Method to operate a system of categorization/degradation of operating procedures for low visibility (LVP) of an airport runway

Abstract

A method to operate a system in support of air traffic control of an airport provides, automatically, to operators, in the same screen, status information for the systems required during low visibility operation, meteorological information and runway category of operation, making easier the operation of the controller and increasing airport security. The method comprises monitoring the status of all low visibility operation systems, calculation of a category more convenient for the operation of the airport runway, and degradation automatic (down grade) when it degrades a key system and upgrade or downgrade manually the category by operator decision. The method includes an architecture oriented for high availability with three blocks (Management, Input/Output and Visualization) and uses an application “alive” that performs automatic switching between servers, in case of failure or malfunction of one of them, increasing the availability of the system.

Claims

1. A method for operating a categorization/degradation system of operating procedures for low visibility (LVP) of an airport runway, comprising the steps of: monitoring a status of all systems related to low visibility operations; presenting the status of all systems related to low visibility operations on a single screen; defining a category to the operation of the airport runway appropriate to weather conditions of the airport runway and all systems related to low visibility operations; automatically lowering the category of operation of the airport runway upon the detection of a degradation in a system essential to the operation of the airport runway in that category; manually increasing the category of operation of the airport runway, if weather conditions require, in response to an operator raising to a new category of operation subject to the status of the systems allowing said raise; manually lowering the category of operation of the airport runway, if weather conditions permit in response to the operator descending to the new category of operation; and switching between servers upon detection of a failure of one of the servers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of presenting the status of all systems related to low visibility operations includes using terminals located in an airport control tower and terminals located at other sites, and further includes providing technical information to technical support operations in the airport terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of defining a category to the operation of the airport runway is based on calculations using the status information collected from all systems that support the low visibility operation, combined with a set of limit parameters of the categories of operation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of automatically lowering, manually increasing, and manually decreasing the category of operation of the airport runway includes the steps of analyzing in real time the systems necessary for low visibility operation of the airport, combining the obtained information with weather conditions information, and defining the category appropriate to the operation on the airport runway.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of switching between servers is performed manually or automatically, with the manual switching being carried out by an operator, and the automatic switching occurring when a first server in a MASTER state operation crashes and the system switches to a second server in a SLAVE state operation, and further including the step of changing the second server to the MASTER state operation.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising using an architecture based on a management block, an input/output block, and a visualization block that define the LVP system, a main server, tower termins, and terminals located at other sites.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of LVP system;

(2) FIG. 2 is a block diagram which relates LVP system architecture with the different sites where the equipment is located;

(3) FIG. 3 is a block diagram which illustrates the equipment and connections in the equipment room;

(4) FIG. 4 is a block diagram which illustrates the equipment and connections in the technical management room;

(5) FIG. 5 is a block diagram which illustrates the equipment and connections in the control tower;

(6) FIG. 6 is a block diagram that illustrates the equipment and connections in other locations;

(7) FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the software applications for Main Server 1 and Main Server 2;

(8) FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the algorithm of ‘Alive’ application;

(9) FIG. 9 is a block diagram of ‘mainserver’ application;

(10) FIG. 10 is a block diagram of ‘ILSSnmp’ application;

(11) FIG. 11 is a flowchart of ‘ILSSnmp’ application;

(12) FIG. 12 is a block diagram of ‘Network’ application;

(13) FIG. 13 is a flowchart of ‘Network ’ application.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

(14) The present invention, entitled “Method to operate a system of categorization/degradation of operating procedures for low visibility (LVP) of an airport runway” refers to a method for operating an automatic system for categorizing or degrading the category of operation of an airport runway, while preserving the required operational security and includes a set of equipment and software applications.

(15) The degradation of operation of airport category (lower the category) is carried out automatically by the system and the rise/fall of category is proposed to the controller that consequently makes the decision to rise/fall or not the category of operation of airport runway.

(16) The system (called LVP) automatically and in real-time evaluates each of the equipment needed to operate the airport combining relevant information with information on weather conditions and consequently defines the maximum allowable category.

