Era Systems Corporation

Rannoch Corporation

Other

Itt Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.

Omnipol A.s.

Rannock Corporation

Smitty's Incorporated

Sra International, Inc.

Rannuch Corporation

Randolph Corporation

Alexander E Smith

Thomas J Breen

Carl A Evers

Bennett Cohen

Jonathan C Baldwin

Burton D Baggs, Jr

Russell Hulstrom

Eric Cassell

Robert P Blair

Robert Bradley

Derrick D Lee

Christopher F Rossano

Carl Evers

Russel Hulstrom

This invention builds on previous industry techniques to correlate data from a variety of sources for the purposes of tracking and identifying aircraft, vehicles, and marine vessels in real time over a variety of different areas including oceans and mountainous terrain. Passive broadband tracking of aircraft emitters, and electronic fingerprinting of emitters, correlated with audio, video, infrared, primary radar and other information is employed to provide a comprehensive assessment of an aircraft's position, track and identification for a variety of applications including homeland security and search and rescue.

Deployable intelligence and tracking system for homeland security and search and rescue

Methods to improve the performance of passive coherent location by non-reliance on a direct view of the signal source are described. Passive Coherent Location, or PCL, has become a promising technology as more computer-processing power has become generally available. Basically, most PCL techniques rely on comparing signal sources with their reflections from an object in order to determine the location of the object. However, this requires line of sight access from the receiver system to the signal source which may not always be practical and may limit the performance of the system overall. The techniques described herein do not require line of sight to the transmitter sources.

Transmitter independent techniques to extend the performance of passive coherent location

A system and method are disclosed to track aircraft or other vehicles using techniques including multilateration and elliptical surveillance. Unlike conventional approaches that use time difference of arrival for multilateration at a fixed set of reception points, this technique allows targets to be tracked from a number of dynamic or moving reception points. This allows for triangulation/multilateration and elliptical surveillance of targets from combinations of fixed, fixed and moving or only moving ground-based receivers, sea-based receivers, airborne receivers and space-based receivers. Additionally this technique allows for ADS-B validation through data derived from only two receivers to assess the validity and integrity of the aircraft self-reported position by comparing the time of arrival of the emitted message at the second receiver to the predicted time of message arrival at the second receiver based on the self-reported position of the aircraft and the time of arrival at the first receiver. The benefits of using less than three receivers for validation include greater validation coverage areas using a smaller set of ground stations at a lower infrastructure cost.

Method and apparatus for ADS-B validation, active and passive multilateration, and elliptical surveillance

The present invention includes a number of embodiments for improving vehicle situational awareness at intersections. A first embodiment may comprise a lens fitted at the top of the windshield or outside the vehicle, for refracting the light to the driver, so the driver may more easily see signals, signage and other features of an intersection, as well as other traffic. A second embodiment of the invention is used as an aid to prompt the driver that a light has changed. In a third embodiment, the light change sensor may be combined with other vehicle status information. As the car comes to a stop, the route guidance system may determine if the vehicle is at or in the vicinity of an intersection. Depending on the route guidance database, the system may also know whether or not there are traffic lights at the intersection. Using the vehicle's on board forward-looking radar sensor, the system may then determine if it is first in line at the intersection. In a fourth embodiment the system may be part of a portable after-market routing device. In a fifth embodiment the system, either portable or fixed, may be used to detect changes in the intensity of the brake lights of the vehicle ahead.

Method and apparatus to improve vehicle situational awareness at intersections

A land use compatibility software module uses an existing suite of airport management programs to generate exception reports for FAA Part 77 land use compatibly surveys. Land use compatibility management is a manually intensive and time-consuming process. The noise officer may have to compute whether a proposed structure violates FAA's obstruction clearance criteria as set out in FAA's standard for obstacle clearance zones (Part 77). With these three-dimensional zone shapes entered into AirScene&#x2122;, the user may enter lat/long and height data for potential obstructions, such as cellular telephone towers as mentioned in the above example. The system will plot the potential obstructions on the map and will determine whether or not the height and proposed position of the tower violates the FAA's obstruction criteria for that runway. The system may be used to generate 'exception reports' for proposed structures.

Land use compatibility planning software

The present invention relates to the field of smart cars and automatic signaling of a vehicle's intent. The invention allows a driver to choose between manual or automatic signaling (turns, deceleration, acceleration) and a prominent feature is that the system is not cooperative and can be phased in over time, one car at a time and offer immediate benefits. Much of the prior art relating to newer automotive technologies relies on the use of cooperative technologies, such as transponders or beacons and the like, requiring all cars to equip in order to gain benefits. While this is technically achievable it is an institutional limitation, and therefore systems that do not rely on this extent of cooperation are more practical and can be introduced sooner. The invention has the capability of ensuring that many more cars on the road provide proper turn signals as well as acceleration and deceleration signals. This display of intent will lead to increased situational awareness for all drivers and will improve efficiencies on the roads leading to less congestion. Today, the car ahead may simply slow down leaving a following or approaching driver to wait and guess what is happening. With this invention the car ahead will declare its intentions in advance. The invention also allows for the broadcasting of the vehicles intentions over commercially available data links.

