Patent Grant
10490089
The technical field generally relates to aircraft safety and notification systems, and more particularly relates to systems and related operating methods for employing a Vertical Situation Display (VSD) in Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) assisted visual separation.
The phase of flight prior to landing an aircraft is referred to as “approach,” requiring an approach procedure. Approach procedures at a crowded landing situation may involve multiple aircraft lining up sequentially and following each other (in a manner often referred to as “in-trail”), at the direction of Air Traffic Control (ATC). Approach procedures may be instrument based or visual. A visual approach requires the pilot of an ownship to be able to see, out-the-window of the ownship, another “target” aircraft, and follow it, for at least a portion of the approach procedure, perhaps until the target aircraft lands. In undertaking a visual approach, the pilot accepts responsibility to maintain, until landing, an ATC designated visual in-trail “separation distance” between the ownship and the target aircraft, and the weather conditions must be suitable for visibility.
In low visibility instances, a pilot may intermittently lose his out-the-window view of the target aircraft. In those instances, the pilot may additionally rely on a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) to track the target aircraft and maintain the designated separation distance, thereby being able to maintain or not abandon the visual approach. In support of this, procedures for CDTI Assisted Visual Separation (CAVS) have been developed. Conventionally, the CDTI is displayed as a top down view on a lateral, or navigation, display on an aircraft display system. As may be readily understood, the presentation of CAVS information in a top down view either completely omits or ineffectively conveys a variety of relevant vertical visual approach information.
Accordingly, systems and methods directed to improvements in the presentation of CAVS procedures on an aircraft display system over what is conventionally available are desirable. The desirable systems and methods employ a vertical display, thereby providing additional relevant visual approach information, such as a vertical distance between the ownship and the target aircraft, and descent rates of the ownship and the target aircraft. The following disclosure provides these technological enhancements over conventional CAVS procedures, in addition to addressing related issues.
This summary is provided to describe select concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.2
In accordance with an embodiment, a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) assisted Visual Separation (CAVS) System is provided. The CAVS system comprising: a lateral display; a vertical situation display (VSD); and a control module coupled to the lateral display and the VSD, the control module comprising a processor and a memory device, and configured to: (a) identify neighbor traffic based on traffic data received from an automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B), (b) command the lateral display to render a lateral image and the VSD to render a vertical image, each image comprising the neighbor traffic and features associated with a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) Assisted Visual Separation (CAVS) application, (c) receive a user selected traffic subsequent to (b), and, (d) responsive to (c), command the lateral display and the VSD to concurrently, update the lateral image and the vertical image to (i) visually distinguish the user selected traffic from remaining neighbor traffic, and (ii) depict a user selected range distance.
Also provided is a method for Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) assisted Visual Separation (CAVS), comprising: at a control module, (a) identifying neighbor traffic; (b) filtering the neighbor traffic with a predetermined data quality criteria; (c) commanding a vertical situation display (VSD) to render filtered traffic in a visually distinct manner with respect to remaining neighbor traffic in a vertical image; (d) concurrently with (c), commanding a lateral display to render neighbor traffic in a lateral image; (e) receiving a user selected traffic from the VSD subsequent to (d); and, (f) responsive to (e), commanding the lateral display and the VSD to concurrently visually distinguish the user selected traffic from remaining neighbor traffic.
In accordance with another embodiment, a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) assisted visual separation (CAVS) system on an ownship is provided. The CAVS system comprising: a lateral display; a vertical situation display (VSD); and a control module coupled to the lateral display and the VSD, the control module comprising a processor and a memory device, and configured to: (a) process traffic data received to identify neighbor traffic; (b) filter the neighbor traffic with a predetermined data quality criteria; (c) command the lateral display to render an image comprising the neighbor traffic; (d) command a vertical situation display (VSD) to render filtered traffic in a visually distinct manner with respect to remaining neighbor traffic; (e) receive a user selected traffic subsequent to (d), and, (f) responsive to (e), command the lateral display and the VSD to concurrently, update the lateral image and the vertical image to (i) visually distinguish the user selected traffic from remaining neighbor traffic, and (ii) depict a user selected range distance.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the system and method will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the preceding background.
The present application will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and:
The following detailed description is merely illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the embodiments of the subject matter or the application and uses of such embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Thus, any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described herein are exemplary embodiments provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention that is defined by the claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary, or the following detailed description.
