Flight management system and flight management method

Abstract

A flight management system configured to manage the flight of an aircraft communicating with a user terminal operated by a user. The flight management system includes: a receiver configured to receive flight application information from the user terminal, the flight application information including identification information of the aircraft, a flight path preferred by the user, and a flight time preferred by the user; a determination unit configured to determine, based on the flight application information, whether to permit the aircraft to use a predetermined radio wave when flying along the flight path at the flight time; and a transmitter configured to transmit flight information indicating that the aircraft fly along the flight path to the aircraft identified by the identification information under the condition that the determination unit determines to permit the use of the predetermined radio wave.

Description

[0001] Cross - reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to a Japanese patent application No. 2020 - 214790, filed on December 24, 2020, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical field

[0003] The present invention relates to a flight management system and a flight management method for managing flight information of an aircraft. Background art

[0004] Patent Document 1 (i.e., WO2018 / 198313A1 or US2020 / 0317335A1) discloses an unmanned aircraft action plan creation system configured to create a flight path based on a flight target and a flight area when a flight target and a flight area in which an aircraft (e.g., a drone) is permitted to fly in the sky are input, and thus control the flight of the aircraft according to the flight path.

[0005] For example, in order to control the flight of a drone in a wide - range area, engineers have been researching the use of drones, which are specifically designed to communicate using predetermined radio waves that can be transmitted through a mobile communication network. However, the increasing number of drones flying in the air may lead to an increase in communication traffic using radio waves, which may have an adverse impact on mobile communication performed by mobile phones on the ground. For this reason, the idea of restricting the number of drones flying in the air simultaneously when an application for using predetermined radio waves by a user's drone is received can be conceived.

[0006] However, the system of Patent Document 1 may have problems because users need to spend time and effort to fly the aircraft in the air, since users need to apply to the system for the aircraft to use predetermined radio waves and input information on the flight path.

[0007] The present invention is proposed to solve the above - mentioned problems. Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a flight management system and a flight management method that can reduce the time and effort required for a user to fly an aircraft configured to communicate using predetermined radio waves. Summary of the invention

[0008] In a first aspect of the present invention, a flight management system is configured to manage the flight of an aircraft that communicates with a user terminal operated by a user. The flight management system includes: a receiver configured to receive flight application information from the user terminal, the flight application information including identification information for identifying the aircraft, a flight path for the aircraft flight preferred by the user, and a flight time for the aircraft flight preferred by the user; a determination unit configured to determine whether to allow the aircraft to use a predetermined radio wave when flying along the flight path at the flight time based on the flight application information; and a transmitter configured to send flight information to the aircraft identified by the identification information indicating that the aircraft flies along the flight path under the condition that the determination unit determines to allow the use of the predetermined radio wave.

[0009] In the above, the determination unit may allow the use of the predetermined radio wave under the following conditions: the number of aircraft flying in an area including at least a part of the flight path at the flight time is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

[0010] This area is covered by the same base station configured to communicate with multiple aircraft.

[0011] Alternatively, the determination unit may allow the use of the predetermined radio wave under the following conditions: the flight path is included in a radio map indicating positions where communication services subject to using the predetermined radio wave are provided.

[0012] The radio map indicates whether an aircraft is capable or incapable of performing communication using the predetermined radio wave for each position and each altitude of the aircraft.

[0013] When the receiver receives flight application information including a regular flight time allowing the aircraft to repeatedly fly along the flight path, the transmitter may send the flight information to the aircraft at a predetermined time before the regular flight time.

[0014] In addition, under the condition that the determination unit determines not to allow the use of the predetermined radio wave, the transmitter may send information describing the reason why the determination unit does not allow the use of the predetermined radio wave to the user terminal.

[0015] When the receiver receives performance information indicating the actual flight path or actual flight time of the aircraft from the aircraft, the determination unit may compare the performance information with the flight application information and determine whether the aircraft deviates in terms of the flight path or flight time, wherein the transmitter may send information about whether the aircraft deviates in terms of the flight path or flight time to the user terminal.

[0016] The flight management system may include a charging unit configured to determine an amount of payment to be charged to a user based on at least one of the following: the flight duration of the aircraft, the flight distance of the aircraft, the number of flights made by the aircraft, the number of aircraft actually making each flight, and the type of the aircraft.

