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EP-3720012-B1 - AUTONOMOUS DISTRESS TRACKING USING AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE BROADCAST

EP3720012B1EP 3720012 B1EP3720012 B1EP 3720012B1EP-3720012-B1

Inventors

  • MURPHY, TIMOTHY A.
  • ADLER, CHARLES OTIS
  • TURNER, JESSIE

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200303

Claims (13)

  1. An autonomous distress tracking system (200) for an aircraft (202), comprising: an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212) configured to transmit an automatic distress transmission (236) comprising position information (240) indicating a position (234) of the aircraft (202) and distress status information (242) comprising information identifying a cause of a distress condition (230); a satellite navigation system receiver (210) configured to identify the position (234) of the aircraft (202) using navigation signals (110) received from a satellite navigation system (114) and to provide position information (240) indicating the position (234) of the aircraft (202); a beacon transmitter (214) configured to transmit an emergency locator transmitter beacon (252) in response to a determination that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230); an emergency locator transmitter beacon antenna (1502) for the beacon transmitter (214); a software defined radio (1512) that is configurable to implement the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212), the beacon transmitter (214), a satellite communications transceiver, and a wireless network transceiver, and to transmit a distress transmission (232) via an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast antenna (1504) for the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212) and the emergency locator transmitter beacon antenna (1502) for the beacon transmitter (214), wherein the distress transmission (232) comprises the automatic distress transmission (236) transmitted by the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver and the emergency locator transmitter beacon (252) transmitted from the beacon transmitter a system controller (208; 1518) comprising a distress identifier (228) configured to determine when the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230), the system controller being configured to control the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212) to transmit the automatic distress transmission (236) in response to a determination that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230) and to control the beacon transmitter (214) to transmit the emergency locator transmitter beacon (252) in response to the determination that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230); and a housing (206) attached to the aircraft (202) on an outside (204) of the aircraft (202), wherein the satellite navigation system receiver, the software defined radio and the system controller (208) are contained within the housing (206); wherein the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212) is configured to receive an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transmission (246) from the aircraft (202); and wherein the distress identifier (228) is configured to determine that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230) in response to the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transmission (246) from the aircraft (202) stopping for longer than a selected time period (304).
  2. The autonomous distress tracking system (202) of claim 1, wherein: the system controller (208) is configured to receive first position information (240) indicating the position (234) of the aircraft (202) from the satellite navigation system receiver (210) contained within the housing (206) and to use the first position information (240) for the position information (240) in the automatic distress transmission (236); the system controller (208) is configured to receive second position information (240) indicating the position (234) of the aircraft (202) from a second satellite navigation system receiver (211) on the aircraft (202) that is not contained within the housing (206) and to use the second position information (240) instead of the first position information (240) for the position information (240) in the automatic distress transmission (236) when the first position information (240) is not available from the first satellite navigation system receiver (210); and the distress identifier (228) is further configured to determine that the aircraft is in the distress condition (230) in response to neither the first position information nor the second position information being available (306).
  3. The autonomous distress tracking system (200) of claims 1 to 2, wherein the distress identifier (228) is further configured to determine that the aircraft (200) is in the distress condition (230) in response to: detecting transmission (308) of an emergency mode code (248) from the aircraft (202); or receiving a remote activation signal (310) from a location off of the aircraft (202) to activate the automatic distress transmission (236).
  4. The autonomous distress tracking system (200) of any of claims 1-3 further comprising: a battery (1522) contained within the housing (206); and a power manager (1520) configured to: control provision of power to electronic components of the system and to charge the battery (1522).
  5. The autonomous distress tracking system (200) of any of claims 1-4, wherein the housing (206) is attached to the outside (204) of the aircraft (202) at a location (414) on the aircraft (202) from which an antenna (411) for an emergency locator transmitter (410) was removed from the aircraft (202).
  6. The autonomous distress tracking system (200) of claim 1, comprising: a plurality of antennas (216) comprising a satellite navigation system antenna (1506) configured for receiving the navigation signals (110) for the satellite navigation system receiver (210), the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast antenna (1504) for the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212), a satellite communications antenna (1508) for the satellite communications transceiver, and a wireless network antenna (1510) configured for connectivity to the wireless network by a wireless network transceiver.
  7. The autonomous distress tracking system (200) of claim 6, wherein the satellite navigation system receiver (210) is implemented using the software defined radio (1512).
  8. The autonomous distress tracking system (200) of any of claims 6-7, wherein the wireless network is selected from the group of wireless networks consisting of a Wi-Fi network, a cellular telephone network, and a personal area network.
  9. An aircraft comprising a skin and the autonomous distress tracking system of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the autonomous distress tracking system is attached to the skin on the outside of the aircraft (102).
  10. A method of autonomous distress tracking of an aircraft (202), comprising: determining, by a distress identifier (228) implemented in a system controller (208; 1518), when the aircraft (202) is in a distress condition (230); and transmitting, by an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212), an automatic distress transmission (236) in response to a determination by the distress identifier (228) that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230), wherein the automatic distress transmission (236) comprises position information (240) identifying a position (234) of the aircraft (202) and distress status information (242) identifying a cause of the distress condition (230); identifying, by a satellite navigation system receiver (210), the position (234) of the aircraft (202) using navigation signals (110) received from a satellite navigation system (114) and providing position information (240) indicating the position (234) of the aircraft (202); transmitting, by a beacon transmitter (214), an emergency locator transmitter beacon (252) in response to the determination by the distress identifier (228) that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230); implementing, by a software defined radio (1512), the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212), the beacon transmitter (214), a satellite communications transceiver, and a wireless network transceiver, and transmitting a distress transmission (232) via an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast antenna (1504) for the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212) and an emergency locator transmitter beacon antenna (1502) for the beacon transmitter (214), wherein the distress transmission (232) comprises the automatic distress transmission (236) and the emergency locator transmitter beacon (252); receiving, by the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transceiver (212), an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transmission (246) from the aircraft (202); and determining, by the distress identifier (228), that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230) in response to the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transmission (246) from the aircraft (202) stopping for longer than a selected time period (304); wherein the satellite navigation system receiver, the software defined radio and the system controller (208) are contained within a housing (206) attached to the aircraft on an outside of the aircraft.
  11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230) further comprises: detecting transmission (308) of an emergency mode code (248) from the aircraft (202); or receiving a remote activation signal (310) from a location off of the aircraft (202) to activate the automatic distress transmission (236).
  12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, by the system controller (208), first position information (240) indicating the position (234) of the aircraft (202) from the satellite navigation system receiver (210) contained within the housing (206) and using the first position information (240) for the position information (240) in the automatic distress transmission (236); receiving, by the system controller (208), second position information (240) indicating the position (234) of the aircraft (202) from a second satellite navigation system receiver (211) on the aircraft (202) that is not contained within the housing (206); and determining, by the distress identifier (228), that the aircraft (202) is in the distress condition (230) in response to neither the first position information nor the second position information being available (306).
  13. The method of claim 10, further comprising: implementing the satellite navigation system receiver (210) using the software defined radio (1512).

