Cabin Entertainment Unit for Portable Electronic Device In-Flight Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
In-flight information distribution systems are limited to display units installed on aircraft and do not include distribution of information to portable electronic devices (PEDs) carried by passengers.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a cabin entertainment unit with a discovery datagram generator, flight navigation datagram generator, FTP/HTTP server, and trackline data generator, which provides network address information and flight data to PEDs, allowing them to receive and display in-flight information, including custom map configurations and actual flight tracks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If in-flight information is distributed only through traditional display units installed on aircraft, then system complexity is reduced and reliability is maintained, but information accessibility and passenger convenience are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cabin entertainment unit as an intermediary device that bridges the traditional aircraft navigation system and passenger portable electronic devices. The entertainment unit receives flight data from the aircraft's navigation system and retransmits it to passengers' PEDs, enabling information distribution without directly modifying either the core navigation system or the passenger devices. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by enabling versatile information accessibility while maintaining system simplicity through standardized interfaces and protocols.
2Ease of operation
If in-flight information is distributed to portable electronic devices, then information accessibility and passenger convenience are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cabin entertainment unit is designed with universal functionality to serve multiple purposes: it acts as a data receiver from the aircraft navigation system, a data processor for format conversion, and a data distributor to various passenger devices. By creating a multi-functional intermediary platform, the system achieves ease of operation for passengers through their existing devices while managing complexity within the entertainment unit itself, which handles all the sophisticated communication and data processing requirements.
3Loss of information
If traditional display units are used for in-flight information, then system reliability is maintained, but information distribution capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the information distribution system into distinct functional modules: the aircraft navigation system that generates flight data, the cabin entertainment unit that processes and manages data transmission, and the passenger portable devices that display information. This segmentation allows each component to maintain its own reliability characteristics while collectively achieving enhanced information distribution capability. The entertainment unit segment handles the complexity of data management and transmission protocols, isolating potential failure points from both the navigation system and passenger devices.
Data Source
AI summary
Present novel and non-trivial system, device, and method for the distribution of in-flight information to a portable electronic device (“PED”) are disclosed. The system could be comprised of a cabin entertainment unit and one or more PEDs, where the cabin entertainment unit could be a device comprised of a discovery datagram generator, a flight navigation datagram generator, a file transfer protocol/hypertext transfer protocol (“FTP/HTTP”) server storing a custom map configuration file, and/or a trackline data generator. A discovery datagram could provide a plurality of network addresses from which the PED may listen for and receive flight navigation datagrams repeatedly, request and receive the custom map configuration file, and request and receive trackline data representative of the ground track already flown by the aircraft.