Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Traffic analysis or control of aircraft
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-10
2003-03-04
Zanelli, Michael J. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Traffic analysis or control of aircraft
C342S036000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06529820
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the measurement and display of the altitude, longitude and latitude (hereinafter “3D”) position of aircraft at any time while in flight, on the ground, during take-off or during landing within gate-to-gate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, the 3D position of aircraft is determined onboard the aircraft using GPS or Inertial Navigation System (INS) with altimeters or OMEGA (LORAN) with altimeters or VOR (radial position to known ground station position) (TACAN)/DME (distance measuring equipment) with altimeters. INS is independent of the ground systems measuring the movement of the aircraft in flight and is used in conjunction with DME to measure the aircraft distance to certain ground positions. The 3D position of an aircraft is also determined by ground stations using primary 3D radars (which use reflective signals to provide a conventional “return” signal or “blip” on a radar screen) which provide 2D position (These radars do not use transponders and do not provide altitude.) and by secondary radars (MSSR) which utilize an aircraft identification code and the altitude received from the in flight aircraft transponder. The problem with the aircraft and ground based systems is that they are not synchronized and therefore may not manifest the same data. The 3D position determined by the aircraft in flight is determined by different equipment than the 3D position determined by a ground station. The aircraft in flight determined position therefore is not the same as the position as determined by the ground station(s). If the aircraft pilot desires to know the 3D position of his aircraft as determined by the ground station, the ground station must communicate this via a communication channel on request of the aircraft. More importantly, each aircraft in flight or on the ground has no direct information about any other aircraft in its vicinity. This information may be obtained in present day systems only by communication between pilots and the ground stations. Collision avoidance systems do not provide the 3D position of other aircraft, but only provide a warning to the pilot of a given aircraft to take some evasive action to avoid another aircraft in its vicinity.
GPS positioning, while more accurate than a ground positioning system, is not used as a primary system on in-flight aircraft since it is not considered reliable as a primary positioning system due to many factors. Such factors include weakness of the signals (the satellites are 11,000 miles from earth), interference by atmospheric conditions, and the fact that the GPS receiver could be jammed intentionally or unintentionally at any time. GPS is not approved as a primary system for determining aircraft position.
In a still further aspect, a minimum of four ground stations including a ground master station is included with the remaining stations forming slave stations, each station and aircraft having a unique ID code, each station and aircraft including transmitter/receiver means for communicating with each other a plurality of information signals, each signal from a ground station including the ground station ID code and each aircraft signal including an aircraft ID code, said calculating means for calculating the distances based on the transmission delays of said information signals to and from the aircraft and ground stations, a portion of said signals including said calculated distances.
The main disadvantage of the existing ATC system is due to its internal infrastructure which can not be integrated in a unique virtual system in aircraft and on the ground due to the use of too many systems based on different technologies. These technologies, due to their differences, perform the calculation of the aircraft's 3D position, using an excessively large frequency spectrum and leave little frequency spectrum space for voice/data communication channels between aircraft and between aircraft and air traffic control centers. This is considered by the present inventor to constitute a significant disadvantage of the present systems among others. The present inventor recognizes a demand by travelers onboard aircraft for use of frequency spectrum for business and personal purposes. Such spectrum is presently not available due to the primary use of the different present 3D positioning technologies which take up the available frequency spectrum.
A reliable GPS positioning determining system with INS and appropriate communication means between aircraft and between aircraft and ATC centers could replace all other systems and leave enough frequency spectrums for today and future communication needs.
In order to obtain a reliable GPS that could be approved as primary navigation system onboard of each aircraft, the US FAA developed a WAAS/LAAS concept using satellites which should cover the needs of future integrated Air Traffic Management (ATM) System as defined by the AIR TRAFFIC STRATEGY FOR 2000+document, adopted by ICAO published by Eurocontrol, November 1998. Such a system would use a low orbit satellite system in conjunction with a local airport station (LAAS), local augmented Area Satellite forming a new primary system. Until such concept will prove its performances and which is subject to development into real world hardware, the need exists for determining simultaneously and independently of each other, the synchronized and precise 3D position of each aircraft onboard each aircraft and the same 3D position of all aircraft in the airspace dedicated to an ATC center, to be determined by each aircraft and by that ATC system. Without such performances, any future ATM system (air traffic management system) can not comprise a truly integrated synchronized system. Consequently, the ATM system capacity is still limited and will generate delays and high costs for operation.
Present air traffic control systems utilize flight planning and preassigned routes. This limits the amount of air traffic in a given space and is also wasteful because it is not based on the shortest route between departure and arrival destinations, but on the availability of the prearranged air routes or “highways.” It is recognized in the AIR TRAFFIC STRATEGY FOR 2000+document that freer flight paths not restricted to prearranged routes will increase the availability of space for additional aircraft. But implementation of such concepts awaits future development of the necessary technologies. There is an urgent need for solutions to the present air traffic control systems which is saturated and at its limit for air traffic capacity. To increase capacity, steps are being taken to decrease aircraft spacing, for example, during take off and landing and in holding patterns. This is not a viable long tern solution to the problem of a need to more efficiently utilized the available space and frequency spectrum allotted to air traffic control.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A need is recognized by the present inventor for a system which can compute onboard each aircraft its actual 3D position and simultaneously and independently of any other 3D computing system, compute the 3D position of each aircraft in conjunction with the appropriate Air Traffic Control (ATC) center responsible for that airspace which may be for a given airport, an Area Control Center (ACC), e.g., a 300 mile radius, which controls the area and airspace about the airport, an Approach Area (APP), i.e., the runway(s) area or an airport tower (TWR) which controls the local air space at the airport. The same need is applicable to any area where overall mobile ground station positions are controlled.
The aforementioned needs are provided according to the present invention which provides a precise 3D position calculation onboard of each aircraft and simultaneously and independently of the aircraft calculation, provides the same synchronized 3D position calculation on the ground at each ATC center location.
A surveillance system for air traffic control in selected ATC areas according to the present invention compr
Bain John N.
Carella Byrne Bain Gilfillan Cecchi et al.
Squire William
Zanelli Michael J.
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