Wireless Cabin Pressure Sensors Reduce Aircraft Wiring Weight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional aircraft cabin pressure control systems rely on redundant and costly wiring for sensor connectivity, leading to weight, reliability, and maintenance issues due to the need for extensive wiring and specialized controllers for high-resolution pressure readings.
Innovation Solution
A wireless network using dissimilar smart sensors that generate processed data, allowing for wireless data sharing among multiple systems, reducing the need for redundant wiring and enabling data integrity through dis-similar sensor validation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional wired sensor networks are used in aircraft cabin pressure control systems, then data transmission reliability is maintained, but system weight and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical wired connection system with a wireless communication system. Sensors transmit pressure data wirelessly to controllers using radio frequency communication, eliminating the need for physical wiring harnesses while maintaining data transmission reliability through protocol-level error checking and retransmission mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the communication function from the physical wiring infrastructure by implementing wireless transceivers in both sensors and controllers. This allows the system to maintain reliability through software-based error handling while removing the heavy mechanical wiring structure.
2Reliability
If redundant sensors are deployed in each controller, then measurement reliability is improved, but system cost and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a shared sensor architecture where a single pressure sensor can serve multiple controllers simultaneously. The sensor data is broadcast to all controllers that need it, eliminating the need for each controller to have dedicated redundant sensors. This universal sharing approach maintains measurement reliability while reducing the total sensor quantity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the measurement function across the system by having sensors communicate with multiple controllers rather than each controller having separate sensors. This consolidation reduces component quantity while maintaining system reliability through multiple data access points.
3Stability of the object's composition
If extensive wiring is used to connect sensors and controllers, then signal transmission stability is ensured, but installation and maintenance difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical wiring installation process with wireless communication setup. Sensors and controllers are equipped with transceivers that automatically establish communication links, eliminating the need for manual wire routing, connection, and testing while maintaining signal transmission stability through digital communication protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless system enables self-configuration where sensors and controllers automatically establish and maintain communication links without requiring manual wiring installation. The system performs self-diagnosis and automatic reconnection if links are lost, significantly improving installation ease and maintenance capability.
4Measurement precision
If specialized controllers with high-resolution ADCs are used, then pressure measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary signal conditioning and filtering at the sensor level before transmission. Sensors include built-in analog-to-digital conversion and data processing capabilities, preprocessing the signal to maintain high measurement precision while reducing the complexity requirements of the receiving controllers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex specialized controller hardware with general-purpose processors running sophisticated software algorithms. High measurement precision is achieved through software-based filtering, calibration, and error correction rather than through complex hardware ADC circuits, reducing device complexity while maintaining precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pressure control system includes a first sensor (absolut cabin pressure sensor), and a second sensor (cabin-to-ambient differential pressure sensor) which is dis-similar to the first sensor, where the second sensor generates a same processed data as the first sensor does, but in a way different from the first sensor does. A receiving unit (cabin pressure controller) is connected to the first sensor and the second sensor by a wireless connection (wireless network) to receive the processed data from the first sensor and the second sensor. In addition, the receiving unit is connected to the first sensor by a second connection (wired connection) different from the wireless connection to receive the processed data from the first sensor. Additional receiving units (oxygen systems, etc) are connected to the first sensor and the second sensor by the wireless connection to receive the processed data.