Interface for accessing radar data

• US 9,417,325 B1
• Filed: 01/10/2014
• Issued: 08/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wing Aviation LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Posokhow, Bruno Andre, Bry, Adam, Bachrach, Abraham
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr
• Application Number:
  US14/152,630
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 342/27, 342/28, 342/29, 342/36, 342/52, 342 58- 60, 342/175, 342/195, 342 30- 32, 342450-456, 342463-465, 701/300, 701/301
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/91 for traffic control G01S13/93 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0011 associated with a remote control arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/101 specially adapted for aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0004 Transmission of traffic-related information to or from an aircraft airborne radio transmission systems in general H04B7/185; airborne wireless networks H04W84/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/045 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. determination of anti-collision manoeuvers radar or analogous systems specially adapted for anti-collision between aircraft G01S13/933

Abstract

A process is described that includes the generation and transmission of collision avoidance data and/or collision avoidance instructions based on data from 3-D radar scans of an airspace. The transmitted data and/or instructions could facilitate collision avoidance by aerial vehicles operating in the airspace. The transmitted data could be limited to protect the security, privacy, and/or safety of other aerial vehicles, airborne objects, and/or individuals within the airspace. The transmitted data could be limited such that only information pertaining to a region of the airspace proximate to a particular aerial vehicle was transmitted. The transmitted data could be limited such that it included instructions that could be executed by a particular aerial vehicle to avoid collisions and such that the transmitted data did not include location or other data associated with other aerial vehicles or airborne objects in the airspace.

Claims

1. A process comprising:

receiving, from at least one radar installation, data from 3-D radar scans of an airspace;

analyzing the data from the 3-D radar scans to determine collision avoidance data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace, wherein the determined collision avoidance data comprise determined locations of airborne objects in the airspace;

maintaining a list of subscriber entities authorized to receive collision avoidance data;

receiving location data associated with a particular aerial vehicle;

determining that the particular aerial vehicle is associated with a subscriber entity from the list of subscriber entities;

responsive to determining that the particular aerial vehicle is associated with a subscriber entity from the list of subscriber entities;

determining, based on the collision avoidance data and the location data associated with the particular aerial vehicle, one or more collision avoidance instructions for the particular aerial vehicle; and

transmitting the one or more collision avoidance instructions to facilitate operation of the particular aerial vehicle.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving trajectory data associated with the particular aerial vehicle;

wherein collision avoidance instructions comprise instructions to follow one of one or more safe paths, wherein the one or more safe paths are determined based at least on the received location and trajectory data associated with the particular aerial vehicle and the determined collision avoidance data, wherein the one or more safe paths define paths that could be followed by the particular aerial vehicle such that the particular aerial vehicle could avoid colliding with airborne objects in the airspace.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the collision avoidance instructions comprise a flight instruction, wherein the flight instruction describes a maneuver that could be executed by the particular aerial vehicle such that the particular aerial vehicle could avoid colliding with airborne objects in the airspace.

4. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the particular aerial vehicle is at risk of a collision;

wherein the transmitting of the one or more collision avoidance instructions is responsive to the determination that the particular aerial vehicle is at risk of collision.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein a subscription status of the subscriber entity of the list of subscriber entities that is associated with the particular aerial vehicle is altered if two conditions are met, wherein the first condition of the two conditions comprises the received location data associated with the particular aerial vehicle corresponding to a location within the airspace, wherein the second condition of the two conditions comprises the received location data associated with the particular aerial vehicle not corresponding to a determined location of an airborne object in the airspace.

6. A process comprising:

receiving, from at least one radar installation, data from 3-D radar scans of an airspace;

analyzing the data from the 3-D radar scans to determine collision avoidance data for the airspace;

receiving location data associated with a subscriber entity, wherein the location data indicates a respective location of each of one or more aerial vehicles that are associated with the subscriber entity;

filtering the determined collision avoidance data based on the location data associated with the subscriber entity; and

transmitting the filtered data to facilitate collision avoidance by the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the subscriber entity.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein filtering the determined collision avoidance data comprises substantially removing determined collision avoidance data corresponding to regions of the airspace not proximate to the indicated respective location of each of the one or more aerial vehicles.

