Aircraft Display System Segmentation for Terrain Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft display devices are costly and inefficient in displaying critical and non-critical information simultaneously, particularly due to the computational intensity of real-time terrain rendering, which exceeds the capabilities of critical display devices and requires extensive qualification tests, posing a risk of pilot distraction from critical information.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating critical information like altitude and speed into terrain rendering images processed by a non-critical processing unit, allowing a critical processing unit to maintain control and verify data consistency, ensuring reliable display of both types of information on a single screen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If terrain rendering images are displayed using a critical display device, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly due to extensive qualification testing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the display system into two independent processing units: a first processing unit that handles critical flight information (airspeed, altitude) and a second processing unit that generates terrain rendering images. This segmentation allows each unit to be optimized independently, with the second unit using less stringent consumer-grade hardware that doesn't require extensive aviation qualification testing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a composition device that acts as an intermediary, overlaying critical flight information from the first processing unit onto the terrain rendering images from the second processing unit. This mediator combines the visual appeal of non-critical display with the reliability of critical display without requiring the expensive qualification testing of the entire system.
2Device complexity
If terrain rendering images are displayed using a non-critical display device, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to insufficient computing power and lack of qualification testing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates critical information processing from terrain rendering processing, allowing the terrain rendering to be performed by less expensive, non-qualified hardware while critical flight data is handled by certified systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The composition device monitors and verifies that critical flight information is properly integrated into the terrain display, ensuring that essential data remains accurate and visible despite using non-critical display hardware for the graphical elements.
3Reliability
If critical and non-critical information are displayed on separate screens, then reliability is maintained, but device complexity increases and pilot attention may be fragmented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges critical flight information and terrain rendering images into a single composite display. The composition device overlays airspeed, altitude, and other critical data directly onto the three-dimensional terrain visualization, creating an integrated view that reduces the number of screens needed while maintaining information reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The single display screen serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides both the visual appeal of terrain rendering and the essential flight information, eliminating the need for separate dedicated displays for different types of information.
4Ease of operation
If non-critical information is displayed more visually appealingly, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates as pilot attention is monopolized by non-critical information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different visual qualities to different regions of the display: terrain rendering provides visual appeal in the background while critical flight information is presented with high contrast and prominence in foreground positions, ensuring essential data captures pilot attention regardless of the overall visual attractiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The composition device uses color differentiation to distinguish between critical and non-critical information, with critical flight data displayed in colors and formats that ensure visibility and attention, while terrain rendering provides contextual visual information without competing for the pilot's focus.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to an information display device (2) comprising a first processing unit (6.1) and a second processing unit (6.2) connected to at least one information source (3, 4, 5), the first processing unit being further connected to a display (7) and to the second processing unit, the first processing unit and the second processing unit each comprising a computer (9.1, 9.2) and a memory (11.1, 11.2), the computer and the second unit being adapted so as to generate an image to be displayed on the display and to transmit same to the computer of the first processing unit adapted for modifying the image by including information from the information source into the latter and for transmitting the modified image to the display. The invention also relates to an aircraft provided with such a device.