[0017] In a second aspect of the present invention, a flight management method suitable for a flight management system configured to manage the flight of an aircraft communicating with a user terminal operated by a user. The flight management method includes the following steps: receiving flight application information from the user terminal, the flight application information including identification information for identifying the aircraft, a flight path preferred by the user for the flight of the aircraft, and a flight time preferred by the user for the flight of the aircraft; determining whether to allow the aircraft to use a predetermined radio wave when flying along the flight path at the flight time based on the flight application information; and when it is determined to allow the use of the predetermined radio wave, sending flight information to the aircraft identified by the identification information, the flight information instructing the aircraft to fly along the flight path. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a flight management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a flight management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 3 is a screenshot showing the format of a flight application screen for accepting input of flight application information through a user terminal.

[0021] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a method of calculating the number of aircraft by a determination unit of a flight management system.

[0022] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing a method of determining whether a flight path is included in a radio map by a determination unit of a flight management system.

[0023] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the transfer of information between an aircraft and a flight management system.

[0024] Figure 7 is a sequence diagram showing a flight management method implemented by a flight management system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The flight management system and the flight management method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, where the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals; thus, the repeated description thereof will be omitted here.

[0026] [Overview of Flight Management System 1]

[0027] Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic diagram schematically showing a flight management system 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The flight management system 1 is configured to communicate with a user terminal 2 and an aircraft 3 by radio. The flight management system 1 is composed of a computer system configured to receive flight application information related to the flight of the aircraft 3 from the user terminal 2 and send flight information allowing the aircraft 3 to fly in the air to the aircraft 3. In this regard, the flight management system 1 can be implemented using a single computing device or multiple computing devices. Alternatively, the flight management system 1 can be implemented using a single virtual server or multiple virtual servers running on a cloud system that provides a set of computer resources.

[0028] The user terminal 2 is composed of a computer device (e.g., an information processing terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, etc.). It is assumed that the user is a person who can operate, manage, or own the aircraft 3. In this regard, the user terminal 2 includes: a display unit such as a liquid crystal display configured to display various information; and an operation unit such as a touch panel configured to receive user operations. The user terminal 2 is configured to receive various types of information from the flight management system 1 or send various types of information to the flight management system 1 by radio communication.

[0029] The aircraft 3 is an unmanned aircraft such as a drone configured to fly along a flight path specified by the user to perform a predetermined operation. As operations performed by the aircraft 3, mention may be made of transporting an object along the flight path, capturing an image around the flight path, discharging an object (agricultural chemicals) along the flight path, and outputting information (audio or optical information) along the flight path.

[0030] The outline of the process performed by the flight management system 1 according to an exemplary embodiment will be described below. The flight management system 1 is configured to receive flight application information from the user terminal 2 (see (1) in Figure 1 ), the flight application information including aircraft identification information for identifying the aircraft 3, a user-preferred flight path for which the user wishes the aircraft 3 to fly, and a user-preferred flight time (i.e., the date and time of flight) for which the user wishes the aircraft 3 to fly.

[0031] Based on the flight application information, the flight management system 1 can determine whether it is allowed to use a predetermined radio wave when the user wishes the aircraft 3 to fly along the flight path at the flight time (see (2) in Figure 1 ). In this regard, the predetermined radio wave is an available radio wave through which the aircraft 3 can communicate with the flight management system 1.

[0032] When the condition for allowing the use of radio waves is satisfied, the flight management system 1 transmits flight information allowing the aircraft 3 corresponding to the aircraft identification information included in the flight application information to fly along the flight path to the aircraft 3 (see Figure 1 (3) in). In this regard, the flight information can be regarded as information allowing the aircraft 3 to fly automatically along the flight path or information supporting the user to fly the aircraft 3 along the flight path. During the flight of the aircraft 3 along the flight path, the aircraft 3 can communicate with the flight management system 1 using the predetermined radio waves licensed to it.

[0033] As described above, the flight management system 1 of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured to determine whether to allow the aircraft 3 to use radio waves when receiving flight application information related to the flight of the aircraft 3 from the user terminal 2, so as to allow the aircraft 3 to fly in the air according to the flight application information. This can eliminate the need for the user to separately set the flight path and apply for the use of radio waves. Therefore, the user can reduce the time and effort for flying the aircraft 3 configured to communicate using predetermined radio waves.

[0034] [Configuration of Flight Management System 1]

[0035] Figure 2 is a block diagram of the flight management system 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 Includes arrow symbols showing the main data flow between components, but other data flows other than the Figure 2 shown data flow can also be adopted. Figure 2 Includes various boxes, which do not have to be considered as hardware units, but can be considered as functional units. For this reason, Figure 2 the various boxes of can be jointly embedded in a single device or separately embedded in multiple devices. In this regard, data can be transferred between the boxes through a data bus or network or by using any device such as a portable storage medium.

