Flight control system with synthetic inertial glideslope deviation and method of use
First Claim
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1. A flight control module for computing glideslope deviation during landing of an aircraft, comprising:
- a communication interface coupled to a radar altimeter and configured to receive;
first and second glideslope deviation signals indicative of respective glideslope deviations computed based on a glideslope transmission received by said aircraft,an altitude of said aircraft measured by the radar altimeter, andinertial data for said aircraft;
a processor coupled to said communication interface and configured to compute an inertial glideslope deviation based on the inertial data when the altitude falls below a predetermined threshold; and
a signal selection fault detection (SSFD) module configured to select one glideslope deviation from among the respective glideslope deviations when said aircraft is operating above the predetermined threshold, and from among the respective glideslope deviations and the inertial glideslope deviation when said aircraft is operating below the predetermined threshold, wherein the selected glideslope deviation is for use in controlling an automated landing system of said aircraft.
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Abstract
A flight control module for computing glideslope deviation during landing of an aircraft is provided. The flight control module includes a communication interface and a processor. The communication interface is configured to receive inertial data for the aircraft. The processor is coupled to the communication interface and configured to compute an inertial glideslope deviation based on the inertial data.
37 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A flight control module for computing glideslope deviation during landing of an aircraft, comprising:
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a communication interface coupled to a radar altimeter and configured to receive; first and second glideslope deviation signals indicative of respective glideslope deviations computed based on a glideslope transmission received by said aircraft, an altitude of said aircraft measured by the radar altimeter, and inertial data for said aircraft; a processor coupled to said communication interface and configured to compute an inertial glideslope deviation based on the inertial data when the altitude falls below a predetermined threshold; and a signal selection fault detection (SSFD) module configured to select one glideslope deviation from among the respective glideslope deviations when said aircraft is operating above the predetermined threshold, and from among the respective glideslope deviations and the inertial glideslope deviation when said aircraft is operating below the predetermined threshold, wherein the selected glideslope deviation is for use in controlling an automated landing system of said aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A flight control system for landing an aircraft, said flight control system comprising:
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a communication bus; first and second multi-mode receivers (MMRs) coupled to said communication bus and configured to; compute first and second glideslope deviations based on received glideslope signals, and transmit first and second glideslope deviation signals indicative of the first and second glideslope deviations onto said communication bus; and a flight control module coupled to said communication bus and configured to; receive inertial data for the aircraft and the first and second glideslope deviation signals over said communication bus, initialize an inertial glideslope deviation computation when an altitude of said aircraft falls below a predetermined altitude, compute an inertial glideslope deviation based on the inertial data, select one glideslope deviation from among the first and second glideslope deviations and the inertial glideslope deviation, and transmit the one glideslope deviation to an automated landing system for said aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of detecting a glideslope deviation for an aircraft during landing, said method comprising:
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receiving first and second instrument landing system (ILS) glideslope signals; computing first and second multi-mode receiver (MMR) glideslope deviations with respect to a main landing gear of the aircraft based on the ILS glideslope signals; filtering the first and second MMR glideslope deviations; translating a filtered MMR glideslope deviation from the main landing gear to a guidance control point (GCP) for the aircraft; initializing an inertial glideslope deviation computation based on the filtered MMR glideslope deviation when an altitude of the aircraft falls below a predetermined threshold; integrating inertial data, generated by an inertial reference unit (IRU) for the aircraft, from the filtered MMR glideslope deviation to generate an inertial glideslope deviation with respect to the IRU; and translating the inertial glideslope deviation from the IRU to the GCP. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification