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Wireless spread spectrum ground link-based aircraft data communication system for engine event reporting |
| RE40479 |
Wireless spread spectrum ground link-based aircraft data communication system for engine event reporting
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| Patent Drawings: | |
| Inventor: |
Wright, et al. |
| Date Issued: |
September 2, 2008 |
| Application: |
10/703,031 |
| Filed: |
November 6, 2003 |
| Inventors: |
Wright; Thomas H. (Indialantic, FL)
Ziarno; James J. (Malabar, FL)
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| Assignee: |
Harris Corporation (Melbourne, FL) |
| Primary Examiner: |
Crosland; Donnie L. |
| Assistant Examiner: |
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| Attorney Or Agent: |
Allen, Dyer, Doppelt, Milbrath & Gilchrist, P.A. |
| U.S. Class: |
455/98; 340/825.72; 340/945; 342/33; 370/316; 375/130; 455/431; 701/14; 701/35 |
| Field Of Search: |
455/98; 455/66.1; 455/431; 455/67.1; 455/54.1; 455/33; 340/825.72; 340/825.69; 340/945; 340/961; 340/971; 340/539.1; 340/3.43; 701/14; 701/35; 375/130; 342/33; 342/36; 370/310; 370/316 |
| International Class: |
H04B 1/034; G06F 7/70; G08B 21/00 |
| U.S Patent Documents: |
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| Foreign Patent Documents: |
0 407 179; 2 276 006 |
| Other References: |
WR. Beckman, "L-1011 Flight Data Recording Systems--Background, Features, Implications and Benefits, " AIAA Aircraft Systems and TechnologyConference, Los Angeles, California, Aug. 21-23, 1978, 9 pages (Exhibit 8). cited by other.
ARINC Characteristic 591, "Quick Access Recorder For AIDS System (QAR), " Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee, Aeronautical Radio, Inc., May 18, 1972, 21 pages (Exhibit 9). cited by other.
"Wired Datalink for the Parked Airplane," Paper Presented at AEEC Data Link Subcommittee Meeting, May 16, 1989, 10 pages. cited by other.
Mini QAR (Quick-Access Recorder), Avionics Test Solutions brochure, published by Avionica, 1996, 3 pages. cited by other.
Future Concepts for Maintenance, Report of the Portable Maintenance Access Terminal (PMAT) Working Group Meeting, ARINC, 94-205/FCM-69, Sep. 1, 1994, 38 pages. cited by other.
Gate-Aircraft Terminal Environment Link (Gatelink)--Ground Side, ARINC Specification 632, Dec. 30, 1994. cited by other.
Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee Letter 91-079/DLK-391, Apr. 5, 1991. cited by other.
Gate-Aircraft Terminal Environment Link (Gatelink)--Aircraft Side, ARINC Characteristic 751, Jan. 1, 1994. cited by other.
Aviation Week & Space Technology, "Safety Board Urges Mandatory Use of FDR/CVRs in Commuter Transports," Avionics, p. 73, McGraw-Hill, Inc., Aug. 31, 1987. cited by other.
Aviation Week & Space Technology, "Conversion Approach Appears Flawed," Aerospace Business, vol. 139, No. 4, p. 48, McGraw-Hill, Inc., Jul. 31, 1993. cited by other.
Electronic Engineering Times, "Module is Result of Work With Apple--Plessey Makes Leap With Wireless LAN," Nov. 7, 1994. cited by other.
Office Action in Ex Parte Reexamination mailed Dec. 19, 2007; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Application No. 90/008,567; Filing Date: Mar. 30, 2007; 21 pages. cited by other. |
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| Abstract: |
The system and method of the present invention provides a record of the performance of an aircraft engine. A plurality of sensors sense engine conditions and generate engine data. A ground data link unit is positioned within the aircraft and receives the engine data .Iadd.and stores the engine data within an archival data store.Iaddend.. A wideband spread spectrum transmitter that can be part of a transceiver downloads the engine data to a ground based spread spectrum receiver that can be part of a transceiver, and receives the wideband spread spectrum communication signal from the aircraft. It demodulates the wideband spread spectrum communication signal to obtain the engine data. |
| Claim: |
That which is claimed is:
1. A system for providing a record of the performance of an aircraft engine comprising: a plurality of sensors positioned on the aircraft for .Iadd.continuously.Iaddend.sensing engine conditions .Iadd.during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing .Iaddend.and generating engine data relating to .Iadd.the continuously sensed .Iaddend.operation of the engine .Iadd.during an entireflight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing.Iaddend.; a ground data link unit positioned within the aircraft and operatively connected to said plurality of sensors for receiving said engine data, said ground data link unit comprising: a).[.a.]. .Iadd.an archival .Iaddend.data store operative to accumulate and .Iadd.continuously .Iaddend.store the engine data .Iadd.during the entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing to create an archival store of such enginedata.Iaddend., and b) a wideband spread spectrum transceiver coupled to said data store, and comprising a transmitter that is operative to download said engine data that has been accumulated and stored by said .Iadd.archival .Iaddend.data store.Iadd.during the entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing .Iaddend.over a wideband spread spectrum communication signal .Iadd.after the aircraft completes its flight and land at an airport.Iaddend.; and a ground based spreadspectrum transceiver for receiving the wideband .Iadd.spread .Iaddend.spectrum communication signal from the aircraft and demodulating the wideband spread spectrum communication signal to obtain the .Iadd.accumulated .Iaddend.engine data.Iadd.representative of the performance of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from take-off to landing.Iaddend..
