U.S. patent application number 13/893595 was filed with the patent office on 2014-11-20 for method and system for allocating aircraft arrival/departure slot times, with preferred movement.
The applicant listed for this patent is Rade Michael Baiada, Lonnie Howard Bowlin. Invention is credited to Rade Michael Baiada, Lonnie Howard Bowlin.
Application Number | 20140343833 13/893595 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51845871 |
Filed Date | 2014-11-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140343833 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Baiada; Rade Michael ; et
al. |
November 20, 2014 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOCATING AIRCRAFT ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE SLOT
TIMES, WITH PREFERRED MOVEMENT
Abstract
The present invention takes the form of a computer program,
method and/or system to allow an airline, aviation authority or
other aviation entity to temporally manage, coordinate and allocate
aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times during a specified period for
the flow of a plurality of aircraft at a specified fix point, based
upon specified data comprised of the aircraft, the fix point,
associated system resources, business/operational goals, airline
Requested Slot Times, Preferred Movement and aviation system
specified criteria, some of which is temporally varying.
Inventors: |
Baiada; Rade Michael;
(Evergreen, CO) ; Bowlin; Lonnie Howard; (Owings,
MD) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Baiada; Rade Michael
Bowlin; Lonnie Howard |
Evergreen
Owings |
CO
MD |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
51845871 |
Appl. No.: |
13/893595 |
Filed: |
May 14, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
701/122 ;
701/120 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/0631 20130101;
G06Q 50/30 20130101; G08G 5/0026 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/122 ;
701/120 |
International
Class: |
G08G 5/00 20060101
G08G005/00 |
Claims
1. A computer program product in a computer readable memory for
controlling a processor to allow an airline, aviation authority or
other aviation entity to temporally manage, coordinate and allocate
aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times during a specified period for
the flow of a plurality of aircraft at a specified fix point, based
upon specified data comprised of the aircraft, the fix point,
associated system resources, business/operational goals, aviation
system specified criteria, some of which is temporally varying,
said computer program comprising the steps of: a means of
collecting and storing the specified data and criteria of an
aircraft flow applicable for a specified period, at a specified fix
point, a means of processing, at a specified instant for which it
is desired to allocate the Slot Times, the specified data
applicable at that instant to each of the aircraft and associated
resources so as to predict an arrival time for each of the aircraft
at the specified fix point, a means of assigning to each of the
plurality of aircraft a Figure of Merit whose value is a measure of
how likely it is that the predicted arrival fix time will be
achieved by the aircraft, wherein the Figure of Merit having a
specified value, which, when exceeded, implies that the predicted
arrival time is sufficiently reliable so as to warrant the aircraft
to be considered for an allocation of one of the Slot Times, a
means of accepting and storing a request by the airline, aircraft
operator or pilot for a Slot Time for each of the aircraft at the
specified fix point, a means of accepting and storing, a request
from an airline, aircraft operator or pilot for an alternate Slot
Time (or times) or Preferred Movement direction (i.e., forward or
backward) to move the Slot Time if the Requested Slot Time is not
available, a means of calculating, accepting and storing Slack Time
requirements, a means of calculating and storing predicted Slot
Times for the plurality of aircraft, for which a specific. Slot
Time request was not made, a means of calculating the demand for
the Slot Times for the specified period at the specified fix point,
based upon the Slot Time requests, Slack Time requirements and the
predicted Slot Times for the plurality of aircraft for which a
specific Slot Time request was not made, a means of predicting the
availability of the Slot Times for the specified period at the
specified fix point, based upon specified data that is applicable
for the specified period at the specified fix point, a means of
allocating the Slot Times through a Goal Function process, with the
steps of the Goal Function process comprised of: a means of
evaluating the predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario of an
aircraft flow applicable for the specified period and fix point
against, a set of specified goals, a means of comparing the request
for a Slot Time by an airline, aircraft operator or pilot to
determine whether a conflict exists for the Requested Slot Time, a
means of assigning the Requested Slot Time to the airline, aircraft
operator or pilot if no conflict for the Slot Time exists, a means
of generating various alternative Slot Time assignment scenarios,
using the airline, aircraft operator or pilot's Slot Time requests,
the airline, aircraft operator or pilot's alternate Slot Time
requests or Slot Time Preferred Movement information and a process
to equitably allocate the Slot Times among all airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots, if said Slot Time conflict exists, a means of
comparing the predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario to all of the
evaluated Slot Time scenarios for the specified period and
specified fix point to determine which Slot Time scenario yields
the highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, a
means of choosing the Slot Time scenario for the specified period
and specified fix point which yields the highest degree of
attainment for a set of specified goals, a means of assigning the
Slot Times to individual aircraft for the Slot Time scenario
yielding the highest degree of attainment for a set of specified
goals.
2. A computer program product as recited in claim 1, further
comprising the steps of: a means of communicating the Assigned Slot
Time to the affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot
such that said affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or
pilot has the information needed to change the aircraft trajectory
to meet said targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
3. A computer program product as recited in claim 2, further
comprising the steps of: a means that facilitates the trading of
the Slot Time requests or allocated Slot Times among the airlines,
aircraft operators and/or pilots.
4. A computer program product as recited in claim 3, further
comprising the steps of: a means of monitoring the ongoing temporal
changes in the specified data so so as to identify temporally
updated specified data of an aircraft flow applicable for the
specified period at the specified fix point; a means of storing the
updated specified data at the specified fix point, a means to
determine when the specified data varies beyond a specified amount,
such that when the specified data varies beyond said specified
amount, said computer program product takes the steps comprised of:
a means of updating the Figure of Merit and predicted arrival fix
times for each of the aircraft to which the temporally-updated
specified data applies, a means of updating the predicted demand
for, availability of so and requests for Slot Times and Slack
Times, based upon the updated specified data and specified fix
times, a means of updating the Slot Time allocations based upon the
updated specified data, Figure of Merit and predictions of the
demand for, availability of, requests for, and updated Assigned
Slot Times, a means of re-identifying and re-evaluating alternative
scenarios to resolve conflicts for the Slot Times based upon a
specified Goal function that is responsive to the requests and
operator input, so as to find a Slot Time scenario yielding the
highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, a means
of communicating the updated Assigned Slot Times to the affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or pilot such that said
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
5. A computer program product as recited in claim 4, wherein said
specified data is chosen from the group comprised of the temporally
varying positions and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time
Requests and Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators
and pilots, the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding
said aircraft and resource, the flight handling characteristics of
said aircraft, the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft
and resource, the position, demand and capacity of said
resource.
6. A computer program product as recited in claim 2, further
comprising the steps of: a means of monitoring, the ongoing
temporal changes in the specified data so as to identify temporally
updated specified data of an aircraft flow applicable for the
specified period at the specified fix point, a means of storing the
updated specified data at the specified fix point, a means to
determine when the specified data varies beyond a specified amount,
such that when the specified data varies beyond said specified
amount, said computer program product takes the steps comprised of:
a means of updating the Figure of Merit and predicted arrival fix
times for each of the aircraft to which the temporally-updated
specified data applies, a means of updating the predicted demand
for, availability of and requests for Slot Times and Slack Times,
based upon the updated specified data and specified fix times, a
means of updating the Slot Time allocations based upon the updated
specified data, Figure of Merit and predictions of the demand for,
availability of, requests for, and updated. Assigned Slot Times, a
means of re-identifying and re-evaluating alternative scenarios to
resolve conflicts for the Slot Times based upon a specified Goal
function that is responsive to the requests and operator input, so
as to find a Slot Time scenario yielding the highest degree of
attainment for a set of specified goals, a means of communicating
the updated Assigned Slot Times to the affected airline, aircraft,
aircraft operators or pilot such that said affected airline,
aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the information needed to
change the aircraft trajectory to meet said targeted
arrival/departure Slot.
