System and method for assisting landing of aircraft at airport

Abstract

The system includes a flight management system (14) and a collision avoidance system (20) installed on board the aircraft, as well as a transponder (38) installed at a predefined position on the airport and connected to a computer (40) in an air traffic control center (34). The transponder (38) is configured to receive environmental information transmitted by said computer (40). The collision avoidance system (20) is configured to query the transponder (38), to receive the environmental information in response, and to determine a position for the transponder. Either the collision avoidance system (20) or the flight management system (14) is configured to compare the transponder position determined by the collision avoidance system with a theoretical position recorded on board the aircraft so as to authenticate the received environmental information only if the determined position corresponds to the theoretical position.The flight management system (14) is configured to command a flight path of the aircraft based on environmental information received when authenticated.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to the field of aircraft landing assistance at an airport. In preparation for an aircraft landing at an airport, a crew member must prepare the aircraft's approach to a runway. To do this, the crew member must gather environmental information about the airport, specifically: meteorological information (temperature, wind, etc.), information about at least one of the aircraft's runways (runway open or closed, presence of obstacles, direction of travel, active runway heading, etc.), and / or other airport-related information. In practice, to obtain this information, the crew member communicates verbally with an airport air traffic control center. Based on the information obtained, the crew member selects a runway and an approach procedure for that runway.An aircraft pilot then commands a trajectory for the aircraft to follow this approach procedure.

[0002] To reduce the workload of aircraft crew members, it would be desirable to automatically prepare the aircraft for the approach phase to an airport runway. However, this requires access to the aforementioned environmental information about the airport. Therefore, there is a need to enable the aircraft to automatically acquire this environmental information in a sufficiently reliable and secure manner. In particular, to prevent any risk of malicious intent, it is necessary to ensure that the aircraft acquires this environmental information only from an airport air traffic control center.

[0003] Document FR 3 073 967 A1 discloses a prior art landing assistance system for an aircraft at an airport. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:

[0004] The present invention aims in particular to provide a solution to this problem. It relates to a landing assistance system for an aircraft at an airport, the landing assistance system comprising an aircraft flight management system and a TCAS type anti-collision system, both installed on board the aircraft.

[0005] The landing assistance system is remarkable in that it also includes a transponder installed at a predefined position on the airport, the transponder being connected to a computer in an airport air traffic control center, and in that: the transponder is configured to receive and record in a memory, environmental information transmitted by said computer of the airport air traffic control center; the TCAS type anti-collision system is configured to query the transponder and to receive in response said environmental information recorded in the transponder's memory, as well as to determine a position of the transponder;at least one of the TCAS-type collision avoidance system or the aircraft's flight management system is configured to compare the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system with a theoretical transponder position recorded in an onboard aircraft database in order to determine whether the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position and to authenticate environmental information received from the transponder only if the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position; and the flight management system is configured such that, if the environmental information received from the transponder is authenticated, the flight management system commands a flight path for the aircraft based at least on said environmental information.

[0006] The landing assistance system according to the invention verifies whether the environmental information received by the aircraft originates from a transponder located at a position corresponding to a stored theoretical position associated with an air traffic control center at the airport where the aircraft is to land and, if so, authenticates the environmental information received by the aircraft. It is assumed that the stored theoretical position of the transponder in the database corresponds to a secure area inaccessible to a malicious individual. Consequently, environmental data sent at the initiative of a malicious individual would not be authenticated by the landing assistance system according to the invention, since the transponder's position would then not correspond to the stored theoretical position associated with the air traffic control center.This ensures the safety of an aircraft approach to the airport runway, based on environmental information received by the aircraft through the landing aid system according to the invention.

[0007] In one embodiment, environmental information includes at least a subset of the following environmental information: weather information; information relating to an airport runway; information relating to the airport.

[0008] In one embodiment, the transponder is connected to the computer of the airport air traffic control center by a communication link independent of a public communication network.

[0009] The invention also relates to an aircraft comprising an airport landing assistance system, the landing assistance system including an aircraft flight management system and a TCAS-type collision avoidance system. The aircraft is notable in that: The TCAS type anti-collision system is configured to: interrogate a transponder installed at a predefined position on the airport, the transponder being connected to a computer in an airport air traffic control center and being configured to receive and record in a memory, environmental information transmitted by said computer in the airport air traffic control center; receive in response said environmental information recorded in the memory of the transponder;and determine a transponder position, at least one of the TCAS-type collision avoidance system or the aircraft flight management system is configured to compare the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system with a theoretical transponder position recorded in an onboard aircraft database so as to determine if the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position and to authenticate environmental information received from the transponder only if the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position;and the flight management system is configured in such a way that, if the environmental information received from the transponder is authenticated, the flight management system commands a flight path for the aircraft based at least on said environmental information.