[0036] The flight management system 1 includes a storage unit 11 and a control unit 12. The storage unit 11 is a storage medium including a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk drive, etc. The storage unit 11 is configured to pre-store programs executed by the control unit 12. In addition, the storage unit 11 is configured to store the flight application information of the aircraft 3 received from the user terminal 2 and the charging information for charging the user for managing the aircraft 3 and communicating with the aircraft 3.

[0037] The control unit 12 includes a receiver 121, a determination unit 122, a generator 123, a transmitter 124, and a charging unit 125. For example, the control unit 12 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which can implement the functions of the receiver 121, the determination unit 122, the generator 123, the transmitter 124, and the charging unit 125 by executing a program stored on the storage unit 11. In this regard, the respective components of the control unit 12 can be individually installed in a plurality of devices constituting the flight management system 1.

[0038] To implement the processing of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the flight management system 1 needs to perform a series of operations, which will be described below. The receiver 121 receives flight application information from the user terminal 2, and the flight application information includes aircraft identification information for identifying the aircraft 3, a flight path preferred by the user for flying the aircraft 3, and a flight time preferred by the user for flying the aircraft 3.

[0039] Figure 3 is a screenshot showing the format of a flight application screen on the user terminal 2 for accepting the input of flight application information. The user terminal 2 waits for the input of the flight path F on the flight application screen. For example, the user terminal 2 can accept the flight path F as a straight-line path specified by the user on a map displayed on the flight application screen. Alternatively, the user terminal 2 can accept the following flight path F, which includes a permitted flight area (e.g., Figure 3 the area enclosed by the dashed line in ) and a straight-line path specified by the user within the permitted flight area. Alternatively, the user terminal 2 can accept a three-dimensional flight path F including the position and altitude of the aircraft 3.

[0040] Specifically, the user terminal 2 waits for the input of a flight area that will be used as a permitted flight area to be generated on the map. The flight management system 1 determines whether the flight area belongs to a radio map indicating the communication service location, which will be described later. When it is determined that the flight area belongs to the radio map, the flight management system 1 stores the flight area associated with the user identification information for identifying the user of the user terminal 2 on the storage unit 11. This enables the user terminal 2 to accept the flight path F specified in the flight area belonging to the radio map.

[0041] In addition, the user terminal 2 accepts the input of the following items on the flight application screen: the aircraft identification information of the aircraft 3 (with the Figure 3 shown fuselage), the speed at which the aircraft 3 flies in the air, the altitude at which the aircraft 3 flies in the air, and the flight time during which the aircraft 3 flies in the air (i.e., Figure 3The indicated duration). The aircraft identification information may be information that can identify a unique entity as aircraft 3, or information that can identify the type (or fuselage) of aircraft 3. For example, the flight time indicates the duration defined between the start time and the end time of the flight.

[0042] In addition, the user terminal 2 can accept the input of radio device information related to the radio device used by the aircraft 3 for radio communication. For example, the radio device information may include information indicating the specifications of the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) installed in the aircraft 3 or information indicating the radio station installed in the aircraft 3.

[0043] In the flight management system 1, the receiver 121 is configured to receive flight application information as input information on the user terminal 2. The receiver 121 stores the flight application information received by the user terminal 2 in association with the user identification information for identifying the user who may use the user terminal 2 in the storage unit 11.

[0044] Based on the flight application information received by the receiver 121, the determination unit 122 determines whether to allow the use of a predetermined radio wave when the aircraft 3 flies along the flight path during the flight time. For example, the radio wave is an available radio wave used by the aircraft 3 for communication and belongs to the frequency range allocated to the communication common carrier associated with the flight management system 1. That is, the communication common carrier will determine whether to allow the aircraft 3 configured to communicate using radio waves belonging to the frequency range allocated to the communication common carrier to use the radio wave.

[0045] For example, under the following conditions, the determination unit 122 may determine to allow the use of radio waves: the number of aircraft 3 that can fly in the area where the flight time included in the flight application information is located is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and this area includes at least a part of the flight path included in the flight application information.

[0046] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram showing how the determination unit 122 included in the control unit 12 of the flight management system 1 calculates the number of aircraft 3. The determination unit 122 is configured to calculate the number of aircraft 3 that can fly in the area R (which includes at least a part of the flight path included in the flight application information) during the flight time included in the flight application information, that is, the number of aircraft 3 that can share the same flight path and the same flight time. For example, the area R may be defined as an area where one or more aircraft 3 use a predetermined radio wave (that is, the radio wave determined by the determination unit 122) to communicate with the same base station B. In other words, it is an area where a single base station B uses a predetermined radio wave to communicate with one or more aircraft 3. The storage unit 11 stores the area information representing the area R for each base station B.

