Parametrizable Aircraft Maintenance Kernel
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Solution Overview
Problem
The development and maintenance of centralized maintenance systems for aircraft are complex and expensive due to their monolithic sequential code structure, requiring lengthy design and validation processes, and are not easily upgradable without software certification, especially when integrating with numerous devices and diverse protocols.
Innovation Solution
The system is separated into a generic software kernel and configuration parameters, allowing for parametrization using a database that can evolve over time, comprising four elementary cells for message acquisition, diagnosis formulation, report generation, and operator communication, with a qualified configuration tool to convert operational requirements into parameterizable software kernels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a monolithic sequential code structure is used for centralized maintenance systems, then the system ensures stability and reliability, but the system becomes complex and expensive to develop and maintain, requiring lengthy design and validation processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized maintenance system into multiple independent modules: a core platform module that handles fundamental maintenance functions, and multiple plug-in modules that can be independently developed, validated, and integrated. Each module encapsulates specific functionality (e.g., fault message processing, alert message processing, diagnostic functions), allowing the system to maintain reliability through modular isolation while reducing overall complexity through standardized interfaces and independent development cycles.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system is designed as a monolithic structure, then certification is more straightforward, but upgrading the system and integrating new devices or protocols requires extensive revalidation and certification processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic system architecture where the core platform remains certified and stable, while plug-in modules can be dynamically added, removed, or updated without requiring recertification of the entire system. The standardized interfaces and communication protocols allow new devices and protocols to be integrated through configuration rather than code modification, enabling the system to adapt to changing requirements while maintaining certification status.
Solution Approach 2:
The core platform is designed with universal interfaces and standardized protocols that can accommodate multiple types of devices and communication protocols through a common architecture. This multi-functionality allows the same certified platform to support various plug-in modules for different device types (flight control systems, navigation systems, etc.) and protocols, eliminating the need for separate certification for each integration scenario.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system processes messages from numerous devices with diverse protocols, then comprehensive coverage is achieved, but the processing complexity and validation requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces standardized interface layers and protocol translation modules as intermediaries between diverse device protocols and the core maintenance platform. These intermediary components handle protocol-specific processing and conversion, allowing the core platform to work with a unified message format while supporting multiple device types and protocols. This mediation approach maintains device compatibility while managing processing complexity through standardized intermediate representations.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for centralized maintenance, intended for an aircraft comprising a set of devices necessary for the flight and able to issue fault messages or alert messages, the maintenance system being able to communicate with this set of devices, comprises a software kernel parametrizable by means of a database of parameters, the software kernel comprising at least four elementary cells: a first cell for acquiring the fault messages and alert messages originating from the set of devices of the aircraft, a second cell for formulating a maintenance diagnosis defined by means of the fault messages and alert messages, a third cell for formulating and displaying a maintenance report to a maintenance operator of the aircraft, defined on the basis of the maintenance diagnosis, a fourth cell for communicating between the maintenance operator and the set of devices of the aircraft.