U.S. patent application number 11/470860 was filed with the patent office on 2008-03-13 for method and system for identifying hostile missile launch locations.
Invention is credited to Arnold Kravitz.
Application Number | 20080062412 11/470860 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39125457 |
Filed Date | 2008-03-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080062412 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kravitz; Arnold |
March 13, 2008 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING HOSTILE MISSILE LAUNCH
LOCATIONS
Abstract
A method for identifying hostile missile launch locations is
disclosed. In response to a receipt of a message containing
information regarding a hostile missile had been launched at an
aircraft, a determination is made as to whether or not a tail
number contained within the message is a valid tail number for the
aircraft. If the tail number contained within the message is a
valid tail number for the aircraft, another determination is made
as to whether or not the aircraft was at a valid location at the
time the message was sent. If the aircraft was at a valid location
at the time said message was sent, pertinent information are
retrieved from the message in order to identify the exact launch
location of the hostile missile.
Inventors: |
Kravitz; Arnold; (Hollis,
NH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DILLON & YUDELL LLP
8911 NORTH CAPITAL OF TEXAS HWY, SUITE 2110
AUSTIN
TX
78759
US
|
Family ID: |
39125457 |
Appl. No.: |
11/470860 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
356/152.1 ;
244/3.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01S 17/87 20130101;
G01S 3/7864 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
356/152.1 ;
244/3.15 |
International
Class: |
G01B 11/26 20060101
G01B011/26 |
Claims
1. A method for identifying a location from which a hostile missile
was launched at an aircraft, said method comprising: in response to
a receipt of a message sent from an aircraft, wherein said message
contains information regarding a hostile missile had been launched
at said aircraft, determining whether or not a tail number
contained within said message is a valid tail number for said
aircraft; in response to a determination that a tail number
contained within said message is a valid tail number for said
aircraft, utilizing said tail number to determine whether or not
said aircraft was at a valid location at the time said message was
sent; and in response to a determination that said aircraft was at
a valid location at the time said message was sent, retrieving
pertinent information from said message for identifying the exact
launch location of said hostile missile.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said method further includes in
response to a determination that a tail number contained within
said message is not a valid tail number for said aircraft,
notifying a user of an anomaly.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said method further includes in
response to a determination that said aircraft was not at a valid
location at the time said message was sent, notifying a user of an
anomaly.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said retrieving pertinent
information from said message further includes determining look
angles and scalings of video images within said message.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein said method further includes
searching a plurality of map databases to locate maps with similar
look angles and scalings of said video images within said
message.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said method further includes
displaying located maps to allow a user to identify a launch
location at which said hostile missile was launched.
7. A computer usable medium having a computer program product for
identifying a location from which a hostile missile was launched at
an aircraft, said computer usable medium comprising: program code
means for, in response to a receipt of a message sent from an
aircraft, wherein said message contains information regarding a
hostile missile had been launched at an said aircraft, determining
whether or not a tail number contained within said message is a
valid tail number for said aircraft; program code means for, in
response to a determination that a tail number contained within
said message is a valid tail number for said aircraft, utilizing
said tail number to determine whether or not said aircraft was at a
valid location at the time said message was sent; and program code
means for, in response to a determination that said aircraft was at
a valid location at the time said message was sent, retrieving
pertinent information from said message for identifying the exact
launch location of said hostile missile.
8. The computer usable medium of claim 7, wherein said computer
usable medium further includes program code means for, in response
to a determination that a tail number contained within said message
is not a valid tail number for said aircraft, notifying a user of
an anomaly.
9. The computer usable medium of claim 7, wherein said computer
usable medium further includes program code means for, in response
to a determination that said aircraft was not at a valid location
at the time said message was sent, notifying a user of an
anomaly.
10. The computer usable medium of claim 7, wherein said program
code means for retrieving pertinent information from said message
further includes program code means for determining look angles and
scalings of video images within said message.
11. The computer usable medium of claim 10, wherein said computer
usable medium further includes program code means for searching a
plurality of map databases to locate maps with similar look angles
and scalings of said video images within said message.
12. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein said computer
usable medium further includes program code means for displaying
located maps to allow a user to identify a launch location at which
said hostile missile was launched.