(17) LVP system is based on a novel architecture which provides the necessary redundant operating conditions with the ability to quickly switch between devices in case of failure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(18) The method is based on a set of actions: (a) Monitor of the status of all systems related to low visibility operations and present it in a single screen; (b) Define the appropriate category to the operation of the airport runway; (c) Carry out automatically degradation (lowering) of the category of operation of the runway, if there is degradation in an essential system to the operation in that category; (d) Perform manually categorization (increase) of the category of operation of the runway, if weather conditions require, the status of the systems allows and the operator decides to rise to a new category of operation; (e) Perform manually lowering of the category of operation of the runway, if weather conditions permit and the operator decides to descend to a new category of operation; (f) Uses an application “alive” with the purpose to manage the switching between the main servers.

(19) The first action (a) performs status monitoring of all systems related to low visibility operations and presents this information on the same screen in terminals located in the control tower of the airport and elsewhere, also presenting technical information to technical support the operation of the airport.

(20) The second action (b) defines the appropriate category to the operation of the airport runway, by a calculation where from the information collected on all systems supporting the low visibility operation, coupled with a set of parameters that characterize the boundary conditions for the categories of operation, determines which category is appropriate to the operation of the airport runway.

(21) The method further comprises three actions (c, d, e) allowing the rise or fall of category. In the event of breakdown of an essential system to the category in operation of runway, is performed automatically the descent of category, as provided in the action (c). If weather conditions require an increase in the category of operation of the airport runway, if the condition of the equipment allows that rise and the operator decides rise the category, at the suggestion of the system, the rise of the category will be carried out manually according to the action (d). If weather conditions are allowing a fall in the category of operation of the airport runway and the operator decides the fall of category, the descent of category will be held in a manual way, according to action (e).

(22) Finally, the method uses an application with the title ‘alive’ to manage switching between the main servers, which can be performed automatically upon failure of one of the two servers, or manually by operator's decision, according to action (f).

(23) LVP system uses a set of equipment and software applications.

(24) In terms of equipment the invention is divided into three main blocks (FIG. 1): Input/Output block (101): Interface with External Systems (104), eg ILS, energy, airport, airport lights and radio aids, using SNMP (106)—Simple Network Management Protocol—or Other protocols (107). This area is managed by computer named I/O Server (108). Management block (102): Responsible for the operational management of the system and its technical management, held respectively by two computers, one designated Main Server (109) and other System Manager (110). Visualization block (103): Presentation of operational information for controllers using the terminals located in the air traffic control of the airport, called Tower Terminals (111) and installed elsewhere called Other Sites Terminals (112) and presentation of technical information to technical support of the airport on a terminal called a Management Terminal (113).

(25) The Main Server (109) for operational management of the system and viewing area for terminal air controllers Terminal Tower (111) and Terminals Other Sites (112) are part of a critical area using high-performance technology, therefore are inserted on an area of high availability (105) as depicted in FIG. 1.

(26) The system is distributed geographically into four areas (FIG. 2): Equipment room (201)—Place where is installed all equipment associated with the airport air traffic control; Control tower (202)—Airport control Tower where the terminals are installed to support air traffic controllers; Other sites (203)—Other sites such as the control room, the air traffic control center and the central fire of the airport; Technical management room (204)—Room where is performed the technical monitoring of all equipment associated with the air traffic control of the airport.

(27) These geographical areas are linked through an Ethernet communications network.

(28) Hardware Description

(29) The Equipment room (201) according to FIG. 3, contains the following hardware: Human Machine Interface (301)—Controls the human machine interface (HMI) of the Main Server 1 and Main Server 2 (302, 303) and I/O Server (108) from a single monitor, keyboard and mouse. This device consists of a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and a switch that lets the user select the server to control. Main Server (109)—It is a group (cluster) of two servers (302, 303) that work as one. This redundant configuration allows that after a failure in the operational server (called MASTER), it is replaced by the redundant server (called a SLAVE). Printer (304)—Equipment used to print reports and other information from servers (302, 303, 108). Serial Ports Server (305)—Makes the interface with external systems and means of the airport using serial communication protocol, such as: meteorological system, airport lighting, energy power of the airport. External Systems (104)—External equipment that is monitored by the system. These devices use various media, including serial communication and Ethernet network communication. I/O Server (108)—Performs the processing of information from External Systems (104), the Control tower (202) and Technical management room (204). Switch 1 (306)—Packet switch for network designated ETH1 (310) used to connect the following equipment: Main Server 1 (302), Main Server 2 (303), Printer (304), Router 1A (307), External Systems (104), Technical management room (204) and Other Sites (203). Router 1A (307)—Network packets router used to communicate with the Tower Terminals (111) located in the Control tower, shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. This equipment uses technology S.HDSL to communicate with the Control tower (202), extending network ETH1 (310) to this location; Switch 2 (309)—Packet switch for network designated ETH2 (311) used to connect the following equipment: Main Server 1 (302) Main Server 2 (303), Serial Ports Server (305), Router 2A (308), External Systems (104), Technical management room (204) and Other Sites (203). Router 2A (308)—Network packets router used to communicate with the Tower Terminals (111) located in the Control tower, shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. This equipment uses technology S.HDSL to communicate with the Control tower (202), extending network ETH2 (311) to this location.