As used herein, the term module refers to any hardware, software, firmware, electronic control component, processing logic, and/or processor device, individually or in any combination, including without limitation: application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. The provided system and method may take the form of a CAVS VSD module (
The disclosed control module provides an enhancement over conventional CDTI Assisted Visual Separation systems, in part, by integrating CAVS procedures on both a vertical situation display (VSD) and a lateral display on an aircraft display system. As used herein, the control module is the CAVS VSD module (
Turning now to
Neighbor traffic are understood to have appropriate ADS-B out capability, such that the ADS-B source 106 may provide reliable traffic data. In the depicted embodiment, the CAVS VSD module 104 processes traffic data received from the ADS-B source 106 and identifies neighbor traffic therein. The CAVS VSD module 104 commands the display system 112 to render images comprising the neighbor traffic and other features associated with a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) for a pilot to review. In various embodiments, the CAVS VSD module 104 filters the ADS-B data with one or more predetermined data quality criteria, generating therefrom a subset of the neighbor traffic in the ADS-B data, referred to herein as filtered data. The CAVS VSD module 104 may then command a vertical situation display, VSD 122, to display the filtered data in a visually distinct manner with respect to the remaining neighbor traffic, and may limit a pilot's selection on the VSD 122 to only neighbor traffic within the filtered traffic subset. Doing so provides a technical benefit of, when selected via the VSD 122, ensuring that the pilot's neighbor traffic selection meets the increased data quality criteria. The pilot may rely on various aspects of this displayed traffic data in the course of operating an aircraft.
In some embodiments, wireless signals 105 comprise wireless signal from other wireless sources of data. For example, wireless signals 105 may be provided by a datalink and air traffic control (ATC) system, an electronic flight bag (EFB)/electronic ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), a traffic collision and avoidance system (TCAS), a weather information system, and other systems as conventionally known to persons of skill in the art.
The transceiver 108 enables the CAVS VSD module 104 to establish and maintain the communications links to onboard components (not shown), and the ADS-B source 106. The transceiver 108 may include at least one receiver and at least one transmitter that are operatively coupled to the CAVS VSD module 104. The transceiver 108 can support wired and a variety of types of wireless communication, and can perform signal processing (e.g., digitizing, data encoding, modulation, etc.) as is known in the art. In some embodiments, the transceiver 108 is integrated with the CAVS VSD module 104.
In various embodiments, the user input device 110 may include any one, or combination, of various known user input device devices including, but not limited to: a touch sensitive screen; a cursor control device (CCD) (not shown), such as a mouse, a trackball, or joystick; a keyboard; one or more buttons, switches, or knobs; a voice input system; and a gesture recognition system. Non-limiting examples of uses for the user input device 110 include: entering values for stored variables 164, loading or updating instructions and applications 160, and loading and updating the contents of the database 156, each described in more detail below.
As depicted in
The aural alert system 114 may comprise any combination of speakers, bells, or alarms sufficient to generate sound that the pilot can hear. The aural alert system 114 may receive commands from the CAVS VSD module 104 and convert the commands into emitted sounds. Accordingly, the aural alert system 114 may comprise a means for converting the commands into emitted sounds.
The CAVS VSD module 104 performs the functions of the CAVS VSD system 102. With continued reference to
The CAVS VSD module 104 also includes an interface 154, communicatively coupled to the processor 150 and memory 152 (via a bus 155), database 156, and an optional storage disk 158. In various embodiments, the CAVS VSD module 104 performs actions and other functions in accordance with steps of a method 1000 described in connection with
A computer readable storage medium, such as a memory 152, the database 156, or a disk 158 may be utilized as both storage and a scratch pad. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to the data bits. The memory 152 can be any type of suitable computer readable storage medium. For example, the memory 152 may include various types of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as SDRAM, the various types of static RAM (SRAM), and the various types of non-volatile memory (PROM, EPROM, and flash). In certain examples, the memory 152 is located on and/or co-located on the same computer chip as the processor 150. In the depicted embodiment, the memory 152 stores the above-referenced instructions and applications 160 along with one or more configurable variables in stored variables 164.
The database 156 are computer readable storage mediums in the form of any suitable type of storage apparatus, including direct access storage devices such as hard disk drives, flash systems, floppy disk drives and optical disk drives. The stored alert information for each event comprises: alert content, format and presentation, for a variety of display systems 112, as well as corrective actions for each event). Information in the databases 156 may be organized or imported during an initialization step (at 1002 of the method 1000 in
The bus 155 serves to transmit programs, data, status and other information or signals between the various components of the CAVS VSD module 104. The bus 155 can be any suitable physical or logical means of connecting computer systems and components. This includes, but is not limited to, direct hard-wired connections, fiber optics, infrared and wireless bus technologies. During operation, the CAVS VSD program 162, stored in the memory 152, is loaded and executed by the processor 150.