13. A system for identifying a location from which a hostile
missile was launched at an aircraft, said system comprising: means
for, in response to a receipt of a message sent from an aircraft
wherein said message contains information regarding a hostile
missile had been launched at said aircraft, determining whether or
not a tail number contained within said message is a valid tail
number for said aircraft; means for, in response to a determination
that a tail number contained within said message is a valid tail
number for said aircraft, utilizing said tail number to determine
whether or not said aircraft was at a valid location at the time
said message was sent; and means for, in response to a
determination that said aircraft was at a valid location at the
time said message was sent, retrieving pertinent information from
said message for identifying the exact launch location of said
hostile missile.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein said system further includes
means for, in response to a determination that a tail number
contained within said message is not a valid tail number for said
aircraft, notifying a user of an anomaly.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein said system further includes
means for, in response to a determination that said aircraft was
not at a valid location at the time said message was sent,
notifying a user of an anomaly.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein said means for retrieving
pertinent information from said message further includes program
code means for determining look angles and scalings of video images
within said message.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein said system further includes
means for searching a plurality of map databases to locate maps
with similar look angles and scalings of said video images within
said message.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein said system further includes
means for displaying located maps to allow a user to identify a
launch location at which said hostile missile was launched.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates to surveillance systems in
general, and in particular to surveillance systems for identifying
locations from which hostile missiles were launched. Still more
particularly, the present invention relates to a surveillance
system for identifying locations from which hostile land-to-air
missiles were launched at aircrafts.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Surface-to-air missiles, including man-portable air defense
systems (MANPADS), can pose a threat to aircrafts that are within
the effective range of such missiles. For example, certain MANPADSs
such as Stingers and SA series missiles, have altitude and
horizontal (or slant) ranges of up to 15,000 feet and four miles,
respectively, and can consequently threaten aircrafts come within
those ranges. Because aircrafts typically fly below 15,000 feet for
as far as 50 miles before landing and after taking off in so-called
landing corridors, surface-to-air missiles within the landing
corridors can be threats to aircrafts.
[0005] With the recent substantial increase in terrorism activities
directed towards commercial airliners, one of the current Homeland
Security initiatives is to try to identify a location from which a
hostile land-to-air missile was launched very soon after the launch
of the missile had been established. Such information can be
utilized by the local authority to locate and apprehend the
attackers.
[0006] The present disclosure describes a surveillance system for
identifying locations from which hostile land-to-air missiles were
launched at aircrafts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, in response to a receipt of a message containing
information regarding a hostile missile had been launched at an
aircraft, a determination is made as to whether or not a tail
number contained within the message is a valid tail number for the
aircraft. If the tail number contained within the message is a
valid tail number for the aircraft, another determination is made
as to whether or not the aircraft was at a valid location at the
time the message was sent. If the aircraft was at a valid location
at the time said message was sent, pertinent information are
retrieved from the message in order to identify the exact launch
location of the hostile missile.
[0008] All features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed written description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use,
further objects, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by
reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative
embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an environment in which a preferred
embodiment of the present invention is applicable;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a high-level logic flow diagram of a method for
capturing video information by a surveillance system, in accordance
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
[0012] FIG. 3 is a high-level logic flow diagram of a method for
processing information captured by the method from FIG. 2 in order
to identify a location from which a hostile missile was launched,
in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1,
there is illustrated a diagram of an environment in which a
preferred embodiment of the present invention is applicable. As
shown, a aircraft 11 flies over an urban environment 12 that
typically includes roads, streets, bridges, houses, high-rises,
etc. A hostile surface-to-air missile, which is a potential threat
to aircraft 11, can be launched from anywhere within urban
environment 12.
[0014] A surveillance system can be installed on aircraft 11 for
gathering information in order to assist the identification of a
location within urban environment 12 from which a hostile
land-to-air missile has been launched at aircraft 11. The
surveillance system includes a camera 15 along with a flight
information module (not shown). Camera 15, preferably located at
the lower portion of the fuselage of aircraft 11, is equipped with
a hyper-hemisphere lens having a view angle of preferably
185.degree..times.185.degree. and a resolution of preferably 17.4
milli radian. Camera 15 is capable of capturing visible and/or
infra-red video images of a local terrain, such as urban
environment 12, at a minimum rate of 30 frames per second.