(30) Networks ETH1 (310) and ETH2 (311) are two independent Ethernet networks that operate redundantly, ensuring that if one fails the other ensures communication between the different modules of the system.

(31) The Technical management room (204), as shown in FIG. 4, contains the following hardware: Technical Terminal (401)—Allows operators to visualize information about airport category of operation in resumed form. Printer (402)—Equipment used to print reports and other information from the System Manager (110). Management Terminal (113)—Terminal to display the information from System Manager (110). This device consists of a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. System Manager (110)—Server that performs technical management of LVP system. Category Selector M (403)—Category selector located on Technical management room to select the airport category: NO CAT, CAT I, CAT II, CAT IIIA and CAT IIIB. This device is connected directly to I/O Server (108) of Equipment Room (201).

(32) The printer (402) is connected through ETH1 network (310), the Technical Terminal (401) is connected through ETH2 network (311) and the System Manager (110) is connected redundantly via two networks, ETH1 (310) and ETH2 (311).

(33) The control tower (202), as shown in FIG. 5, contains the following hardware: Terminal T1 to TN (111)—Allows controllers to visualize the information on the airport category of operation in summary form. The number of terminals depends on the number of working positions of the control room of the airport and is connected to the Equipment room (201) alternately using networks ETH1 (310) and ETH2 (311), ensuring redundant links. Router 1B (501)—Network packets router used to communicate with the servers of LVP system. This equipment uses S.HDSL technology to communicate with the Equipment room (201), extending the network ETH1 (310) to this location, as shown in FIG. 4. Router 2B (503)—Network packets router used to communicate with the servers of LVP system. This equipment uses S.HDSL technology to communicate with the Equipment room (201), extending the network ETH2 (311) to this location, as shown in FIG. 4. Category Selector T (502)—Category selector located on Control tower to select the airport category: NO CAT, CAT I, CAT II, CAT IIIA and CAT IIIB. This device is connected directly to I/O Server (108) of Equipment Room (201).

(34) The Other sites (203), as shown in FIG. 6, are places (besides the control tower) where are placed other terminals, such as the operating room for air traffic control and operating room for fire brigade, comprising the following hardware: Terminal O1 to ON (112)—Allows the controllers or other operators to visualize information about airport category of operation in summary form, are linked to the Equipment room (201) alternately using networks ETH1 (310) and ETH2 (311), ensuring redundancy links.
Network Description

(35) The Ethernet network is used to communicate between servers (302, 303, 108, 110) and the foreign systems (104) and to ensure redundancy is doubled (see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4).

(36) The terminals T1 to TN and O1 to ON are connected to this network in such a way that has redundant links in case of failure of a communication network, there is always one terminal connected through one of the two networks, as illustrated in FIG. 5 (for the terminal control tower T1 to TN) and FIG. 6 (for terminals other local O1 to ON).

(37) Software Description—Main Server

(38) The Main Server (109) is the core processing of all information in LVP system that is presented to controllers and technical operators. The information comes mainly from External Systems (104) and I/O Server (108) (see FIG. 1).

(39) The applications developed for this server are shown in FIG. 7: Alive application (701)—Application that manages the switching between Main Server 1 (302) and Main Server 2 (303). The server operation is referred to as MASTER and the server that is not operational is called SLAVE. The server switching is performed in a manual way or after MASTER server failure; MainServer application (702)—Processes information from External Systems (104) and I/O Server (108) to perform the following functions: calculate the category of operation of the airport according to the condition of the External Systems (104) required for the operation of airport runway and the settings of LVP system; statistics calculation of operating equipment for the External Systems (104); suggestion for the category of operation of the airport under the atmospheric conditions and settings of LVP system; construction of pages to terminals T1 to TN and O1 to ON; ILSsnmp (703)—Application the interfaces with External Systems (104), using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) communication protocol for reading the status of the equipment; Network (704)—application that tests the connectivity of network equipment; Alarm (705)—Application for the management of alarms.

