Patent Application
20090118998
The present invention relates to real time tracking of aircraft, and more particularly to systems and methods for display of real time flight tracking data.
Over a period of many years, we have developed and enhanced technology for the real-time display of aircraft flight data. Although real-time display of aircraft flight data is now well known, there are challenges in usefully presenting information within the plethora of data available, for example, from the FAA, to enable a user to find information that is pertinent. Typical solutions in the prior art include providing, at a terminal to which the user has access, a filter by which the user may select for display, on a map, flights, for example, of a single airline or of a specified flight between two cities, or departures or arrivals from an airport.
It is known in the prior art to establish a computer-based real time display of a flight on a map in a flight following-mode where the map moves under the displayed flight. It is known in the prior art to establish a computer-based real time display of flight information on a map, allowing the user to initiate zoom and pan commands, and to list flight information on a screen or browser. We previously developed a large format airport display providing a map, with a random zoom feature, with icons indicating flights arriving at an airport using dedicated client software running in a personal computer environment.
In a first embodiment of the invention there is provided a computer-based method of displaying real time flight information for aircraft. In this embodiment, the method includes retrieving data previously stored for which there is real time flight information. The method also includes causing display, on a screen of a client computing device, automatically and repetitively of a plurality of views of a geographic map. Each view is overlaid with a group of icons corresponding to a group of flights in a pre-specified category for which there is real time flight information. The locations of the icons on the map correspond to locations for such flights based on real time flight information, and each view is associated with a distinct criterion for display of flights therein. Additionally, the pre-specified category is associated with a flight attribute or a geographic area in which such flights are present, and such views collectively display all viewable flights in the pre-specified category.
In a further related embodiment, the embodiment additionally includes causing display simultaneously on the screen of the client computing device, with the geographic map, of a list of flights in the pre-specified category. The list scrolls automatically at least to the extent necessary to cause repetitive display of the entire list. Additionally, contents of the list are coordinated with each of the views.
In a further related embodiment, each icon in the set of icons includes at least one of an airline abbreviation and an airline logo, and the method further includes causing display simultaneously on the screen of the client computing device, with the geographic map and the list, of a legend correlating airline name with at least one of airline abbreviation and airline logo.
Alternatively or in addition, each of the set of icons includes a textual component, and causing display of the map overlaid with the set of icons includes placing each of the textual components on the map in such a way as to at least usually avoid obscuring any other of the textual components.
Alternatively or in addition, the placing of the textual components on the map is done in such a way as to avoid obscuring any other icons and textual components by using the destination or departure airport and the air-traffic patterns to and from the said airport.
Also alternatively or in addition, these aspects may be included: (i) causing display of the list of flights pertinent to the area includes displaying flights in progress in the area; (ii) causing display of the list of flights pertinent to the area includes displaying flights that have recently landed; (iii) causing display of the list of flights pertinent to the area includes displaying scheduled flights that are not yet in air; or (iv) causing the map to be displayed automatically and repetitively among a plurality of views so as to repetitively cover a plurality of geographic regions, the views collectively displaying all flights in progress in the geographic regions.
Optionally, with respect to aspect (iv), a plurality of airlines have flights arriving at an airport, causing the map to be displayed automatically and repetitively among a plurality of views includes causing the map to cycle through successive views, with each view relating to a distinct group of airlines having flights arriving at the airport.
Optionally, with respect to aspect (iv), causing the map to be displayed automatically and repetitively among a plurality of views includes causing the map to cycle through successive views associated with distinct facilities.
Optionally, with respect to aspect (iv), the distinct facilities are selected from the group consisting of airports and terminals.
Optionally, with respect to aspect (iv), causing the map to be displayed automatically and repetitively among a plurality of views includes causing at least one of zooming or panning of the map. As a further option, causing the map to be displayed automatically and repetitively among a plurality of views includes causing both zooming and panning of the map.
In yet another variant of the embodiment described herein, display of the list includes changing the contents of the list synchronously with views of the map so that flights for which icons are shown on a view of the map simultaneously appear on the list.
Alternatively or in addition, the list includes all flights in progress arriving at an airport.
Alternatively or in addition, the list includes all flights in progress of a plurality of airlines having flights arriving at an airport. Optionally, the list is sorted by airline, and the list is arranged so that the list scrolls automatically through the arriving flights of a first airline before scrolling through any of the arriving flights of another airline.