[0010] The invention also relates to a method for assisting the landing of an aircraft at an airport, the aircraft comprising a flight management system and a TCAS type anti-collision system installed on board the aircraft, a transponder being installed at a predefined position on the airport, the transponder being connected to a computer at an air traffic control center at the airport.

[0011] The process is remarkable in that it includes the following steps: a step implemented by said computer of the airport air traffic control center, consisting of transmitting environmental information relating to the airport to the transponder; a step implemented by the transponder consisting of receiving said environmental information and recording it in a memory; a step implemented by the TCAS type anti-collision system consisting of querying the transponder, receiving in response said environmental information recorded in the transponder's memory, and determining a position of the transponder;a step implemented by at least one of the TCAS-type collision avoidance system or the aircraft's flight management system, consisting of comparing the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system with a theoretical transponder position recorded in an onboard database on the aircraft in order to determine whether the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position and to authenticate the environmental information received from the transponder only if the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position; and in the event that the environmental information received from the transponder is authenticated, a step implemented by the flight management system consisting of commanding a flight path for the aircraft based at least on said environmental information. DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

[0012] The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description and examining the accompanying figures. There figure 1 is a simplified view illustrating an aircraft landing assistance system at an airport, according to one embodiment of the invention. figure 2 illustrates an aircraft equipped with a landing assistance system at an airport, conforming to an embodiment of the invention. figure 3 schematically illustrates the aircraft landing assistance system at an airport in the figure 1 . There figure 4 illustrates a method for assisting the landing of an aircraft at an airport, according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0013] The landing aid system 2 illustrated on the figure 1 The invention comprises an airport 30 and an aircraft 1. The airport 30 includes at least one runway 32 and an air traffic control center 34. A transponder 38 is installed at a predefined location on the airport, for example, in a control tower 35 of the air traffic control center. The transponder 38 is connected to a computer 40 of the air traffic control center 34. The computer 40 is, for example, installed in a building 36 of the air traffic control center, this building 36 being either separate from the control tower 35 or integrated with it. Other locations for the transponder 38 on the airport are possible without departing from the scope of the invention, provided that the predefined location of the transponder is inaccessible to unauthorized persons. The transponder 38 is connected to the computer 40 by a communication link 42 independent of a public communication network, such as the internet.Transponder 38 is intended to communicate with a TCAS type collision avoidance system 20 fitted to aircraft 1, as illustrated on the . figure 2 .

[0014] As illustrated on the figure 3 The aircraft 1 includes a landing aid system 10. This landing aid system comprises a flight management system 14, in particular a Flight Management System (FMS), as well as the aforementioned TCAS-type collision avoidance system 20. The landing aid system 10 is connected to a database 16 installed on board the aircraft, this database containing at least the addresses of transponders equipping different airports. According to a first alternative, the database 16 also contains theoretical position values ​​associated with each of said transponders. According to a second alternative, the landing aid system 10 is also connected to another database 16' (not shown in the figure) containing said theoretical position values. Without departing from the scope of the invention, the database 16 (respectively 16') may correspond to a memory of an avionics computer equipping the aircraft 1.The TCAS type anti-collision system 20 is connected to an antenna 18 of the aircraft by a link 19. Advantageously, the flight management system 14 is connected to an aircraft guidance system 15, for example of type FG (“Flight Guidance” in English).

[0015] In operation, in a step 51 as illustrated on the figure 4, the computer 40 of the air traffic control center 34 transmits environmental information relating to the airport 30, to the transponder 38 via link 42. In particular, this environmental information includes at least one of the following: an "open" or "closed" status of the runway 32, the presence of an obstacle on the runway, a condition of the runway (dry, wet, presence of snow or ice, etc.), a direction of landing on the runway (for example an active heading), meteorological information (temperature, wind... at the airport), information relating to the airport (for example the name of the airport as defined in a nomenclature managed by the International Civil Aviation Organization).

[0016] In step 52, the transponder 38 receives environmental information transmitted by the computer 40.

[0017] Steps 51 and 52 can be implemented asynchronously with respect to the following steps.

[0018] In step 53, the TCAS-type collision avoidance system 20 queries the transponder 38 at airport 30. In one embodiment, the flight management system 14 knows airport 30 as the intended destination airport in a current flight plan for the aircraft. The flight management system acquires the address of the transponder 38 corresponding to airport 30 from the database 16 and sends a request to the TCAS-type collision avoidance system to query this transponder. After querying the transponder 38, the TCAS-type collision avoidance system receives environmental information relating to airport 30 and determines, in the usual way, a theoretical position of the transponder 38, in the same way that it is able to determine the position of a transponder installed on board another aircraft.

