Bundled Aeronautical Data Management for Mobile Flight Applications

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Pilots lack access to critical aeronautical information, particularly for private helicopter landing sites not maintained by government agencies, which can lead to safety issues during navigation, especially in low-visibility conditions.

Innovation Solution

A mobile flight application that obtains and integrates a content pack with aeronautical files organized in a directory structure, including custom flight procedures and visualization layers, allowing for cohesive management and presentation of waypoints and navigation data, ensuring that all relevant information is accessible without the risk of accidental deletion.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If pilots use only public aeronautical information from government agencies, then the information is reliable and maintained by authorities, but private aeronautical information such as helicopter landing sites on private buildings is not available

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of aeronautical informationVSAvoidavailability of private aeronautical information

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines public aeronautical information from government agencies with private aeronautical information from proprietary sources into a unified content pack. This merging allows the system to provide both the reliability of government-maintained data and the versatility of including private facilities like helicopter landing sites on private buildings.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The mobile flight application is designed to handle multiple types of aeronautical information sources simultaneously - both public government-maintained data and private proprietary data. This multi-functionality enables the system to serve diverse aviation needs across different aircraft types and operational contexts.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Ease of manufacture

If aeronautical files are managed separately without bundling, then individual files can be updated independently, but the risk of accidental deletion and loss of information integrity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of updating aeronautical dataVSAvoidintegrity of aeronautical information

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent bundles multiple aeronautical files into a single content pack with a defined directory structure. This combining approach maintains ease of updates (the entire pack can be replaced) while preventing accidental deletion of individual files, as they are managed as a unified package with integrity protections.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary validation and organization of aeronautical files into a structured content pack before deployment to the mobile device. This preliminary action ensures that all necessary files are present and properly organized before use, preventing information loss during operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If all aeronautical information is integrated into a single content pack, then information integrity is maintained and accidental deletion is prevented, but the complexity of data organization and management increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveintegrity of aeronautical informationVSAvoidcomplexity of content pack structure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent organizes the content pack into segmented directories with specific functions - a custom flight procedures folder for procedural data and a map layer folder for visualization data. This segmentation reduces complexity by creating clear organizational boundaries while maintaining the integrity of the bundled package.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a manifest file as an intermediary that describes the content pack structure, file locations, and relationships. This manifest acts as a mediator that simplifies the management of complex aeronautical data by providing a standardized interface for the mobile flight application to access and validate the bundled information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Ease of operation

If custom flight procedures and map layers are stored separately, then file management is simpler, but the integration and presentation of integrated navigation information becomes more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of managing aeronautical filesVSAvoidcomplexity of integrating flight procedures and map layers

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges custom flight procedures and map layers into a single content pack that is loaded together by the mobile flight application. This combining ensures that procedures and their corresponding map layers are always properly paired and integrated, simplifying the presentation of navigation information while maintaining organized file storage within the bundled structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS11275718B2Bundled distribution and management of aeronautical data

Publication Date: 2022.03.15 FOREFLIGHT LLC

AI summary

A mobile flight application obtains, via a network, a content pack having aeronautical files, and determines a set of waypoints in the content pack from the aeronautical files in the content pack. In a geolocation mapping structure, a waypoint is related with a matching subset of the aeronautical files in the content pack. Integrated into the corresponding sections of a user interface of the mobile flight application.