[0047] Based on the area information stored in storage unit 11, determination unit 122 extracts one or more base stations that cover the flight positions based on the flight position information (indicating positions drawn at predetermined distance intervals along the flight path), and this flight position information corresponds to the flight path included in the flight application information received by receiver 121. Subsequently, determination unit 122 calculates the number of aircraft 3 as follows: These aircraft 3 can communicate with one or more base stations in a time zone that is the same as the flight time included in the flight application information received by receiver 121 while flying in the air. Figure 4 An example is shown of a situation where three aircraft 3 are flying simultaneously in area R associated with base station B.

[0048] When the number of aircraft 3 calculated for each of the one or more areas R identified by determination unit 122 is equal to or less than a predetermined value (for example, three), determination unit 122 determines that radio wave use is permitted; otherwise, determination unit 122 determines that radio wave use is not permitted. Thus, flight management system 1 can limit the number of aircraft 3 communicating with base station B simultaneously while reducing the impact on mobile phones on the ground that may communicate with base station B.

[0049] Flight management system 1 can be an integrated system that integrates multiple common carriers and can be connected to multiple systems managed by multiple different common carriers. In this case, receiver 121 receives flight application information including flight time and flight path from user terminal 2 to be managed by multiple common carriers. According to the above method, determination unit 122 calculates the number of aircraft 3 sharing the flight path and flight time based on the multiple flight application information provided by multiple common carriers, and thus determines whether the calculated number is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

[0050] Furthermore, in the case where the radio map indicating the positions where communication services are provided using radio waves contains the flight path included in the flight application information, determination unit 122 can determine that radio wave use is permitted. In this regard, determination unit 122 can consider two or one of the first condition and the second condition. The first condition is that the number of aircraft 3 flying simultaneously in the same area is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and the second condition is that the radio map contains the flight path included in the flight application information.

[0051] Figure 5It is a schematic diagram showing a method for determining whether a radio map M contains a flight path F by a determination unit 122. The radio map M consists of information indicating whether an aircraft 3 can communicate using a predetermined radio wave (i.e., the radio wave determined by the determination unit 122) for each of its positions and each of its altitudes. For example, the radio map M is generated based on the communication ability / inability for each position / altitude or the simulation of the radio wave intensity for each position / altitude. That is, the radio map M is represented as a three-dimensional map that shows the association between position / altitude, communication ability / inability, and / or radio wave intensity. The storage unit 11 pre-stores the radio map M.

[0052] The determination unit 122 compares each point of the flight path included in the flight application information with the radio map M stored on the storage unit 11. When the radio map M contains each point of the flight path, the determination unit 122 determines that the use of the radio wave is allowed; otherwise, the determination unit 122 determines that the use of the radio wave is not allowed. Thus, the flight management system 1 can confirm that the radio map M contains the flight path F applied by the user, thereby reducing the probability of disconnecting the communication using the predetermined radio wave from the aircraft 3 during the flight of the aircraft 3.

[0053] When the aircraft 3 is flying along the flight path during the flight time, the determination unit 122 can determine whether to allow the use of the predetermined radio wave according to additional conditions. For example, when the time length (or duration) of the flight time included in the flight application information is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, or when the duration of the flight time included in the flight application information includes a predetermined prohibited flight time zone, the determination unit 122 can determine that the use of the radio wave is not allowed.

[0054] Alternatively, the determination unit 122 can determine whether to allow the aircraft 3 to use the predetermined radio wave according to the communication method and frequency suitable for the radio station installed in the aircraft 3. In this case, the determination unit 122 can determine the communication method and frequency suitable for the radio station of the aircraft 3 based on the information of the radio station included in the radio device information, and the radio device information is associated with the aircraft identification information of the aircraft 3. For example, the communication method can be LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication, 5G communication, etc. Subsequently, the determination unit 122 can determine that the flight device 3 is allowed to use the predetermined radio wave under the condition that the communication method and frequency meet the predetermined conditions (for example, the frequency and communication method in the flight path are available). Thus, the flight management system 1 can allow the use of the radio wave according to the communication method and frequency suitable for the radio station of the aircraft 3.