7. A computer program product as recited in claim 6, wherein said
specified data is chosen from the group comprised of the temporally
varying positions and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time
Requests and Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators
and pilots, the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding
said aircraft and resource, the flight handling characteristics of
said aircraft, the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft
and resource, the position, demand and capacity of said
resource.
8. A computer program product as recited in claim 2, wherein said
specified data is chosen from the group comprised of the temporally
varying positions and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time
Requests and Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators
and pilots, the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding
said aircraft and resource, the flight handling characteristics of
said aircraft, the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft
and resource, the position, demand and capacity of said
resource.
9. A computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein said
specified data is chosen from the group comprising of the
temporally varying positions and trajectories of said aircraft, the
Slot Time Requests and Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots, the temporally varying weather conditions
surrounding said aircraft and resource, the flight handling
characteristics of said aircraft, the safety regulations pertaining
to said aircraft and resource, the position, demand and capacity of
said resource.
10. A computer program product as recited in claim 3, wherein said
specified data is chosen from the group comprising of the
temporally varying positions and trajectories of said aircraft, the
Slot Time Requests and Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots, the temporally varying weather conditions
surrounding said aircraft and resource, the flight handling
characteristics of said aircraft, the safety regulations pertaining
to said aircraft and resource, the position, demand and capacity of
said resource.
11. A method to allow an aviation system to allow an airline,
aviation authority or other aviation entity to temporally manage,
coordinate and allocate aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times
during a specified period for the flow of a plurality of aircraft
at a specified fix point, based upon specified data comprised of
the aircraft, the fix point, associated system resources,
business/operational, goals, aviation system specified criteria,
some of which is temporally varying, said method comprising the
steps of: collecting and storing the specified data and criteria of
an aircraft flow applicable for a specified period, at a specified
fix point, processing, at a specified instant for which it is
desired to allocate the Slot Times, the specified data applicable
at that instant to each of the aircraft and associated resources so
as to predict an arrival time for each of the aircraft at the
specified fix point, assigning, to each of the plurality of
aircraft a Figure of Merit whose value is a measure of how likely
it is that the predicted arrival fix time will be achieved by the
aircraft, wherein the Figure of Merit having a specified value,
which, when exceeded, implies that the predicted arrival time is
sufficiently reliable so as to warrant the aircraft to be
considered for an allocation of one of the Slot Times, accepting
and storing a request by the airline, aircraft operator or pilot
for a Slot Time for each of the aircraft at the specified fix
point, accepting and storing a request from an airline, aircraft
operator or pilot for an alternate Slot Time (or times) or
Preferred Movement direction forward or backward) to move the Slot
Time if the Requested Slot Time is not available, calculating,
accepting and storing Slack Time requirements, calculating and
storing predicted Slot. Times for the plurality of aircraft, for
which a specific Slot Time request was not made, calculating the
demand for the Slot Times for the specified period at the specified
fix point, based upon the Slot Time requests, Slack Time
requirements and the predicted Slot Times for the plurality of
aircraft for which a specific Slot Time request was not made,
predicting the availability of the Slot. Times for the specified
period at the specified fix point, based upon specified data that
is applicable for the specified period, at the specified fix point,
allocating the Slot Times through a Goal Function process, with the
steps of the Goal Function process comprised of: evaluating the
predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario of an aircraft flow
applicable for the specified period and fix point against a set of
specified goals, comparing die request for a Slot Time by an
airline, aircraft operator or pilot to determine whether a conflict
exists for the Requested Slot Time, assigning the Requested Slot
Time to the airline, aircraft operator or pilot if no conflict for
the Slot Time exists, generating various alternative Slot Time
assignment scenarios, using the airline, aircraft operator or
pilot's Slot Time requests, the airline, aircraft operator or
pilot's alternate Slot Time requests or Slot Time Preferred
Movement information and a process to equitably allocate the Slot
Times among all airlines, aircraft operators and pilots, if said
Slot Time conflict exists, comparing the predicted unaltered Slot
Time scenario to all of the evaluated Slot Time scenarios for the
specified period and specified fix point to determine which Slot
Time scenario yields the highest degree of attainment for a set of
specified goals, choosing the Slot Time scenario for the specified
period and specified fix point which yields the highest degree of
attainment for a set of specified goals, assigning the Slot Times
to individual aircraft for the Slot Time scenario yielding the
highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals.
12. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the steps
of: communicating the Assigned Slot Time to the affected airline,
aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot such that said affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the information
needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said targeted
arrival/departure Slot Times.
13. A method as recited in claim 12, further comprising the steps
of: facilitating the trading of the Slot Time requests or allocated
Slot Times among the airlines, aircraft operators and/or
pilots.
14. A method as recited in claim 13, further composing the steps
of: monitoring the ongoing temporal changes in the specified data
so as to identify temporally updated specified data of an aircraft
flow applicable for the specified period at the specified fix
point, storing the updated specified data at the specified fix
point, determining when the specified data varies beyond a
specified amount, such that when the specified data varies beyond
said specified amount, said method takes the steps comprised of:
updating the Figure of Merit and predicted arrival fix times for
each of the aircraft to which the temporally-updated specified data
applies, updating the predicted demand for, availability of and
requests for Slot so Times and Slack Times, based upon the updated
specified data and specified fix times, updating the Slot Time
allocations based upon the updated specified data, Figure of Merit
and predictions of the demand for, availability of, requests for,
and updated Assigned Slot Times, re-identifying and re-evaluating
alternative scenarios to resolve conflicts for the Slot Times based
upon a specified Goal function that is responsive to the requests
and operator input, so as to find a Slot Time scenario yielding the
highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals,
communicating the updated Assigned Slot Times to the affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or pilot such that said
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
16. A method as recited in claim 12, further comprising the steps
of: monitoring the ongoing temporal changes in the specified data
so as to identify temporally updated specified data of an aircraft
flow applicable for the specified period at the specified fix
point, storing the updated specified data at the specified fix
point, determining when the specified data varies beyond a
specified amount, such that when the specified data varies beyond
said specified amount, said method takes the steps comprised of:
updating the Figure of Merit and predicted arrival fix times for
each of so the aircraft to which the temporally-updated specified
data applies, updating the predicted demand for, availability of
and requests for Slot Times and Slack Times, based upon the updated
specified data and specified fix times, updating the Slot Time
allocations based upon the updated specified data, Figure of Merit
and predictions of the demand for, availability of, requests for,
and updated Assigned Slot Times, re-identifying and re-evaluating
alternative scenarios to resolve conflicts for the Slot Times based
upon a specified Goal function that is responsive to the requests
and operator input, so as to find a Slot Time scenario yielding the
highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals,
communicating the updated Assigned Slot Times to the affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or pilot such that said
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
18. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
19. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
20. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
21. A system, including a processor, memory, display and input,
device to allow an airline, aviation authority or other aviation
entity to temporally manage, coordinate and allocate aircraft
arrival/departure Slot Times during, a specified period for the
flow of a plurality of aircraft at a specified fix point, based
upon specified data comprised of the aircraft, the fix point,