[0019] A subsequent step 54 is implemented by either the TCAS collision avoidance system or the flight management system 14. When this step is implemented by the flight management system, the TCAS collision avoidance system first transmits to the flight management system 14 the environmental information received from the transponder 38, as well as the position of said transponder that it has determined. This step 54 consists of acquiring a theoretical position of the transponder 38 recorded in the database 16 or 16' and comparing the position of the transponder 38 determined by the TCAS collision avoidance system with this theoretical position in order to determine if the position determined by the TCAS collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical position and to authenticate the environmental information received from the transponder only if the position determined by the TCAS collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical position of the transponder.In the event that a malicious individual attempts to send information to the aircraft using a different transponder, this transponder cannot be located at the theoretical position of transponder 38 corresponding to the airport, as the malicious individual would not be authorized to access this position, which is inaccessible to unauthorized personnel. Consequently, a discrepancy would be detected at step 54 between the transponder position determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system and the theoretical position of transponder 38. The environmental data received would then not be authenticated.

[0020] In step 55, which is only implemented if the received environmental data has been authenticated in step 54, the flight management system 14 commands a flight path for the aircraft based on at least one of the received environmental information points. The path thus commanded is, for example, transmitted to the aircraft guidance system 15.

Claims

1. Landing assistance system (2) for an aircraft (1) at an airport (30), the landing assistance system comprising an aircraft flight management system (14) and a TCAS-type collision avoidance system (20) both installed on board the aircraft, characterized in that It further comprises a transponder (38) installed at a predefined position on the airport, the transponder being connected to a computer (40) in an air traffic control center (34) at the airport, and in that- the transponder (38) is configured to receive and record in a memory, environmental information transmitted by said computer (40) of the airport air traffic control center; - the TCAS type anti-collision system (20) is configured to query the transponder (38) and to receive in response said environmental information recorded in the transponder's memory, as well as to determine a position of the transponder;- at least one of the TCAS type anti-collision system (20) or the aircraft flight management system (14) is configured to compare the transponder position determined by the TCAS type anti-collision system with a theoretical transponder position (38) recorded in a database (16, 16') on board the aircraft so as to determine whether the transponder position determined by the TCAS type anti-collision system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position and to authenticate environmental information received from the transponder only if the transponder position determined by the TCAS type anti-collision system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position;and - the flight management system (14) is configured in such a way that in the event that the environmental information received from the transponder is authenticated, the flight management system commands a flight path of the aircraft based at least on said environmental information.; 2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that Environmental information includes at least a subset of the following environmental information: - meteorological information; - information relating to an airport runway; - information relating to the airport.

3. System according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the transponder (38) is connected to the computer (40) of the airport air traffic control center by a communication link (42) independent of a public communication network.

4. Aircraft (1) comprising a landing aid system (10) for use at an airport (30), the landing aid system comprising an aircraft flight management system (14) and a TCAS-type collision avoidance system (20), characterized in that- the TCAS type anti-collision system is configured to: . interrogate a transponder (38) installed at a predefined position on the airport, the transponder being connected to a computer (40) of an air traffic control center (34) of the airport and being configured to receive and record in a memory, environmental information transmitted by said computer of the airport air traffic control center; . receive in response said environmental information recorded in the memory of the transponder (38);and . determine a transponder position, - at least one of the TCAS type anti-collision system (20) or the aircraft flight management system (14) is configured to compare the transponder position (38) determined by the TCAS type anti-collision system with a theoretical transponder position recorded in a database (16, 16') on board the aircraft so as to determine if the transponder position determined by the TCAS type anti-collision system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position and to authenticate environmental information received from the transponder only if the transponder position determined by the TCAS type anti-collision system corresponds to the theoretical transponder position;and - the flight management computer (14) is configured such that in the event that the environmental information received from the transponder (38) is authenticated, the flight management system commands a flight trajectory of the aircraft based at least on said environmental information.; 5. Method for assisting the landing of an aircraft (1) at an airport (30), the aircraft comprising a flight management system (14) and a TCAS-type collision avoidance system (20) installed on board the aircraft, a transponder (38) being installed at a predefined position at the airport, the transponder being connected to a computer (40) at an air traffic control center at the airport, the method being characterized in thatIt comprises the following steps: - a step (51) implemented by said computer (40) of the airport air traffic control center, consisting of transmitting environmental information relating to the airport to the transponder (38); - a step (52) implemented by the transponder (38) consisting of receiving said environmental information and recording it in a memory; - a step (53) implemented by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system (20) consisting of querying the transponder, receiving in response said environmental information recorded in the transponder's memory, and determining a position of the transponder;- a step (54) implemented by at least one of the TCAS-type collision avoidance system (20) or the aircraft flight management system (14), consisting of comparing the position of the transponder (38) determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system with a theoretical position of the transponder recorded in a database (16, 16') on board the aircraft so as to determine whether the position of the transponder determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical position of the transponder and to authenticate the environmental information received from the transponder only if the position of the transponder determined by the TCAS-type collision avoidance system corresponds to the theoretical position of the transponder;and - in the event that the environmental information received from the transponder is authenticated, a step (55) implemented by the flight management computer (14) consisting of commanding a flight trajectory of the aircraft based at least on said environmental information.;

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