Systems and methods for updating a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) database are disclosed. The systems request, by way of the first wireless communications device communicating by way of an avionics data transfer protocol, an update to the TAWS database, where the request is based upon flight path data, and receive and accept, by way of the first wireless communications device and by way of the avionics data transfer protocol and in response to the request, the update to the TAWS database.

Example aircraft intent processors are described herein that can be used both for the prediction of an aircraft's trajectory from aircraft intent, and the execution of aircraft intent for controlling the aircraft. An example aircraft intent processor includes an aircraft intent input to receive aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions, an aircraft state input to receive state data representative of a state of the aircraft, and a residual output. The aircraft intent processor is to calculate residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by received state data, and output the residual data via the residual output.

The invention described herein provides a flight crew with an easier, more intuitive, system and method to create a flight plan. A flight planning system is presented for navigation of an aircraft utilizing a touch screen display device mounted in an aircraft cockpit spanning the width and height of the instrument panel. The system provides navigational views, an interactive map, charts, a radio frequency component, a weather component, and a virtual flight plan. A flight planning method is presented that uses an interactive map on a touch screen device in an aircraft cockpit. The method accepts user inputs and displays a desired flight plan on the map. A method for providing a chart on a touch screen device is presented that includes presenting a list of menu options on a touch screen mounted in an aircraft cockpit. The method provides the flight crew with heads-up operation, providing greater situational awareness.

Systems and methods of the present invention are provided to generate a plurality of flight trajectories that do not conflict with other aircraft in a local area. Interventions by an air traffic control system help prevent collisions between aircraft, but these interventions can also cause an aircraft to substantially deviate from the pilot's intended flight trajectory, which burns fuels, wastes time, etc. Systems and methods of the present invention can assign a standard avoidance interval to other aircraft in the area such that a pilot's aircraft does not receive an intervention by an air traffic control system. Systems and methods of the present invention also generate a plurality of conflict-free flight trajectories such that a pilot or an automated system may select the most desirable flight trajectory for fuel efficiency, speed, and other operational considerations, etc.

Methods and systems are provided for presenting forecast information pertaining to a planned route of travel, such as a flight plan. One exemplary method involves obtaining a plurality of forecast data sets associated with a plurality of different forecast time periods and subdividing a route into a plurality of forecast regions encompassing respective portions of the route based on the times associated with the navigational reference points defining the route. Each forecast region of the plurality of forecast regions is associated with a respective forecast time period. For each forecast region, a graphical representation of a subset of the forecast data set associated with that forecast region's associated forecast time period that corresponds to the geographic area of that forecast region is displayed on a display device concurrently to displaying a graphical representation of the route.

One example includes a terrain profile system. A data store stores map data of a geographic region of interest and DTED. A route input system facilitates user inputs associated with defining a planned flight path of an aircraft between two points on a map associated with the map data and with defining flight characteristic data of the aircraft. A terrain profile controller defines a terrain signature associated with a topography of terrain features of the geographic region of interest along the planned flight path based on the DTED and a planned altitude of the aircraft along the planned flight path based on the flight characteristic data. A display system displays a terrain profile comprising the terrain signature, the planned altitude relative to the terrain signature, and a real-time location of the aircraft superimposed on the planned altitude based on real-time location data associated with the aircraft.

A navigation aid method for an aircraft flying a reference trajectory between a point of departure and a point of arrival subject to a field of wind vectors comprises: decomposing the reference trajectory into a plurality of discrete waypoints Pi, loading meteorological data comprising the field of wind vectors, iterating the following steps N times, to generate an improved trajectory: for each waypoint Pi named current point, determining a reference plane, determining an orthonormal reference frame, determining a wind curl ((W).sub.Pi), determining a sign of the projection of the wind curl on axis zi ((W).sub.zi .sub.Pi), determining a direction of displacement from the current point Pi to a new current waypoint Pi, determining a line of displacement, determining a displacement distance, determining the new current waypoint, determining a new trajectory, assigning the new waypoints Pi determined in the preceding iteration to the waypoints Pi for the next iteration.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for managing aircraft radiofrequency communications on board an aircraft are disclosed. In some aspects, a method can include determining at least one communication frequency, the at least one communication frequency corresponding to a communication center within a radio horizon of the aircraft, displaying the at least one communication frequency at an interface, and where there is more than one communication frequency displayed on the interface: filtering the more than one communication frequency according to a flight step of the aircraft in order to reduce a number of the more than one communication frequency displayed on the interface, and sorting the more than one communication frequency according to occupation rate in order to prioritize the more than one communication frequency displayed on the interface, and thereby aid in predicting a communication frequency communicated to the aircraft.

This disclosure is directed to systems and methods for smart transitioning between aircraft trajectory management modes. In one example, a system is configured to track a speed of a target aircraft in flight ahead of an own aircraft on which the system is positioned. The system is further configured to determine whether the target aircraft has maintained a rate of change in speed within a selected range of variation in change of speed, for a selected period of time. The system is further configured to enable an activation of a merging trajectory management mode of the own aircraft in response to determining that the own aircraft is in a trajectory management mode transition airspace and that the target aircraft has maintained the rate of change in speed within the selected range of variation in change of speed, for the selected period of time.

A path searching apparatus includes: a path searching unit that searches for an optimal path of a movable body that performs traveling from a start node to a goal node by performing a path searching process based on A-Star algorithm, and a predicting unit that predicts a surrounding situation of the movable body at each of times in future. The path searching unit determines whether a first surrounding situation involves a change from a second surrounding situation, on a basis of the predicted surrounding situation, and upon determining that the first surrounding situation involves the change, updates an estimated smallest cost value h* of a node on which the searching has been already performed, on a basis of the first surrounding situation.