2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said aircraft includes a FADEC engine control system, wherein said sensors are operatively connected to said FADEC engine control system.
3. A system according to claim 1, wherein said sensors are positioned to sense at least one of .[.said.]. core compartment bleeding, sump pressurization, sump vent, active clearance control, and low pressure and high pressure recoup.
4. A system according to claim 1, wherein said sensors are positioned to sense at least one of oil pressure, oil temperature, fuel flow and engine hydraulics.
5. A system according to claim 1, and further comprising a plurality of sensors loaded throughout the aircraft for sensing routine aircraft conditions and generating parametric data such as received by a flight data recorder representative ofaircraft flight performance during a flight of said aircraft.
6. A system according to claim 5, and further comprising a multiplexer connected to said plurality of sensors and ground data link unit for receiving the parametric data and multiplexing the parametric-data for delivery to said ground data linkunit.
7. A system according to claim 1, and further comprising a ground based sever connected to said ground based spread spectrum receiver for receiving said engine data for further processing of said engine data.
8. A system according to claim 1, and further comprising a remote flight operations center operatively coupled to said ground based spread spectrum transceiver for receiving and processing engine data downloaded from said aircraft.
9. A system according to claim 1, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communication signal comprises a direct sequence spread spectrum signal.
10. A system according to claim 1, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communication signal comprises a frequency hopping spread spectrum signal.
.[.11. A system according to claim 1, wherein said data store comprises an archival data store..].
12. A system according to claim 1, wherein said ground data link unit is operative to store flight performance data and downloaded said flight performance data over side wideband spread spectrum communication signal.
13. A method of providing a record of the performance of an aircraft engine comprising: .Iadd.continuously sensing engine conditions during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing and generating engine data relatingto the continuously sensed operation of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing;.Iaddend. .[.collecting.]. .Iadd.accumulating and continuously storing .Iaddend.engine data within .[.a ground.]. .Iadd.anarchival data store of a ground .Iaddend.data link unit .[.during at least initial take-off of an aircraft from an airport and.]. .Iadd.during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing to create an archival store of such enginedata.Iaddend.; processing the engine data within a central processing unit of the ground data link unit to determine engine problems; .[.upon initial take-off,.]. downloading the engine data that has been .[.collected during initial take-off.]. .Iadd.accumulated and continuously stored within said archival data store during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing .Iaddend.over a wideband spread spectrum communication signal to a ground based spread spectrum receiver; and demodulating within the ground based spread spectrum receiver the wideband spread spectrum communication signal to obtain the engine data .Iadd.representative of the operation of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from take-off tolanding .Iaddend.for further processing.
14. A method according to claim 13, and further comprising the step of forwarding the engine data to a ground based server connected to the ground based spread spectrum receiver and processing the engine data within the ground based server.
15. A method according to claim 13, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communication signal comprises a direct sequence spread spectrum signal.
16. A method according to claim 13, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communication signal comprises frequency hopping spread spectrum signal.
17. A method of providing a record of the performance of an aircraft engine comprising: .Iadd.continuously sensing engine conditions during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing and generating engine data relatingto the continuously sensed operation of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing;.Iaddend. .[.collecting.]. .Iadd.accumulating and continuously storing .Iaddend.engine data within .Iadd.an archival data storeof .Iaddend.a ground data link unit during engine operation .Iadd.during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing to create an archival store of such continuously monitored engine data.Iaddend.; downloading the engine data thathas been .[.collected.]. .Iadd.accumulated and stored within the archival data store during the entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing .Iaddend.over a wideband spread spectrum communication signal to a ground based spreadspectrum receiver .Iadd.after the aircraft completes its flight and lands at an airport.Iaddend.; and demodulating within the ground based spread spectrum receiver the wideband spread spectrum communications signal to obtain the engine data.Iadd.representative of the operation of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from take-off to landing .Iaddend.for further processing.
