Lockheed Martin Corporation

General Electric Company

Leidos Innovations Technology, Inc.

Sergio Torres

Joel Kenneth Klooster

Mauricio Castillo-Effen

Rajesh Venkat Subbu

David So Keung Chan

Feng Xue

Weiwei Chen

Joachim Karl Hochwarth

Glen William Brooksby

Harold Woodruff Tomlinson, Jr

Joachim Karl Ulf Hochwarth

Harold Woodruff Tomlinson

Michael R Abbett

David So Chan

David Sk Chan

Harold Woodruff Tomlinson Jr

Joachim Karl Ulf Hocewarth

David SK Chan

A system and method to improve efficiency in aircraft maneuvers meant to accommodate time-related constraints in air traffic. Information related to flight performance and atmospheric conditions is gathered onboard an aircraft, then transmitted to an air traffic control center. In the event of a delay or any other event which necessitates an alteration in an aircraft trajectory, the data is sent to a decision support tool to compute and provide alternative trajectories, preferably including operator-preferred trajectories, within air traffic constraints. Air traffic controllers can then offer an alternative trajectory to an aircraft that is more efficient, cost effective, and/or preferable to the aircraft operator.

Schedule management system and method for managing air traffic

Methods and system are provided for scheduling and negotiating air traffic within an airspace surrounding an airport and scheduled to land at the airport. An air traffic control (ATC) system is used to monitor the altitudes, speeds and lateral routes of aircraft. The ATC system generates a scheduled time-of-arrival (STA) at one or more meter fix points associated with the airport, the STA is stored, and data is received or inferred with the ATC system for at least a first of the aircraft, including a minimum fuel-cost speed and predicted trajectory parameters of the first aircraft based on current values of its existing trajectory parameters. Auxiliary data, including earliest and latest estimated time-of-arrival (ETAmin) and (ETAmax) at the meter fix point, STA being within/ outside ETAmin, ETAmax are generated, instructions are transmitted to the first aircraft, and the STA is updated for each aircraft stored in a queue.

Methods and systems for managing air traffic

According to aspects of the embodiments, there is provided an apparatus and method to synchronize trajectories from independent systems such as from a flight management system and the ground Air traffic control during the entire history of a flight. Since a number of trajectory discrepancy factors will intervene during the lifetime of a flight, such as a change in flight intent, controller intervention, or large deviations of the actual flight from the predicted trajectory due to prediction errors, there is need to dynamically monitor these deviations and control a dynamic synchronization cycle. A dynamic trajectory synchronization algorithm attempts to bring each of the systems back into balance whenever a disturbance causes an imbalance. Disturbances include deviation of atmospheric conditions from predicted, change of pilot preference, and unpredicted events requiring controller action, such as need for separation from other aircraft or change in convective weather, special use airspace, or scheduling requirements.

Method and apparatus for dynamic air traffic trajectory synchronization

A method and system suitable for inferring trajectory predictor parameters of aircraft for the purpose of predicting aircraft trajectories. The method and system involve receiving trajectory prediction information regarding an aircraft, and then using this information to infer (extract) trajectory predictor parameters of the aircraft that are otherwise unknown to a ground automation system. The trajectory predictor parameters can then be applied to one or more trajectory predictors of the ground automation system to predict a trajectory of the aircraft. In certain embodiments, the method and system can utilize available air-ground communication link capabilities, which may include data link capabilities available as part of trajectory-based operations (TBO).

Methods and systems for inferring aircraft parameters

Methods and systems suitable for negotiating air traffic trajectory modification requests received from multiple aircraft that each has trajectory parameters. The methods include transmitting from at least a first aircraft a first trajectory modification request to alter the altitude, speed and/or lateral route thereof. A first conflict assessment is then performed to determine if the first trajectory modification request poses a conflict with the altitudes, speeds and lateral routes of other aircraft. If a conflict is not identified, the first trajectory modification request is granted and the first aircraft is notified of the first trajectory modification request being granted. Alternatively, if a conflict is identified, the first trajectory modification request is not granted and the first aircraft is notified thereof. If the first trajectory modification request was not granted, the first trajectory modification request is placed in a queue, which is periodically processed to perform subsequent conflict assessments.

According to aspects of the embodiments, there is provided an apparatus and method to synchronize the distinct trajectories predicted by a flight management system and air navigation service provider. A comparison model is generated that indicates differences between an aircraft trajectory and a ground trajectory. The aircraft trajectory is updated to reflect identified discrepancies and restriction violations between the trajectories. Upon successful completion of the first designated change, a notification manager is used to issue a notification of the designated change to the flight plan trajectory. A modified ground trajectory is produced that incorporates the designated change to the flight plan trajectory. The comparison is repeated until the discrepancies of the trajectories are operationally insignificant.

Method and apparatus for air traffic trajectory synchronization

A method and apparatus for encoding and using user preferences in air traffic management operations are disclosed. The method may include determining a current trajectory based on the user preferences, computing a cost of deviations from the current trajectory, codifying the cost of deviations from the current trajectory using normalized cost coefficients for one or more segments of the current trajectory, and communicating the codified cost of deviations to an air traffic control (ATC) automation system, wherein the ATC automation system computes costs of maneuvers based on the codified cost of deviations and ranks the maneuvers according to cost.

Method and apparatus for encoding and using user preferences in air traffic management operations

A precision radar registration (PR) system and method that employs highly accurate geo-referenced positional data as a basis for correcting registration bias present in radar data. In one embodiment, the PRmethod includes sample collection and bias computation function processes. The sample collection process includes ADS-B sample collection, radar sample collection, and time alignment sub-processes. The bias computation function process includes bias computation, quality monitoring and non-linear effects monitoring sub-processes. The bias computation sub-process results in a bias correction solution including range bias b, azimuth bias b, and time bias bparameters. The quality monitoring sub-process results in an estimate of solution quality. The non-linear effects monitoring sub-process results in detection of the presence of non-linear bias, if any, in the bias correction solution.

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Bethesda, MD, United States of America

Sergio Torres