associated system resources, business/operational goals, aviation
system specified criteria, some of which is temporally varying,
said system comprising the steps of: a means of collecting and
storing the specified data and criteria of an aircraft flow
applicable for a specified period, at a specified fix point, a
means of processing, at a specified instant for which it is desired
to allocate the Slot Times, the specified data applicable at that
instant to each of the aircraft and associated resources so as to
predict an arrival time for each of the aircraft at the specified
fix point, a means of assigning to each of the plurality of
aircraft a Figure of Merit whose value is a measure of how likely
it is that the predicted arrival fix time will be achieved by the
aircraft, wherein the Figure of Merit having a specified value,
which, when exceeded, implies that the predicted arrival time is
sufficiently reliable so as to warrant the aircraft to be
considered for an allocation of one of the Slot Times, a means of
accepting and storing a request by the airline, aircraft operator
or pilot for a Slot Time for each of the aircraft at the specified
fix point, a means of accepting and storing a request from an
airline, aircraft operator or pilot for an alternate Slot Time (or
times) or Preferred Movement direction (i.e., forward or backward)
to move the Slot Time if the Requested Slot Time is not available,
a means of calculating, accepting and storing Slack Time
requirements, a means of calculating and storing predicted Slot
Times for the plurality of aircraft, for which a specific Slot Time
request was not made, a means of calculating the demand for the
Slot Times for the specified period at the specified fix point,
based upon the Slot Time requests, Slack Time requirements and the
predicted Slot Times for the plurality of aircraft for which a
specific Slot Time request was not made, a means of predicting the
availability of the Slot Times for the specified period at the
specified fix point, based upon specified data that is applicable
for the specified period at the specified fix point, a means of
allocating the Slot Times through a Goal Function process, with the
steps of the Goal Function process comprised of: a means of
evaluating the predicted unaltered. Slot Time scenario of an
aircraft flow applicable for the specified period and fix point
against a set of specified goals, a means of comparing the request
for a Slot Time by an airline, aircraft operator or pilot to
determine whether a conflict exists for the Requested Slot Time, a
means of assigning the Requested Slot Time to the airline, aircraft
operator or pilot if no conflict for the Slot Time exists, a means
of generating various alternative Slot Time assignment scenarios,
using the airline, aircraft operator or pilot's Slot Time requests,
the airline, aircraft operator or pilot's alternate Slot Time
requests or Slot Time Preferred Movement information and a process
to equitably allocate the Slot Times among all airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots, if said Slot Time conflict exists, a means of
comparing the predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario to all of the
evaluated Slot Time scenarios for the specified period and
specified fix point to determine which Slot Time scenario yields
the highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, a
means of choosing the Slot Time scenario for the specified period
and specified fix point which yields the highest degree of
attainment for a set of specified goals, a means of assigning the
Slot Times to individual aircraft for the Slot Time scenario
yielding the highest degree of attainment for a set of specified
goals.
22. As system as recited in claim 21, further comprising the steps
of: a means of communicating the Assigned Slot Time to the affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot such that said
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
23. A system as recited in claim 22, further comprising the steps
of: a means that facilitates the trading of the Slot Time requests
or allocated Slot Times among the airlines, aircraft operators
and/or pilots.
24. A system as recited in claim 23, further comprising the steps
of: a means of monitoring the ongoing temporal changes in the
specified data so as to identify temporally updated specified data
of an aircraft flow applicable for the specified period at the
specified fix point, a means of storing, the updated specified data
at the specified fix point, a means to determine when the specified
data varies beyond a specified amount, such that when the specified
data varies beyond said specified amount, said system takes the
steps comprised of: a means of updating the Figure of Merit and
predicted arrival fix times for each of the aircraft to which the
temporally-updated specified data applies, a means of updating the
predicted demand for, availability of and requests for Slot Times
and Slack Times, based upon the updated specified data and
specified fix times, a means of updating the Slot Time allocations
based upon the updated specified data, Figure of Merit and
predictions of the demand for, availability of, requests for, and
updated Assigned Slot Times, a means of re-identifying and
re-evaluating alternative scenarios to resolve conflicts for the
Slot Times based upon a specified Goal function that is responsive
to the requests and operator input, so as to find a Slot Time
scenario yielding the highest degree of attainment for a set of
specified goals, a means of communicating the updated Assigned Slot
Times to the affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or
pilot such that said affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator
or pilot has the information needed to change the aircraft
trajectory to meet said targeted arrival/departure Slot Times such
that said affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot
has the information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to
meet said targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
25. A system as recited in claim 24, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
26. A system as recited in claim 22, further comprising the steps
of: a means of monitoring the ongoing temporal changes in the
specified data so as to identify temporally updated specified data
of an aircraft flow applicable for the specified period at the
specified fix point, a means of storing the updated specified data
at the specified fix point, a means to determine when the specified
data varies beyond a specified amount, such that when the specified
data varies beyond said specified amount, said system takes the
steps comprised of: a means of updating the Figure of Merit and
predicted arrival fix times for each of the aircraft to which the
temporally-updated specified data applies, a means of updating the
predicted demand for, availability of and requests for Slot Times
and Slack Times, based upon the updated specified data and
specified fix times, a means of updating the Slot Time allocations
based upon the updated specified data, Figure of Merit and
predictions of the demand for, availability of requests for, and
updated Assigned Slot Times, a means of re-identifying and
re-evaluating alternative scenarios to resolve conflicts for the
Slot Times based upon a specified Goal function that is responsive
to the requests and operator input, so as to find a Slot Time
scenario yielding the highest degree of attainment for a set of
specified goals, a means of communicating the updated Assigned Slot
Times to the affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or
pilot such that said affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator
or pilot has the information needed to change the aircraft
trajectory to meet said targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
27. A system as recited in claim 26, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
28. A system as recited in claim 22, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
29. A system as recited in claim 21, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
30. A system as recited in claim 23, wherein said specified data is
chosen from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions
and trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and
Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots,
the temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft
and resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft,
the safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource,
the position, demand and capacity of said resource.
Description
1. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application 61/688,578, filed May 17, 2012, titled "Method
and System for Allocating Aircraft Arrival/Departure Times, with
Preferred Movement" by R. Michael Baiada and Lonnie H. Bowlin.
[0002] Additionally, this application is related to the following
U.S. patent and patent applications:
[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,714 titled, "Method and System for
Tactical Airline Management" issued Apr. 13, 2004. Priority date of
Apr. 16, 1999, Regular application Ser. No. 09/549,074, filed Apr.
16, 2000 and entitled "Method And System For Tactical Airline
Management", Provisional Application No. 60/189,223, filed Mar. 14,
2000 and entitled "Tactical Airline Management", Provisional
Application No. 60/173,049, filed Dec. 24, 1999 and entitled
"Tactical Airline Management", and Provisional Application No.
60/129,563, filed Apr. 16, 1999 and entitled "Tactical Aircraft
Management".
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,383 awarded Oct. 8, 2002 and entitled
"Method And System For Aircraft Flow Management By
Airlines/Aviation Authorities", Regular application Ser. No.
09/861,262, filed May 18, 2001 and entitled "Method And System For
Aircraft Flow Management By Airlines/Aviation Authorities",
Provisional Application No. 60/274,109, filed Mar. 8, 2001 and
entitled "Method And System For Aircraft Flow Management By
Aviation Authorities".
