The Boeing Company

Timothy Edward Jackson

Sean M Ramey

Steven Mark Walstrom

Tuong Kien Truong

Eric Y Chan

Dennis Gary Koshinz

Kim Quan Anh Nguyen

Todd Burton Brouwer

Arnold W Nordsieck

Barkhung Henry Pang

Christopher M Uyeda

Timothy Allen Murphy

Mark Eugene Liffring

Robert Thomas Johnson

Mark Stephen Shander

Charles Otis Adler

Thomas R Hasenoehrl

William R Richards

Garry G Herzberg

Carolyn Kerr

Edgar L Von Trotha, Iii

Ted Eigle

Jessie Turner

Erin Elizabeth Warr

John T Peters

Fadl Ibrahim Khalil

Ricardo Messias Fricks

Thomas Jose Thalakottur

William P Hansen

Daniel Bruce Holton

Bryan R Durr

Eric Scott Gubler

Robert L Springgay

Tracy Andrew Smail

Charles Daniel Cowles

Allen R Link

Mark D McCleary

Gary L Andelin

John Harvey Roberson

Garry Gean Herzberg

Mark S Shander

Todd B Brouwer

Edgar L Von Trotha Iii

A method, apparatus, and system for testing a fuel tank for an aircraft. Electrical power is sent to an optical data concentrator for the fuel tank for the aircraft from a power supply such that the optical data concentrator sends optical signals to optical sensors inside the fuel tank through optical fibers connecting the optical data concentrator to the optical sensors. The electrical power is sent during a phase of manufacturing of the aircraft. Test data is received from the optical data concentrator by a computer system. The test data is based on optical response signals received from the optical sensors. A determination of states for the optical sensors is made by the computer system using the test data. A graphical indication of the states determined for the optical sensors inside the fuel tank is displayed by the computer system in a graphical user interface on a display system.

Fuel tank testing system

Systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to generate an integrated modular architecture (IMA) model. An example apparatus includes an interface importer to import first IMA protocol definitions into a computer modeling environment to generate libraries and generate IMA model objects, a model object handler to import ones of IMA model objects into the computer modeling environment to generate a first IMA model corresponding to an aircraft system of an aircraft and generate an IMA system model corresponding to the aircraft by generating IMA models including the first IMA model. The example apparatus further includes an interface validator to validate the IMA system model by comparing an output of the IMA system model to a validation output, an interface exporter to generate manufacturing build instructions of the aircraft system when the IMA system model is validated, and a report generator to initiate production of the aircraft system.

Systems, methods, and apparatus to generate an integrated modular architecture model

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to generate an aircraft system model using a standardized architecture. An example apparatus includes a model generator to generate an aircraft system model of an aircraft system based on a standardized architecture, a model integrator to integrate the aircraft system model into an integrated aircraft system model, a power sequencer to perform a power sequence test on the integrated aircraft system model, and a report generator to generate a report including a result of the power sequence test.

Methods and apparatus to generate an aircraft system model using a standardized architecture

A controller area network (CAN) comprising a plurality of CAN nodes that communicate via a CAN bus that comprises a fiber optical network. The fiber optical network uses a single fiber and a single wavelength for transmit and receive, and comprises a passive reflective optical star. The reflective optical star comprises an optical mixing rod having a mirror at one end. The other end of the reflective optical star is optically coupled to the transmitters and receivers of a plurality of optical-electrical media converters by way of respective high-isolation optical Y-couplers. Each CAN node produces electrical signals (in accordance with the CAN message-based protocol) which are converted into optical pulses that are broadcast to the fiber optical network. Those optical pulses are then reflected back to all CAN nodes by the reflective optical star.

Single-fiber bidirectional controller area network bus

A pin-configurable bus termination system may include a bus connector attached to an end of a bus. The bus connector may be configured for electrically connecting the bus to an input connector of a node. The node may include a bus termination resistance. The bus connector may include a first bus output pin, a second bus output pin and configurable first and second termination resistor pins. The configurable first and second termination resistor pins may be configurable to provide a first termination configuration and a second termination configuration. The first termination configuration may electrically interconnect the first and second bus output pins and the configurable first and second termination resistor pins to electrically connect the bus termination resistance for terminating the bus. The second termination configuration may include an open electrical circuit between the first and second bus output pins and the configurable first and second termination resistor pins.

