Aircraft GPS Tracking Encoding for Bandwidth Efficiency
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current Automated Flight Following systems using GPS for tracking aircraft distance travel are limited by high satellite bandwidth costs, resulting in infrequent position reports that lead to inaccuracies and missed revenue opportunities due to reduced billable distance calculations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for encoding and compressing real-time GPS location data, allowing for more frequent sampling and transmission of data packets, utilizing multiple encoding schemes to select the most efficient method for each packet, and incorporating error rejection algorithms to improve distance tracking accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS position reports are transmitted frequently, then distance tracking accuracy is improved, but satellite bandwidth cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the continuous stream of GPS position data into discrete packets that are buffered and transmitted at optimized intervals. Instead of transmitting every single GPS reading, the system divides data into manageable segments, selecting representative positions from each segment for transmission. This segmentation allows the system to maintain accurate distance tracking while reducing the total number of transmissions required, thereby lowering satellite bandwidth costs.
2Loss of energy
If GPS position reports are transmitted infrequently to reduce cost, then satellite bandwidth cost is reduced, but distance tracking accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by buffering and pre-processing GPS position data before transmission. It collects multiple position readings, identifies key representative positions that best capture the aircraft's movement, and prepares optimized transmission packets in advance. This preliminary processing ensures that even with infrequent transmissions, the transmitted data contains sufficient information for accurate distance tracking, thereby maintaining measurement precision while reducing transmission frequency and cost.
3Measurement precision
If multiple GPS position data points are collected and transmitted, then distance tracking accuracy is improved, but data transmission volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential and most informative position data from the complete set of GPS readings. Instead of transmitting all collected position points, the system identifies and extracts key representative positions that best represent the aircraft's actual flight path. This extraction process reduces data transmission volume significantly while preserving the accuracy needed for reliable distance tracking and billing calculations.
4Device complexity
If GPS position reports are transmitted at fixed intervals, then system simplicity is maintained, but billing accuracy deteriorates due to missed revenue opportunities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic transmission intervals that adapt based on aircraft movement characteristics and flight conditions. Rather than using fixed time intervals, the system adjusts the frequency and timing of position report transmissions dynamically. When the aircraft is moving quickly or changing direction, the system increases transmission frequency to capture critical position changes. When movement is slow and steady, transmission frequency is reduced. This dynamic approach maintains billing accuracy by capturing essential position data while avoiding unnecessary transmissions, thereby optimizing both accuracy and resource usage without requiring overly complex fixed-interval systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system is provided for encoding and compressing real-time GPS location data collected by a transceiver unit mounted in an aircraft, for transmitting the data and for receiving the data at a ground station configured for decoding the data. Data can be sampled at one-second intervals, then encoded and transmitted in data packets at longer timed intervals. The encoding method can utilize information about the operating characteristics of the aircraft to reduce the number of bits required for the data packets. Multiple encoding schemes can be used to compare in real-time to select the most efficient method of encoding on a packet-by-packet basis.