Patent Application
20150360796
This application claims the benefit of the French patent application No. 1455338 filed on Jun. 12, 2014, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by way of reference.
The invention relates to a method of communicating information from an avionics system embedded onboard an aircraft to a receiver system. Modern aircraft, in particular transport airplanes, comprise avionics systems connected to an avionics network of the aircraft. By avionics system is meant here a system which participates in the control of the flight of the aircraft. An aircraft comprises a set of avionics systems including, in particular, a flight management system of FMS type, an alerts management system of FWS type (“Flight Warning System”), a centralized maintenance system of CMS (“Centralized Maintenance System”) type, a display system in the cockpit of CDS (“Cockpit Display System”) type, etc. These various avionics systems are connected to an avionics network allowing communication between them. The various avionics systems, as well as the avionics network, must comply with numerous constraints, in particular of operating dependability, so that the aircraft can be certified by the certifying authorities. The effect of these constraints is to require the setting up of complex mechanisms to allow information exchanges between the avionics systems connected to the avionics network and systems outside this avionics network, in such a way that the avionics systems are not disturbed by a communication of data originating from a system outside the avionics network. In particular, for certain applications, an operator has to record information of an avionics system on a removable memory (diskette, USB key, etc.) to transfer it to a system outside the avionics network. Sometimes, the operator must read information displayed on a screen of an avionics system and manually copy over this information by means of an input device of a system outside the avionics network.
An object of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks. It relates to a method of communicating information from an avionics system embedded onboard an aircraft to a receiver system, the avionics system being embedded onboard the aircraft and connected to an avionics network of the aircraft, a system comprising a viewing screen being also connected to this avionics network, the receiver system being connected to a second network independent of said avionics network, the method comprising the following steps:
This method furthermore comprises the following steps:
This method makes it possible to transmit information from the avionics system to a receiver system not connected to the avionics network, without resorting to a link between on the one hand the avionics system or the avionics network and on the other hand the receiver system. The intervention of an operator is limited to the acquisition, by means of the mobile terminal, of the image displayed on the viewing screen. Thus, the method according to the invention facilitates the transmission of data for the operator, without presenting any risk of disturbance of the avionics system and/or of the avionics network by the receiver system which is outside the avionics network.
According to one embodiment, the data representative of said information, transmitted by means of the mobile terminal bound for the second network, correspond to said at least one image representative of said information. Advantageously, the method furthermore comprises a step comprising analyzing said at least one image by means of the receiver system, so as to decode said information.
According to another embodiment, the method furthermore comprises a step comprising analyzing said at least one image by means of the mobile terminal so as to decode said information and, the data representative of said information, transmitted by means of the mobile terminal bound for the second network, correspond to said information decoded by the mobile terminal.
In a particular embodiment, the viewing screen is a screen of the cockpit of the aircraft.
According to a first variant, said at least one image representative of said information is produced by said avionics system.
According to a second variant, the method furthermore comprises a step comprising transmitting said information from the avionics system to the system comprising the viewing screen, and said at least one image representative of said information is produced by said system comprising the viewing screen.
In an advantageous manner, the transmission of the data representative of said information, from the mobile terminal bound for the second network, is carried out according to a wireless technique. According to a first alternative, the second network is a network using a wireless technique and the mobile terminal is connected to the second network. According to a second alternative, a unit for receiving data according to a wireless technique is connected to the second network and the data representative of said information are transmitted from the mobile terminal bound for said unit for receiving data. The method then furthermore comprises a step in the course of which said unit for receiving data transmits the data representative of said information, on the second network, to the receiver system.
The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows and on examining the appended figures.
The avionics system 3 represented in
A receiver system 20 is connected to a second network 18 independent of the avionics network 1. A unit 14 for receiving data according to a wireless technique is also connected to the second network 18. This unit 14 for receiving data is linked to an antenna 16 allowing the reception of data according to a wireless technique. A mobile terminal 10 is equipped with a device for emitting data according to a wireless technique compatible with the unit 14 for receiving data. This mobile terminal also comprises a unit for acquiring images, for example a camera.
In operation, to transmit information to the receiver system 20, the avionics system 3 dispatches, via the avionics network 1, a set of data representative of said information to the system 7 comprising the display screen 8. The system 7 then displays on its screen at least one image 9 representative of said information. According to a first variant, said at least one image representative of said information is produced by the avionics system 3. The set of data representative of said information then corresponds to said at least one image 9. According to a second variant, the set of data corresponds to said information and said at least one image 9 representative of said information is produced by said at least one display computer of the system 7 which displays it thereafter on the screen 8. An operator uses the terminal 10 to acquire the image 9 by means of the image acquisition unit of said terminal. Once the image has been acquired by the mobile terminal 10, the operator controls the mobile terminal in such a way that it transmits data representative of said information to the unit for receiving data by means of a link 12 according to said wireless technique. These data are received by the unit 14 for receiving data which transmits them to the receiver system 20 via the second network 18. According to one embodiment, the data representative of said information, transmitted by means of the mobile terminal 10, correspond to said at least one image 9 representative of said information. This image is decoded by the receiver system 20 so as to decode said information. This information can then be utilized by the receiver system 20. According to another embodiment, said at least one image is analyzed by the mobile terminal so as to decode said information and, the data representative of said information, transmitted by means of the mobile terminal, correspond to said information decoded by the mobile terminal.
The fact of displaying the image 9 on the screen 8, and then of acquiring this image by means of the mobile terminal 10, makes it possible to guarantee that the transmission of said information from the avionics system 3 to the receiver system 20 can in no case give rise to a disturbance of the avionics network 1 or of a system linked to this avionics network, by data originating from a system outside this avionics network (such as for example the receiver system 20 or another system linked to the second network 18). Indeed, no link is provided from the second network 18, or from the terminal 10, to the avionics network 1. The method in accordance with the invention therefore presents the advantage of allowing the transmission of said information in complete safety for the avionics network and the systems which are linked to it, thereby making it possible to comply with the constraints imposed by the certifying authorities.
According to particular exemplary embodiments of the embodiment represented in
Ethernet standard or a wireless network in accordance with the Wifi standard;
While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1455338 | Jun 2014 | FR | national |