Alternatively or in addition, the list includes flights in progress arriving at a plurality of locations, the list arranged so that the list scrolls automatically through the arriving flights of a first location before scrolling through any of the arriving flights of another location. Optionally, each of the locations is a distinct terminal of an airport. Alternatively, each of the locations is a distinct airport, and the airports are located near one another.
Alternatively or in addition, the list includes flights arriving at a terminal of an airport.
Also alternatively or in addition, the embodiment includes in response to a user input to the client computing device as to a desired criterion in display of flight information, using the criterion in causing display of flight information. Optionally, the user input is an interrupt command, operative on the display automatically and repetitively of the plurality of views, and using the criterion includes freezing a selected view being displayed. As a further embodiment, the method also includes providing a user input for selecting a flight of interest, and in response to the user input selecting a flight of interest, causing display of details concerning the flight of interest. Optionally, the user input for selecting the flight of interest also provides the interrupt command.
Alternatively or in addition, the method also includes causing display of at least one of an advertisement and a notification on the screen of the client computing device simultaneously with display of the geographic map.
In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a computerized method of placing AcID tags on a map in a graphical output. The map displays icons representing aircraft in flight. In this embodiment, the method includes retrieving data previously stored for which there is real time flight information, such data pertinent to flight data to be displayed on the map, processing the retrieved data to identify icon locations for placement of aircraft icons on the map corresponding to positions of the aircraft, further processing the retrieved data to identify tag locations for placement of AcID tags on the map, wherein each tag location for an aircraft is defined by using the aircraft's target airport as a reference, and providing a graphical output using the icon locations and the tag locations.
In a related embodiment the further processing includes assigning each such tag location to a primary position when available that is proximate to the corresponding icon and also generally aligned with a radial line running from the target airport through the corresponding icon.
In a further related embodiment the primary position is radially outside of the position of the corresponding icon with respect to the target airport.
In another further related embodiment when the primary position is not available for a selected tag, further processing includes assigning the selected tag location to a secondary position that is incrementally angularly displaced about the corresponding icon location from the primary position.
In another embodiment of the invention a computerized method of representing flight delay status on a map in a graphical output is provided. The map displays icons representing aircraft in flight. The method includes retrieving data previously stored for which there is real time flight information, such data pertinent to flight data to be displayed on the map, processing the retrieved data to identify icon locations for placement at least of aircraft icons on the map corresponding to positions of the aircraft, further processing the retrieved data to associate with each aircraft a visual characteristic, of at least one of its icon and its AcID tag, that is indicative of delay status of the flight, and providing a graphical output using the icon locations and the visual characteristic. The icon characteristic may be color. A first color of any icon may indicate that the flight to which the icon corresponds is delayed and a second color of the icon may indicate that the flight to which the icon corresponds is on time.
In a related embodiment of the invention visual appearance of the icon is modified according to the extent by which the flight to which the icon corresponds is delayed.
The foregoing features of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Definitions. As used in this description and the accompanying claims, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated, unless the context otherwise requires:
A “client computing device” includes a personal computer having at least one display, a mobile telephone or other portable digital device having an addressable display and capable of running local applications, such as Flash, or JavaScript or Java applets, in connection with a browser.
A “pre-specified category” of flights means a group of flights associated with a flight attribute or a geographic area in which such flights are present. The association with an attribute can be based explicitly on presence of the attribute in the flight (such as a flight employing a specific aircraft) or a temporal one (such as a flight that currently satisfies criterion x or that satisfied criterion x in the previous two hours). Some examples of a pre-specified category of flights are:
“Flight attribute” means a characteristic of the flight. Some examples of a flight attribute are: departure airport, arrival airport, scheduled departure time, scheduled arrival time, actual departure time, actual arrival time, estimated arrival time, aircraft type, airline that is operating the flight, airline that is code-sharing the flight, flight number, aircraft type, altitude of the flight, aircraft tail number, past, present or future flight plan waypoint for the flight, and past, present or future latitude and longitude of the flight.
To “coordinate” contents of a list of flights with a view means to list selected flights of the pre-defined category that are meaningful to the flights displayed on the map view.
Some examples of coordinating the list of flights with the view are as follows.
A “plurality of geographic regions” shown in a map includes a series of views of different locations, such as airports or terminals, as well as a series of views associated with a single location, such as an airport, wherein the views are the result of panning or zooming or both panning and zooming.
