Airborne parking guidance system and method

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a system and method for providing airport parking guidance for an aircraft, including providing airport gate data from an airport gate database, the airport gate data including parking data indicative of a gate location point and a gate aircraft parking heading. Aircraft data is provided from an aircraft data source. Position error data is provided from a position error receiving system. Airport gate data is retrieved for an airport gate. A processing system processes the aircraft data and the position error data to determine an aircraft position point, an aircraft position deviation, and an aircraft heading deviation for the one airport gate. Position error data may be provided from a ground-based position error transmission system that at least selectively determines and transmits the position error data based on airport gate position data and a ground-based position measurement system.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Indian Provisional Patent Application No. 202411014539 filed on February 28, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to docking guidance systems, and more particularly to an onboard docking guidance system and method for an aircraft. Background Art

[0004] Approaching and parking an aircraft at an airport parking stand is performed manually by the pilot and can be a challenging task in some cases. Therefore, various solutions have been proposed to address the challenges associated with this task. One of the solutions adopted at many airports is a visual docking guidance system (VDGS). This system provides visual instructions and directional cues to the pilot to help him navigate the aircraft to and park it in the correct parking position at the designated parking stand. A typical VDGS is located at or near each airport parking stand and includes various sensors and a relatively large display device. These sensors are used to detect the alignment of the aircraft, and the display device is used to provide visual instructions and directional cues.

[0005] While currently known VDGS systems are generally safe and reliable, they do exhibit certain drawbacks. For example, during low-visibility conditions at an airport, visual indicators and directional cues may not be clear enough for pilots, particularly when the aircraft is a long distance from the parking stand and / or the aircraft's heading is not aligned with the stand's parking centerline. Furthermore, for airports with multiple parking stands, investment and maintenance costs can be relatively high. Furthermore, if the VDGS system malfunctions or is otherwise inoperable, navigating to and parking at the stand can be challenging for pilots, as described above.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for providing docking guidance to aircraft pilots that is not adversely affected in low visibility conditions, does not incur a per-parking stand cost, and provides increased reliability, thereby reducing the likelihood that a pilot may need to navigate to and park at a parking stand without assistance. The present disclosure addresses at least these needs. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This Summary is provided to describe selected concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0008] In one embodiment, an airport parking guidance system for an aircraft includes an airport parking stand database, an aircraft data source, a position error receiving system, and a processing system. The airport parking stand database has stored therein airport parking stand data for a plurality of airport parking stands. The airport parking stand data includes, for each of the plurality of airport parking stands, parking data indicating a parking stand location point and a parking heading of an aircraft at the parking stand. The aircraft data source is configured to provide aircraft data, the aircraft data including data indicating aircraft dimensions, a sensed aircraft position, and a sensed aircraft heading. The position error receiving system is configured to provide position error data indicating a position error between a sensed aircraft position and an actual aircraft position. The processing system is in operable communication with the airport parking stand database, the aircraft data source, and the position error receiving system. The processing system is configured to retrieve airport stand data for one of a plurality of airport stands, receive aircraft data provided from an aircraft data source, receive position error data from a position error receiving system, and process the aircraft data and the position error data to determine an aircraft position point, an aircraft position deviation, and an aircraft heading deviation for the one of the airport stands. The aircraft position point is a position offset from the stand position point and based on aircraft dimensions. The aircraft position deviation is a deviation of the actual aircraft position from the stand position point. The aircraft heading deviation is an angular deviation between a sensed aircraft heading and a parked heading of the aircraft at the stand.

