Database Feature Mask for Multi-System Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing database systems face compatibility issues and increased costs when updating or changing navigation data, as they are often designed for specific aircraft types, leading to non-compatible data being omitted and requiring significant filtering and software updates.
Innovation Solution
A database system with a data section and a structure section, where the structure section includes a feature mask indicating compatibility with multiple end-user systems, allowing for seamless updates and compatibility across different systems without affecting existing data formats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a navigation database is updated to include new or different content, then the database reflects current navigational data, but compatibility with existing systems may be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The database is segmented into a structure section (containing format definitions) and a data section (containing actual navigational records). This segmentation allows the data section to be updated independently while the structure section maintains compatibility interfaces, resolving the contradiction between updating data and maintaining compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
A feature mask is introduced as an intermediary element that bridges the database and multiple end-user systems. The feature mask contains compatibility information that allows the database to serve different systems with varying requirements without requiring separate database instances, thus maintaining both update flexibility and system compatibility.
2Device complexity
If a single database is designed to support multiple aircraft types, then fewer databases are needed, but data content that may not be supported by all systems must be omitted
Solution Approach 1:
The database structure is designed with universal interfaces through the structure section that can accommodate multiple aircraft types and systems. The feature mask enables the same database to provide different subsets of data to different systems based on their capabilities, achieving universality without information loss for any particular system.
Solution Approach 2:
The database includes all possible navigational data (excessive action) rather than filtering to only universally supported data. The feature mask then enables each system to selectively access only the portion of data it supports (partial action), thus maintaining full data content while ensuring compatibility for each individual system.
3Speed
If database access software requires intrinsic knowledge of data layout and format, then fast access is achieved, but updates to navigation data require software updates
Solution Approach 1:
The data layout and format information is extracted from the actual data and placed into the structure section as separate definitions. The access software only needs to know the structure section format, not the specific navigational data format. This extraction allows the data section to be updated without requiring software updates, while maintaining fast access through the structured interface.
Data Source
AI summary
A database system and method that is compatible with multiple end-use systems, even when changes and/or updates are made to the layout, format, and/or data content in the database. The database includes a structure section and a data section. The data section includes a plurality of stored data records that have one or more features. The structure section includes a feature mask that has data stored therein that indicates whether a particular one of the data records is compatible with one or more end-user systems.