8. The process of claim 6, wherein the determined collision avoidance data comprise position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace.

9. The process of claim 8, wherein the transmitted filtered data comprises a description of a set of volumes in the airspace, wherein each volume in the set of volumes contains one or more locations corresponding to a determined location of one or more obstacles in the airspace.

10. The process of claim 8, wherein the transmitted filtered data comprises at least the determined position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace proximate to the indicated respective location of each of the one or more aerial vehicles, wherein the subscriber entity comprises a first subscriber entity, and further comprising:

receiving location data associated with a plurality of subscriber entities, wherein the location data indicates a respective location of each of one or more aerial vehicles that are associated with the plurality of subscriber entities;

transmitting information based on the determined collision avoidance data to facilitate collision avoidance by the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the plurality of subscriber entities;

and wherein the filtered data transmitted to facilitate collision avoidance by the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the first subscriber entity comprises an indication of which, if any, of the airborne objects corresponding to the transmitted determined location and trajectory data correspond to any of the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the plurality of subscriber entities.

11. The process of claim 8, wherein a subscription status of the subscriber entity is altered if two conditions are met, wherein the first condition of the two conditions comprises the received location data associated with the subscriber entity corresponding to a location within the airspace, wherein the second condition of the two conditions comprises the location within the airspace corresponding to the received location data associated with the subscriber entity not substantially corresponding to a determined position of an airborne object in the airspace.

12. The process of claim 6, further comprising:

maintaining a subscriber privilege database, wherein the subscriber privilege database comprises a list of subscriber entities, wherein the list of subscriber entities comprises an entry corresponding to the subscriber entity, wherein the subscriber privilege database further comprises a description of the type of information that may be accessed by individual subscriber entities in the list of subscriber entities;

wherein filtering the determined radar data is based on a description of the type of information that may be accessed by the subscriber entity, wherein the description of the type of information that may be accessed by the subscriber entity is part of the subscriber privilege database.

13. A system comprising:

a radar system communication interface;

an aerial vehicle communication interface; and

a controller operably coupled to the radar system communication interface and the aerial vehicle communication interface, wherein the controller is configured to;

receive, using the radar system communication interface, data from 3-D radar scans of an airspace;

analyze the data from the 3-D radar scans to determine collision avoidance data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace, wherein the determined collision avoidance data comprise determined locations of airborne objects in the airspace;

receive, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, location data associated with a particular aerial vehicle;

determine, based on the collision avoidance data and the location data, one or more collision avoidance instructions for the particular aerial vehicle; and

transmit, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, the one or more collision avoidance instructions to facilitate operation of the particular aerial vehicle.

14. The system of claim 13:

wherein the controller is further configured to;

receive, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, trajectory data associated with the particular aerial vehicle; and

wherein the collision avoidance instructions comprise instructions to follow one of one or more safe paths, wherein the one or more safe paths are determined based at least on the received location and trajectory data associated with the particular aerial vehicle and the determined collision avoidance data, wherein the one or more safe paths define paths that could be followed by the particular aerial vehicle such that the particular aerial vehicle could avoid colliding with airborne objects in the airspace.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the collision avoidance instructions comprise a flight instruction, wherein the flight instruction describes a maneuver that could be executed by the particular aerial vehicle such that the particular aerial vehicle could avoid colliding with airborne objects in the airspace.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, information from a plurality of aerial vehicles, wherein the received information comprises location information corresponding to respective aerial vehicles in the plurality of aerial vehicles, wherein at least one aerial vehicle in the plurality of aerial vehicles is located in the airspace; and

update an algorithm based on the received information from the plurality of aerial vehicles, wherein analyzing the data from the 3-D radar scans to determine collision avoidance data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace comprises applying the algorithm to the data from the 3-D radar scans to calculate the determined locations of airborne objects in the airspace, and wherein updating the algorithm comprises altering the algorithm such that calculated locations of airborne objects in the airspace calculated using the algorithm after updating the algorithm are more accurate than calculated locations of airborne objects in the airspace calculated using the algorithm before updating the algorithm.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to:

maintain a list of subscriber entities authorized to receive collision avoidance data; and

determine that the particular aerial vehicle is associated with a subscriber from the list of subscriber entities, wherein the controller transmitting, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, the one or more collision avoidance instructions to facilitate operation of the particular aerial vehicle is performed responsive to the determination that the particular aerial vehicle is associated with the subscriber entity from the list of subscriber entities.