[0009] In another embodiment, a method for providing airport parking guidance for an aircraft includes providing airport stand data for a plurality of airport stands from an airport stand database, wherein the airport stand data includes, for each of the plurality of airport stands, parking data indicating a stand location point and a parking heading of an aircraft at the stand. Aircraft data is provided from an aircraft data source, wherein the aircraft data includes data indicating aircraft dimensions, a sensed aircraft position, and a sensed aircraft heading. Position error data is provided from a position error receiving system, wherein the position error data indicates a position error between the sensed aircraft position and an actual aircraft position. Airport stand data for one of the plurality of airport stands is retrieved using a processing system. The aircraft data provided from the aircraft data source is received in the processing system, and the position error data provided from the position error receiving system is received in the processing system. The processing system processes the aircraft data and the position error data to determine an aircraft location point, an aircraft location deviation, and an aircraft heading deviation for the one of the airport stands. The aircraft location point is a position offset from the stand location point and based on the aircraft dimensions. The aircraft position deviation is the deviation between the actual aircraft position and the parking stand position point. The aircraft heading deviation is the angular deviation between the sensed aircraft heading and the parking heading of the aircraft at the parking stand.

[0010] In another embodiment, an airport parking guidance system includes a ground-based subsystem and an aircraft-based subsystem. The ground-based subsystem includes a ground-based airport parking stand database and a ground-based position error transmission system. The ground-based airport parking stand database stores airport parking stand data for a plurality of airport parking stands, wherein the airport parking stand data includes, for each of the plurality of airport parking stands, parking data indicating a parking stand location point and a parking heading of an aircraft at the parking stand. The ground-based position error transmission system is in operative communication with the ground-based airport parking stand database and is configured to at least selectively (i) determine position error data based on the airport parking stand data and the ground-based position measurement system and (ii) transmit the position error data. The aircraft-based subsystem includes a display device, an airport parking stand database, an aircraft data source, a position error receiving system, and a processing system. The display device presents one or more images in response to a display command. The airport parking stand database has the airport parking stand data stored therein. The aircraft data source is configured to provide aircraft data indicating aircraft dimensions, sensed aircraft position, and sensed aircraft heading. A position error receiving system is configured to receive and provide position error data transmitted from a ground-based position error transmission system, wherein the position error data indicates a position error between a sensed aircraft position and an actual aircraft position. A processing system is in operative communication with an airport stand database, an aircraft data source, and the position error receiving system. The processing system is configured to retrieve airport stand data for one of a plurality of airport stands, receive aircraft data provided from the aircraft data source, receive the position error data from the position error receiving system, process the aircraft data and the position error data to determine an aircraft position point, an aircraft position deviation, and an aircraft heading deviation for the one airport stand, and command a display device to present an image representing at least the determined aircraft position deviation and the determined aircraft heading deviation. The aircraft position point is a position offset from the stand position point and based on aircraft dimensions, the aircraft position deviation is a deviation of the actual aircraft position from the stand position point, and the aircraft heading deviation is an angular deviation between the sensed aircraft heading and the aircraft's parked heading at the stand.

[0011] Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the airport docking guidance system and method will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing background. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the following drawings, wherein like numerals represent like elements, and wherein:

[0013] Figure 1 A functional block diagram depicting an embodiment of an airport docking guidance system;

[0014] Figure 2 An airport is schematically depicted having a plurality of airport parking stands and various data associated therewith stored in a database;

[0015] Figures 3 to 7 Schematic depiction of an airport stand and aircraft approaching the airport stand, as well as Figure 1 Various parameters determined by the system;

[0016] Figure 8 schematically depicts an aircraft positioned to be properly parked at an airport parking stand; and

[0017] Figure 9 Describes in the form of a flow chart the Figure 1 The process implemented in the system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following specific embodiments are merely exemplary in nature and are not intended to limit the invention or the application and use of the invention. As used herein, the word "exemplary" means "used as an example, instance or illustration". Therefore, any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be understood as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All embodiments described herein are exemplary embodiments provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the invention, without limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the claims. In addition, it is not intended to be bound by any express or implied theory presented in the aforementioned technical field, background technology, summary of the invention or the following specific embodiments.

[0019] refer to Figure 1 , which depicts a functional schematic diagram of one embodiment of an airport docking guidance system 100 and includes a ground-based subsystem 110 and an aircraft-based subsystem 120. Ground-based subsystem 110, located at airport 111, includes a ground-based airport parking stand database 112, a ground-based position error transmission system 114, and a ground-based position measurement system. It should be noted that ground-based subsystem 110 can be implemented using a single device or multiple devices, systems, and / or subsystems, which may vary from one airport to another.