[0055] Under the condition that the determination unit 122 determines that the use of radio waves is permitted, the generator 123 generates flight information that indicates the aircraft 3 to fly along the flight path included in the flight application information. For example, the flight information may be defined as information indicating that the aircraft 3 automatically flies along the flight path. In this case, the flight information includes the flight time and flight path during which the aircraft 3 can fly automatically.

[0056] The flight information may be information that supports the user to make the aircraft 3 fly along the flight path. In this case, the flight information includes the flight path along which the user manipulates the aircraft 3 to fly.

[0057] Under the condition that the determination unit 122 determines that the use of radio waves is permitted, the transmitter 124 sends the flight information generated by the generator 123 to the aircraft 3 corresponding to the aircraft identification information included in the flight application information.

[0058] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram showing the transfer of information between the flight management system 1 and the aircraft 3. The aircraft 3 is configured to fly in the air according to the flight information received from the flight management system 1. When receiving the flight information indicating that the aircraft 3 automatically flies along the flight path, it indicates that the aircraft 3 automatically flies along the flight path included in the flight information during the flight time included in the flight information.

[0059] When receiving the flight information that supports the user to make the aircraft 3 fly along the flight path, the aircraft 3 can accept the input of the flight start instruction through the user terminal 2 to start its flight. Triggered by receiving the flight start instruction from the user terminal 2, it indicates that the aircraft 3 flies along the flight path included in the flight information. In addition, the aircraft 3 can move forward or backward along the flight path or stay in the air according to the instruction received from the user terminal 2.

[0060] The aircraft 3 is capable of communicating using permitted radio waves during its flight along the flight path. During or after the flight, the aircraft 3 sends the following information to the flight management system 1: the aircraft identification information (or airframe ID) of the aircraft 3, the radio device information related to the radio device used by the aircraft 3, and the performance information describing the actual path and actual time of the aircraft 3 flying in the air. In the flight management system 1, the receiver 121 receives the performance information from the aircraft 3 to store the performance information in association with the aircraft identification information on the storage unit 11.

[0061] When determining whether to permit the use of radio waves based on the flight application information received from the user terminal 2, the flight management system 1 instructs the aircraft 3 to fly in the air. Therefore, the flight management system 1 can reduce the time and effort for the user to fly the aircraft 3 configured to communicate using a predetermined radio wave.

[0062] When the base station has trouble or malfunctions after the flight management system 1 permits the aircraft 3 to use the predetermined radio waves, the flight management system 1 can revoke the permission for the aircraft 3 to use the radio waves. When trouble or malfunctions occur in the base station that may communicate with the aircraft 3 flying along the flight path, the transmitter 124 does not send flight information to the aircraft 3. When the transmitter 124 has sent the flight information to the aircraft 3, the transmitter 124 can send an instruction to delete the flight information or control information to prohibit the flight of the aircraft 3 to the aircraft 3, or the transmitter 124 sends a message to prohibit the flight of the aircraft 3 to the user terminal 2. Therefore, the flight management system 1 can control the situation where the aircraft 3 cannot communicate with the base station during flight.

[0063] In addition, under the condition that the determination unit 122 does not permit the use of radio waves, the transmitter 124 can send information including the reason why the determination unit 122 does not permit the use of radio waves to the user terminal 2 according to the flight application information. As the reason why the determination unit 122 does not permit the use of radio waves, for example, it can be mentioned that the number of aircraft flying over the area R is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the radio map M does not include the flight path F, the duration of the flight time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the duration of the flight time includes a predetermined prohibited flight time zone. Accordingly, the flight management system 1 notifies the user of the reason why the flight management system 1 does not permit the aircraft 3 to fly, and then the flight management system 1 can accept other flight applications for the aircraft 3 to fly.

[0064] The charging unit 125 is configured to determine the payment amount to be charged to the user based on the performance information stored on the storage unit 11. For example, the charging unit 125 can calculate the payment amount based on at least one of the following: the actual time of flight of the aircraft 3, the actual distance of flight of the aircraft 3, the number of times the user makes an application, the number of times the aircraft 3 makes a flight, the number of aircraft 3 flying, and the type (or fuselage) of the aircraft 3. The charging unit 125 can change the way or equation for calculating the payment according to the purpose of the flight of the aircraft 3 (for example, personal use, company use, transportation use, monitoring use, etc.).

[0065] The charging unit 125 generates charging information including the determined payment amount and stores the charging information on the storage unit 11. In addition, the charging unit 125 can send the charging information to a charging server or the like for charging the user. Therefore, the flight management system 1 can charge the user who may use the flight management system 1 to fly the aircraft 3 according to the actual performance of the flying aircraft 3.

