Patent Application
20220388674
The present application claims benefit of prior filed Indian Provisional Patent Application No. 202111023237, filed May 25, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The subject matter described herein relates to alerts provided to flight crew based on a type of flying rules in place.
Visual Flight Rules (VFR) require a pilot to be able to see outside the cockpit when navigating the aircraft and avoiding obstacles and other aircraft. Under visual meteorological conditions (VMC), the minimum visual range, distance from clouds, or cloud clearance requirements to be maintained above ground vary by jurisdiction, and may also vary according to the airspace in which the aircraft is operating.
Some Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations will provide “pop-up” Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) clearances for aircraft operating VFR but that are arriving at an airport that does not meet VMC requirements. For example, in the United States, California's Oakland (KOAK), Monterey (KMRY) and Santa Ana (KSNA) airports routinely grant temporary IFR clearance when a low coastal overcast forces instrument approaches, while the rest of the state is still under visual flight rules.
For instance, a small cloud forming over an airport at less than 1000 feet technically requires the airport to allow only IFR flights using instrument approaches/departures. A VFR flight intending to land there would normally be denied clearance, and would either have to divert to another field with VMC, or declare an emergency and override the denial of clearance, which can prompt an inquiry and possibly result in adverse consequences for the pilot. To avoid these scenarios, VFR flights intending to land at or take off from an airport experiencing localized conditions marginally below VMC minima may request Special VFR clearance from the tower.
IFR permits an aircraft to operate in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which is essentially any weather condition less than VMC but in which aircraft can still operate safely. Use of instrument flight rules is also required when flying in “Class A” airspace regardless of weather conditions. Flight in Class A airspace requires pilots and aircraft to be instrument equipped and rated and to be operating under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Instrument pilots must meticulously evaluate weather, create a very detailed flight plan based around specific instrument departure, en route, and arrival procedures, and dispatch the flight. There are various scenarios when pilots encounter VFR or IFR or other categories of flying rules and they have to make the decisions based on available information.
Flights operating under visual flight rules (VFR) flying into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) remains a prominent safety issue as Pilots can fail to judge the IMC conditions during the flight due to the weather dynamics.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and systems to improve situational awareness concerning flying rules, and actions to be taken that are associated with flying rules, for a flight plan. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides methods and systems for providing alerts in an aircraft. The methods and systems receive a flight plan and conditions data providing information on flight conditions along the flight plan including meteorological data. The conditions data is analyzed in flying regions along the flight plan to determine flight rules information. An alert is output to flight crew of the aircraft. The alert predicts when and where a change between type of flight rules will occur based on the flight rules information.
Embodiments of the subject matter will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and:
Embodiments of the subject matter described herein provide methods and systems that determine accepted flying rules for a specific region along an ownship flight path based on the context of the region as well as the current conditions prevailing in the region. The systems and methods disclose forward displays or apps to pilots so that the pilot can quickly decide and plan the flying rules for an entire flight path. Further, an efficiency factor for the flying conditions may be determined and displayed. The efficiency factor may be provided in three categories: safety, fuel and time.
In embodiments, the flight rules are determined based on conditions data received from a variety of sources. One example of conditions data is visibility data (IMC), which may be received by from air-to-air and/or ground-to-air broadcasts and/or satellite-to-air, e.g. from other aircraft and/or from ground stations. One example of visibility data is that provided through Airmen's Meteorological Information (AIRMET). Visibility data could also be derived from onboard sensors such as a particle sensor. Another example of conditions data is cloud ceilings data received from a variety of sources including air-to-air, ground-to-air and. or satellite-to-air broadcasts. Cloud ceilings may also be determined from on-board sensors such as Radar. Existing meteorological data providers, such as Airmet, provide data covering moderate turbulence, moderate icing, sustained surface winds of 30 knots or more, widespread areas of ceilings less than 1,000 feet and/or visibility less than three miles, and extensive mountain obscurement. Further Airmet includes a weather advisory issued by a meteorological watch office for aircraft that is potentially hazardous to low-level aircraft and/or aircraft with limited capability. The aircraft systems described herein may support FIS-B services provided by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) utilizing the 978 MHz Universal Access Transceivers (UAT).
In embodiments, an alert to flight crew is output in advance when the conditions are Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), which helps flight crew in decision making and eliminating risk. An algorithm is disclosed that warns a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) pilot about approaching IMC conditions.