[0020] The ground-based airport stand database 112 has stored therein airport stand data for a plurality of airport stands. Although the airport stand data may vary, and as Figure 2More clearly, for each of the plurality of airport parking stands 202 (e.g., 202-1, 202-2, 202-3, ..., 202-N), the data includes parking data indicating at least a stand location point 204 and a stand aircraft parking heading 206. Each stand location point 204 is a physically fixed location. Each stand location point 204 is a point located at the edge of its associated parking stand 202 and is located on a parking centerline 208 extending from the stand 202. Preferably, the stand location point 204 and the stand aircraft parking heading 206 are based on the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84), which, as is generally known, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system.

[0021] See again Figure 1 Ground-based position error transmission system 114 is in operative communication with ground-based airport stand database 112 and is configured to determine position error data associated with each stand 202 based on the airport stand data and ground-based position measurement system 116. Ground-based position error transmission system 114 is further configured to transmit (preferably wirelessly) the determined position error data. The position error data indicates the position error between the actual stand location point 204 stored in ground-based airport stand database 112 and the position of the stand location point sensed by ground-based position measurement system 116. Ground-based position measurement system 116 may be implemented using, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS), or a GPS-denied navigation system, to name a few. It should be understood that, when received by aircraft 121, the position error data also indicates the position error between the sensed aircraft position (using GPS or other suitable system onboard aircraft 121) and the actual aircraft position. Additionally, it should be appreciated that the ground-based position error transmission system 114 may transmit the determined position error using any of a variety of short-range wireless transmission techniques.

[0022] Turning now to the aircraft-based subsystem 120, this subsystem 120 is disposed within an aircraft 121 and includes an airport stand database 122, an aircraft data source 124, a position error receiving system 126, and a processing system 128. Airport stand database 122 is identical to ground-based airport stand database 112 and, therefore, stores the same airport stand data. Specifically, for each airport stand 202 in a plurality of airport stands (e.g., 202-1, 202-2, 202-3, ..., 202-N), the data includes parking data indicating at least a stand location point 204 and a stand aircraft parking heading 206.

[0023] Aircraft data source 124 is configured to provide aircraft data. While the specific aircraft data may vary, the data includes at least data indicating aircraft dimensions, sensed aircraft position, and sensed aircraft heading. Aircraft dimensions may be unique to a single aircraft or a class of aircraft and may vary, but will typically include, for example, aircraft length, aircraft wingspan, the distance between the aircraft nose and the front and rear landing gear, and the offset distance from the aircraft position sensed by onboard sensors to the landing gear, to name a few examples.

[0024] The sensed aircraft position is the position sensed by the aircraft's position sensing system and corresponds to the nose landing gear. More specifically, when the aircraft's GPS is used, the position sensed by the GPS is the position of the GPS antenna, and when the aircraft's inertial navigation system (INS) is used, the sensed position is the aircraft's CG (center of gravity). However, in both cases, the sensed position is used together with a lever arm correction to determine the position of interest. In the current embodiment, the aircraft's position sensed by either GPS or INS is used to determine the position of the nose landing gear (using a lever arm correction).

[0025] The sensed aircraft heading is the heading of the aircraft as sensed by an onboard heading sensor system of the aircraft, such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), or any of a variety of other systems that sense and provide aircraft heading. Although aircraft data source 124 is described using a single functional block, it should be understood that this is merely for ease of description. In some embodiments, aircraft data source 124 may be implemented using multiple devices, systems, and / or subsystems.

[0026] Position error receiving system 126 is configured to receive and provide position error data wirelessly transmitted from ground-based position error transmission system 114. As described above, when used within aircraft 121, the position error data indicates a position error between a sensed aircraft position and an actual aircraft position.