[0066] [Sequence of the flight management method]

[0067] Figure 7 This is a sequence diagram of a flight management method to be executed by a flight management system 1. The flight management method includes steps S11 to S16 to be executed by the flight management system 1 that communicates with a user terminal 2 and an aircraft 3. The user terminal 2 accepts the input of flight application information on a flight application screen (S11). Specifically, the user terminal 2 inputs a flight area that is to be a flight permission area to be generated on a map. The flight management system 1 determines whether a radio map indicating a location where communication services are received includes the flight area, which will be described later. When it is determined that the radio map includes the flight area, the flight management system 1 stores the flight area in association with user identification information for identifying the user of the user terminal 2 in a storage unit 11. Subsequently, the user terminal 2 waits for the input of a flight path F determined to be within the flight area of the radio map.

[0068] A receiver 121 receives flight application information from the user terminal 2. The flight application information includes aircraft identification information for identifying the aircraft 3, a user-preferred flight path along which the user wishes the aircraft 3 to fly, and a user-preferred flight time during which the user wishes the aircraft 3 to fly.

[0069] Based on the flight application information received by the receiver 121, a determination unit 122 determines whether radio waves can be used when the aircraft 3 flies along the flight path during the flight time (S12). For example, the determination unit 122 determines that radio waves can be used under the following conditions: the number of aircraft 3 that can fly in an area including at least a part of the flight path (which is included in the flight application information) during the flight time included in the flight application information is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. Alternatively, the determination unit 122 can determine that radio waves can be used under the following conditions: a radio map indicating a location where communication services using radio waves are received includes the flight path included in the flight application information.

[0070] Under the condition that the determination unit 122 permits the use of radio waves, a generator 123 generates flight information (S13), which indicates that the aircraft 3 flies along the flight path included in the flight application information. For example, the flight information can be information indicating that the aircraft 3 automatically flies along the flight path, or information that supports a user who may wish the aircraft 3 to fly along the flight path.

[0071] When the determination unit 122 determines that the use of radio waves is permitted, the transmitter transmits the flight information generated by the generator 123 to the aircraft 3 corresponding to the aircraft identification information included in the flight application information (S14). The aircraft 3 can fly in the air based on the flight information received from the flight management system 1. During the flight along the flight path, the aircraft 3 can communicate using the permitted radio waves. During or after the flight, the aircraft 3 sends performance information (including the actual flight path and actual flight time of the aircraft 3) to the flight management system 1 (S15).

[0072] In the flight management system 1, the receiver 121 receives the performance information from the aircraft 3 and stores the performance information in association with the aircraft identification information in the storage unit 11. The charging unit 125 determines the payment amount to be charged to the user based on the performance information stored in the storage unit 11. For example, the charging unit 125 calculates the payment amount based on at least one of the following: the actual flight time of the aircraft 3, the actual distance the aircraft 3 flies in the air, the number of applications made by the user, the number of flights made by the aircraft 3, the number of aircraft 3 actually flying in the air, and the type (or fuselage) of the aircraft 3. The charging unit 125 generates charging information including the determined payment amount and stores the charging information in the storage unit 11 (S16).

[0073] [Advantages of the Exemplary Embodiment]

[0074] According to the exemplary embodiment, the flight management system 1 is configured to receive flight application information including the flight path and flight time of the aircraft 3 from the user terminal 2, and thus determine whether to permit the use of radio waves based on the received flight application information. Subsequently, the flight management system 1 is configured to send flight information indicating the aircraft 3 to fly along the flight path to the aircraft 3 when it is determined that the use of radio waves is permitted. This can eliminate the need for the user to separately set the flight path and apply for the use of radio waves. Therefore, the flight management system 1 can reduce the time and effort of the user to fly the aircraft 3 configured to communicate using a predetermined radio wave.

[0075] In this regard, since a favorable environment has been developed to allow drones to fly in urban and mountainous areas covered by radio networks, it is possible to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United Nations (UN) (i.e., Goal 9, "Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure" and Goal 10, "Reduced Inequalities").

[0076] [First Variant]

[0077] According to a first variant of the exemplary embodiment, the flight management system 1 is adapted to an aircraft 3 in which a user desires to fly periodically along the same flight path. The flight management system 1 of the first example is designed to perform the following series of processes.

[0078] The receiver 121 receives flight application information from the user terminal 2, and the flight application information includes the regular flight time for the aircraft 3 to repeatedly fly along the flight path. For example, the regular flight time is specified by a duration defined between a flight start time and a flight end time, and the regular flight time may be combined with time intervals such as daily, weekly, and monthly.