An “AcID tag” is a tag providing, for a specific aircraft flight represented by an icon on a map, flight attribute information for the flight, such as flight number, airline, aircraft type, etc. The flight attribute information may be expressed by means including text information, color code, logo, etc.
“Real time” flight information means flight information pertaining to any of flights in progress, flights recently in progress, and flights expected to be in progress, within the rhythm of operations of auxiliary support services at an airport, such as baggage handling, boarding supervision, airplane ramp operations, passenger greeting services, and limousine services. Flight information that has been delayed a number of minutes (for reasons including security) is still “real time” flight information for purposes of this definition.
“Target airport”. An airport with respect to which in a display view an aircraft is shown heading toward, or departing from, is the “target airport” for such aircraft,
A “graphical output” is a digital output for driving a display or printer associated with a computer.
A position for an AcID tag is “available” if, according to pre-established criteria, use of the position for placement of the tag does not obscure or overlap a specified feature such as other aircraft icons or AcID tags (or potentially other displayed information) to a degree deemed unacceptable.
Embodiments of the present invention systematically and automatically display potentially large amounts of flight data in such a manner that the user may easily find flight information of interest. Embodiments of the present invention rely on coordinated and simultaneous display of several different kinds of information in distinct formats.
The display of
The embodiments illustrated herein permit coordination of elements displayed, so that, for example, display of a map view can be coordinated with display of the scrolling list. We provide some examples herein.
In Example 1 the map views show in-air flights arriving Huntsville airport (HSV) while the scrolling list displays all flights scheduled to land at HSV within a timeframe. The listed flights includes all in-air flights, all flights not yet in-air but scheduled to arrive within a timeframe, and flights recently landed. Each map view shows the in-air flights visible at various zoom levels.
In this example and the following examples, in defining a pre-specified category of flights (besides those flights currently airborne), those flights that have landed or that are scheduled to depart can each be associated with a timeframe selected according to convenience and interest. For example, for flights that have landed, the timeframe may include all of those landing within 2 hours of the current time. For flights scheduled to depart, the timeframe may include all of those scheduled to depart anytime between the current time and up to 6 hours in the future. The list may give relevant information about each flight, such as departure airport, expected time of arrival or exact arrival time, and the status, for example “landed”, “in air”, or “scheduled”.
Also, in this and the following examples the numbers given for zoom width are given for illustrative purposes. The zoom widths can be set values or calculated by using the location of the flights to determine the width needed to display all the flights in the set.
We show three figures to illustrate the effect of Example 2. In
In
Example 3 illustrates the display of all the flights for a particular region, in this case, flights arriving New York airports JFK and LaGuardia (LGA) and New Jersey airport Newark (EWR). The display starts with the first airport, showing flights arriving at JFK. To keep the example simple, we show just two airlines for each airport. The map view shows American in-air flights arriving JFK and lists all American flights, scheduled, in-air, and landed, arriving JFK. After a pause, for example, 10 seconds, the view is changed to show all United in-air flights and the list is also changed to show all United flights, scheduled, in-air, and landed, arriving into JFK. After a pause the view shows all American in-air flights arriving LGA, while the list changes to show all American flights, scheduled, in-air, and landed, arriving LGA. This continues until the flights for each airline at each airport has been displayed. It then repeats the cycle, starting again with JFK.
In Example 4, similar to Example 3, all the flights for JFK, LGA, and EWR are shown airport by airport. However, in Example 4, the map view shows all the in-air flights departed or arriving at each airport and the list only shows the arriving flights for that airport.
In another example we provide a display for Atlanta airport.
We have two figures to illustrate Example 5. In
Algorithms
We now turn to algorithms used to handle flight display in various embodiments of the present invention. Various algorithms may be used to establish criteria associated with each view to automatically and repetitively display the flight information. In the following list of flight display algorithms, for simplicity, the algorithms detail arrivals to a specific airport, but they can also be applied to departures or other subcategories of flights. In each of these algorithms, the geographical map is zoomed to accommodate the display of each group of flights.
