Claims
- 1. A method for target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:comparing selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target; producing a confidence level for each component comparison; and determining whether the first target of the first target retort and the second target of the second target report represent the same target based on the confidence level for each component compared, wherein comparing selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target further comprises comparing selected components of a first target report associated with an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a Traffic Information Service target surveillance service and a second target.
- 2. A method for target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:comparing selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target; producing a confidence level for each component comparison; and determining whether the first target of the first target report and the second target of the second target report represent the same target based on the confidence level for each component compared, wherein comparing the selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target further comprises implementing a probability model to compare the selected components.
- 3. A method for target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:comparing selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target; producing a confidence level for each component comparison; and determining whether the first target of the first target report and the second target of the second target report represent the same target based on the confidence level for each component compared, wherein producing a confidence level further comprises implementing a probability model to produce a confidence level for each component comparison.
- 4. A method for target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:comparing selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target; producing a confidence level for each component comparison; and determining whether the first target of the first target report and the second target of the second target report represent the same target based on the confidence level for each component compared, wherein producing a confidence level for each component comparison further comprises producing a confidence level for each component comparison based on predetermined values of either the first or second target surveillance service.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the predetermined values are determined empirically from flight test data.
- 6. A method for target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:comparing selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target; producing a confidence level for each component comparison; and determining whether the first target of the first target report and the second target of the second target report represent the same target based on the confidence level for each component compared, wherein producing a confidence level for each component comparison further comprises producing a confidence level for each component comparison, wherein the confidence level is defined as a formula having a predetermined target surveillance service component as a variable.
- 7. A method for target correlation between target information from different sources on associated targets in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:determining similarity values for respective combinations of a first group of targets reporting from a first target surveillance service and a second group of targets reporting from a second target surveillance service utilizing a probability model function on target information received from the first target surveillance service and the second target surveillance service; storing the similarity values in a correlation array; and correlating a first target with a second target that is similar based on a predetermined correlation parameter, wherein determining similarity values for respective combinations of a first group of targets from a first target surveillance service and a second group of targets from a second target surveillance service utilizing a probability model function further comprises determining similarity values for respective combinations of a first group of targets from an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast target surveillance service and a second group of targets from a Traffic Information Service target surveillance service utilizing a fuzzy logic function.
- 8. A method for target correlation between target information from different sources on associated targets in an air traffic control system, the method comprising:determining similarity values for respective combinations of a first group of targets reporting from a first target surveillance service and a second group of targets reporting from a second target surveillance service utilizing a probability model function on target information received from the first target surveillance service and the second target surveillance service; storing the similarity values in a correlation array; and correlating a first target with a second target that is similar based on a predetermined correlation parameter, wherein correlating a first target with a second target that is similar based on a predetermined correlation parameter further comprises correlating an first target with a second target that is similar based on a range.
- 9. A computer program product for causing target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, comprisinga computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in the medium for causing target correlation between target information in an air traffic control system, the computer readable program code including: computer readable program code for causing said computer to compare selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target; computer readable program code for causing said computer to produce a confidence level for each component comparison; and computer readable program code for causing said computer to determine that the first target and the second target represent that same target based on the confidence level for each component comparison, wherein the computer readable program code for causing said computer to compare selected components of a first target report associated with a first target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a second target surveillance service and a second target further comprises computer readable program code for causing said computer to compare selected components of first target report associated with an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast target surveillance service and a first target to selected components of a second target report associated with a Traffic Information Service target surveillance service and a second target.
- 10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer readable program code further includes computer readable program code for causing said computer to combine the confidence levels to produce a total confidence level.
- 11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer readable program code for causing said computer to determine that the first target and the second target represent the same target based on the confidence level for each component comparison further comprises computer readable program code for causing said computer to determine that the first target and the second target represent the same target based on the total confidence level.
- 12. The computer product of claim 9, wherein the selected components of the first and second target reports comprise at least range, bearing, relative altitude and track angle.
- 13. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer readable program code further includes computer readable program code for implementing probability models to compare selected components of the first and second target reports, producing a confidence level for each component comparison, and combining the confidence levels to produce a total confidence level.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/873,969, filed Jun. 4, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,810, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/217,230, filed Jul. 10, 2000, which are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
US Referenced Citations (20)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Akira Miura, Hiroyuki Morikawa, Moriyuki Mizumachi; Air Traffic Control Data Tables for Conflict Alert System; Electronics and Communications in Japan, Part 1; 1996; pp. 101-113; vol. 79, No. 6; Translated from Denshi Joho Tsushin Gakkai Ronbunshi; vol. 78-B-II, Apr. 1995, pp. 240-249; 1996 Scripta Technica, Inc.; ISSN8756-6621/96/0006-0101; XP 000588958. |
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/217230 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/873969 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Child |
10/361305 |
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US |