In one exemplary method, a flight plan is received as an input. The flight plan can be received from onboard systems of an ownship (e.g. from the Flight Management System (FMS)). The system determines guidance for flying rules based on the flight plan and conditions data. Flying regions are determined for the flight plan. The conditions data in the flying regions is analyzed. The conditions data includes any clearances issued to the air traffic operating in that region, weather patterns and the forecast changes to weather in that region, specific restrictions enforced in that region by analyzing Notices To AirMen (NOTAMs), navigation procedures available in that region, identify flying rules followed by traffic aircraft flying in that region which may or not be similar to ownship aircraft type specification, terrain information available on the region, Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) or Digital ATIS information available for the region, and/or Pilot Information Reports (PIREPs). The flying rules are determined for each of the regions for the flight plan based on the conditions data. The flying rules may be updated through a flight along a flight plan as new and updated conditions data is received. When the flying rules change as a result of the update to the conditions data, an alert will be output. The alert will include information on the new flying rules and may include a prompt for the pilot to take any system action required to change to the updated flying rules for a given flying region. A rating in three categories may be determined based on any flight plan changes required by predicted flight rules and based on the flight rules changes themselves. The three categories include fuel efficiency, time, and safety. The optional rating information and the determined flight rules are provided to cockpit display or other output systems or apps that would output the information.
The exemplary systems described herein can include an analysis system and an assistance system. The analysis system can continuously monitor changes for all flying regions based on crowd soured data from different systems like NOTAM, ATIS, Clearances, Weather Systems and/or Airport Systems. The crowd sourced data may be broadcast from other aircraft, from a ground station and/or from a satellite. The crowd sourced data may include data from relevant onboard sensors of the ownship. The assistance system receives the flight plan from the cockpit and invokes the analysis system to come up with recommendations to output assistance for flying the various flying regions along the flight plan.
In another exemplary method, an active flight plan is received. The active flight plan includes an origin, a destination and intermediate waypoints. The flight plan can be received from the FMS. Weather and other conditions data reports are received for each flight plan leg from various sources. The conditions data can include data from PIREPs, ATIS, NOTAMs, METeorological Aerodrome Reports (METARs), Aviation Selected Special Weather Report (SPECI), AIRMET, Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMET), controller clearances, connected weather, etc. The conditions data is analyzed for any potential hazards with respect to IMCs that impacts the active flight plan. When conditions for IMC exist and the current flight rules are different, an alert or advisory is output regarding the change of flight rules in real time in the crew interface and indicators are displayed. When conditions for IMC exist do not exist and the current flight rules are different, no action is taken. That is, when the flight rules are not changed as a result of received conditions, no output or alert is provided. The indicators can include a color coded safety indicator symbology when there is a difference in actual flight rules versus required flight rules. The safety indicator is maintained as long as crew has not yet acknowledged and filed an IFR. Doing so may include requesting pop-up IFR clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) and submitting an instrument flight plan to the FMS in response to information received from ATC. Alternatively, an instrument flight plan may already be active and the flight crew merely needs to acknowledge the change in behavior required to transition from VMCs to IMCs. The safety indicator may change color such as from red to green once the change to IFR has been made, e.g. acknowledged by input to the cockpit system or submitted by filing pop-up clearance and an instrument flight plan. Any flight plan change based on the change in weather or based on requirements from ATC resulting from the change from VMC to IMC may impact on fuel and time. Corresponding indicators may be provided to alert whether fuel or time efficiency has been lost or gained. The fuel and time indicators may be set based on a difference in the Estimated time of Arrival (ETA) and fuel required data from the FMS performance and prediction function.
In one use case, IMCs have been determined by the system but the pilot is approaching a flying region under VFR. The system provides an advisory alert about the IMC conditions and suggests to change to IFR. In this case, a safety indictor is red (for example). When the pilot changes to IFR, the safety indicator changes to green (for example). The change in flying rules may require a flight plan change, which will impact other parameters. As another use case, the flight crew change the flight plan due to a weather hazard that also results in a change in flight rules. The weather conditions may necessitate not only a change from VFR to IFR but also a detour around a weather pattern. As a result, an estimated time of arrival (ETA) and fuel required will change and fuel and time indicators will be output according to the change. The change in flight plan may not necessarily harm fuel and time efficiency considerations, in which case different color coding or other symbol changes could be provided depending on impact on fuel and time efficiency for any in-flight changes to the flight plan as a result of the conditions data and changing flight rules. The FMS can provide fuel and time change predictions for a given flight plan change. In another use case, when the conditions are deteriorating and the flight crew is approaching in VFR, the Pilot could change the runway or airport if an IFR cannot be filed, which will result in a flight plan change as a result of an alert concerning flying rules.