.[.18. A method according to claim 17, and further comprising the step of collecting engine data within an archival data store of the ground data link unit..].
.[.19. A method according to claim 17, and further comprising the step of collecting engine data during at least initial take-off of the aircraft..].
20. A method according to claim 19, and further comprising the step of downloading the engine data upon initial take-off.
21. A method according of claim 17, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communication signal comprises a direct sequence spread spectrum communication signal.
22. A method according to claim 17, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communication signal comprises a frequency hopping spread spectrum communication signal.
23. A method according to claim 17, wherein the ground based spread spectrum receiver comprises a transceiver.
.Iadd.24. A method of providing a record of the performance of an aircraft engine comprising: continuously sensing engine conditions during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing and generating engine data relatingto the continuously sensed operation of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing; accumulating and continuously storing the engine data within an archival data store of a ground data link unit during theentire flight of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing to create an archival store of such continuously monitored engine data; downloading the engine data that has been accumulated and stored during the entire flight of the aircraft from atleast take-off to landing over a wideband spread spectrum communications signal to a ground based spread spectrum receiver after the aircraft completes its flight and land at an airport; and demodulating within the ground based spread spectrum receiverthe wideband spectrum communications signal to obtain the engine data representative of the operation of the engine during an entire flight of the aircraft from take-off to landing for further processing..Iaddend.
.Iadd.25. A method according to claim 24, and further comprising the step of collecting the engine data from a FADEC engine control system..Iaddend.
.Iadd.26. A method according to claim 24, and further comprising the step of downloading the engine data upon initial take-off..Iaddend.
.Iadd.27. A method according to claim 24, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communications signal comprises a direct sequence spread spectrum communications signal..Iaddend.
.Iadd.28. A method according to claim 24, wherein the wideband spread spectrum communications signal comprises a frequency hopping spread spectrum communications signal..Iaddend.
.Iadd.29. A method according to claim 24, wherein the ground based spread spectrum receiver comprises a transceiver..Iaddend.
.Iadd.30. A method according to claim 24, and further comprising the step of continuously collecting the engine data from a plurality of sensors positioned on the aircraft that sense engine conditions and continuously generate engine datarelating to operation of the engine..Iaddend.
.Iadd.31. A method of providing data of the performance of an aircraft engine comprising: continuously monitoring the performance of the aircraft engine during at least two entire flights of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing; generating engine data representative of the continuously monitored aircraft engine during the at least two entire flights of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing; accumulating and continuously storing the continuously generated engine datawithin a ground data link unit positioned within the aircraft during the at least two entire flights of the aircraft from at least take-off to landing to create an archival store of such continuously monitored engine data; after the aircraft completesits at least two flights and lands at an airport, transmitting the accumulated, stored generated engine data from the ground data link unit over a wideband spread spectrum communications signal to a ground based spread spectrum receiver; anddemodulating the received spread spectrum communications signal to obtain the accumulated engine data representative of the performance of the aircraft engine during the at least two entire flights of the aircraft from take-off to landing..Iaddend.
.Iadd.32. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of transmitting the accumulated generated engine data from the ground data link unit to a cellular infrastructure that includes the ground based spread spectrumreceiver..Iaddend.
.Iadd.33. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of transmitting the accumulated generated aircraft data over a frequency hopping spread spectrum communications signal..Iaddend.
.Iadd.34. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of transmitting the accumulated generated engine data over a direct sequence spread spectrum communications signal..Iaddend.
.Iadd.35. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of transmitting the generated engine data automatically after the aircraft has landed..Iaddend.
.Iadd.36. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of uploading data to the ground data link unit over a wideband spread spectrum communications signal after the aircraft has landed..Iaddend.
.Iadd.37. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of selecting a frequency channel for transmitting the accumulated generated engine data from a plurality of available frequency channels..Iaddend.
.Iadd.38. A method according to claim 37, and further comprising the step of selecting a frequency channel based on communication limitations of a governing jurisdiction in which the ground based spread spectrum receiver is located..Iaddend.
.Iadd.39. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of transmitting the accumulated generated engine data from the ground based spread spectrum transceiver to a flight operations center for further processing..Iaddend.
.Iadd.40. A method according to claim 31, and further comprising the step of storing the generated engine data within a memory of the ground data link unit..Iaddend. |
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