Non-Certified Flight Computer for Rapid Aircraft Communication Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
The certification process for aircraft components, such as communications management units and radios, is time-consuming and costly, hindering rapid customization or correction of functionality flaws that could impact safety.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a non-certified computer in vehicles to perform functions that do not require government certification, such as encryption, decryption, compression, and encoding, allowing for rapid modification and correction of flaws without the need for additional approval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If certification is performed for all communication components including CMU and radios, then safety and reliability are ensured, but time consumption and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication system into two parts: a certified CMU that handles critical aircraft communication functions and requires certification, and a non-certified external computer that handles optional customization and non-critical functions. This segmentation allows the certified portion to maintain safety while the non-certified portion can be modified rapidly without going through lengthy certification processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts non-essential communication functions from the certified CMU and relocates them to a non-certified external computer. This extraction enables rapid modification of customization functions without affecting the certified status of the core communication system, thereby reducing time consumption and cost while maintaining safety for critical functions.
2Reliability
If certification is performed for all communication components including CMU and radios, then safety and reliability are ensured, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication system into a certified CMU handling critical functions and a non-certified external computer handling optional functions. This segmentation reduces certification cost by limiting the certified portion to only what is essential for aircraft safety, while customization functions can be developed and deployed without certification overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts non-critical customization functions from the certified system and places them in a non-certified external computer. This extraction eliminates the need to pay certification costs for functions that do not impact aircraft safety, thereby reducing overall system cost while maintaining safety for essential communication functions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If functionality is customized in certified components, then customer demands are met, but certification time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts customization functions from the certified CMU and implements them in a non-certified external computer. This allows customer-specific customizations to be developed, modified, and deployed rapidly without undergoing certification processes, as these customization functions do not impact the safety-critical certified system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary external computer that acts as a bridge between the certified CMU and customization requirements. This intermediary handles all customizable functions, allowing rapid adaptation to customer demands while the certified CMU remains unchanged and maintains its certification status.
4Adaptability or versatility
If functionality is customized in certified components, then customer demands are met, but certification cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts all customization-related functions from the certified CMU and relocates them to a non-certified external computer. This extraction eliminates certification costs associated with customization, as the external computer and its customized software do not require government certification, thereby meeting customer demands cost-effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary external computer that handles all customization requirements. This intermediary isolates customization functions from the certified system, allowing customers to obtain customized functionality without incurring additional certification costs, as the intermediary itself does not require certification.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are provided for facilitating less expensive and more rapid implement and modification of processes, e.g., communications processes, performed in a vehicle, e.g., a commercial aircraft, by implementing those functions on a non-certified computer. This is because the non-certified computer and the functions which it performs do not require certification by a government entity. Optionally, the non-certified computer is communicatively coupled to a communications management unit which requires certification from the government entity. Optionally, the non-certified computer may be an electronic flight bag for commercial aviation applications.