Inertial navigation unit protocol converter

Abstract

A protocol converter that translates the ARINC-429 protocol output of an Inertial Navigation System to the National Marine Electronics Association 0183 protocol. The protocol converter includes an ARINC-429 interface board with cable and software operating in a computer with at least one serial communications port. The software includes a protocol conversion program which is capable of outputting the NMEA-0183 protocol to as many as four serial communications ports simultaneously.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates generally to the field of protocol converters. More specifically, the present invention relates to a protocol converter for use with an inertial navigation unit on the P-3 aircraft.[0003]2. Description of the Prior Art[0004]The Department of Homeland Security utilizes airborne surveillance operations to monitor illegal activities which have an impact on national security. These activities include drug trafficking, illegal immigration, and terrorist activities.[0005]Many ride-along sensor units often deployed with a surveillance P-3 aircraft require the implementation the National Marine Electronics Association 0183 (NMEA-0183) serial navigation data format. Future proposed components for geospatial video recording and reproduction also require the ability to utilize this format. There is currently an immediate need to provide aircraft navigation data in real time to produce a coherent video...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a device called an Inertial Navigation Unit (INU) Protocol Converter that can convert the output of an Inertial Navigation System (INS) into a different protocol. This is useful for integrating the INS with other electronic equipment on a ship or aircraft. The converter is designed to work with a specific type of INS called the Litton LTN-92, but can be adapted for different types as well. The converter is installed on a computer and can be expanded to show the status of the interfaces and change the configuration of the converter. It can output the NMEA-0183 protocol to multiple serial communication ports simultaneously and can also output a custom sentence with aircraft position, orientation, and pointing information.

Problems solved by technology

None of these converters are specifically designed to utilize the wide variety of parameters available from the Litton LTN-92 Inertial Navigation System (INS), used on the P-3 aircraft, which is manufactured by Litton Industries, Incorporated.

None of the NMEA-0183 sentences provided by these protocol converters are capable of providing pointing information that is used to indicate the location of an object relative to the P-3 aircraft.

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