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates generally to tracking the position of an aircraft. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and system for tracking the position of an aircraft that is in distress. Many aircrafts carry distress radio beacons. Distress radio beacons also may be known as emergency beacons or by other names. For example, without limitation, many commercial passenger aircraft and other aircraft may carry a distress radio beacon known as an emergency locator transmitter, ELT. An emergency locator transmitter on an aircraft is intended to aid in locating the aircraft after a crash. An emergency locator transmitter or other distress radio beacon on an aircraft may be manually or automatically activated to send out a distress signal. For example, without limitation, an emergency locator transmitter may be activated automatically upon immersion in water. The distress signals generated by an emergency locator transmitter or other distress radio beacon on an aircraft may be monitored and detected by a network of satellites worldwide. The geographic position of an emergency locator transmitter or other radio distress beacon emitting a distress signal may be determined using a satellite navigation system, triangulation, or using another method or an appropriate combination of methods. Current emergency locator transmitters may have several limitations. For example, position information provided by current emergency locator transmitters may not be sufficiently accurate or provided in a sufficiently reliable manner to effectively locate an aircraft in distress effectively. The majority of currently fielded emergency locator transmitters do not provide position information directly. The location of the emergency locator transmitter is determined by radio frequency direction finding or multilateration through satellite links. This process may take an undesirably long time and may not be sufficiently reliable. The weight of current emergency locator transmitters may be relatively high. Maintenance requirements for current emergency locator transmitters also may be relatively high. For example, most emergency locator transmitters fitted to aircraft today are powered by a non-rechargeable battery that is relatively heavy and must be maintained appropriately to ensure reliable operation and to prevent any undesired condition from occurring. It also may be relatively difficult to reduce or eliminate undesirable tampering with current emergency locator transmitters. Aircraft crashes that happen in remote areas, including oceanic areas, can present a significant problem to search and rescue personnel as well as accident investigators due to the difficulty of locating the crash site in a timely manner. As an attempt to improve this situation, new aviation requirements of tracking of aircraft in distress have been adopted at the international level. The requirements are performance based and essentially require that the position of an aircraft in distress be automatically broadcast at least once per minute. Furthermore, the system that broadcasts the position reports should be robust to failures in aircraft systems and loss of aircraft power to ensure that the reporting continues for the entire time that an aircraft is in distress. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a method and apparatus that take into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues. US 2017/0106997 A1, in accordance with its abstract, states: The disclosure is an autonomous anomaly response unit comprising: a signal coupler in communication with a selected avionics sensor in the aircraft avionics system, the signal coupler functioning to acquire from the selected avionics sensor a monitored sensor signal configured in a first signal format; a signal processor for receiving the monitored sensor signal and cross-formatting the monitored sensor signal into a selected sensor reading configured in a second signal format; a parameter check for evaluating the selected sensor reading such that a monitor trigger signal is issued in response to detection of an anomaly in the selected sensor reading; and a response module configured to issue an emergency response alarm in response to receiving the monitor trigger signal. WO 2018/195214 A1, in accordance with its abstract, states: An autonomous distress tracking system for an aircraft is described. The system can include a transponder configured to transmit radio frequency (RF) emissions and an RF detector unit configured to detect the RF emissions. The system can further include an alert system that is in communication with the RF detector unit and be configured to activate a distress radio beacon if no RF emissions are detected within a predetermined period of time. SUMMARY The illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure provide an autonomous distress tracking system for an aircraft, as defined in claim 1. The illustrative emb