[0015] With reference now to FIG. 2, there is depicted a high-level
logic flow diagram of a method for gathering information by the
surveillance system, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention. Starting at block 20, video images are
continuously captured by camera 15 (from FIG. 1) while flight
information are recorded by the flight information module, as shown
in block 21. The recorded flight information may include global
positioning system (GPS) information of an aircraft, flight time,
flight velocity, orientation (in roll, pitch and yaw) of the
aircraft, angular rate (in roll, pitch and yaw) of the aircraft,
camera bore sight orientation (in roll, pitch and yaw), etc. The
recorded flight information along with the state vector and tail
number of the aircraft are then merged with the video images
captured by camera 15, as depicted in block 22. Specifically, the
recorded flight information along with the state vector and tail
number of the aircraft are embedded in each of the corresponding
frame of the captured video images.
[0016] The merged data are then written to a high-speed storage
device, such as a memory device or a hard drive, as shown in block
23. In order to save space within the high-speed storage device,
some of the older merged data will be written over by the newer
merged data using a first-in-first-out scheme.
[0017] A determination is then made as to whether or not a missile
alert has been received, as depicted in block 24. The missile alert
can be provided via an alert signal from a missile warning system
installed within the aircraft. If there is no receipt of a missile
alert, the process returns to block 21 for continue video
capturing. However, if a missile alert has been received, the most
recent merged data are retrieved from the storage device and are
then sent to a secured web address via a secured email message, as
shown in block 25.
[0018] Referring now to FIG. 3, there is depicted a high-level
logic flow diagram of a method for processing information captured
by the method from FIG. 2 in order to identify a location from
which a hostile missile was launched at an aircraft, in accordance
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. After the
receipt of a secured email message, as shown in block 31, a
determination is made as to whether or not the tail number included
within the secured email message is a valid tail number for the
aircraft, as depicted in block 32. Such determination can be made
by checking the tail number included within the secured email
message against a database of all valid tail numbers maintained by
the Federal Aviation Administration. If the tail number included
within the secured email message is not a valid tail number, an
error message is shown to notify user of an anomaly, as depicted in
block 34.
[0019] However, if the tail number included within the secured
email message is a valid tail number, another determination is made
as to whether or not the aircraft was at a valid location at the
time the secured email message was sent, as shown in block 33. Such
determination can be made by checking the tail number included
within the secured email message against a database of all current
airborne aircrafts maintained by the Federal Aviation
Administration. If the aircraft was not at a valid location at the
time the secured email message was sent, an error message is shown
to notify user of an anomaly, as depicted in block 34.
[0020] Otherwise, if the aircraft was at a valid location at the
time the secured email message was sent, a message is shown to
notify user of the emergency, as shown in block 35. The video
images contained in the secured email message are then analyzed to
determine look angles and scaling of the video images, as depicted
in block 36. The look angles can be determined by using the GPS
center position locations of the video images, the latitude,
longitude and altitude of the aircraft, the RPY orientation of the
aircraft, and the bore sight angle of camera 15 (from FIG. 1). The
scaling can be determined by using the altitude of the aircraft,
the angle to image center, and the raw image resolution and zoom
scale factor. Multiple map databases are then searched to locate
maps with identical or similar look angles and scaling, as shown in
block 37.
[0021] The located maps are subsequently displayed along with the
corresponding video images to allow an user to identify an exact
launch location of the hostile missile, as depicted in block 38. In
order to assist the user during the identification process, the
user can be provided with orientation functionalities such as
map/image overlay with scalability and map/image overlay rotation
with fine adjustments.
[0022] As has been described, the present invention provides a
surveillance system for identifying locations from which hostile
land-to-air missiles were launched at aircrafts.
[0023] It is also important to note that the present invention can
be implemented in a computer system, and the mechanisms of the
present invention are capable of being distributed as a program
product in a variety of forms, and that the present invention
applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing
media utilized to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of
signal bearing media include, without limitation, recordable type
media such as floppy disks or compact discs and transmission type
media such as analog or digital communications links.
[0024] While the invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form
and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention.
* * * * *