[0027] The processing system 128 generally represents the hardware, circuitry, processing logic, and / or other components configured to facilitate communication and / or interaction between elements of the aircraft-based subsystem 120 and to perform additional processes, tasks, and / or functions to support the operation of the aircraft-based subsystem 120, as described in more detail below. Depending on the embodiment, the processing system 128 may be implemented or realized using a general-purpose processor, controller, microprocessor, microcontroller, content-addressable memory, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field-programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, processing core, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. In practice, the processing system 128 includes processing logic that can be configured to perform the functions, techniques, and processing tasks associated with the operation of the aircraft-based subsystem 120 as described in more detail herein. Furthermore, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in software modules executed by the processing system 128, or in any practical combination thereof. According to one or more embodiments, the processing system 128 includes or otherwise has access to a data storage element such as a memory (e.g., RAM memory, ROM memory, flash memory, registers, a hard disk, etc.) or another suitable non-transitory short-term or long-term storage medium capable of storing computer-executable programming instructions or other data for execution, which, when read and executed by the processing system 128, causes the processing system 128 to perform and perform one or more of the processes, tasks, operations, and / or functions described herein.

[0028] In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that processing system 128 is in operable communication with airport stand database 122, aircraft data source 124, and position error receiving system 126. Processing system 128 is configured to retrieve airport stand data for one of plurality of airport stands 202. More specifically, processing system 128 will retrieve airport stand data for airport stand 202 at which aircraft 121 has been assigned to park.

[0029] The processing system 128 is further configured to receive aircraft data provided by the aircraft data source 124 and position error data provided by the position error receiving system 126. The processing system 128 processes the aircraft data and the position error data to determine an aircraft position point, an aircraft position deviation, and an aircraft heading deviation for the designated airport parking stand 202.

[0030] As used herein, an aircraft position point is a position that is offset from the stand position point 204 and is based on the size of the aircraft. More specifically, and again with reference to Figure 3, the parking stand location point 204 of each parking stand 202 is located at a first position on the parking centerline 208 and is a physically fixed position as previously described. The aircraft location point 212 is located at a second position on the parking centerline 212. Of course, this second position is based on the size of the aircraft and may therefore be different for different aircraft types. Figure 3 As shown, the processing system 128 is further configured to determine a distance (D) between the first location (ie, the stand location point 204 of the designated stand 202) and the second location (ie, the aircraft location point 212). o This distance is referred to herein as the parking position offset distance (D o ), and may be determined by processing system 128 by calculation or based on data retrieved from data stored in aircraft data source 124 .

[0031] As used herein, the aircraft position deviation is the deviation of the actual aircraft position from the parking stand position point 204. The aircraft position deviation includes the actual aircraft offset distance (D c ) and the actual aircraft offset distance (D d ) both. As used herein, and as Figures 3 to 5 As depicted, the actual aircraft offset distance (D c ) is the straight-line distance between the first location (i.e., the stand location point 204 of the designated stand 202) and the actual aircraft location 302. The actual aircraft offset deviation distance (Dd) is the lateral distance from the parking centerline 208 of the designated stand 202 to the actual aircraft location 302 along a line 304 extending perpendicular to the parking centerline 208.

[0032] As used herein, aircraft heading deviation is the sensed aircraft heading (H A ) and the parking position aircraft parking heading 206 (at Figure 6 and Figure 7 Marked as H G ), both of which are directions relative to the Earth's true north. Figure 6 and Figure 7 As more clearly shown in FIG, the aircraft heading deviation may be an angular deviation (θ R ) or the angular deviation (θ L In either case, the processing system 128 is configured to obtain the aircraft parking heading (H G ) and the sensed aircraft heading (H A ) to calculate the angle deviation (θ R ,θ L ); that is, θ R / θ L =H G -HA .

[0033] As can be appreciated, the processing system 128 is also configured to determine when the aircraft is correctly positioned to park at the designated airport parking stand 202. Specifically, when the aircraft position deviation is substantially equal to zero and the aircraft heading deviation is substantially equal to zero, the processing system 128 determines that the aircraft is correctly positioned to park at the designated airport parking stand 202. Figure 8 As shown in the figure, this figure shows that when D c ≈D o (e.g., within 1 meter), D d ≈0 (e.g., within 4 meters), and H G ≈H A (e.g., within 0.3 degrees), the aircraft is correctly parked at the designated airport parking stand 202. It should be understood that the tolerance (e.g., + 1 meter, + 4 meters, + 0.3 degrees) are merely exemplary, and the tolerance (hence the definition of "substantially") may be greater or less than these example values, and may also vary depending on system accuracy, airport location, airport and parking stand dimensions, aircraft size, etc.