The interface 154 enables communications within the CAVS VSD module 104, can include one or more network interfaces to communicate with other systems or components, and can be implemented using any suitable method and apparatus. For example, the interface 154 enables communication from a system driver and/or another computer system. In one embodiment, the interface 154 obtains the various traffic data from the ADS-B source 106 directly. The interface 154 may also include one or more network interfaces to communicate with technicians, and/or one or more storage interfaces to connect to storage apparatuses, such as the database 156.
During operation, the processor 150 loads and executes one or more programs, algorithms and rules embodied as instructions and applications 160 contained within the memory 152 and, as such, controls the general operation of the CAVS VSD module 104 as well as the CAVS VSD system 102. In executing the process described herein, such as the method 1000 of
It will be appreciated that CAVS VSD system 102 may differ from the embodiment depicted in
Responsive to the user selection, the CAVS VSD module 102 employs one or more techniques to visually distinguish the user selection from remaining traffic on the vertical image 204 and the lateral image 202. Referring to
In
In
To further encourage/support the pilot's focus on the selected traffic 54, and minimize the pilot's distraction by other neighboring traffic, the CAVS VSD module 104 may additionally employ visual techniques to minimize or remove the other (unselected) neighbor traffic. In various embodiments, the other neighbor traffic (56, 58) may be shaded grey, or may be completely removed from the vertical image 204 on the VSD 122 (as is shown in
As the ownship 50 travels, the distance between the ownship 50 and the selected traffic 54 may expand or shrink. The CAVS VSD module 104 continuously, and in real time, (i) determines the distance between the ownship 50 and the selected traffic 54, and (ii) compares that distance to the selected range distance 404. Based on the comparison, one or more different types of alerts may be generated. The generated alerts may have different levels of priority. For example, the CAVS VSD module 104 may generate a first alert of a first priority when it is determined that the distance between the ownship 50 and the selected traffic 54 is equal to the selected range distance 404; in various embodiments, the first alert may be an advisory alert. The CAVS VSD module 104 may display the generated advisory alert as one or more visually distinctive changes on the vertical image 204. For example, with reference to
The CAVS VSD module 104 may generate a second alert of a second priority, the second alert being a higher priority than the first alert, and therefore more cautionary, when the CAVS VSD module 104 determines that the distance between the ownship 50 and the selected traffic 54 is less than the selected range distance 404. As with the advisory alert, the CAVS VSD module 104 may generate the cautionary alert as one or more visually distinctive changes on the vertical image 204. For example, with reference to
In various embodiments, the CAVS VSD module 104 may generate a third alert responsive to determining that the distance between the ownship 50 and the selected traffic 54 has decreased to the point of entering a Traffic Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS) protection zone.
As mentioned, the processor 150 and the CAVS VSD program 162 form a CAVS VSD engine that continually, and in real time, determines the distance between an ownship 50 and a CAVS user selected traffic 54, and generates alerts in accordance with a set of rules encoded in the CAVS VSD program 162. Referring now to
The method starts, and at 1002 the CAVS VSD module 104 is initialized. As mentioned above, initialization may comprise uploading or updating instructions and applications 160, CAVS VSD program 162, stored variables 164, and the various lookup tables stored in the database 156. Generally, predetermined variables include, for example, an altitude above the ownship and an altitude below the ownship that defines a range line, range variables used for determining neighbor traffic, default range distances for alerts, various shapes and various colors and/or visually distinguishing techniques used for alerts. Default range distances may be based on, for example, the weight category of the CAVS selected target, e.g. 3 miles for a large transport category aircraft. In an embodiment, at 1002, the method 1000 initializes map data in a database 156. In some embodiments, CAVS VSD program 162 includes additional instructions and rules for rendering information differently based on type of display device in display system 112. Initialization at 1002 may also include identifying sources of traffic information and other input wireless signals 105, and referencing the CAVS VSD program 162 for predetermined data quality criteria that is applied to ADS-B data at 1008.
