Airfield Lighting Control via Fiber Optic Double Loop Self-Healing Communications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing airfield lighting control and monitoring systems face reliability and speed issues due to signal interference, power wiring degradation, and limited operational speed, particularly with complex systems, in power line carrier signaling technologies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a fiber optic double loop self-healing communications system that separates serial communications into smaller groups with concentrators and light controllers, providing redundant data paths for reliable and fast control and monitoring of airfield lighting fixtures, and using a backbone double loop self-healing fiber optic communications circuit for enhanced reliability and speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If power line carrier signaling is used for control and monitoring, then wire usage is reduced and implementation cost is lowered, but signal interference and power wiring degradation occur reducing reliability and operational speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces electrical power line carrier signaling with optical fiber communications. This substitution eliminates the harmful effects of electrical interference and power wiring degradation by using a completely different physical medium (optical signals through fiber optics instead of electrical signals through power lines), thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and system reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces optical fiber as an intermediary communication medium between the control tower and runway lighting fixtures. This intermediary carries communication signals independently from the power delivery system, preventing power wiring issues from affecting communication reliability while maintaining system connectivity
2Ease of manufacture
If power line carrier signaling is used for control and monitoring, then wire usage is reduced, but operational speed is limited due to electrical noise and interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes electrical signal transmission through power lines with optical signal transmission through fiber optic cables. This replacement eliminates the speed limitations imposed by electrical noise and interference, allowing for much faster data transmission rates while communication infrastructure remains minimal
3Device complexity
If a single communication path is used for fiber optic communications, then system complexity is reduced, but reliability decreases when faults occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication system into multiple independent redundant paths using dual fiber optic cables. Each cable provides a separate communication channel, and the system can automatically switch between them if one fails. This segmentation creates fault tolerance without excessive complexity by organizing redundancy in a structured manner
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements beforehand cushioning by pre-configuring redundant communication paths before faults occur. The dual fiber optic cable system is installed and configured in advance, with automatic failover capabilities ready to activate immediately upon detecting a fault, ensuring continuous operation without service interruption
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution significantly improves the reliability and speed of airfield lighting control and monitoring systems by eliminating signal interference and power wiring issues, ensuring continuous operation even with complex systems, and enabling faster control responses and data monitoring.
Implementation Method 1
a fiber optic double loop self healing communications circuit (120, 122, 124)
Data Source
AI summary
Control and monitoring of airfield lighting from a control tower and other maintenance/supervisory locations uses double loop self healing fiber optic communications circuits to enhances speed of operation even with large and complex airfield lighting system requirements, and significantly increased reliability and operating lifetime thereof. A plurality of local light control and monitoring groups are used, wherein each group has at least one fiber optic communications concentrator that independently communicates with light controllers within the group and the remote supervisory control and monitoring systems in the control tower and other locations. This allows faster control response of the lamps in each of the airfield light fixtures, and monitoring concentration of operational data within each group. Each of the at least one fiber optic concentrators is optically coupled to double loop self healing fiber optic communications backbone circuits coupled to main and backup computer supervisory control systems for redundancy purposes.