Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at separate stations – Having diverse art device
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-25
2001-06-26
Hunter, Daniel (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at separate stations
Having diverse art device
C455S430000, C455S431000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253064
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The subject invention is generally related to safety and surveillance equipment for aircraft, ships and other commercial vehicles and is specifically directed to a comprehensive multi-media traffic management and security surveillance system for same while in port or terminal and/or unattended whether taxiing or parked. The system of the subject invention also permits tracking while en route.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Security is of ever increasing importance. This is particularly true with respect to commercial airlines as more and more people and freight are moved in this manner and aircraft and other commercial transports increasingly become the targets of terrorists activities. The airways are becoming increasingly crowded with traffic. Global tracking systems are now in place to monitor the flight of the aircraft from the moment it lifts off until it safely lands at its destination. Radar and navigational positioning systems are commonplace both on the aircraft and at the ground tracking stations. All of these electronic systems have increased the overall safety record of commercial traffic to new standards as the number of miles flown continues to escalate.
In addition, the on board avionics including electronic monitoring and diagnostic equipment, particularly on large commercial jets, continues to evolve, giving both the on board crew and the ground assets more complete, accurate and up to date information regarding the condition of the aircraft while in flight. Flight recorders long have been incorporated in order to provide a record of each flight and in order to provide critical information to aid in the determination of the causes of an accident or multifinction should one occur.
However, one area which has been neglected with the ever increasing availability of electronic surveillance is the security of the aircraft or other vehicles or vessels, including, but not limited to, over-the-road vehicles, ships and other commercial transports (collectively referred to as commercial transports), particularly when unattended. Typically, when an aircraft is on the ground, or in port, and unattended the only security provided is the security of the location. If the security of the area in which the commercial transport is stored is breached, the commercial transport is an easy target. In most cases, even the access doors are left open and further, for obvious safety reasons, are designed not to be locked from the outside. Many critical areas of the commercial transport are left exposed such as in an aircraft, by way of example, the landing gear, the engine housing and critical wing and tail components.
In addition, most of the ground traffic control relies on pilot visual information and onboard avionics providing an in adequate, at best, traffic management system utilizing already overworked equipment. The limited control and management of terminal traffic including not only the commercial transports, but also ground personnel, security vehicles and fuel trucks and other support vehicles, creates a dangerous and hazardous condition at most highly congested terminals. There are not any monitoring devices to assure that such traffic is in its assigned zones or to alert when a commercial transport is at risk because of breach of a restricted zone by unauthorized personnel or unauthorized vehicles, including overlapping exclusive occupancy zones by more than one commercial transport.
In addition, with terrorism and sabotage an increasing problem there is significant need to develop an integrated system capable of providing good physical/visual and/or audio surveillance as well as monitoring- of the environmental, security and motion conditions of the commercial transport and various components while the commercial transport is on the ground. For example, a good visual surveillance system would give instant evidence of a breach of commercial transport security, could sound an alarm and could immediately secure the area.
Such a system would also permit the recording of visual information to provide a history for later review, providing yet another source of information for increasing the overall security of commercial transportation.
While such a system would be of great benefit to the commercial transport and airline industries in general and to the commercial airlines in particular, there are no integrated systems currently available which adequately meets these needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention is directed to a comprehensive multi-media safety, tracking and/or surveillance system, which in the preferred form provides both visual and/or audio information as well as critical data such as location, direction, intrusion, fire and/or smoke detection and/or status of environmental conditions and/or transport systems status. In my aforementioned patent and copending applications, incorporated herein by reference, detection and sensor systems are utilized to provide the flight crew and/or a ground tracking station for commercial aircraft critical information during flight and/or to record the information and data generated during flight for later reconstruction of catastrophic events. The subject invention is an expansion of this concept and adds not only ground security and surveillance, but tracking while in port or on the ground as well as while in route, as well as incorporating the onboard systems of the aforementioned patent and applications. It is an important feature of the invention that the transmitting network for provides a comprehensive communications link between stationary and mobile stations on the ground, the craft or vehicle being monitored and strategic sensors both onboard the commercial transport and the sensors on the ground. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a wireless LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network) or other wireless transmission scheme is used as the transmission system of choice. A digital wireless voice intercom is provided for security purposes and for communication between the onboard crew and the ground based personnel. In the preferred embodiment video intercom is also provided. Digital wireless telecommunication capability provides for text communications. Digital wireless (such as, by way of example, LAN) based file communication capability permits the transmission of information such as route or flight plans or gate and dock information. As an example, a LAN or WAN has worldwide tracking capability adapted to be used in connection with a global satellite communication system such as IRIDIUM, wherein the entire path and status of the commercial transport may be monitored while airborne over satellite connections. While wireless systems provide the preferred form of communication, many features of the invention may be practiced using other communication links within the scope and spirit of the invention.
One important feature of the invention is the ability to remotely monitor a commercial transport while on the ground, whether or not the commercial transport is attended. This will permit detection of unexpected events, breach of security, change in environmental conditions and other activities both on and in the vicinity of the commercial transport. A GPS system may be included to provide accurate positioning information of the commercial transport, establishing the parked position of the commercial transport at any time, as well as tracking its movements.
Once in port, the system of the subject invention permits complete monitoring of on ground movement, and allows the monitoring of other commercial transport in the area to assure that the various transports do not interfere with one another. This provides collision avoidance, and can be utilized both on the ground and in the air or in route via water or land. Current airborne collision avoidance is accomplished by use of a radar transponder. Aircraft position is located by radar “echo” response and altitude by a “reporting altimeter” reading being returned to the radar system encoded in the transpor
Bracewell & Patterson LLP
Hunter Daniel
Nguyen Thuan T.
LandOfFree
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