AIRBORNE DATA LIBRARY

• US 20180248967A1
• Filed: 11/10/2015
• Published: 08/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Israel Aerospace Industries Limited (Government of Israel)
• Original Assignee: Israel Aerospace Industries Limited (Government of Israel)
• Inventors: Sabato, Moshe
• Granted Patent: US 10,965,769 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18504 Aircraft used as relay or high altitude atmospheric platform
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter includes, an airborne data library onboard an airborne platform, configured for automatic management of situation awareness data (SAD), the airborne data library comprising an onboard data management system; the on-board data management system comprises a data management unit and an onboard data-repository; the data management unit being operatively connectible to at least one computer processor and configured to: establish a communication link with at least one situation awareness data (SAD) source; obtain situation awareness data from the at least one SAD source; process the SAD based on data management logic being accessible to the data management unit.

Claims

1-17. -17. (canceled)

18. An airborne data library onboard an airborne platform, configured for automatic management of situation awareness data (SAD), the airborne data library comprising:

an onboard data management system onboard the airborne platform, the onboard data management system comprises a data management unit and an onboard data-repository, the data management unit being operatively connectible to at least one computer processor and configured to;

establish a communication network for directly communicating with at least one situation awareness data (SAD) source and one or more participating entities;

obtain situation awareness data from the at least one SAD source;

process the SAD and determine, based on data management logic being accessible to the data management unit, at least the following;

a) whether to store the obtained SAD locally in the onboard data-repository and/or whether to transmit the obtained SAD to a remote data-repository unit; and

b) whether or not to automatically provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity;

automatically provide the obtained SAD to the at least one participating entity depending on the determination; and

provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity responsive to a request received from the at least one participating entity.

19. The airborne data library according to claim 18 wherein the airborne platform is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle configured to fly above a mission area and provide SAD to participating entities operating in the mission area.

20. The airborne data library according to claim 18 wherein the data management logic includes one or more of the following parameters:

location of the participating entities with respect to a mission area;

type and function of the participating entities;

or

rank of the participating entities.

21. The airborne data library according to claim 18, wherein the onboard data management system is configured to:

continuously search different SAD sources for new and/or updated SAD; and

determine whether to store in the onboard data-repository the new and/or updated SAD based on the data management logic.

22. The airborne data library according to claim 18, wherein the obtained SAD pertains to a mission area and/or to participating entities operating within or with respect to the mission area.

23. The airborne data library according to claim 18, further comprising an information server configured to provide SAD responsive to received requests.

24. The airborne data library according to claim 18, wherein the data management unit is configured, responsive to a request issued by a participating entity to provide needed SAD to:

select a SAD acquiring entity suitable for providing the needed SAD; and

send a request to the selected SAD acquiring entity to provide the needed SAD.

25. The airborne data library according to claim 24, wherein the data management unit is further configured for selecting a SAD acquiring entity suitable for providing the needed SAD to:

determine a data acquisition device available to each of one or more SAD acquiring entities;

select at least one SAD acquiring entity from among the one or more SAD acquiring entities, if an available data acquisition device is appropriate for obtaining the needed SAD; and

send a request to the selected acquiring entity to provide the needed SAD.

26. The airborne data library according to claim 24, wherein the needed SAD is requested with respect to an area of interest, the data management unit is further configured for selecting a SAD acquiring entities suitable for providing the needed SAD to:

determine a current location of one or more SAD acquiring entities; and

select at least one SAD acquiring entity from among the one or more SAD acquiring entities, if a location of the at least one SAD is within a suitable distance from the area of interest.

27. In an airborne data library onboard an airborne platform, a method of managing situation awareness data (SAD);

the method comprising;

using an onboard data management system installed onboard the airborne vehicle for;

establishing a communication network for directly communicating with at least one situation awareness data (SAD) source and one or more participating entities;

obtaining situation awareness data from the at least one SAD source;

processing the SAD and determining, based on data management logic being accessible to the data management unit at least the following;

a) whether to store the obtained SAD locally in the onboard data-repository and/or whether to transmit the obtained SAD to a remote data-repository unit; and

b) whether or not to automatically provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity;

automatically providing the obtained SAD to the at least one participating entity depending on the determination; and

providing the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity responsive to a request received from the at least one participating entity.

28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising:

wherein the airborne platform is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV); and

maneuvering the UAV above a mission area and providing SAD to participating entities operating in the mission area.

29. The method according to claim 27, wherein the data management logic includes one or more of the following parameters:

location of the participating entities with respect to a mission area;

type and function of the participating entities;

or

rank of the participating entities.

30. The method according to claim 27, further comprising:

continuously searching different SAD sources for new and/or updated SAD; and

determining whether to store in the onboard data-repository the new and/or updated SAD based on the data management logic.

31. The method according to claim 27, wherein the obtained SAD pertains to a mission area and/or to participating entities operating within or with respect to the mission area.

32. The method according to claim 27, further comprising using an information server onboard for providing SAD responsive to received requests.

33. The method according to claim 27, further comprising:

responsive to a request issued by a participating entity to provide needed SAD;

selecting a SAD acquiring entity suitable for providing the needed SAD; and

sending a request to the selected SAD acquiring entity to provide the needed SAD.

34. The method according to claim 27, wherein the needed SAD is requested with respect to an area of interest, the selecting of a SAD acquiring entity suitable for providing the needed SAD further comprises:

determining a current location of one or more SAD acquiring entities; and

selecting at least one SAD acquiring entity from among the one or more SAD acquiring entities, if a location of the at least one SAD is within an acceptable distance from the area of interest.

35. The method according to claim 33, wherein the selecting of a SAD acquiring entity suitable for providing the needed SAD further comprises:

determining a data acquisition device available to each of one or more SAD acquiring entities;

selecting at least one SAD acquiring entity from among the one or more SAD acquiring entities, if an available data acquisition device is appropriate for obtaining the needed SAD; and

send a request to the selected acquiring entity to provide the needed SAD.

36. A non-transitory program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine operated in an airborne data library to perform a method of managing situation awareness data (SAD), the method comprising:

establishing a communication network for directly communicating with at least one situation awareness data (SAD) source and one or more participating entities;

obtaining situation awareness data from the at least one SAD source;

processing the SAD and determining, based on data management logic being accessible to the data management unit, at least the following;

a) whether to store the obtained SAD locally in the onboard data-repository and/or whether to transmit the obtained SAD to a remote data-repository unit; and

b) whether or not to automatically provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity;

automatically providing the obtained SAD to the at least one participating entities depending on the determination; and

providing the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity responsive to a request received from the at least one participating entity.

37. An unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) configured to operate as an airborne data library, the airborne data library being configured for automatically managing situation awareness data (SAD), the airborne data library comprising:

an onboard data management system onboard the UAV;

the onboard data management system comprises a data management unit and an onboard data-repository;

the data management unit being operatively connectible to at least one computer processor and configured to;

establish a communication network for directly communicating with at least one situation awareness data (SAD) source and one or more participating entities;

obtain situation awareness data from the at least one SAD source;

process the SAD and determine, based on data management logic being accessible to the data management unit the following;

a) whether to store the obtained SAD locally in the onboard data-repository and/or whether to transmit the obtained SAD to a remote data-repository unit; and

b) whether or not to automatically provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity;

automatically provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity depending on the determination; and

provide the obtained SAD to at least one participating entity responsive to a request received from the at least one participating entity.