(40) The communication between main server and other modules is accomplished through Virtual Interfaces (706), which are generated in the MASTER server for that purpose.

(41) The Main Server (109) is a group of two computer machines (cluster) with a redundant configuration that allows the failure of the server in operation (MASTER), which is automatically replaced by another server (SLAVE) that is waiting to come into operation.

(42) ‘Alive’ Application

(43) The ‘Alive’ application, presented in FIG. 8, manages the switching mode of one of the main servers from MASTER to SLAVE mode and the other server from SLAVE to MASTER mode, assuming the last server the operation of the system.

(44) This application is runs concurrently on the designated Main Server module (109) comprising two servers—Main Server 1 (302) and Main Server 2 (303).

(45) The application ‘Alive’ in the operational server (MASTER mode) initiates the operation of the following applications: MainServer (702) Network (703), ILSSnmp (704) and Alarm (705), and activates the Virtual Interfaces (706). The server that is operating in SLAVE mode the Application ‘Alive’ stops the operation applications MainServer (702), ILSsnmp (703), Network (704) and Alarm (705), and disables the Virtual Interfaces (706).

(46) The switching process can be performed manually or automatically. The manual switching is performed by an operator and automatic switching occurs when the server that operates in MASTER mode fails or crashes, the server that is operating in SLAVE mode switches immediately and automatically to MASTER mode of operation.

(47) FIG. 8 illustrates the flowchart of ‘Alive’ application that performs the following steps: (801) Start of application, with implementation of the following: reading of configuration parameters; if detects no reception of character starts the server as MASTER and if detects the reception character begins as SLAVE; (802) Reading RS232 port, checking the mode of operation of the other server; (803) Tests whether received characters; (804) Tests whether the received signal is a TRAP type; (805) Tests the type of character received: MASTER OR SLAVE; (806, 807) Tests the current mode of the server: MASTER or SLAVE; (808) Switches the server to SLAVE mode: stop the main server applications (702-705) and disables the Virtual Interfaces (706); (809) Switches the server to MASTER mode: start the main server applications (702-705) and activates the Virtual Interfaces (706); (810) Send character SLAVE by RS232 port; (811) Send character MASTER by RS232 port; (812) Tests whether a signal received QUIT to exit; (813) Application exits (END).
‘MainServer’ Application

(48) The ‘MainServer’ application (702), shown in FIG. 9, implements the main processing of LVP system, which consist of the reading of the status of different equipment and the calculation of the category of operation of the airport runway.

(49) The application stores all the information in a database (916) and run through the following routines: (901) readILS—Reads of all data from system ILS (Instrument Landing System); (902) ReadILSParam—Reads of ILS system parameters; (903) updateRunway—Updates information about which runway is in operation; (904) updateCatButton—Updates information about the position of category selector; (905) updateMeteo—Updates information of the meteorological conditions of airport runway; (906) updateLLZ—Updates information from Localizer—LLZ (subsystem of ILS system for support in low visibility operation); (907) updateGP—Updates information from Glide Path—GP (subsystem of ILS system for support in low visibility operation); (908) updateFFM—Updates information from Far Field Monitor—FFM (subsystem of ILS system for support in low visibility operation); (909) updateDME—Updates information from Distance Measuring Equipment—DME (system for support in low visibility operation); (910) updateNDB_MM_OM—Updates information from Non-Directional Beacon—NDB, Middle Marker—MM and Outer Marker—OM (systems for support in low visibility operation); (911) updateILS—Updates all the information from the ILS system; (912) updateNavaids—Updates all the information from navigation aid systems; (913) updateVisualaids—Updates all the information from the visual landing aid systems at the airport; (914) updateLVP—Performs all necessary calculations to determine the appropriate category of operation of airport runway, depending on the status of all equipment and weather conditions for the runway in operation; (915) updateOperator—Performs the update of the information to be presented to the controllers of the airport via the terminals of the Control tower (202)—Terminal T1 to Terminal TN, as well as those from other sites (203)—Terminal O1 to Terminal TN, and Technical Terminal (402) installed in the Technical management room (204).
‘ILSsnmp’ Application

(50) The ‘ILSsnmp’ application (703), shown in FIG. 10, runs on Main Server (109) and makes de management of the information management of Airport Runways Equipment Status (ARES) (1001), storing this information in the correspondent database (1004).

