Aircraft Traffic Display Verification for Ghost Aircraft Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft systems struggle to accurately distinguish between legitimate aircraft and ghost or suspicious aircraft, which can lead to misinterpretation of flight paths and potential safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing an interrogation module that compares real-time flight data with interrogated data from onboard databases to identify and display the level of suspicion for detected aircraft, employing sensors and a traffic simulator to update the display based on discrepancies between actual and expected performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional traffic collision avoidance systems display all detected aircraft, then complete traffic information is provided, but ghost or suspicious aircraft cannot be distinguished from legitimate aircraft leading to misinterpretation of flight paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display information by categorizing aircraft into different trust levels (verified, suspicious, ghost) based on data consistency checks. This segmentation allows the system to differentiate between legitimate aircraft and ghost aircraft, resolving the contradiction by providing reliable identification without losing the ability to detect all aircraft types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification process that compares real-time aircraft data against expected performance parameters from onboard databases. This intermediary check acts as a mediator to identify suspicious aircraft before displaying them, enabling the system to distinguish ghost aircraft while maintaining complete traffic awareness.
2Reliability
If flight path changes are made in response to all detected aircraft, then collision avoidance is maximized, but unnecessary flight path changes occur due to ghost aircraft detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary verification of aircraft data against expected performance parameters before triggering flight path changes. By pre-screening aircraft using onboard databases and consistency checks, the system avoids unnecessary maneuvers caused by ghost aircraft while maintaining safety responses to legitimate threats.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where aircraft detections are continuously verified against real-time performance data and onboard database expectations. This feedback loop allows the system to confirm whether detected aircraft are legitimate or ghost signals before initiating flight path changes, thus maintaining safety while improving flight efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If real-time data processing is performed for all detected aircraft, then accurate situational awareness is achieved, but system complexity and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial verification by performing full real-time data processing only for aircraft that fail initial consistency checks or are flagged as suspicious. For verified aircraft, the system uses simplified monitoring, reducing overall computational load while maintaining accurate situational awareness through targeted detailed analysis.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method (200) for identifying ghost aircraft (50) and a system (27) for displaying information in an aircraft (10) including a flight display (28) onboard the aircraft (10) and configured to display a visual expression of at least some air traffic information (26) and an interrogation module (32) configured to determine information about an other aircraft (50) based on the identification address to define interrogated data, determine real-time information about the other aircraft (50), compare the real-time information and the interrogated data and update the flight display (28) based on the comparison.