In some embodiments, the alert includes details of IMCs in each flying region as determined by the system such as altitude range for the IMCs. The alert concerning current flying rules and time/location of change of flying rules can be provided on a lateral and/or vertical map display. The flying regions can be defined as a volume of airspace between way points (position and altitude) in a flight plan. That is, a volume of airspace associated with each flight leg.
The conditions data source(s) 104 includes any one or more providers of data relevant to an assessment of flight rules particularly data relating to visibility and clouds. In particular, the data should be relevant to whether VMCs or IMCs exist in a given flying region. The conditions data source(s) can include NOTAMs, ATIS, weather broadcasts and controller clearances. Any combination of these conditions data source(s) 104 may be provided including two, three or all four thereof. Additional or alternative conditions data source(s) 104 include one or more of AIRMET, PIREPs, Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcasts (ADS-B), particularly with respect to the flying rules operated by other aircraft and terrain data. A crowd sourced combination of such conditions data source(s) 104 may be used to call the conditions data 106 to project visibility, cloud coverage and other pertinent data that includes both current and projected data along a flight path of the ownship aircraft. The conditions data source(s) 104 may be realized by remote data source(s) or device(s) that are communicatively coupled to the processing system 108 via a communications network or by broadcast communications. The condition data source(s) 104 may include data broadcast communications via satellite, from ground stations or from other aircraft.
In exemplary embodiments, the data storage element 112 stores or otherwise maintains flight rules data 114 describing Visual meteorological conditions (VMCs), which are conditions under which VFR flight are permitted in a certain airspace. The boundary criteria between VMC and instrumental meteorological conditions (IMCs) is given by VMC minima, which may be defined by parameters that may include one or more visibility parameters (e.g., flight visibility, and whether or not the surface is in sight) and one or more cloud distance parameters (e.g., vertical cloud distance, horizontal cloud distance, and whether or not there is clearance of clouds). As such, the flight rules data 114 relating to VMCs implicitly defines IMCs. These parameters may vary depending on the region or country.
For example, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has adopted a set of classifications for airspace, comprising classes A through G. Each class of airspace is associated with VMC minima defined in terms of parameters such as minimum visibility and minimum distance from clouds. That is, a minimum visibility and a minimum distance from clouds is specified for various combinations of airspace class and altitude band. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has adopted its own set of rules for VMC minima, as generally set out in Table 1 below.
For example, if an aircraft is flying in a class E airspace, and is at an altitude of 15,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL), the aircraft may fly under VFR if the flight visibility is 8 km (5 miles) or greater, and the distance from clouds is 1 mile or greater horizontally and 1000 feet or greater vertically. If the flight visibility is only 5 km (3 miles), then VFR flight is not permitted under the rules specified. It should be appreciated that the information in Table 1 is subject to change and thus is non-limiting.
In general, the VMC minima that is applicable to an aircraft may depend on parameters such as the class of the airspace in which the aircraft is traveling and the altitude band in which the aircraft is traveling (which may be defined by parameter such as above mean sea level (MSL) and distance above terrain). Depending on the region or country, the VMC minima may also depend on other factors, such as the time of day (e.g., daytime or nighttime), the type of aircraft (e.g., airplane or helicopter), and/or the speed of the aircraft.
The above table is provided to illustrate that different combinations of airspace class and altitude bands may have different respective VMC minima. As noted above, national aviation authorities may differ in their specific implementations of the ICAO airspace classes. For example, in some countries, there is also class F airspace and the cloud condition for class B differs.
In embodiments, the VMC and IMC conditions are defined in flight rules data 114 included in data storage element 112. The flight rules data 114 may relate airspace class, flight visibility, distance from clouds and other conditions for defining whether VFR is permitted. The flight rules data 114 may be provided for each country, region or jurisdiction where the flight rules differ. The systems described herein will select the appropriate flight rules depending on location (projected or current) of the aircraft. Although VFR and IFR has been highlighted in the present section of the description, there are other categories of flight rules including Low Instrument Flight Rules (LIFR) when the cloud ceiling is below 500 feet and/or the visibility is less than 1 mile and Marginal Flight Rules when the cloud ceiling is 1000 to 3000 feet and/or the visibility is 3 to 5 miles. Such categories or types of flight rules could be incorporated into detailed flight rules data 114 to allow a system to assess predicted conditions, as derived from conditions data 106, with respect to the flight rules data 114 to classify flight regions as to flight rules that will be in place for that flight region. Further, the time when flight rules will change can be projected.