Method and apparatus to determine vehicle intent

Multilateration techniques are used to provide accurate aircraft tracking data for aircraft on the ground and in the vicinity of an airport. From this data, aircraft noise and operations management may be enhanced. Aircraft noise may be calculated virtually using track data in real-time and provided to a user to determine noise violations. Tracking data may be used to control noise monitoring stations to gate out ambient noise. Aircraft emissions, both on the ground and in the air may be determined using tracking data. This and other data may be displayed in real time or generated in reports, and/or may be displayed on a website for viewing by airport operators and/or members of the public. The system may be readily installed in a compact package using a plurality of receivers and sensor packages located at shared wireless communication towers near an airport, and a central processing station located in or near the airport.

Multilateration enhancements for noise and operations management

A system and technique is described which has the capability to track and identify, in real time, various aircraft and objects including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), and Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). The system uses a combination of techniques including conventional automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B), transponder multilateration, broadband emitter multilateration, primary and secondary radar, and passive coherent location. A series of enhancement to conventional passive coherent location are described.

Enhanced passive coherent location techniques to track and identify UAVs, UCAVs, MAVs, and other objects

In a first, preferred embodiment of the present invention, integrated tracking is provided using passive broadband. The invention takes the system for deployable passive broadband detection and extends it by incorporating the capability to decode position for ADS-B, SSR multilateration, and broadband multilateration. In a second embodiment, validation of a self-reported position is provided. The invention takes the system for deployable passive broadband detection and extends it by incorporating the capability to decode self-reported position for ADS-B, and compare it to line of calculated position, or line of precision, derived from multilateration techniques applied to various signals received from the aircraft. In a third embodiment, validation of a self-reported ADS-B position using independent surveillance is provided by the system.

Deployable passive broadband aircraft tracking

A solution is described which provides an airport with the tools to accurately manage all sources of airside revenues, including operational revenues and capital programs. The system of the present invention relies on the acquisition of any and all data related to the operations, property, lease, and revenue management of an airport, including aircraft tracking data. This data is then stored in a central database where it is processed, sorted, and stored for later retrieval. The data may exist in a number of forms including real-time streams, tabular, or in the form of a database. From this data, airport revenue information can be accurately managed.

Automated management of airport revenues

At most airports, responsibility of air traffic control starts and stops at the entrance or exit to the runway movement areas, which are taxiways and runways. In the non-movement areas, such as hangers, ramps, and aprons, aircraft movements and separation are no longer the responsibility of air traffic control, but is the responsibility of other parties such as the airport itself, airlines, or other parties. The use of tracking technologies for air traffic control is therefore focused on the movement areas, not the non-movement areas, where there are limitations in aircraft tracking. Furthermore, many of the aircraft transmitting devices are switched off in non-movement areas exacerbating tracking problems in these areas. The present invention includes several methods including broadband multilateration, to extend aircraft tracking from the movement areas into non-movement areas without the need to extend special air traffic control equipment into those areas.

Extension of aircraft tracking and positive identification from movement areas into non-movement areas

A method and apparatus for providing live display of aircraft flight information obtains aircraft data from at least two data sources selected from aircraft position and flight information from an ASDI (aircraft situational awareness display to industry) data source, aircraft location and identification from multilateration of an aircraft transponder data source, flight information from an ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) data source, and flight information from an airline flight information system data source. The data is then fused together to integrate aircraft information from at least two of the data sources to produce integrated aircraft information, and providing a real-time display of the integrated aircraft flight information over a network, a physically connected display, a cockpit display, or an airport ground vehicle display.

Correlation of flight track data with other data sources

Method and apparatus for ADS-B validation, active and passive multilateration, and elliptical surviellance

Security of ADS-B transmissions is improved in a first embodiment to detect position spoofing. The annunciated position source may then be compared with the derived source and a determination is made regarding the difference between the results. Any position difference greater than an amount significantly greater than the combination of the error sources is then a cause for concern and can be used to generate an alert. In a second embodiment, alerting may be based on identification spoofing. From these sources a correlated ID is available which will have an associated confidence based on the number of sources and the level of agreement on the information. Aircraft dynamics may be correlated with the announced ID for consistency. A priori information on the aircraft and location, such as schedule information, and normal operations, may be used to assist in the confidence of aircraft identity. In a third embodiment, alerting may be based on spoofing of identity and position.

Growing community of inventors

McLean, VA, United States of America

Alexander E Smith