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,011 titled "Method And System For
Allocating Aircraft Arrival/Departure Slot Times", issued Sep. 7,
2004. Priority date Nov. 19, 2001. Regular patent application Ser.
No. 10/299,640, filed Nov. 19, 2002, titled, "Method And System For
Allocating Aircraft Arrival/Departure Slot Times", Provisional
Application No. 60/332,614, filed Nov. 19, 2001 and entitled
"Method And System For Allocating Aircraft Arrival/Departure Slot
Times",
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,903 titled, "Method and System for
Tracking and Prediction of Aircraft Trajectories", issued Mar. 29,
2005. Priority date of Sep. 7, 2001, Regular application Ser. No.
10/238,032, filed Sep. 6, 2002 and entitled "Method And System For
Tracking And Prediction of Aircraft Trajectories", Provisional
Application No. 60/317,803, filed Sep. 7, 2001 and entitled "Method
And System For Tracking and Prediction of Aircraft Arrival and
Departure Times".
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 7,248,963 titled, "Method and System for
Aircraft System Flow Management" issued Jul. 24, 2007. Priority
date of Mar. 25, 2003. Regular application Ser. No. 10/808,970, and
initial PCT application on Mar. 25, 2004 entitled, "Method and
System for Aircraft Flow Management". Provisional Application No.
60/458,027, filed Mar. 25, 2003 and entitled, "Method and System
for Aircraft System Flow Management by Airlines/Aviation
Authorities".
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 7,333,887 titled, "Method And System For
Tactical Gate Management By Airlines/Airport/Aviation Authorities"
issued Feb. 19, 2008. Priority date of Aug. 8, 2003. Regular
application Ser. No. 10/913,062, filed on Aug. 6, 2004 and titled
"Method And System For Tactical Gate Management By
Airlines/Airport/Aviation Authorities", Provisional Application No.
60/493,494, filed Aug. 8, 2003 and titled, "Method And System For
Tactical Gate Management By Airlines/Airport/Aviation
Authorities".
[0009] All these applications having been submitted by the same
applicants: R. Michael Baiada and Lonnie H. Bowlin. The teachings
of these applications are incorporated herein by reference to the
extent that they do not conflict with the teaching herein.
2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention relates to data processing and vehicle
navigation. More particularly, this invention relates to methods
and systems that allow one to better manage, coordinate, allocate
and assign arrival/departure Slot Times for a plurality of aircraft
into and out of a system resource, like an airport.
3. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
[0011] The need for and advantages for tracking, prediction and
asset allocation systems to better manage complex, multi-faceted
processes have long been recognized. Many industries have known for
a long time that having a certain part or set of materials at a
certain place at just the right time yields significant
efficiencies. Thus, many complex methods for tracking, predicting,
coordinating and managing assets and material flows in real time,
based on the future position of particular assets as a function of
time, have been developed.
[0012] However, as applied to tracking, predicting, coordinating
and managing of aircraft within the aviation industry, such methods
often have been fragmentary and too early or too late in the
process to effect the necessary change to provide real benefit.
Additionally, these methods typically have not addressed the
present and future movement of the aircraft, the business needs of
the airline, aircraft operator or pilot, combined with other
factors that can alter the aircraft's trajectory into/out of a
system resource (e.g., airport).
[0013] Aviation regulatory authorities (e.g., various Civil
Aviation Authorities, CAA, throughout the world, including the
Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, within the U.S.) are
responsible for matters such as the separation of moving aircraft.
In this task, the CAAs collect and disseminate considerable data
concerning the location of aircraft within the airspace system.
This data is comprised of radar data, verbal position reports, data
link position reports (ADS-B and ADS-C), etc.
[0014] Further, airlines and other aircraft operators have
developed their own flight following systems as required by the
world's CAM, which provide additional information concerning the
position, condition and current state of their aircraft.
Additionally, third parties have developed their own proprietary
systems to track aircraft (e.g., Attila.TM., Attila Exchange.TM.,
Attila ETAT.TM., Passur, etc.).
[0015] In the prior art, various independent agencies, airlines or
third parties use these data sources. Yet, there appears to have
been few successful attempts by the various airlines/aircraft
operators/CAAs/airports/military operations/third parties to
develop accurate methods and processes to coordinate, manage and
allocate capacity constrained resources (i.e., tactical slot
allocation) that encompass most or all of the available real-time
factors (weather, ATC requirements, airline business goals,
individual pilot decisions, turbulence, capacity, demand, etc.)
that can affect the trajectory of an aircraft.
[0016] For example, in the prior art of the management of aircraft
into an airport, it often happens that the arrival sequence is
established too early (prior to departure by delaying the requested
departure time, i.e., FAA's Ground Delay Program) or too late
(within the last 30 to 40 minutes prior to landing, i.e., FAA's
Traffic Management Advisor, now renamed by FAA as Time Based Flow
Management system) in the arrival/departure process such that
actions have a negative effect on the efficient use of the
aircraft/runway/airport assets.
[0017] An example of one of these elements is the ATC response to
too many aircraft trying to land at an airport in a defined period
of time. In the prior art, the prediction of the aircraft
arrival/departure Slot Time, if done at all, is not as accurate as
possible since it is too late to be beneficial or predicated only
based on the current pre departure flight plan. Yet, even with the
wider data set available, the arrival flow system rarely uses this
information in real time to temporally manage the flow of aircraft
into the airport.
[0018] For example, it is only as the aircraft nears the airport,
within the last 100 to 300 miles (i.e., within 30 to 40 minutes
prior to landing), that the local ATC controller typically begins
to manage the sequencing of the aircraft. And, even if the CAAs use
this information, it is only to limit or delay the arrival flow
based on distance sequencing of the flow (i.e., 20 miles nose to
nose spacing) as opposed to the method of time based sequencing,
using airline, aircraft operator or pilot input, embodied in the
present invention. Further, by waiting so late in the arrival
process to sequence the aircraft, the controller has only one
sequencing option--delay.
[0019] This process is analogous to the "take a ticket and wait"
approach used in other industries. To assure equitable service to
all customers, as the consumer approaches a crowded counter, the
vendor sets up a ticket dispenser with numbered tickets. On the
wall behind the counter is a device displaying "Now Serving" and
the number. This "first come, first serve" process assures that no
one customer waits significantly longer than any other
customer.
[0020] And while this has the desired effect in grocery stores,
given the amount of data available prior to the airport
arrival/departure, in the aviation business, it is a if very
inefficient process when applied to the aircraft arrival/departure
flow. The end result of ATC's "take a ticket and wait" approach in
the prior art, as applied in a distance based manner and once the
aircraft is near the destination airport or near the takeoff
runway, is to add 1, 5, 10, 15 or more minutes to an aircraft's
actual arrival/departure time.
[0021] Further, even if or when an arrival/departure slot is
calculated and displayed to the ATC controller for their use, it is
too late in the process to be efficient and the real time business
needs and goals of the airline, aircraft operator or pilot are not
considered. Further, a process to identify and accept an alternate
Slot Time choice in real time, by the airline, aircraft operator or
pilot, is not available, as encompassed within the present
invention.
[0022] Only by incorporating all of the flights landing and
departing at a particular airport, combined with the capacity of
that airport and potential weather effects, all of which are
encompassed in the present invention and readily available today,
can one more accurately predict, coordinate, manage and allocate
the arrival/departure Slot Times of all of the aircraft. In other
words, the present invention views each aircraft as part of a
system, and not individually as done within the prior art.
[0023] For example, FAA's Collaborative Decision Making (CDM)
program (a system to disseminate data) took a major step forward by
providing both air traffic controllers and airlines with the same
real time data. However, airline dispatchers, pilots, and the local
ATC controllers still act mostly independently in the use of this
data and optimize complex airspace and airport situations locally.
Additionally, the prior art coordination is typically a manual
process, completed by telephone, typically hours prior to the
arrival/departure time. Further, the competing goals of all of the
different segments of the airspace and airport system (National
Airspace System, i.e., NAS) often conflict, leading to confusion,
variance and wasted capacity.