(51) The ARES is obtained from two redundant servers: ARES MASTER Server (1002) and ARES SLAVE Server (1003).

(52) FIG. 11 illustrates the flowchart of ILSsnmp application that performs the following steps: (1101) Start of application, with implementation of the following operations: reading of configuration parameters; (1102) Read the status of the server equipment ARES MASTER; (1103) Tests if response has been received; (1104) Read the status of the server equipment ARES SLAVE; (1105) Tests if response has been received; (1106) Preparation of unknown data (“Unknown”) to write in the DataBase; (1107) Tests whether the response is valid; (1108) Preparation of invalid data (“Invalid ”) to write in the DataBase; (1109) Checks change of data; (1110) Write in the database the status of the equipment ARES where there has been change to data, write “Unknown” or “Invalid” if the data is unknown or invalid, respectively; (1111) Waits for a period of time (“Sleep”) or the arrival of a message of interrupt (“Trap”); (1112) Checks an interrupt message (“Trap”), means to exit the program (“Quit”); (1113) Application exits (END).
‘Network’ Application

(53) The ‘Network’ application (704), shown in FIG. 12, runs on Main Server (109) and has the function to check the status of all equipment from system LVP, storing this information in the DataBase (1203).

(54) The process of checking the status of the equipment is done through the network command Ping sent to each element and waiting for a response. If there come any response will be signaled an alarm to the element that is being tested. In case of failure to the Ping command this operation is repeated two more times so that the Ping may be performed three times.

(55) The elements in test are: (109) Main Server, including Main Server 1 (302) and Main Server 2 (303); (108) I/O Server; (305) Serial Ports Server; (110) System Manager; (304) Printer of Equipment room (201); (402) Printer of Technical management room (204); (1201) Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS); (307) Router 1A located in the Equipment room (201); (308) Router 2A located in the Equipment room (201); (501) Router 1B located in the Control tower (202); (502) Router 2B located in the Control tower (202); (306) Switch 1 located in the Equipment room (201); (309) Switch 2 located in the Equipment room (201); (1002) ARES MASTER Server; (1003) ARES SLAVE Server; (1202) Server for clock synchronization; (113) Management Terminal; (111) Terminals T1 to TN; (112) Terminals O1 to ON.

(56) FIG. 13 shows the flowchart of ‘Network’ application that executes the following instructions: (1301) Start of application, with implementation of the following operations : reading of configuration parameters; (1302) Get the list of all LVP system equipment; (1303) Get the next element in the list of all LVP system equipment, the element to be tested; (1304) Send Ping to the element under test and verify the response; (1305) Submit a second Ping command to the element under test and verify the response; (1306) Submit a second Ping command to the element under test and verify the response; (1307) If there is a response to Ping command it will be registered that the equipment is in ‘NORMAL’ status; (1308) If the Ping command have not been answered it will be registered that the equipment is in ‘ALARM’ status; (1309) Checks if already covered all the equipment list; (1310) Waits for a period of time (“Sleep”); (1311) Check if there is an interrupt to program (“Quit”); (1312) Application exits (END).
‘Alarm’ Application

(57) The ‘Alarm’ application (705) processes the alarms from external systems and from LVP system, presents them in the Management Terminal (113) and print them on the printer (304) of the Equipment room (201).

(58) Virtual Interfaces

(59) The communication between any element of the system and the Main Server (109) is accomplished through Ethernet TCP/IP communication protocol, called Virtual Interfaces (706).

(60) For the fastest switching between servers in the event of a fault, the server communication interfaces, on Main Server 1 (302) and Main Server 2 (303), are in operation, while the MASTER server interface is enabled and the SLAVE server interface is disabled.

(61) In case of failure of the server that is in MASTER mode, the server that is in SLAVE mode activates its virtual interfaces, achieving the switch of the servers (SLAVE to MASTER and MASTER to SLAVE) in a short time interval. The server changes from MASTER to SLAVE mode disabling its virtual interfaces.