Zoom Algorithm
This algorithm displays the flights in a series of flights grouped by distance from the airport. The steps that are repeated for this algorithm are:
Time-to-Land Algorithm
This algorithm is used in Example 5 with sample map views shown in
Airline Algorithm
This algorithm is shown in
Spacing Algorithm
This algorithm allows for the display of flights in a manner that enables the user to easily observe all the flight data in a potentially flight-congested area The steps for this algorithm are:
Minimizing and Highlighting
In the previous algorithms the terms “minimizing” and “highlighting” refer to techniques to display the aircraft in such a manner where the highlighted aircraft are displayed such that the user can easily see the flight information for the aircraft. The minimized aircraft are not displayed or displayed in such a way that they may display or indicate some information but do not interfere with the display of the highlighted aircraft.
For example, a highlighted aircraft could be displayed in a bold color such as yellow, showing the aircraft icon and an AcID tag that indicates the airline logo, flight number, departure and arrival airport, the departure time and estimated time of arrival, the speed and altitude of the aircraft. A minimized aircraft may be a transparent aircraft icon indicating just its position. Minimizing may also be employed to remove the aircraft and its information from the display.
AcID Tag Placement
Where possible the AcID tags are located radially outside of the position of the corresponding icon with respect to the target airport, thereby providing a more readable display.
The aircraft display can be more useful when each displayed aircraft is labeled with an associated AcID tag. Preferably AcID tags are placed so that they do not obscure other aircraft icons or ACID tags. In many cases the aircraft shown in a given view are all heading toward, or departing from a single airport; furthermore air traffic to and from airports is controlled by the FAA so that flights follow a specific corridors or flight paths, which change based on the weather and other conditions at the airport. One can take advantage of the effect of these two factors, in the placement of the AcID tags to make the display more readable and to reduce overlap of the tags. In one embodiment of the invention, the location of the target airport is used to control tag placement using the following algorithm shown in
In process 142 the position of each aircraft in the list may be calculated and expressed using polar coordinates, wherein the angular position may be denoted by theta, (Θ), and the radial position may be denoted by “r,” both with respect to the origin, the target airport. The angular position is determined in relation to a configurable base direction from the airport (for example due East) that is selected.
In process 143 the list of aircraft to be displayed is sorted with a primary key being the angular position from the configurable base direction, in ascending order, and with a secondary key being the radial distance from the origin at the target airport in question, in descending order. (These may also be configured with different settings for ascending and descending with ultimately different tag placement.) A loop process is initiated in process 144 to determine tag placement of each aircraft in the list. In some embodiments the loop process will begin by determining the tag placement location of the aircraft with the lowest angular displacement (Θ). In this embodiment when more than one aircraft has the same angular displacement, priority is given to the flight that is the furthest from the target airport. In process 145 the AcID tag, for the flight identified in process 144, is placed onto the display in a position radially outside of the position of the corresponding icon with respect to the target airport—in this way planes leaving the target airport are “pushing” the AcID tag ahead of them, while aircraft approaching the target airport are “pulling” the AcID tag. Placing the tags away from the target airport relieves congestion in the display. Although we have described a position for placement of the tag that is radially outside of the position of the corresponding icon, we still find it convenient to orient the tag in a horizontal position. Thus, we say that the tag is “generally aligned” with a radial line running from the target airport through the corresponding icon, even though the tag is oriented horizontally.
In process 146 the AcID tag placement position is evaluated for conflicts with other elements on the map in order to determine whether the position is available. If the AcID tag does not obscure or overlap other aircraft icons or AcID tags or other elements of the display, then the placement is accepted and the next aircraft (based on radial position and radius) is selected via process 148 and the process loops back to process 144. If there is a conflict with another element of the display (an aircraft icon, AcID tag or other element of the display), then process 147 tests a series of alternative tag placements to find the most acceptable position. For example, if an aircraft icon is 90 degrees from the established base direction, then the default AcID tag placement would also be 90 degrees from the established base direction, but if an overlap is detected, then the configurable AcID tag offset would come into play. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the offset denotes rotation of the AcID tag about the corresponding aircraft icon position by a specified number of degrees. For example, if the configurable AcID tag offset were 10 degrees, then an evaluation would be made as to the availability of a position for the AcID tag 10 degrees away from the default AcID tag location. The initial direction (i.e. ±10 degrees) of rotation may also be specified. If the offset position was unavailable, process 147 would continue evaluating positions at increments corresponding to the configurable AcID tag offset on alternating sides of the default AcID tag location. If all positions generated are unavailable, then the AcID tag placement would repeat, but would try to use a longer callout line. The callout line is the line drawn between the aircraft identifier and the AcID tag.