[0024] For another example of a real time event, a pilot may
request a specific runway to save fuel and reduce taxi time even
though the flight is early. If the controller tries to accommodate
the request, which at many busy airports is not the case, it
creates additional work, while possibly unknowingly blocking
another aircraft that is already late from using the close in
runway. As often as not, these aircraft are from the same
airline.
[0025] Yet another example is when an ATC controller tries to
sequence two aircraft within his sector for an arrival fix 400
miles down line. To do this, based on which aircraft is in the
lead, the first aircraft is sped up and the trailing aircraft is
slowed down or turned off course. Unfortunately, the fact that the
original speeds and trajectories of each aircraft assured that the
sequence 400 miles ahead at the arrival fix was not a problem was
unknown to the local ATC controller.
[0026] To begin to understand how the current methods and system
might be improved upon, it is first necessary to have a basic
understanding of the various processes surrounding the flight of an
aircraft. FIG. 1 has been provided to indicate the various segments
in a typical aircraft flight process.
[0027] It begins with the filing of a flight plan by the
airline/pilot with a CAA. Next, the pilot arrives at the airport,
preflights the aircraft, receives the ATC route clearance, starts
the engine, taxis, takes off, flies the flight plan (e.g., route of
flight), lands and taxis to parking. At each stage during the
movement of the aircraft on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight
plan, the CAA's Air Traffic Control (ATC) system must approve the
initial trajectory, and any change to the trajectory, of the
aircraft. Further, anytime an aircraft on an IFR flight plan is
moving, an ATC controller is responsible for ensuring that an
adequate separation from other IFR aircraft is maintained.
[0028] During the last part of a flight, typical initial
arrival/departure sequencing is accomplished on a first come, first
serve basis (e.g., the aircraft closest to the runway or airport is
first, next closest is second and so on) by the enroute ATC center
near the arrival airport (within approximately 100 to 300 miles of
the airport), refined by the arrival/departure ATC facility (within
approximately 40 miles of the arrival/departure airport), and then
approved for arrival by the local ATC tower (within approximately 5
to 10 miles of the arrival/departure airport).
[0029] For example, current CAA practices for managing arrivals at
arrival/departure airports involve sequencing aircraft arrivals by
linearizing an airport's traffic arrival/departure aircraft flows
according to very structured, three-dimensional, aircraft
arrival/departure paths, 100 to 300 miles from the airport or by
holding incoming aircraft at their departure airports. For a large
hub airport (e.g., Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta), these paths
involve specific geographic points that are separated by
approximately ninety degrees, 30 to 50 miles from the airport (see
FIG. 2).
[0030] Further, if the traffic into an airport is relatively
continuous over a period of time, the linearization of the aircraft
flow is can be applied hundreds of miles from landing. This can
significantly restrict all the aircraft's arrival speeds and alter
the expected arrival time, since all in the line of arriving
aircraft are limited to the speed of the slowest aircraft in the
line ahead, leading to temporal variations in the landing time.
[0031] These temporal variations in the arrival/departure Slot
Times of aircraft into or out of an airport can be quite
significant. FIG. 3 shows for the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport the
times of arrival at the airport's runways for the aircraft arriving
during the thirty minute time period from 22:01 to 22:30. It can be
seen that the numbers of aircraft arriving during the consecutive,
five-minute intervals during this period were 12, 13, 6, 8, 6 and
5, respectively.
[0032] Further, much of the current thinking concerning the
airline/ATC delay problem is that it stems from the over scheduling
by the airlines of too many aircraft into too few runways. While
this may be true in part, it is also the case that the many
apparently independent, operational decisions that are made by an
airline's staff (i.e., pilots, customer service agents, etc.) and
various ATC controllers may significantly contribute to
arrival/departure variance and airline/ATC delay problems. And
while many of these decisions are predictable, in the prior art,
they have yet to be accounted for and/or coordinated in real time
from a system perspective.
[0033] Looking at the airline's problem from a manufacturing
perspective is helpful, since, in reality, the airline "day of"
operation is nothing more than relatively simple, geographically
dispersed production process. Airlines take in raw materials at the
front end (people, bags, fuel, food, etc.), apply numerous
interdependent processes to them, and deliver a finished product to
the destination curb (passenger, bag, cargo).
[0034] And since the movement of the aircraft is the primary
production process, if it is unstable (which it is), nothing else
can be stable. How can an airline have a good cleaning process when
the cleaners are at one gate waiting for an aircraft on a 20 NM
final based on when it entered the arrival queue today, while
another aircraft is at a different gate screaming for cleaners? And
just as Henry Ford's production line has given way to Just in Time,
Supply Chain managed production lines, the current local control,
piece work, linear flow of material processes must give way to a
time managed arrival flow that puts the right part, in the right
place, at the right time, using just the right process.
[0035] One can view the network variance problem to dumping a whole
hand full of ball bearings into a funnel. Soon the narrow end gets
clogged and the flow stops. The funnel must be shaken, further
randomizing the flow, to get it started again. Given the huge
number of independent decisions made each day (i.e., local
optimization), which leads to randomness, chaos and variance, the
amount of ball bearings that must be removed from the "schedule" to
significantly mitigate the resultant variance is very large. In
other words, depeaking on a schedule basis is not the answer.
[0036] Now consider preloading a straw with the ball bearings in
the correct order (i.e., time sequenced) and then sliding that
directly into the opening at the narrow end, and doing it over and
over and over, as is one of the objects of the present invention as
applied to the aircraft arrival/departure slots at a constrained
resource like an airport.
[0037] Therefore, if the variance of the aircraft arrival flow was
removed, an easier task than most would believe based on the
present invention, ATC would less overloaded and aircraft could be
sequenced closer to the airline's business needs. In turn, ATC
could remove structure and cost, and aircraft would arrive closer
to their scheduled arrival time. As the bell curve shrinks around
the scheduled arrival time, airlines could lower block time
(increase asset utilization), increase connections through the hub
as more and more customers are delivered closer to scheduled
arrival. As block time goes down, asset utilization increases and
defects decrease, causing costs to go down significantly. The end
result is that an airline can have higher peaked schedules and
better on time performance, higher quality product produced at
lower costs. Higher quality increases pricing power, thus
increasing revenues. Lower costs increases competitive options.
[0038] The end result of all of this variance in the
arrival/departure flow is that, once at, near or above capacity,
given the random flow of aircraft (100s of independent decisions
per arrival bank randomizes the flow), queuing theory shows that
the arrival queue, wait time and delays rise exponentially.
[0039] These delays are especially problematic since they are seen
to be cumulative. FIG. 4 shows, for all airlines and a number of
U.S. airports, the percentage of aircraft arriving on time during
various one-hour periods throughout a typical day. As can be seen
in FIG. 4, the arrivals begin the day closer to on time, but then
the on time performance deteriorates throughout the day, losing 20
to 30 percentage points.
[0040] The prior art of aircraft arrival/departure sequencing (to
assure proper aircraft separation) to an airport or other system
resource, can be broken down into seven distinct tools used by air
traffic controllers, as applied in a first come, first served
basis, and is comprised of:
[0041] 1. Structured Dogleg Arrival/Departure Routes--The
structured routings into an arrival/departure are typically
designed with doglegs. The design of the dogleg is is two straight
segments joined by an angle of less than 180 degrees. The purpose
of the dogleg is to allow controllers to cut the corner or extend
the arrival path as necessary to maintain the correct spacing
between arrival/departure aircraft.