[0034] Back again Figure 1 , it can be seen that the aircraft-based subsystem 120 may also include a display device 132. The display device 132 (where included) is in operative communication with the processing system 128 and presents one or more images in response to a display command. It should be understood that the display device 132 may include any number and type of image generating devices on which one or more images may be presented. In various embodiments, the display device 132 may be attached to a static structure of the aircraft cockpit, such as, for example, a downward-looking display (HDD) or a head-up display (HUD) unit. Alternatively, the display device 132 may take the form of a removable display device (e.g., a display device worn by the pilot) or a portable display device, such as an electronic flight bag (EFB), a laptop computer, or a tablet computer carried by the pilot into the aircraft cockpit.

[0035] Regardless of how the display device 132 is specifically implemented, the display commands provided from the processing system 128 cause the display device 132 to present an image representing at least the determined aircraft position deviation and the determined aircraft heading deviation. The determined aircraft position deviation and the determined aircraft heading deviation may be presented graphically, textually, or both, such as, for example, Figures 3 to 8 As described in .

[0036] Processing system 128 may also be configured to provide display commands to display device 132 that cause display device 132 to present guidance messages. For example, these guidance messages may inform the pilot to navigate left, right, or straight ahead based on the aircraft's position and heading deviation. In some embodiments, processing system 128 may also be configured to provide display commands to display device 132 that cause display device 132 to present one or more warning messages. For example, if the aircraft's position deviation, the aircraft's heading deviation, or both exceed a predetermined threshold, processing system 128 may instruct display device 132 to present one or more warning messages.

[0037] In some embodiments, it may be desirable to additionally (or alternatively) provide an audible warning when the aircraft position deviation, aircraft heading deviation, or both exceed a preset threshold. In such embodiments, the aircraft-based subsystem 120 may also include an audio transmitter 134. The audio transmitter 134 (if included) is in operable communication with the processing system 128 and responds to an alert command provided from the processing system 128 to issue one or more audible warnings.

[0038] Having described the overall functionality of the system 100, a description of a method for providing airport docking guidance to an aircraft will now be described. Figure 9 The method 900 depicted in the form of a flowchart in FIG. 1 represents various embodiments of a method for providing airport docking guidance for an aircraft. For illustrative purposes, the following description of the method 900 may refer to the above combined Figure 1 In practice, portions of method 900 may be performed by different components of the described system 100. It should be understood that method 900 may include any number of additional or alternative tasks, Figure 9 The tasks shown in the method 900 need not be performed in the order shown, and the method 900 may be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedure or method having additional functionality not described in detail herein. In addition, the tasks shown in the method 900 may be omitted from the embodiment of the method 900 if the intended overall functionality remains intact. Figure 9 One or more of the tasks shown in .

[0039] Method 900 begins by providing airport stand data for a plurality of airport stands 202 from airport stand database 122 (902), providing aircraft data from aircraft data source 124 (904), and providing position error data from position error receiving system 126 (906). Processing system 128 retrieves airport stand data for one of the plurality of airport stands (908), receives aircraft data from the aircraft data source (912), and receives position error data from the position error receiving system (914). Processing system 128 then processes the aircraft data and position error data to determine an aircraft position point, an aircraft position deviation, and an aircraft heading deviation for the one of the airport stands (916). It will be appreciated that the aircraft position deviation and the aircraft heading deviation may be displayed on display device 132.

[0040] It should be noted that in most embodiments, the processing system 128 is configured to use an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and equations and algorithms to calculate lateral deviation calculations, and to use standard mathematics (such as geometry, algebraic equations) or algorithms to perform various other calculations (such as heading deviation calculations).