In the example of
The flight management system can be configured to implement one or more flight mode(s), flight plans, etc. of the aircraft of the aircraft system 100 selected by user input and display information associated with the one or more flight mode(s) on the one or more display devices 122. In embodiments, a navigation function of the flight management system allows a route to be programmed by a user through the user input device 142. A flight director (not shown) and an auto-pilot system (not shown) can steer the aircraft along the desired course to an active waypoint. When the aircraft reaches an active waypoint, the flight management system automatically sequences to the next waypoint in the route, unless waypoint sequencing is suspended. The flight management system, which may be the flight plan source 102, outputs flight plan data 144 defining waypoints between an origin and a destination making up a flight plan for the aircraft. Each flight leg between neighboring waypoints may be referred to as flying regions herein. The waypoints are specified in terms of altitude, latitude and longitude. A different level of detail of flight plan may be used depending on whether VFRs or IFRs are in place. An instrument flight plan must be more meticulously defined to allow for instrument only navigation. When a flight changes from VFRs to IFRs mid-flight, pop-up ATC clearance may be required and an instrument flight plan may need to be entered to the flight plan source 102 through the user input device 142 and filed with ATC during flight.
In embodiments, the user input device 142 is located in the cockpit and provides input to one or more system(s) of the aircraft system 100. The user input device 142 includes any device suitable to accept input from a user for interaction with the aircraft system 100. For example, the user input device 142 includes one or more of a keyboard, joystick, multi-way rocker switches, mouse, trackball, touch screen, touch pad, data entry keys, a microphone suitable for voice recognition, and/or any other suitable device. The user input device 142 allows the user to interact with a graphic and/or textual data element provided for display on the one or more display devices 122.
Although not illustrated in
In exemplary embodiments, the output device 110 includes one or more electronic display devices 122 onboard the aircraft for presenting data and/or information to the flight crew. In exemplary embodiments, a display device 122 is coupled to the processing system 108, with the processing system 108 and/or the analysis module 132 providing output data 140 embodying a graphical alert to be displayed. Additionally, in some embodiments, the output device 110 may include a speaker or other audio output device that may be utilized by the processing system 108 and/or the analysis module 132 to provide an auditory indication of an alert regarding flight rules. In embodiments, the alert includes a prediction of when and where flight rules will change and a description of the type of flight rules between which the change will happen.
The processing system 108 generally represents the hardware, software, and/or firmware components (or a combination thereof), which is communicatively coupled to the various elements of the system 100 and configured to support the flight rules alert generation functions described herein, particularly with respect to exemplary graphical alerts of
The data storage element 112 generally represents any sort of non-transitory short- or long-term storage media capable of storing code, computer-executable programming instructions, and/or other data. Depending on the embodiment, the data storage element 112 may include or otherwise be physically realized using random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, registers, a hard disk, or another suitable data storage medium known in the art or any suitable combination thereof. Moreover, in some embodiments, the data storage element 112 may be realized as a database or some other remote data storage or device that is communicatively coupled to the processing system 108 via a communications network. In such embodiments, data maintained at the data storage element 112 may be downloaded or otherwise retrieved by the processing system 108 and stored locally at the processing system 108 or an onboard data storage element.
The processing system 108, particularly the analysis module 132, receives and processes the conditions data 106, the flight plan data 144 and the flight rules data 143. That is, the operating flight rules at each leg or flying region of the flight plan are determined based on the conditions data 106. The conditions data 106 may include, or may be need to be, projected into the future so that the prevailing conditions at the projected time of arrival of the aircraft at each flying region are utilized to determine the flying rules. Visibility and cloud data are primary data points in assessing the flying rules but terrain, ATC, flying rules data from other aircraft and other data attributes can be analyzed by the processing system 108 to predict the flying rules in each flying region along a flight plan. Accordingly, the flying rules along a flight plan can be determined and any changes in flying rules can be predicted. The pilot can be given an advance warning via an alert as to when and where the flying rules change will occur. Specifically, a graphical alert may be provided via the display device 122 as discussed further below with respect to
In embodiments, the analysis module 132 includes a flying regions determination sub-module 116 for dividing a flight plan (embodied by flight plan data 144) into flying regions. In one embodiment, the flying regions correspond to flight legs defined in the flight plan data 144. However, other ways to divide a flight plan are possible. For example, a VFR flight plan may not sufficiently divide a flight path into many flight legs. In such a case, another flying region division scheme could be implemented, such as by making each flying region a certain length along the flight plan. In some embodiments, the flying regions may be more densely defined in takeoff and climbing phases of flight and in descending and landing phases of flight than in cruise phase of flight. The flying regions determination sub-module 116 thus outputs flying regions data 136.