[0042] 2. Vectoring and Speed Control--If the actual spacing
between aircraft is more or less than the desired spacing, the
controller can alter the speed of the aircraft to correct the
spacing. Additionally, if the spacing is significantly smaller than
desired, the controller can vector (turn) the trailing aircraft off
the route momentarily to increase the spacing. Given the last
minute nature of these actions (within 100 mile of the airport),
the outcome of such actions is limited.
[0043] 3. The Approach Trombone--If too many aircraft arrive at a
particular airport in a given period of time, the distance between
the runway and base leg can be increased; see FIG. 5. This
effectively lengthens the final approach and downwind legs,
allowing the controller to "store" or warehouse aircraft while
in-flight.
[0044] 4. Miles in Trail--If the approach trombone can't handle the
over demand for the runway asset, the ATC system begins spreading
out the arrival/departure aircraft linearly, with no regard for
time. It does this by implementing "miles-in-trail" restrictions.
Effectively, as the aircraft approach the airport for
arrival/departure, instead of minimum legal separation of 5 to 10
miles between aircraft on the linear arrival/departure path, the
controllers begin spacing the aircraft at 20 or more miles in
trail, one behind the other; see FIG. 6.
[0045] 5. Ground Holds--If the separation authorities anticipate
that the approach trombone and the miles-in-trail methods will not
hold the aircraft overload, aircraft are held at their departure
point and metered into the system using assigned takeoff times.
[0046] 6. Holding--If events happen too quickly, the controllers
are forced to use airborne holding. Although this can be done
anywhere in the system, this is usual done at one of the
arrival/departures to an airport. Aircraft enter the "holding
stack" from the enroute airspace at the top; see FIG. 7. Each
holding pattern is approximately 10 to 20 miles long and 3 to 5
miles wide. As aircraft exit the bottom of the stack towards the
airport, aircraft orbiting above are moved down 1,000 feet to the
next level.
[0047] 7. Reroute--If a section of airspace, enroute center, or
airport is projected to become overloaded, the aviation authority
occasionally reroutes individual aircraft is over a longer lateral
route to delay the aircraft's entry to the predicted
congestion.
[0048] CAAs current air traffic handling procedures are typically
local in nature (100 to 300 miles from landing) and applied
linearly, resulting in significant inefficiencies and delays. Thus,
despite the above noted prior art, a need continues to exist for
better methods and systems to coordinate, manage and allocate the
arrival/departure Slot Times of a plurality of aircraft into and
out of a system resource, like an airport.
4. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0049] The present invention is generally directed towards
mitigating the limitations and problems identified with prior
methods used to allocate arrival/departure Slot Times of aircraft.
Specifically, the present invention is designed to more accurately,
efficiently and safely coordinate, manage and allocate
arrival/departure Slot Times for aircraft by incorporating the
Requested Slot Times and Preferred Movement of the airlines,
aircraft operators and pilots.
[0050] In accordance with the present invention, a preferred
embodiment of this invention takes the form of a computer program
product in a computer readable memory for controlling a processor
to allow an airline, aircraft operator, pilot, aviation authority
or other aviation entity to temporally coordinate, manage and
allocate aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times during a specified
period for the flow of a plurality of aircraft at a specified fix
point, based upon specified data comprised of data pertaining to
the aircraft, the fix point, associated system resources,
business/operational goals, aviation system specified criteria, and
other data, some of which is temporally varying, said computer
program comprising the steps of: (1) a means of collecting and
storing the specified data and criteria of an aircraft flow
applicable for a specified period, at a specified fix point, (2) a
means of processing, at a specified instant for which it is desired
to allocate the Slot Times, the specified data applicable at that
instant to each of the aircraft and associated resources so as to
predict an arrival time for each of the aircraft at the specified
fix point, (3) a means of assigning to each of the plurality of
aircraft a Figure of Merit whose value is a measure of how likely
it is that the predicted arrival fix time will be achieved by the
aircraft, wherein the Figure of Merit having a specified value,
which, when exceeded, implies that the predicted arrival time is
sufficiently reliable so as to warrant the aircraft to be
considered for an allocation of one of the Slot Times, (4) a means
of accepting and storing a request by the airline, aircraft
operator or pilot for a Slot Time for each of the aircraft at the
specified fix point, (5) a means of accepting and storing a request
from an airline, aircraft operator or pilot for an alternate Slot
Time (or times) or Preferred Movement direction (i.e., forward or
backward) to move the Slot Time if the Requested Slot Time is not
available, (6) a means of calculating, accepting and storing Slack
Time requirements, (7) a means of calculating and storing predicted
Slot Times for the plurality of aircraft for which a specific Slot
Time request was not made, (8) a means of calculating the demand
for the Slot Times for the specified period at the specified fix
point, based upon the Slot Time requests, Slack Time requirements
and the predicted Slot Times for the plurality of aircraft for
which a specific Slot Time request was not made, (9) a means of
predicting the availability of the Slot Times for the specified
period at the specified fix point, based upon specified data that
is applicable for the specified period at the specified fix point,
(10) a means of allocating the Slot Times through a Goal Function
process, with the steps of the Goal Function process comprised of:
(i) a means of evaluating the predicted unaltered Slot Time
scenario of an aircraft flow applicable for the specified period
and fix point against a set of specified goals, (ii) a means of
comparing the request for a Slot Time by an airline, aircraft
operator or pilot to determine whether a conflict exists for the
Requested Slot Time, (iii) a means of assigning the Requested Slot
Time to the airline, aircraft operator or pilot if no conflict for
the Slot Time exists, (iv) a means of generating various
alternative Slot Time assignment scenarios, using the airline,
aircraft operator or pilot's Slot Time requests, the airline,
aircraft operator or pilot's alternate Slot Time requests or Slot
Time Preferred Movement information and a process to equitably
allocate the Slot Times among all airlines, aircraft operators and
pilots, if said Slot Time conflict exists, (v) a means of comparing
the predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario to all of the evaluated
Slot Time scenarios for the specified period and specified fix
point to determine which Slot Time scenario yields the highest
degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, (vi) a means of
choosing the Slot Time scenario for the specified period and
specified fix point which yields the highest degree of attainment
for a set of specified goals, (vii) a means of assigning the Slot
Times to individual aircraft for the Slot Time scenario yielding
the highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals,
(viii) a means of communicating the Assigned Slot Time to the
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot such that
said affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times, (11) a means that
facilitates the trading of the Slot Time requests or allocated Slot
Times among the airlines, aircraft operators and/or pilots, (12) a
means of monitoring the ongoing temporal changes in the specified
data so as to identify temporally updated specified data of an
aircraft flow applicable for the specified period at the specified
fix point, (13) a means of storing the updated specified data at
the specified fix point, (14) a means to determine when the
specified data varies beyond a specified amount, such that when the
specified data varies beyond said specified amount, said computer
program product takes the steps comprised of (i) a means of
updating the Figure of Merit and predicted arrival fix times for
each of the plurality of aircraft to which the temporally-updated
specified data applies, (ii) a means of updating the predicted
demand for, availability of and requests for Slot Times and Slack
Times, based upon the updated specified data and specified fix
times, (iii) a means of updating the Slot Time allocations based
upon the updated specified data, Figure of Merit and predictions of
the demand for, availability of, requests for, and updated Assigned
Slot Times, (iv) a means of re-identifying and re-evaluating
alternative scenarios to resolve conflicts for the Slot Times based
upon a specified Goal function that is responsive to the requests
and operator input, so as to find a Slot Time scenario yielding the
highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, (v) a
means of communicating the updated Assigned Slot Times to the
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or pilot such that
said affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
[0051] In another preferred embodiment, the present invention takes
the form of a method to allow an airline, aviation authority or
other aviation entity to temporally manage, coordinate and allocate
aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times during a specified period for
the flow of a plurality of aircraft at a specified fix point, based
upon specified data comprised of the aircraft, the fix point,