[0041] The docking guidance systems and methods described herein are not adversely affected by low visibility conditions, do not incur a per-stand cost, and provide increased reliability, thereby reducing the likelihood that a pilot may need to navigate to and park at a stand without assistance.

[0042] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. Some embodiments and specific implementations have been described above based on functional and / or logic block components (or modules) and various processing steps. However, it should be understood that such block components (or modules) can be implemented by any number of hardware, software, and / or firmware components configured to perform a specified function. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally based on their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Technicians can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present invention. For example, the embodiments of the system or components can use various integrated circuit components, such as memory elements, digital signal processing elements, logic elements, lookup tables, etc., which can perform multiple functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices. In addition, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are only exemplary implementations.

[0043] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative embodiment, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0044] The steps of the methods and algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative embodiment, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC.

[0045] This article can describe skills and techniques based on functional and / or logical block components and reference to symbolic representations of operations, processing tasks and functions that can be performed by various computing components or devices. Such operations, tasks and functions are sometimes referred to as computer-implemented, computerized, software-implemented or computer-implemented. In practice, one or more processor devices can perform the operations, tasks and functions by controlling electrical signals and other processing signals representing the data bits at the memory locations in the system memory. The memory locations for holding data bits are physical locations with specific electrical properties, magnetic properties, optical properties or organic properties corresponding to the data bits. It should be understood that the various block components shown in the figures can be implemented by any number of hardware, software and / or firmware components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the embodiments of the system or components can use various integrated circuit components, such as memory elements, digital signal processing elements, logic elements, lookup tables, etc., which can perform multiple functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices.

[0046] When implemented in software or firmware, the various elements of the system described herein are essentially code segments or instructions that perform various tasks. A program or code segment may be stored in a processor-readable medium, or transmitted via a transmission medium or communication path via a computer data signal contained in a carrier wave. "Computer-readable medium," "processor-readable medium," or "machine-readable medium" may include any medium that can store or transmit information. Examples of processor-readable media include electronic circuits, semiconductor memory devices, ROMs, flash memory devices, erasable ROMs (EROMs), floppy disks, CD-ROMs, optical disks, hard disks, fiber optic media, radio frequency (RF) links, etc. A computer data signal may include any signal that can propagate over a transmission medium such as an electronic network channel, optical fiber, air, electromagnetic path, or RF link. The code segment may be downloaded via a computer network such as the Internet, an intranet, a LAN, etc.

[0047] Some of the functional units described in this specification have been referred to as "modules" to more specifically emphasize their implementation-independence. For example, functions referred to herein as modules may be implemented in whole or in part as hardware circuits, including custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. Modules may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, and the like. Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for example, include one or more physical or logical modules of computer instructions, which may be organized, for example, as objects, procedures, or functions. However, the executable files of the identified modules need not be physically located together, but may include different instructions stored in different locations that, when logically connected together, comprise the module and achieve the module's stated purpose. In practice, a module of executable code may be a single instruction or many instructions, and may even be distributed across multiple different code segments, between different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be implemented in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. Operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed across different locations, including on different storage devices and may exist, at least in part, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.

[0048] In this document, relational terms such as first and second, etc., may be used only to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Unless expressly limited by the claim language, numerical ordinals such as "first," "second," "third," etc., merely represent different individuals in a plurality and do not imply any order or sequence. Unless expressly limited by the claim language, the sequence of the text in any claim does not imply that the processing steps must be performed in a temporal or logical order according to such sequence. Without departing from the scope of the present invention, the method steps may be interchanged in any order, as long as such interchange does not contradict the claim language and is not logically absurd.

[0049] Furthermore, depending on the context, words such as "connected" or "coupled to" used when describing a relationship between different elements do not necessarily imply a direct physical connection between these elements. For example, two elements may be connected to each other physically, electronically, logically, or in any other manner through one or more additional elements.