The conditions data analysis sub-module 109 receives the flying regions data 136 and the conditions data 106. The flying conditions described in the conditions data 106 are analyzed for each flying region defined in the flying regions data 136 with respect to the flight rules data 114. Predicted flying conditions are optimally used to align the likely flying conditions at the time of the aircraft passing through each flying region. The conditions data analysis sub-module 109 is thus able to predict the prevailing flying regions at each flying region for each time of arrival at the flying region and to associate flying rules with each flying region. The conditions data analysis sub-module 109 can output determined flight rules information 134, which describes flight rules associated with each flying region along a flight plan.
The output generation sub-module 130 generates an alert based on the determined flight rules information 134. In one embodiment, the determined flight rules information 134 can be evaluated for changes in flight rules from one flying region to another and/or changes caused by updated or new conditions data 106. When such a change is found, a graphical and/or aural alert may be output through the output device 110, specifically the display device 122 and the speaker 124, respectively. The alert can indicate the flight rules in place before the change and the flight rules in place after the change and also provide a numerical or symbolical indication of a time until the change. Further, the output generation sub-module 130 may provide a safety, fuel and time indication associated with any changes in the flight plan as a result of the change in flight rules.
In one embodiment, a safety indicator is output when a flight rules change from VFR to IFR is evaluated by the output generation sub-module 130. The safety indicator, which will be described further below, serves an indicator to the flight crew as to whether action needs to be taken regarding the change of flight rules. When an in-air change to IFR is to be made, the crew should establish the communication with ATC requesting clearance to change to IFR. Further, an instrument flight plan may be entered to the FMS via the input device, which is submitted to ATC over a datalink. The output generation sub-module 130 may change the safety indicator from symbology indicating that action needs to be taken to symbology indicating that the requisite action has been taken. The output generation sub-module 130 may change the symbology in response to a pilot acknowledgement and confirmation of having carried out the necessary actions through the user input device 142. Alternatively, the output generation sub-module 130 may interpret communications from ATC and/or data from the FMS to determine if the requisite actions have been taken.
In embodiments, the output generation sub-module 130 outputs time and/or fuel efficiency indicators relating to any change in flight plan associated with the change in flight rules. When an instrument flight plan is submitted in response to a change to IFR, a different route may be taken than was previously planned. A prediction function in the FMS allows the relative fuel and time gains or losses as a result of the replacement flight plan to be calculated. The output generation sub-module 130 receives the time and fuel efficiency data from the FMS and generates time and/or fuel indicators based thereon. The fuel and time efficiency indicators may be provided based on other flight plan changes. For example, when a pilot operating under VFR is notified of IMC conditions via the alert but does not have IFR capability, a flight plan avoiding the hazardous weather may be devised and entered to the FMS, which can provide consequent time and fuel change data for output by the output generation sub-module 130.
The output generation sub-module 130 outputs output data 140 embodying the alert of a change in flight rules and any safety, fuel and/or time indications. The output device 110 receives the output data 140 and outputs the corresponding alerts and indications.
A flow chart of an exemplary method 400 of generating alerts relating to flight rules is provided in
The method 400 includes a step 414 of analyzing the conditions data 106 with respect to IMCs included in the flight rules data 143 so as to determine whether flight rules along the flight plan are predicted to be required to change as a result of the projected prevailing conditions at each flying region along the flight path. The method 400 may be repeated throughout a flight so that the flying rules are continually assessed as the flight progresses. The method 400 may be invoked each time new conditions data 106 is received or at predetermined intervals. When the analysis step 414 determines that flying rules are to be changed at any flying region (such as a change to IFRs), the method continues to steps 416 and 418. If not change in flying rules is determined, then no further actions is taken.
