Departure Routing Optimization via Directed Graph Model
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Solution Overview
Problem
Air traffic control faces challenges in managing aircraft departure routes effectively due to convective weather, leading to delays and inefficiencies, as Traffic Management Coordinators lack integrated information to reroute flights in real-time, and existing computational methods are hindered by combinatorial explosion, making real-time solutions unfeasible.
Innovation Solution
A system that formulates departure rerouting using a directed graph model, allowing for real-time optimization of flight routes by representing planned departures and resources as nodes and constraints as arcs, using linear optimization methods to determine optimized reroutes and automatically update solutions in response to changing conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional job scheduling problem formulation with binary decisions is used for departure routing, then comprehensive routing options can be considered, but computation time increases exponentially due to combinatorial explosion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the departure routing problem into two distinct phases: (1) generating a restricted set of feasible routing options that satisfy operational constraints, and (2) optimizing the selection from this restricted set. This segmentation avoids the combinatorial explosion of considering all possible binary routing decisions simultaneously, while still providing comprehensive routing alternatives through the systematic generation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-generating a restricted set of feasible routing options before the optimization phase. This preliminary generation of valid routes that already satisfy operational constraints eliminates the need to evaluate infeasible combinations during optimization, dramatically reducing computation time while maintaining routing versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If Traffic Management Coordinators manually integrate multiple information sources to determine reroutes, then flexible decision-making is possible, but the process becomes too complex to manage in real-time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (the automated departure routing system) that bridges the gap between multiple information sources and the TMC's decision-making process. This intermediary automatically integrates weather data, flight plans, operational constraints, and routing options, presenting processed information and recommended reroutes to the TMC, thereby reducing the complexity of manual integration while preserving decision flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically performing the information integration and initial routing analysis that would otherwise require manual TMC effort. The system autonomously generates feasible routing options, evaluates them against constraints, and presents optimized recommendations, allowing the TMC to focus on higher-level decision-making rather than manual data synthesis.
3Reliability
If departure routes are closed due to convective weather to ensure safety, then flight safety is improved, but significant delays occur for departures waiting for clearance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by enabling real-time adjustment of departure routes in response to changing weather conditions. Instead of static route closures, the system dynamically generates and updates routing options as weather evolves, allowing flights to be rerouted around convective weather in real-time, thereby maintaining safety while minimizing delays through adaptive route selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters by dynamically modifying routing parameters (alternate routes, departure times, aircraft assignments) in response to weather conditions. When convective weather impacts a route, the system adjusts these parameters to find alternative feasible solutions that maintain safety requirements while reducing delays, rather than maintaining fixed route closures.
Data Source
AI summary
System including one or more programs with instructions for storing a plurality of planned departures associated with departure routes and departure fixes in the memory, storing at least one constraint associated with one or more of the departure routes and departure fixes in the memory, generating a departure model for modifying the plurality of planned departures based on the at least one constraint, wherein the departure model comprises a directed graph representing the planned departures, the departure routes, and the departure fixes, determining an optimized set of flows through the departure model based on the at least one constraint, and identifying a reroute for at least one planned departure based on the optimized set of flows.