Trw Limited

Lee L Peterson

Allan C Goetz

Ronald K Ching

Apparatus, and a corresponding method, for generating navigational data to aid a pilot in landing or taxiing an aircraft in poor visibility conditions. Radio-frequency (rf) beacons at predetermined locations around an airport runway or taxiway are separately modulated to render them uniquely identifiable from the aircraft. A fixed array of receiving antennas on the aircraft has multiple, angularly spaced antenna beams that substantially overlap each other in coverage, such that a signal received from one of the beacons will in most cases be received in more than one adjacent receive beam. Signals received in each beam are processed by a fast Fourier transform module to separate signal components from the various beacons; then an interpolation process determines the arrival angles of the signals by comparing the amplitudes received in adjacent receive beams. Azimuth and elevation angle values are thereby obtained for each detected beacon, and this information can be used in conjunction with conventionally obtained aircraft attitude and altitude data to produce a visual display for the pilot when landing or taxiing the aircraft.

Growing community of inventors

Fallbrook, CA, United States of America

Lee L Peterson