Flight Deck Display Splitting for In-Trail Procedure Traffic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flight deck displays become cluttered with irrelevant aircraft information, making it difficult for pilots to determine if conditions are met for the in-trail procedure (ITP) when changing flight levels, as they require manual interpretation and calculations to identify potentially blocking aircraft.
Innovation Solution
A flight deck display system that provides a split-screen rendering of aircraft traffic, allowing pilots to select oceanic tracks and flight levels, highlighting relevant traffic and generating messages for ITP requests, thereby reducing pilot workload and increasing situational awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional VSD displays all air traffic within predetermined maximum range, then complete traffic information is provided, but display clutter increases making it difficult to identify relevant aircraft
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the display into multiple functional zones: a lateral display showing geographic position and track information, and a vertical profile display showing altitude information. This segmentation allows pilots to view different types of traffic information in organized sections rather than all information mixed together, reducing clutter while maintaining completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and highlights only the relevant traffic information needed for ITP procedures - specifically aircraft that are potentially blocking and require in-trail separation. By extracting this specific subset of information from the complete traffic picture and presenting it prominently, the system maintains information completeness while eliminating unnecessary visual clutter from irrelevant aircraft.
2Loss of information
If conventional displays show all neighboring aircraft, then comprehensive situational awareness is achieved, but manual interpretation and calculations increase pilot workload
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification and calculation of potentially blocking aircraft and ITP requirements before the pilot needs this information. The display automatically calculates which aircraft require in-trail separation, determines appropriate flight level changes, and presents this pre-processed information to the pilot, eliminating the need for manual interpretation and calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides continuous feedback to the pilot by dynamically updating the display with current traffic positions, automatically identifying blocking aircraft, and indicating whether ITP conditions are met. This feedback mechanism replaces manual monitoring and calculation with automated system responses, reducing pilot workload while maintaining comprehensive situational awareness.
3Loss of information
If display shows detailed information about all aircraft, then complete traffic picture is available, but identification of potentially blocking aircraft becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different levels of information detail in different display areas. The lateral display shows comprehensive geographic and track information for all aircraft, while the vertical profile display provides detailed altitude and blocking information specifically for relevant aircraft. This localized differentiation of information quality allows complete traffic picture availability while making blocking aircraft identification straightforward through targeted display emphasis.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of displaying aircraft traffic information on a display element of a host aircraft begins by displaying a lateral display and an in-trail procedure (ITP) display. The lateral display includes representations of tracks corresponding to flight path constraints, the host aircraft, and neighboring aircraft, wherein the host aircraft and the neighboring aircraft are displayed in alignment with the tracks. The ITP display includes representations of flight levels including a current flight level of the host aircraft. The method continues by receiving a command that indicates selection of one of the displayed tracks. In response to the command, the ITP display is rendered to display representations of neighboring aircraft traveling on the selected track, in the absence of neighboring aircraft traveling on tracks other than the selected track.