[0079] Based on the flight application information received by the receiver 121, the determination unit 122 determines, at a predetermined time (e.g., one day) before the regular flight time of the aircraft 3, whether to allow the aircraft 3 to use a predetermined radio wave to fly along the flight path. That is, the determination unit 122 determines whether to allow the use of the radio wave at each planned time before the planned time for the aircraft 3 to perform periodic flight.

[0080] Under the condition that the determination unit 122 determines to allow the use of the radio wave at a predetermined time before the regular flight time of the aircraft 3, the generator 123 generates flight information indicating that the aircraft 3 flies along the flight path included in the flight application information. Under the condition that the determination unit 122 determines to allow the use of the radio wave at a predetermined time before the regular flight time of the aircraft 3, the transmitter 124 sends the flight information generated by the generator 123 to the aircraft 3 corresponding to the aircraft identification information included in the flight application information.

[0081] This enables the user to make the aircraft 3 fly periodically along the same flight path when making an application. Therefore, the flight management system 1 can reduce the time and effort of users who may desire to repeatedly fly an aircraft 3 configured to communicate using a predetermined radio wave.

[0082] [Second Variant]

[0083] According to a second variant of the exemplary embodiment, the flight management system 1 is characterized by determining whether the flight of the aircraft 3 deviates from the flight path or flight time indicated by the flight application information, and feeding back the determination result to the user terminal 2.

[0084] The determination unit 122 is configured to compare the flight application information stored on the storage unit 11 with the performance information, so as to determine whether the flight of the aircraft 3 deviates from the flight path or flight time. The performance information is stored on the storage unit 11 in association with the flight application information. In this regard, the determination unit 122 can determine the deviation of the aircraft 3 in terms of the flight path or flight time of the flight application information before the aircraft 3 takes off, during the flight of the aircraft 3, or after the flight of the aircraft 3. When the difference between the flight path of the flight application information and the actual flight path included in the performance information (for example, the difference in their geometric profiles) is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the determination unit 122 determines that the aircraft 3 deviates from the flight path; otherwise, the determination unit 122 determines that no deviation has occurred in the flight path of the aircraft 3.

[0085] The transmitter 124 sends information about the determination result of whether the aircraft 3 deviates in terms of the flight path or flight time included in the flight application information to the user terminal 2. This enables the flight management system 1 to notify the user of the determination result of whether the aircraft 3 deviates in terms of the flight path or flight time included in the flight application information, thereby prompting the user to comply with the flight application information.

[0086] When the determination unit 122 determines a deviation in terms of the flight path or flight time included in the flight application information submitted before or during the flight of the aircraft 3, in other words, when the flight of the aircraft 3 is delayed from the flight time or when the aircraft 3 deviates in position from the flight path, the transmitter 124 can send attention - attracting information to the user terminal 2 associated with the aircraft 3.

[0087] When the determination unit 122 determines a deviation in terms of the flight path or flight time included in the flight application information submitted before the flight of the aircraft 3, the permission to use radio waves before the flight of the aircraft 3 can be cancelled. In this case, the transmitter 124 does not send flight information to the aircraft 3. Additionally, when the transmitter 124 has already sent flight information to the aircraft 3, the transmitter 124 should send an instruction to delete the flight information or control information prohibiting the aircraft 3 from flying in the air to the aircraft 3. Alternatively, the transmitter 124 can send a message prohibiting the aircraft 3 from flying to the user terminal 2. Thus, the flight management system 1 can prompt the user to comply with the flight application information.

[0088]

Third Variant

[0089] According to a third variant of the exemplary embodiment, the flight management system 1 is characterized in that in addition to controlling the flight of the aircraft 3 according to the flight application information, it also controls the power of the aircraft 3 for transmitting radio waves to the base station. Under the condition that the determination unit 122 determines that the use of radio waves is permitted, the generator 123 generates power control information to control the power of the aircraft 3 for transmitting radio waves to the base station. For example, the power control information is information indicating that the aircraft 3 controls the power of transmitting radio waves during flight time.

[0090] Under the condition that the determination unit 122 determines that the use of radio waves is permitted, the transmitter 124 sends the power control information generated by the generator 123 to the aircraft 3 corresponding to the aircraft identification information included in the flight application information. Based on the power control information received from the flight management system 1, the aircraft 3 adjusts the power of transmitting radio waves to the base station during its flight to fly along the flight path. Therefore, the flight management system 1 can control the power of the aircraft 3 during flight time, thereby controlling the interference to the base station located near the flight path due to the communication of the aircraft 3.