associated system resources, business/operational goals, aviation
system specified criteria, and other data, some of which is
temporally varying, said method comprising the steps of: (1)
collecting and storing the specified data and criteria of an
aircraft flow applicable for a specified period, at a specified fix
point, (2) processing, at a specified instant for which it is
desired to allocate the Slot Times, the specified data applicable
at that instant to each of the aircraft and associated resources so
as to predict an arrival time for each of the aircraft at the
specified fix point, (3) assigning to each of the plurality of
aircraft a Figure of Merit whose value is a measure of how likely
it is that the predicted arrival fix time will be achieved by the
aircraft, wherein the Figure of Merit having a specified value,
which, when exceeded, implies that the predicted arrival time is
sufficiently reliable so as to warrant the aircraft to be
considered for an allocation of one of the Slot Times, (4)
accepting and storing a request by the airline, aircraft operator
or pilot for a Slot Time for each of the aircraft at the specified
fix point, (5) accepting and storing a request from an airline,
aircraft operator or pilot for an alternate Slot Time (or times) or
Preferred Movement direction (i.e., forward or backward) to move
the Slot Time if the Requested Slot Time is not available, (6)
calculating, accepting and storing Slack Time requirements, (7)
calculating and storing predicted Slot Times for the plurality of
aircraft for which a specific Slot Time request was not made, (8)
calculating the demand for the Slot Times for the specified period
at the specified fix point, based upon the Slot Time requests,
Slack Time requirements and the predicted Slot Times for the
plurality of aircraft for which a specific Slot Time request was
not made, (9) predicting the availability of the Slot Times for the
specified period at the specified fix point, based upon specified
data that is applicable for the specified period at the specified
fix point, (10) allocating the Slot Times through a Goal Function
process, with the steps of the Goal Function process comprised of
(i) evaluating the predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario of an
aircraft flow applicable for the specified period and fix point
against a set of specified goals, (ii) comparing the request for a
Slot Time by an airline, aircraft operator or pilot to determine
whether a conflict exists for the Requested Slot Time, (iii)
assigning the Requested Slot Time to the airline, aircraft operator
or pilot if no conflict for the Slot Time exists, (iv) generating
various alternative Slot Time assignment scenarios, using the
airline, aircraft operator or pilot's Slot Time requests, the
airline, aircraft operator or pilot's alternate Slot Time requests
or Slot Time Preferred Movement information and a process to
equitably allocate the Slot Times among all airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots, if said Slot Time conflict exists, (v)
comparing the predicted unaltered Slot Time scenario to all of the
evaluated Slot Time scenarios for the specified period and
specified fix point to determine which Slot Time scenario yields
the highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, (vi)
choosing the Slot Time scenario for the specified period and
specified fix point which yields the highest degree of attainment
for a set of specified goals, (vii) assigning the Slot Times to
individual aircraft for the Slot Time scenario yielding the highest
degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, (viii)
communicating the Assigned Slot Time to the affected airline,
aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot such that said affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the information
needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said targeted
arrival/departure Slot Times, (11) facilitating the trading of the
Slot Time requests or allocated Slot Times among the airlines,
aircraft operators and/or pilots, (12) monitoring the ongoing
temporal changes in the specified data so as to identify temporally
updated specified data of an aircraft flow applicable for the
specified period at the specified fix point, (13) storing the
updated specified data at the specified fix point, (14) determining
when the specified data varies beyond a specified amount, such that
when the specified data varies beyond said specified amount, said
method takes the steps comprised of: (i) updating the Figure of
Merit and predicted arrival fix times for each of the aircraft to
which the temporally-updated specified data applies, (ii) updating
the predicted demand for, availability of and requests for Slot
Times and Slack Times, based upon the updated specified data and
specified fix times, (iii) updating the Slot Time allocations based
upon the updated specified data, Figure of Merit and predictions of
the demand for, availability of, requests for, and updated Assigned
Slot Times, (iv) re-identifying and re-evaluating alternative
scenarios to resolve conflicts for the Slot Times based upon a
specified Goal function that is responsive to the requests and
operator input, so as to find a Slot Time scenario yielding the
highest degree of attainment for a set of specified goals, (v)
communicating the updated Assigned Slot Times to the affected
airline, aircraft, aircraft operators or pilot such that said
affected airline, aircraft, aircraft operator or pilot has the
information needed to change the aircraft trajectory to meet said
targeted arrival/departure Slot Times.
[0052] In accordance with another preferred embodiment, the present
invention takes the form of a system, including a processor,
memory, display and input device to allow an airline, aviation
authority or other aviation entity to temporally manage, coordinate
and allocate aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times during a
specified period for the flow of a plurality of aircraft at a
specified fix point, based upon specified data comprised of the
aircraft, the fix point, associated system resources,
business/operational goals, aviation system specified criteria, and
other data, some of which is temporally varying, comprising the
steps of the means for achieving each of the process steps listed
in the above methods.
[0053] Thus, there has been summarized above, rather broadly, the
present invention in order that the detailed description that
follows may be better understood and appreciated. There are, of
course, additional features of the invention that will be described
hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of any eventual
claims to this invention.
5. OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
[0054] To better understand the invention disclosed herein, it is
instructive to consider the objects and advantages of the present
invention.
[0055] It is an object of the present invention to temporally
manage the flow of aircraft through the allocation of
arrival/departure Slot Times earlier in the arrival aircraft flow,
using a wider set of available data, rather than through the
application of linear, distance-based sequencing or limited time
management, late in the arrival/departure flow, using limited data
or by temporally denying access to the entire system.
[0056] It is another object of the present invention to allow
airlines, aircraft operators and pilots to provide their Slot Time
Request and Preferred Movement of their arrival/departure Slot Time
if the arrival/departure Slot Time Request is not available.
[0057] It is another object of the present invention to build a
computer program, method and/or system where airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots can request, claim, alter, exchange, etc.
arrival/departure Slots Times in real time.
[0058] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide
a computer program, method and/or system to better allocate
aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times for x hours into the future
(i.e., 1 to 24 hours), with respect to a plurality of aircraft at a
specified system resource, comprised of arrival/departure fixes,
runways, airports, airways, airspace, ATC sector or set of
resources, thereby overcoming the limitations of the prior art
described herein.
[0059] It is still another object of the present invention to
present a computer program, method and/or system for the real time
tracking and prediction of aircraft that takes into consideration a
wider array of real time parameters and factors that heretofore
were not considered. For example, such parameters and factors may
be comprised of aircraft related factors (e.g., speed, fuel,
altitude, route, turbulence, winds, weather), ground services
(gates, maintenance requirements, crew availability, etc.) and
common asset availability (e.g., runways, airspace, Air Traffic
Control (ATC) services), temporally varying positions and
trajectories of said aircraft, the temporally varying weather
conditions surrounding said aircraft and resource, the flight
handling characteristics of said aircraft, the safety regulations
pertaining to said aircraft and resource, the position, demand and
capacity of said resource.
[0060] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
computer program, method and/or system that will enable the
airlines, aircraft operators and pilots to better manage their
aircraft.
[0061] It is a still further object of the present invention to
provide a computer program, method and/or system to temporally
allocate the arrival/departure Slot Times of aircraft into or out
of a specific system resource in real time. Further, if the outcome
of events alters demand or capacity for that system resource, it is
then the object of the present invention to account for these
problems in the arrival/departure allocations within the present
invention such that arrival/departure Slot Times are reallocated
forward and backward in time so as to more efficiently use the
constrained resource.