18. A system comprising:

a radar system communication interface;

an aerial vehicle communication interface; and

a controller operably coupled to the radar system communication interface and the aerial vehicle communication interface, wherein the controller is configured to;

receive, using the radar system communication interface, data from 3-D radar scans of an airspace;

analyze the data from the 3-D radar scans to determine collision avoidance data for the airspace;

receive, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, location data associated with a subscriber entity, wherein the location data indicates a respective location of each of one or more aerial vehicles that are associated with the subscriber entity;

filter the determined collision avoidance data based on the location data associated with the subscriber entity; and

transmit, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, the filtered data to facilitate collision avoidance by the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the subscriber entity.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein filtering the determined collision avoidance data comprises substantially removing determined collision avoidance data corresponding to regions of the airspace not proximate to the indicated respective location of each of the one or more aerial vehicles.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the determined collision avoidance data comprise position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the filtered data transmitted to the subscriber entity comprises a description of a set of volumes in the airspace, wherein each volume in the set of volumes contains one or more locations corresponding to a determined location of one or more obstacles in the airspace.

22. The system of claim 20:

wherein the filtered data transmitted to the subscriber entity comprises at least the determined position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace proximate to the indicated respective location of each of the one or more aerial vehicles

wherein the subscriber entity comprises a first subscriber entity;

wherein the controller is further configured to;

receive, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, location data associated with a plurality of subscriber entities, wherein the location data indicates a respective location of each of one or more aerial vehicles that are associated with the plurality of subscriber entities; and

transmit, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, information based on the determined collision avoidance data to the plurality of subscriber entities to facilitate collision avoidance by the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the plurality of subscriber entities; and

wherein the filtered data transmitted to the first subscriber further comprises an indication of which, if any, of the airborne objects corresponding to the transmitted determined location and trajectory data correspond to any of the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the plurality of subscriber entities.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive, using the aerial vehicle communication interface, information from a plurality of aerial vehicles, wherein the received information comprises location information corresponding to respective aerial vehicles in the plurality of aerial vehicles, wherein at least one aerial vehicle in the plurality of aerial vehicles is located in the airspace; and

update an algorithm based on the received information from the plurality of aerial vehicles, wherein determining collision avoidance data for the airspace comprises applying the algorithm to the data from the 3-D radar scans to calculate the position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace, and wherein updating the algorithm comprises altering the algorithm such that calculated position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace calculated using the algorithm after updating the algorithm are more accurate than calculated position and trajectory data corresponding to airborne objects in the airspace calculated using the algorithm before updating the algorithm.

24. The system of claim 18:

wherein the controller is further configured to maintain a subscriber privilege database, wherein the subscriber privilege database comprises a list of subscriber entities, wherein the list of subscriber entities comprises an entry corresponding to the subscriber entity, wherein the subscriber privilege database further comprises a description of the type of information that may be accessed by individual subscriber entities in the list of subscriber entities; and

wherein filtering the determined radar data is based on a description of the type of information that may be accessed by the subscriber entity, wherein the description of the type of information that may be accessed by the subscriber entity is part of the subscriber privilege database.

25. A process comprising:

receiving data about an airspace;

analyzing the data about the airspace to determine collision avoidance data for the airspace;

receiving a transmission from one or more aerial vehicles, wherein the one or more aerial vehicles are associated with a subscriber entity, wherein the received transmission comprises an indication of location data associated with the subscriber entity, wherein the location data indicates a respective location of each of the one or more aerial vehicles that are associated with the subscriber entity;

filtering the determined collision avoidance data based on the location data associated with the subscriber entity; and

transmitting, to the one or more aerial vehicles, the filtered data to facilitate collision avoidance by the one or more aerial vehicles associated with the subscriber entity.