[0091] The flight management system 1, the user terminal 2, and the aircraft 3 include processors, and each processor can be used as the main body for executing Figure 7 various steps (or various processes) included in the flight management method shown. That is, each processor included in the flight management system 1, the user terminal 2, and the aircraft 3 is configured to read a program for executing Figure 7 the flight management method from a storage medium, and implement Figure 7 the flight management method by executing the program. In this regard, the foregoing steps included in Figure 7 the flight management method can be partially omitted or the order of the foregoing steps can be arbitrarily changed. Or, multiple steps can be executed in parallel.

[0092] In the foregoing, the present invention has been described through the foregoing embodiments (for example, the exemplary embodiment and its variants), wherein the technical scope of the present invention does not necessarily have to be limited to the foregoing embodiments; therefore, it is feasible to create and introduce any other variants and modifications within the subject matter of the present invention. For example, a part or all of the foregoing devices can be physically or functionally dispersed or integrated into a unit of any component. In addition, the present invention can include any new embodiments generated by arbitrarily combining the foregoing embodiments. It can be said that the new examples generated by the combination of the foregoing embodiments will provide the same advantageous effects as the exemplary embodiments.

[0093] Finally, the present invention can be modified in various ways within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. In this regard, the foregoing embodiments are all suitable for an aircraft 3 (e.g., a drone) configured to communicate with the flight management system 1 by radio; however, any other device used as the aircraft 3, a manned flight device or an unmanned flight device equipped with a communication module for wireless communication with a flight management server or the like (e.g., the flight management system 1) can be adopted.

[0094] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that they are examples of the present invention and should not be considered as limitations of the present invention. Additions, deletions, substitutions and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not considered to be limited by the foregoing description and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A flight management system configured to manage the flight of an aircraft that communicates with a user terminal operated by a user, the flight management system comprising: a receiver configured to receive flight application information from the user terminal, the flight application information including identification information for identifying the aircraft, a flight path that the user prefers the aircraft to fly along, and a flight time that the user prefers the aircraft to fly, the flight time indicating a regular flight time that allows the aircraft to repeatedly fly along the flight path; a determination unit configured to, at a predetermined time before the regular flight time, determine whether to allow the aircraft to use a predetermined radio wave when flying along the flight path at the flight time based on the flight application information; and a transmitter configured to, at a predetermined time before the regular flight time, send flight information to the aircraft identified by the identification information under the condition that the determination unit determines that the use of the predetermined radio wave is allowed, wherein the flight information instructs the aircraft to fly along the flight path.

2. The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit is configured to allow the use of the predetermined radio wave under the following conditions: the number of aircraft flying in the area including at least part of the flight path at the flight time is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

3. The flight management system according to claim 2, wherein, The area is covered by the same base station configured to communicate with a plurality of aircraft.

4. The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein, The determination unit is configured to allow the use of the predetermined radio wave under the following conditions: the flight path is included in a radio map indicating the locations of communication services subject to the use of the predetermined radio wave.

5. The flight management system according to claim 4, wherein, The radio map indicates that for each position and each altitude of the aircraft, the aircraft is capable / incapable of using the predetermined radio wave to perform communication.

6. The flight management system according to claim 1, wherein, The transmitter is configured to, under the condition that the determination unit determines that the use of the predetermined radio wave is not allowed, send information describing the reason why the determination unit does not allow the use of the predetermined radio wave to the user terminal.

7. The flight management system according to claim 1, comprising: A charging unit configured to determine the payment amount to be charged to the user based on at least one of the following: the flight duration of the aircraft, the flight distance of the aircraft, the number of flights made by the aircraft, the number of aircraft actually making a flight each time, and the type of the aircraft.

8. A flight management method suitable for a flight management system configured to manage the flight of an aircraft that communicates with a user terminal operated by a user, the flight management method comprising: receiving flight application information from the user terminal, the flight application information including identification information for identifying the aircraft, a flight path that the user prefers the aircraft to fly along, and a flight time that the user prefers the aircraft to fly, the flight time indicating a regular flight time that allows the aircraft to repeatedly fly along the flight path; at a predetermined time before the regular flight time, determining whether to allow the aircraft to use a predetermined radio wave when flying along the flight path at the flight time based on the flight application information; and At a predetermined time before the scheduled flight time, when it is determined that the use of the predetermined radio wave is permitted, flight information is sent to the aircraft identified by the identification information, and the flight information indicates that the aircraft flies along the flight path.

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