초록 ▼

Systems and methods for processing flight information. Using a flight plan/route message and other flight information (aircraft type and navigation database information), the portion of the message containing the flight plan or route is decoded and translated to construct a ground-based flight route

Systems and methods for processing flight information. Using a flight plan/route message and other flight information (aircraft type and navigation database information), the portion of the message containing the flight plan or route is decoded and translated to construct a ground-based flight route comprising a list of waypoints and associated flight information. The list of waypoints may then used in calculations performed by a flight trajectory predictor to identify spatially associated weather information and/or to create an updated flight plan or route (e.g., by adding or changing waypoints in a flight object) and thereafter transmit that information to users. Prior to transmitting any updated flight plan/route, the associated waypoints and other flight information must be translated and encoded into the required format for inclusion in an outgoing (i.e., uplinked) flight plan/route message.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method for flying an aircraft in accordance with a flight plan/route, comprising: (a) obtaining a flight plan/route message comprising first payload data representing a flight plan/route of an aircraft;(b) processing the first payload data to derive a list of waypoints and associated flight inf

1. A method for flying an aircraft in accordance with a flight plan/route, comprising: (a) obtaining a flight plan/route message comprising first payload data representing a flight plan/route of an aircraft;(b) processing the first payload data to derive a list of waypoints and associated flight information in a form suitable for use by a user;(c) processing the list of waypoints, associated flight information, and current and forecast environmental information to derive second payload data representing an updated flight plan/route of said aircraft;(d) constructing an updated flight plan/route message that includes said second payload data;(e) uplinking said updated flight plan/route message to said aircraft with or without environmental information; and(f) flying the aircraft in accordance with said uplinked updated flight plan/route,wherein steps (a) through (e) are performed by one or more processors not located onboard said aircraft. 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said first payload data is encrypted, and operation (b) comprises decrypting said first payload data, and operation (c) comprises encrypting said second payload data. 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein operation (b) comprises decoding some of said first payload data into waypoints based at least in part on information retrieved from a navigation database. 4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising storing said list of waypoints in a flight object and translating said list of waypoints in said flight object from a form not suitable for use by a user to a form suitable for use by said user. 5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein operation (c) comprises translating waypoints included in said list into an identifier of an airway or flight procedure by reference to a navigation database, further comprising storing said identifier in an appropriate field of a flight object. 6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein operation (c) further comprises encoding waypoints, airways, flight procedures and other flight information in accordance with a pre-specified format for message payload data. 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein operations (b) and (c) respectively involve decoding and encoding schemes which are a function of an aircraft type for said aircraft or an airline operating said aircraft. 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein operations (b), (c) and (d) are performed as a function of user preference data. 9. A system for processing flight information, comprising a flight management system onboard an aircraft and a ground-based data processing system, wherein the ground-based data processing system is programmed to perform the following operations: (a) obtaining a flight plan/route message comprising first payload data representing a flight plan/route of an aircraft;(b) processing the first payload data to derive a list of waypoints and associated flight information in a form suitable for use by a user;(c) processing the list of waypoints, associated flight information, and current and forecast environmental information to derive second payload data representing an updated flight plan/route of said aircraft;(d) constructing an updated flight plan/route message that includes said second payload data; and(e) uplinking said updated flight plan/route message to said flight management system onboard said aircraft with or without environmental information, andwherein said flight management system is configured to control flight of said aircraft in accordance with said updated flight plan/route. 10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said first payload data is encrypted, and operation (b) comprises decrypting said first payload data, and operation (c) comprises encrypting said second payload data. 11. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein operation (b) comprises decoding some of said first payload data into waypoints based at least in part on information retrieved from a navigation database. 12. The system as recited in claim 11, further comprising storing said list of waypoints in a flight object and translating said list of waypoints in said flight object from a form not suitable for use by a user to a form suitable for use by said user. 13. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein operation (c) comprises translating waypoints included in said list into an identifier of an airway or flight procedure by reference to said navigation database, further comprising storing said identifier in an appropriate field of a flight object. 14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein operation (c) further comprises encoding waypoints, airways, flight procedures and other flight information in accordance with a pre-specified format for message payload data. 15. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein operations (b) and (c) respectively involve decoding and encoding schemes which are a function of an aircraft type for said aircraft or an airline operating said aircraft. 16. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein operations (b), (c) and (d) are performed as a function of user preference data. 17. A system for processing flight information comprising a flight management system onboard an aircraft and the following components not onboard the aircraft: a flight object, a trajectory predictor, a message constructor, a navigation database, and a flight plan/route processor capable of communicating with said navigation database, said trajectory predictor, said message constructor, said flight plan/route processor, and said flight object, wherein said flight plan/route processor is programmed to perform the following operations: (a) obtaining a flight plan/route message comprising payload data representing a flight plan/route of an aircraft;(b) parsing said payload data to extract flight information;(c) decoding components of said extracted flight information to derive a list of waypoints and associated flight information; and(d) storing said list of waypoints and associated flight information in said flight object; andwherein said trajectory predictor is configured to process said list of waypoints, associated flight information, and current and forecast environmental information to derive payload data representing an updated flight plan/route of said aircraft;wherein said message constructor is configured to construct an updated flight plan/route message that includes said payload data representing said updated flight plan/route of said aircraft and uplink said updated flight plan/route message to said aircraft with or without environmental information; andwherein said flight management system is configured to control flight of said aircraft in accordance with said updated flight plan/route. 18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein at least one of the waypoints included in said stored list of waypoints was not explicitly identified in said payload data and instead was retrieved from said navigation database. 19. A system for processing flight information comprising a flight management system onboard an aircraft and a ground-based data processing system not onboard said aircraft, wherein the data processing system comprises: a flight object that stores a list of waypoints associated with a flight plan/route of an aircraft;a flight plan/route processor capable of communicating with a navigation database and said flight object, wherein said flight plan/route processor is programmed to perform the following operations:(a) translating said list of waypoints into a sequence of flight information comprising waypoints, flight levels, fixes, transitions, airways and flight procedures, said sequence of flight information representing said flight plan/route for said aircraft; and(b) encoding said sequence of flight information to have a specified format associated with said aircraft or an airline operating said aircraft;a trajectory predictor configured to process said encoded sequence of flight information and current and forecast environmental information to derive payload data representing an updated flight plan/route of said aircraft;a message constructor configured to perform the following operations:(c) constructing a flight plan/route message that includes said payload data representing said updated flight plan/route of said aircraft; and(d) transmitting said flight plan/route message to said aircraft with or without environmental information; andwherein said flight management system is configured to control flight of said aircraft in accordance with said updated flight plan/route.