Communications: electrical – Aircraft alarm or indicating systems
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-25
2001-01-16
Swarthout, Brent A. (Department: 2736)
Communications: electrical
Aircraft alarm or indicating systems
C340S971000, C701S014000, C701S120000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06175314
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to aviation electronics and more particularly relates to data link communication systems and even more particularly relates to controller/pilot data link communication (CPDLC) systems.
In the past, much of the communication between aircraft flight crews and air traffic control (ATC) authorities was done with voice radio. As air traffic increased over time, the increasing demand of ATC/flight crew communications increased pressure on the available radio voice frequencies. One response to this demand for voice radio frequencies was the early system known as ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) in which messages were sent to the flight deck in a digital format and the crew was required to read a display or printed message. The messages at first were primarily information relating to the airline's operations, but over time, messages to and from air traffic control authorities were becoming more and more common on these data link communication systems. In the early days, it was not always necessary to read the messages immediately because of their nature, such as information relating to airline operations, connecting flights, information relating to food and beverages, and other airline operation information. But today, with the air traffic control authorities utilizing data links as a form of communication, it is now much more common for there to be an immediate need to review data link messages in the interest of safety of flight. Over time, the trends have been towards increased messages requiring immediate review by the flight crew. This increase of messages requiring immediate review results in flight crews being required to look down and away from other instruments. This increased “heads down” time is generally not favored by the pilots. Once an aircraft, in the departure mode, leaves the gate area, cockpit activity increases rapidly, and the importance of looking outside the cockpit and to all of the instruments in the cockpit becomes increasingly critical. As a result, data messages requiring immediate attention by the flight crew may detract from the safety of flight.
Consequently, there exists a need for improved data link communication systems which provide for enhanced safety of flight.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide for increased safety of flight.
It is a feature of the present invention to include on-board translation of coded ATC messages.
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide, easier to interpret, verbal messages to replace coded messages.
It is another feature of the present invention to include aural annunciation of such verbal messages.
It is yet another advantage of the present invention to provide valuable ATC messages while concomitantly reducing the requirement for heads-down time.
It is yet another feature of the present invention to provide for translation of coded messages into varying languages depending upon a flight crew preference.
It is still yet another advantage of the present invention to reduce the risk of miscommunication caused by limited translation skills on either the ATC authorities or the flight crew.
The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing aural annunciation of ATC messages which is designed to satisfy the aforementioned needs, provide the previously-stated objects, include the above-listed features and achieve the already articulated advantages. The invention is carried out in a “head down-less” system, in the sense that the requirement for flight crews to look down and away from the cockpit instrumentation panel to read data link messages is lessened. Accordingly, the present invention is a system for providing air traffic control information to a flight crew member comprising: means for storing a plurality of predetermined message segments; a means for comparing messages received on an aircraft from an air traffic controller with said predetermined message segments and generating a format confirmed message in response thereto; means for storing a plurality of speech files; means for generating a selection signal in response to predetermined message characteristics; and, means for providing a speech file corresponding to said format confirmed message and further in response to said predetermined message characteristic.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3922716 (1975-11-01), Arnold
patent: 4369425 (1983-01-01), Andersen et al.
patent: 5689419 (1997-11-01), Massat
patent: 5844503 (1998-12-01), Riley
patent: 5920807 (1999-07-01), Lemme
DO-219 MOPS by RTCA 1993 See Section 2.2.3, p. 28.
See Appendix A See Appendix B.
Eppele Kyle
Jensen Nathan O.
O'Shaughnessy J. P.
Rockwell Collins, Inc.
Swarthout Brent A.
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