Method and system for determining the position of an aircraft during its approach to a landing runway
First Claim
1. A method for guiding an aircraft during an approach in anticipation of landing on a runway, wherein said approach is selected in advance in the aircraft and the aircraft is guided during said approach by aircraft position information obtained from at least one GNSS satellite navigation system, wherein:
- determining in an automatic manner, prior to the start of the final approach corresponding with said approach, by a first processor in the aircraft;
a) a first time tFAF corresponding with the start of said final approach;
b) a second time tTD corresponding with the landing of the aircraft on the runway; and
c) a set of satellites of said satellite navigation system to be excluded from the calculation of said aircraft position information during at least one portion of the time interval between said first and second times, said set of satellites determined by a GNSS receiver in the aircraft; and
performing the following steps in an automatic and iterative manner, during said final approach,d) determining, by the GNSS receiver, said aircraft position information by excluding the information coming from all satellites of said satellite set; and
e) guiding, by a second processor in the aircraft, the aircraft along the final approach path of the aircraft using said position information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for guiding an aircraft during its final approach to a landing runway, whereby the aircraft is guided during its approach by aircraft position information obtained from an GNSS satellite navigation system, wherein: prior to the start of the final approach a first time tFAF is determined corresponding with the start of said final approach and a second time tTD corresponding with the landing of the aircraft on said runway, then a set of satellites is determined of the satellite navigation system for excluding from the calculation of said aircraft position information during at least a part of the time interval comprised between said first and second times; and during the final approach, the aircraft position information is determined while excluding the information corresponding with all the satellites of said set of satellites and the aircraft is guided along its final approach path by said position information.
27 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for guiding an aircraft during an approach in anticipation of landing on a runway, wherein said approach is selected in advance in the aircraft and the aircraft is guided during said approach by aircraft position information obtained from at least one GNSS satellite navigation system, wherein:
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determining in an automatic manner, prior to the start of the final approach corresponding with said approach, by a first processor in the aircraft; a) a first time tFAF corresponding with the start of said final approach; b) a second time tTD corresponding with the landing of the aircraft on the runway; and c) a set of satellites of said satellite navigation system to be excluded from the calculation of said aircraft position information during at least one portion of the time interval between said first and second times, said set of satellites determined by a GNSS receiver in the aircraft; and performing the following steps in an automatic and iterative manner, during said final approach, d) determining, by the GNSS receiver, said aircraft position information by excluding the information coming from all satellites of said satellite set; and e) guiding, by a second processor in the aircraft, the aircraft along the final approach path of the aircraft using said position information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A guidance system for an aircraft, the guidance system comprising:
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means for selecting an approach in anticipation of a landing on a runway; means configured for receiving signals from a GNSS satellite navigation system; a processing unit for determining the aircraft position information starting from said signals received from the GNSS satellite navigation system; an aircraft guidance means configured for receiving from the processing unit said aircraft position information and for producing signals for guiding the aircraft along a final approach path corresponding with the selected approach, in function of said position information, means for determining, prior to the start of the final approach, a first time tFAF corresponding with the start of said final approach and a second time tTD corresponding with the landing of the aircraft on said runway; and means for determining, prior to the start of the final approach, a set of satellites of said satellite navigation system to be excluded from the calculation of said aircraft position information during at least a part of the time interval comprised between said first and second times; wherein, said processing unit is configured to determine the aircraft position information, during the final approach, while excluding the information corresponding with the satellites of said set of satellites. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. An aircraft comprising a guidance system, said guidance system comprising:
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means for selecting an approach in anticipation of a landing on a runway; means configured for receiving signals from a GNSS satellite navigation system; a processing unit for determining the aircraft position information starting from said signals received from the GNSS satellite navigation system; an aircraft guidance means configured for receiving from the processing unit said aircraft position information and for producing signals for guiding the aircraft along a final approach path corresponding with the selected approach, in function of said position information, means for determining, prior to the start of the final approach, a first time tFAF corresponding with the start of said final approach and a second time tTD corresponding with the landing of the aircraft on said runway; and means for determining, prior to the start of the final approach, a set of satellites of said satellite navigation system to be excluded from the calculation of said aircraft position information during at least a part of the time interval comprised between said first and second times; wherein, said processing unit is configured to determine the aircraft position information, during the final approach, while excluding the information corresponding with the satellites of said set of satellites.
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Specification