight plan;

display flight data including a graphical depiction of the flight plan on a first display unit onboard an aircraft;

for each data link message associated with a respective waypoint, display a respective notification associated with the respective waypoint on the graphical depiction of the flight plan to provide a visual reminder to a pilot that a particular data link message is applicable when the respective waypoint is reached; and

display a corresponding downlink message screen on a second display unit, which is onboard the aircraft and physically separate from the first display unit, when the respective waypoint is reached and a datalink message is to be sent;

wherein the second display unit is a text-only display unit configured to display data link messages.

17. The program product of claim 16, wherein the display of the respective notification comprises a display of an icon with the respective waypoint on the graphical depiction of the flight plan, the icon indicating that an association exists between a data link message and the respective waypoint.

18. The program product of claim 16, wherein the program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to:

analyze received uplink data link messages to identify terms; and

generate one or more flight plan associations based on the identified terms, wherein each flight plan association is an association between a data link message and a respective waypoint in the flight plan.

19. The program product of claim 16, wherein the program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to direct each of the first and second display units to display simultaneously the respective notification for each data link message associated with the respective waypoint.

20. The program product of claim 16, wherein the program instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to direct the second display unit to display the corresponding downlink message screen in response to input from a user via options presented in the respective displayed notification.