In step 416, safety, time and/or time indicators are output. It should be appreciated that method 400 may exclude step 416. When step 414 determines that a change in flight rules is required, and when that change in flight rules requires pilot action, a safety indicator or other prompt is output to the flight crew by the output device 110. The safety indicator may be a graphical and/or aural flag. The processing system 108 monitors pilot inputs via user input device 142, communications with ATC and/or data from the FMS to detect whether the flight crew has submitted an instrument flight plan to the FMS and the ATC or other action that is required as a result of the flight rules change. If not, the safety indicator is maintained. If so, the safety indicator changes status to indicate that no further action is required in changing the flight rules. If the pilot action results in a change of flight plan, the time and/or fuel efficiency indicators are output to indicate a change in fuel and/or time costs as a result of the replacement flight plan. This information is available from a prediction function in the FMS.
In step 418, the alert is output indicating when and where each flight rules are predicted to change. The alert can include an aural and/or graphical message as to the current flight rules, the next flight rules and a time until the change between flight rules.
In exemplary embodiments, the display device 502 is realized as an electronic display capable of graphically displaying flight information or other data associated with operation of the aircraft 520 under control of the display system 508 and/or processing system 506. In this regard, the display device 502 is coupled to the display system 508 and the processing system 506, wherein the processing system 506 and the display system 508 are cooperatively configured to display, render, or otherwise convey one or more graphical representations or images associated with operation of the aircraft 520 on the display device 502. The user input device 504 is coupled to the processing system 506, and the user input device 504 and the processing system 506 are cooperatively configured to allow a user (e.g., a pilot, co-pilot, or crew member) to interact with the display device 502 and/or other elements of the system 500, as described herein. Depending on the embodiment, the user input device(s) 504 may be realized as a keypad, touchpad, keyboard, mouse, touch panel (or touchscreen), joystick, knob, line select key or another suitable device adapted to receive input from a user. In some embodiments, the user input device 504 includes or is realized as an audio input device, such as a microphone, audio transducer, audio sensor, or the like, that is adapted to allow a user to provide audio input to the system 500 in a “hands free” manner without requiring the user to move his or her hands, eyes and/or head to interact with the system 500.
The processing system 506 generally represents the hardware, software, and/or firmware components configured to facilitate communications and/or interaction between the elements of the aircraft system 500 and perform additional tasks and/or functions to support the analysis module 132 of
The display system 508 generally represents the hardware, software, and/or firmware components configured to control the display and/or rendering of one or more navigational maps and/or other displays pertaining to operation of the aircraft 520 and/or onboard systems 510, 512, 514, 516 on the display device 502. In this regard, the display system 508 may access or include one or more databases suitably configured to support operations of the display system 508, such as, for example, a terrain database, an obstacle database, a navigational database, a geopolitical database, a terminal airspace database, a special use airspace database, or other information for rendering and/or displaying navigational maps and/or other content on the display device 502.
Still referring to
In an exemplary embodiment, the processing system 506 is also coupled to the FMS 514, which is coupled to the navigation system 512, the communications system 510, and one or more additional avionics systems 516 to support navigation, flight planning, and other aircraft control functions in a conventional manner, as well as to provide real-time data and/or information regarding the operational status of the aircraft 520 to the processing system 506. Although
It should be understood that
Referring to
For the sake of brevity, conventional techniques related to sensors, statistics, data analysis, avionics systems, redundancy, and other functional aspects of the systems (and the individual operating components of the systems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships or physical connections may be present in an embodiment of the subject matter.
The subject matter may be described herein in terms of functional and/or logical block components, and with reference to symbolic representations of operations, processing tasks, and functions that may be performed by various computing components or devices. It should be appreciated that the various block components shown in the figures may be realized by any number of hardware components configured to perform the specified functions. 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. Furthermore, embodiments of the subject matter described herein can be stored on, encoded on, or otherwise embodied by any suitable non-transitory computer-readable medium as computer-executable instructions or data stored thereon that, when executed (e.g., by a processing system), facilitate the processes described above.
The foregoing description refers to elements or nodes or features being “coupled” together. As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, “coupled” means that one element/node/feature is directly or indirectly joined to (or directly or indirectly communicates with) another element/node/feature, and not necessarily mechanically. Thus, although the drawings may depict one exemplary arrangement of elements directly connected to one another, additional intervening elements, devices, features, or components may be present in an embodiment of the depicted subject matter. In addition, certain terminology may also be used herein for the purpose of reference only, and thus are not intended to be limiting.
The foregoing detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the subject matter of the application and uses thereof. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background, brief summary, or the detailed description.
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, 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 subject matter 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 subject matter. It should be 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 subject matter as set forth in the appended claims. Accordingly, details of the exemplary embodiments or other limitations described above should not be read into the claims absent a clear intention to the contrary.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202111023237 | May 2021 | IN | national |