Once the list is sorted, the primary or first tier sort criterion being the angular position, the list may be traversed in process 154, wherein significant angular gaps are identified. If the angular gap between flights adjacent to one another in the sorted list is less than a minimum value, then the set of aircraft are grouped together to represent a corridor of air traffic. The result of process 154 is division of the area around the target airport into a series of angular segments identified as either gaps (no aircraft) or corridors (aircraft present).
AcID tags are applied in processes 155 and 156 using the gaps and corridors to help arrange the AcID tags. In this embodiment the display is constructed by starting with the most crowded corridor and working from the furthest aircraft to the closest aircraft. Once these AcID tags are placed, evaluations are made as to the availability of tag positions for AcID tags in the next most crowded corridor, until all of the AcID tags have been placed. The AcID tag for a given aircraft is provisionally placed in process 156 in a position radially outside of the position of the corresponding icon with respect to the target airport, the position having an offset toward the side of the corridor with the biggest gap. AcID tags may be placed in a regular progression at a configurable default direction, or angular sector based default AcID tag direction, where the AcID tags appear in a row similar to the placement of the aircraft icons. When empty angular sectors appear on both sides of an angular sector heavy with aircraft, then both empty angular sectors may be used for AcID tag placement in an alternating fashion. This allows the display to use the gap space efficiently.
In process 157, the AcID tag placement is evaluated for conflicts with other elements on the map. If the AcID tag does not obscure or overlap other aircraft icons, AcID tags or other elements of the display to an extent deemed unacceptable, then the placement is accepted and the next aircraft (based on radial position within the corridor) is selected via process 159 and the process loops back to process 155. If there is a conflict with another element of the display (an aircraft icon, AcID tag or other element of the display), then process 158 tests a series of alternative tag placements to find the most acceptable position.
Factoring in Distance from the Target Airport
For displays of this nature, the center of activity is the target airport in question where all traffic is arriving or departing. This means that even in a moderately congested airport, there can be many aircraft in close proximity to the airport at the same time. Accordingly, a minimum distance from the airport can be set within which aircraft may be treated differently for display. By way of example, the aircraft may be removed for consideration from where gaps in the angular distance from the established base direction must account for the size of the aircraft icon that will displayed for each aircraft in flight on the display. Alternatively, the aircraft may be removed from consideration when establishing angular sectors, they may appear as a smaller or different aircraft icon, they may be displayed without an AcID tag, or they may be displayed with an AcID tag only when the view is sufficiently zoomed in.
Also, a maximum distance from the airport can be set such that aircraft outside that distance may be treated differently for display. These aircraft may be removed from consideration when establishing angular sectors or they may be displayed without an AcID tag.
Although we have here discussed use of color to indicate delay status, other visual indication may also be utilized, for example, different shading for different delay categories or even different icon types for different delay categories. For example, an icon shaped like an aircraft and bearing a smile may indicate on time, and an aircraft icon bearing a frown may indicate minor delay, and an aircraft icon bearing a tearful scowl may indicate major delay. In
Combination of Algorithms
These algorithms may be combined to improve information display or to suit a user's needs. For example, a variation of the spacing algorithm may be to run through a list of flights for each airline
As has been stated, embodiments of the present invention systematically and automatically display potentially large amounts of flight data in such a manner that the user may easily find flight information of interest. Embodiments of the present invention rely on coordinated and simultaneous display of several different kinds of information in distinct formats. A further embodiment of the invention allows a user to interact with the system in order to freeze the display to view flight information of interest or to drill down for further information. For example, a user with a mobile phone that has a 3.5 inch display may view all the flights arriving Atlanta airport using a combination of the airline algorithm as shown in paragraph [0070] and the spacing algorithm as shown in paragraph [0071]. The user may watch successive views of flights. When one of the views includes a flight of interest, the user may then tap the display or press a specified key to freeze the view (at least temporarily) and then select the flight of interest to see detailed information on the selected flight.
In a further embodiment the user may alter the criteria for the continuous and repetitive display and the amount of information displayed. For example, if the display is providing views according to Example 4, the user may alter the local configuration to provide views as in Example 5.
In a further embodiment the user may alter the display for convenience, say to remove one of the viewing elements. For example, to allow for more room for viewing the map, the user may temporarily remove the airline legend, list and clock.
The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/986,076, filed Nov. 7, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60986076 | Nov 2007 | US |