At 1004, neighbor traffic is identified. Identification of neighbor traffic may comprise processing ADS-B data with one or more range variables. In addition, at 1004, the ADS-B data may be filtered with one or more predetermined data quality criteria, generating therefrom a filtered data subset of the neighbor traffic in the ADS-B data. At 1006, the method 1000 commands the lateral display 120 and the VSD 122 to concurrently (i) render neighbor traffic, and (ii) render or support CAVS application features. At 1006, when the filtered data subset is generated and used, only neighbor traffic in the filtered data subset may be rendered on the VSD 122. In various embodiments, the rendering of the CAVS application features may not be observable until a user selects a neighbor traffic. As used herein, supporting CAVS application features means that, upon selecting a neighbor traffic, in either of the lateral display 120 or the VSD 122, CAVS application features, such as a prompt to enter a selected range distance, will appear on the respective display (see
At 1008, the predetermined data quality criteria are applied to the neighbor traffic data in the received ADS-B data, which creates a filtered subset of the neighbor traffic. As mentioned, the filtered subset of neighbor traffic is referred to as “filtered traffic” for short. The image on the VSD 122 is updated responsive to the filtered traffic; in various embodiments, this means that filtered traffic are displayed in a visually distinguishable manner when compared to the display of the remaining neighbor traffic. Subsequent to viewing the updated image on the VSD 122, when the user attempts to select a neighbor traffic on the VSD 122, the CAVS VSD module 104 may limit user selection on the VSD 122 to the filtered traffic, i.e., it only allows selection of neighbor traffic that are members of the filtered traffic subset.
At 1010, responsive to receiving a user selected target (user selected traffic 54), the CAVS VSD module 104 concurrently updates the lateral display 120 and the VSD 122 updated as follows. The selected target is rendered in a visually distinguishable manner (see
At 1012, the CAVS VSD module 104 continuously determines the distance between the ownship 50 and the user selected traffic 54. This determination may be in nautical miles (nm). The determined distance between the ownship 50 and the user selected traffic 54 is continuously compared to the user selected range distance 404 and other relevant variables, such as TCAS distances. Based on the results of the comparison at 1012, the CAVS VSD module 104 generates alerts at 1014. As mentioned above, there may be an advisory alert and a cautionary alert, each easily distinguishable from the other by a pilot. In addition, the alerts may comprise an audible component. From 1014, the method 1000 may end, for example, if the target lands or the method 1000 may return to 1012 for continuously determining the separation distance between the ownship 50 and the user selected traffic 54.
As is readily appreciated, the above examples of CAVS procedures on a VSD 122 are non-limiting, and many others may be addressed by the CAVS VSD module 104. Thus, systems and methods directed to improvements in the presentation of CAVS procedures on an aircraft display system over conventional CAVS systems are provided. Specifically, the vertical display not only provides another area of the display system 112 to select and designate neighbor traffic as CAVS targets, but also provides additional relevant visual approach information, such as a vertical distance between the ownship and the target aircraft, descent rates of the ownship and the target and an alerting function for the user-selected CAVS range.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Some of the embodiments and implementations are described above in terms of functional and/or logical block components (or modules) and various processing steps. However, it should be appreciated that such block components (or modules) may be realized by any number of hardware, software, and/or firmware components configured to perform the specified functions. To clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention. For example, an embodiment of a system or a component may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, digital signal processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, or the like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments described herein are merely exemplary implementations.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a controller or processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC.
In this document, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Numerical ordinals such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. simply denote different singles of a plurality and do not imply any order or sequence unless specifically defined by the claim language. The sequence of the text in any of the claims does not imply that process steps must be performed in a temporal or logical order according to such sequence unless it is specifically defined by the language of the claim. The process steps may be interchanged in any order without departing from the scope of the invention as long as such an interchange does not contradict the claim language and is not logically nonsensical.
Furthermore, depending on the context, words such as “connect” or “coupled to” used in describing a relationship between different elements do not imply that a direct physical connection must be made between these elements. For example, two elements may be connected to each other physically, electronically, logically, or in any other manner, through one or more additional elements.
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the invention, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. It will also be appreciated that while the depicted exemplary embodiment is described in the context of a fully functioning computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that the mechanisms of the present disclosure are capable of being distributed as a program product with one or more types of non-transitory computer-readable signal bearing media used to store the program and the instructions thereof and carry out the distribution thereof, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium bearing the program 136 and containing computer instructions stored therein for causing a computer processor (such as the processor 150) to perform and execute the program 136. Such a program product may take a variety of forms, and the present disclosure applies equally regardless of the particular type of computer-readable signal bearing media used to carry out the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include: recordable media such as floppy disks, hard drives, memory cards and optical disks, and transmission media such as digital and analog communication links. It will be appreciated that cloud-based storage and/or other techniques may also be utilized in certain embodiments.
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