[0050] Although at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, it should be understood that there are a large number of variations. It should also be understood that one exemplary embodiment or multiple exemplary embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present invention in any way. On the contrary, the foregoing detailed description will provide a convenient roadmap for implementing the exemplary embodiments of the present invention for those skilled in the art. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements described in the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An airport docking guidance system for aircraft, the system comprising: an airport parking stand database, the airport parking stand database having stored therein airport parking stand data for a plurality of airport parking stands, the airport parking stand data including, for each of the plurality of airport parking stands, parking data indicating a parking stand location point and a parking heading of an aircraft at the parking stand; an aircraft data source configured to provide aircraft data, the aircraft data comprising data indicative of aircraft dimensions, a sensed aircraft position, and a sensed aircraft heading; a position error receiving system configured to provide position error data indicating a position error between the sensed aircraft position and an actual aircraft position; and a processing system in operable communication with the airport parking stand database, the aircraft data source, and the position error receiving system, the processing system being configured to: retrieving airport stand data for one of the plurality of airport stands, receiving the aircraft data provided from the aircraft data source, receiving the position error data from the position error receiving system, and The aircraft data and the position error data are processed to determine, for the one airport parking stand, an aircraft position point, which is a position offset from the parking stand position point and based on the aircraft dimensions; an aircraft position deviation, which is a deviation of the actual aircraft position from the parking stand position point; and an aircraft heading deviation, which is an angular deviation between a sensed aircraft heading and a parking heading of the aircraft at the parking stand.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein: The parking stand location point is a first position on a parking centerline extending from the parking stand location point through the aircraft location point; and The aircraft position point is a second position on the parking centerline. 3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the processing system is further configured to determine a parking position offset distance, the parking position offset distance being a distance between the first position and the second position.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein: The aircraft position deviation includes the actual aircraft offset distance and the actual aircraft offset deviation distance; The actual aircraft offset distance is the distance between the first position and the actual aircraft position; and The actual aircraft offset deviation distance is a lateral distance from the parking centerline to the actual aircraft position along a line extending perpendicular to the parking centerline.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the processing system is further configured to determine that the aircraft is correctly positioned to park at the one airport parking stand when: The actual aircraft offset distance is substantially equal to the parking position offset distance; The actual aircraft offset deviation distance is substantially equal to zero; and The aircraft heading deviation is substantially equal to zero.

6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a display device in operable communication with the processing system, the display device presenting one or more images in response to the display commands, The processing system is further configured to provide a display command to the display device, the display command causing the display device to present an image representing at least the determined aircraft position deviation and the determined aircraft heading deviation.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system is further configured to: selectively providing a display command to the display device, the display command causing the display device to present a guidance message; and A display command is selectively provided to the display device, the display command causing the display device to present one or more warning messages.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: A ground-based position error transmission system is configured to at least selectively determine and transmit the position error data to the position error receiving system.

9. The system according to claim 8, further comprising: a ground-based airport parking stand database in operable communication with the ground-based position error transmission system, in The ground-based airport stand database has the airport stand data stored therein, and The ground-based position error transmission system is further configured to determine the position error data based on the airport stand data and a ground-based position measurement system.

10. A method for providing airport docking guidance for an aircraft, the method comprising the following steps: providing airport stand data for a plurality of airport stands from an airport stand database, the airport stand data including, for each of the plurality of airport stands, parking data indicating a stand location point and a parking heading of an aircraft at the stand; providing aircraft data from an aircraft data source, the aircraft data including data indicative of aircraft dimensions, a sensed aircraft position, and a sensed aircraft heading; providing position error data from a position error receiving system, the position error data indicating a position error between the sensed aircraft position and an actual aircraft position; retrieving, using a processing system, airport stand data for one of the plurality of airport stands; receiving, in the processing system, the aircraft data provided from the aircraft data source; receiving, in the processing system, the position error data from the position error receiving system; as well as The aircraft data and the position error data are processed in the processing system to determine, for the one airport parking stand, an aircraft position point, which is a position offset from the parking stand position point and based on the aircraft dimensions; an aircraft position deviation, which is a deviation of the actual aircraft position from the parking stand position point; and an aircraft heading deviation, which is an angular deviation between a sensed aircraft heading and a parking heading of the aircraft at the parking stand.

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