Pin-configurable internal bus termination system

Provided are mechanisms for improving bandwidth for non-essential data on deterministic aircraft data networks (ADNs) such as ARINC 664 networks. A switch such as an ARINC 664 switch maintains rate constrains on one or more priority levels of traffic while releasing rate constraints on low priority traffic. Low priority traffic can be received at an ARINC 664 switch at rates allowed by an Ethernet physical layer. However, low priority, non-rate constrained traffic is transmitted only when there are no other scheduled messages to send. Low priority traffic can consume all available bandwidth whenever there is slack time. A switch can further be separated into zones including a standard rate constrained zone as well as a rate unconstrained zone. Internal or external cross-links can be provided between the zones for any data that needs to be transferred between zones.

Bandwidth on deterministic aircraft data networks

A method, apparatus, and aircraft tracker system for reporting state information for an aircraft. A state of the aircraft is identified using sensor data received from an aircraft sensor system in the aircraft. The state information is transmitted at a reporting rate set using the state of the aircraft identified from the sensor data, at least one of a crew command or a ground command when at least one of the crew command is received from a crew interface or the ground command is received from a ground source, and a policy defining priorities for reporting that are based on at least one of the crew command, the ground command, or the state of the aircraft identified from the sensor data.

Controller for an aircraft tracker

A controller area network has a plurality of nodes in communication through a bus. The nodes have controllers and computer readable instructions that, when executed, perform the steps of: receiving a new message; inserting the new message into the queue in order of priority if the queue is not full; refusing the new message if the queue is full and the priority of the new message is lower than the priorities of current messages in the queue; inserting the new message into the queue in order of priority if the queue is full and the priority of the new message is higher than a priority of at least one of the current messages; removing the new message from the queue if the current time exceeds an expiration indicator; sending the new message to the controller for transmission and holding the new message in the queue during transmission; and removing the new message from the queue after successful transmission.

Method for managing messages across a controller area network

A plurality of modular equipment centers (MECs) spatially distributed throughout a vehicle servicing equipment loads. Each MEC independently provides localized power and communication to service the equipment loads and each equipment load is serviced by the nearest MEC. In at least one embodiment, only primary power is distributed across section breaks of the vehicle to minimize the number of connections between section breaks, reduce overall vehicle weight, and to increase vehicle build rate.

Modular equipment center distributed primary power architecture

A method, data processing system, and computer program product for processing packets in an aircraft network data processing system. A number of first packets of data are received from each redundant network in a plurality of redundant networks in the aircraft network data processing system. A number of second packets of data generated by a redundancy manager are received in communication with the plurality of redundant networks. Then, a configuration of the plurality of redundant networks is identified using the number of first packets and the number of second packets.

Processing packets in an aircraft network data processing system

A method and apparatus for testing a number of display devices. Images displayed on the number of display devices are received by a computer system for a platform during a performance of a number of tests at a number of test locations for the platform. A portion of the images from the images are identified as a number of images of interest using a policy.

Avionic display testing system

Status of complex system functions is diagnosed and reported by analyzing traffic on a data network of the complex system. The network traffic may be placed on the data network by systems that perform functions for the complex system. A user may make a view selection via a remote user interface. The view selection identifies rules for determining a status of a selected subset of the functions or a status of selected ones of the functions for a selected state of operation, such as during initial power-up. The status of the functions may be determined from the network traffic using the rules and presented to the user via the user interface. The user may interact with the presentation to make different view selections. Multiple different view selections made via multiple different user interfaces may be supported simultaneously.

Complex system function status diagnosis and presentation

A particular system includes a processor and a network interface configured to send and receive messages via a network using an asynchronous computer communication protocol. The system may include two or more buffers, such as an ingress buffer and an egress buffer. The system may include a memory accessible to the processor. The memory may include first node instructions that are executable by the processor to implement one or more functions of a first node. The memory may also include one or more script callbacks. The script callbacks may be executable by the processor to at least one of provide: the first content to a test script to be modified before the first content is provided to the first node instructions from the ingress buffer, and provide the second content to the test script to be modified before the outgoing message is provided to the egress buffer.

Protocol software component and test apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Mukilteo, WA, United States of America

Timothy Edward Jackson