[0062] It is a still further object of the present invention to
monitor the temporally vary conditions and specified data to
evaluate, assign and communicate alternative Slot Time scenarios if
the initial Slot Time assignments become less valuable.
[0063] It is a still further object of the present invention to
allocate the arrival/departure Slot times early enough in the
process to allow efficient aircraft movement forward in time so as
to pull the arrival queue forward into unused capacity.
[0064] These and other objects and advantages of the present
invention will become readily apparent, as the invention is better
understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and the
detailed description that follows.
6. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0065] FIG. 1 presents a depiction of a typical aircraft flight
process.
[0066] FIG. 2 illustrates typical arrival/departure paths to and
from a busy airport.
[0067] FIG. 3 illustrates an arrival/departure bank of aircraft at
Dallas/Ft. Worth airport collected as part of NASA's CTAS
project.
[0068] FIG. 4 illustrates the December 2000, on-time
arrival/departure performance at sixteen specific airports for
various one hour periods during the day.
[0069] FIG. 5 presents a depiction of the arrival/departure
trombone method of sequencing aircraft.
[0070] FIG. 6 presents a depiction of the miles-in-trail method of
sequencing aircraft.
[0071] FIG. 7 presents a depiction of the airborne holding method
of sequencing aircraft.
[0072] FIG. 8 illustrates the various types of data that are used
in the process of the present invention.
[0073] FIG. 9 illustrates the difference between a random
arrival/departure aircraft flow (line 1) versus the expected ATC
response to such arrival/departure flow (line 2-prior art) and a
time sequenced aircraft flow with allocated fix Slot Times (line
3-present invention).
[0074] FIG. 10 illustrates a typical aircraft arrival/departure
demand versus available IFR and VFR capacity at a typical hub
airport. The graph is broken down into 15-minute blocks of
time.
[0075] FIG. 11 illustrates a typical airline production
process.
[0076] FIG. 12 illustrates the flow of data within the present
invention
[0077] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the present invention that
allows for actively and passively reserving arrival/departure slots
at a constrained resource.
[0078] FIGS. 14a-14e illustrates an airline, aircraft operator or
pilot & Aviation Authority Aircraft Arrival/Departure Slot Time
Requirement/Capacity Matrix.
[0079] FIGS. 15a-15b illustrates an example of the present
invention's slot allocation processing sequence.
[0080] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a single-aircraft Goal
Function component for two aircraft.
[0081] FIG. 17 illustrates a second example of a single-aircraft
Goal Function component for two aircraft.
[0082] FIG. 18 Illustrates an embodiment of the process to
coordinate arrival fix Slot Times by multiple airlines or system
operators
[0083] FIG. 19--illustrates a sample method of the present
invention.
7. DEFINITIONS
[0084] ACARS--ARINC Communications Addressing and Reporting System
is a discreet data link system between the aircraft and ground
personnel. This provides basic email capability between the
aircraft and ground personnel, along with allowing the aircraft
automatic access to send limited sets of operational data to the
ground. Examples of available operational data is comprised of
aircraft speed/position, weather data, airport data, OOOI data,
etc.
[0085] Aircraft Situational Data to Industry (ASDI)--This an
acronym for a real time data source (approximately 1 to 5 minute
updates) provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, comprised
of the aircraft position and intent for the aircraft flying over
the United States and beyond.
[0086] Aircraft Trajectory--The movement or usage of an aircraft
defined as a position and time (past, present or future). For
example, the trajectory of an aircraft is depicted as a position,
altitude, time and intent. This trajectory can be comprised of
in-flight positions, as well as taxi positions, and even parking at
a specified gate or parking spot.
[0087] Airline--a business entity engaged in the transportation of
passengers, bags and cargo on an aircraft.
[0088] Airline Arrival Bank--A component of a airline's operation
where numerous aircraft, owned by the airline, arrive at a specific
airport (hub airport), transfer their passengers and then depart
within in a very short time frame.
[0089] Airline Departure Bank--A component of an airline's
operation where numerous aircraft, owned by the airline, depart
from a specific airport (hub airport) within a very short time
frame.
[0090] Airline Gate--An area or structure where aircraft
owners/airlines park their aircraft for the purpose of loading and
unloading passengers and cargo.
[0091] Air Traffic Control System (ATC)--A system to assure the
safe separation of moving aircraft operated by an aviation
regulatory authority. In numerous countries, the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) manages this system. In the United States the
federal agency responsible for this task is the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA).
[0092] Arrival/Departure Times--Refers to the time an aircraft was,
or will be at a certain point along its trajectory. While the
arrival/departure time at the gate is commonly the main point of
interest for most aviation entities and airline customers, the
arrival/departure time referred to herein can refer to the
arrival/departure time at or from any point of interest along the
aircraft's present or long trajectory.
[0093] Arrival/departure fix--At larger airports, the aviation
regulatory authorities have instituted structured arrival/departure
points that force all arrival/departure aircraft over geographic
points (typically four for arrivals called arrival fixes and four
or more for departures--see FIG. 2). These are typically 30 to 50
miles from the arrival/departure airport and are separated by
approximately 90 degrees. The purpose of these arrival/departure
points or cornerposts is so that the controllers can better
linearly sequence the aircraft, while keeping them separate from
the other arrival/departure aircraft flows. In the future it may be
possible to move these merge points closer to the airport, or
eliminate them all together. As described herein, the
arrival/departure fix is typically a point where aircraft merge,
but as referred to herein can mean any specified point along the
aircraft's trajectory. Additionally, as referred to herein, an
arrival/departure fix can refer to entry/exit points to any system
resource, e.g., a runway, an airport gate, a section of airspace, a
CAA control sector, a section of the airport ramp, etc. Refers also
to a cornerpost. Further, an arrival/departure fix/cornerpost can
represent an arbitrary point in space where an aircraft is or will
be at some past, present or future time.
[0094] Asset--Comprised of aircraft, airports, runways, and
airspace, flight jetway, gates, fuel trucks, lavatory trucks, and
other labor assets necessary to operate all of the aviation
assets.
[0095] Assigned Slot Time--an assigned time over a specified
location that is communicated to the airline, aircraft operator or
pilot. May be expressed as a Required Time of Arrival (RTA) or
target speed/Mach.
[0096] Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS)--A data link
surveillance system. This system, which is installed on the
aircraft, captures the aircraft position and then communicates it
to the CAA/FAA, other aircraft, etc.
[0097] Automatic Dependent Surveillance--Broadcast (ADS-B)--ADS-B
is a Surveillance technique that relies on aircraft or airport
vehicles broadcasting their identity, position and other
information derived from on board systems (GPS, etc.). This signal
can be captured for surveillance purposes on the ground (ADS-B Out)
or on board other aircraft (ADS-B In). The latter will enable
airborne traffic situational awareness (ATSAW), spacing, separation
and self-separation applications.
[0098] Automatic Dependent Surveillance--Contract (ADS-C)--ADS-C is
a contract between a ground system and the aircraft such that the
aircraft will automatically provide information obtained from its
own on-board sensors, and pass this information to the ground
system under specific circumstances dictated by the ground system
(except in emergencies).
[0099] Aviation Authority--Also aviation regulatory authority. This
is the agency responsible for aviation safety along with the
separation of aircraft when they are moving. In the US, this agency
is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In numerous other
countries, it is referred to as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Typically, this is a government-controlled agency, but a recent
trend for the separation of aircraft is to privatize this
function.
[0100] Block Time--The time from aircraft gate departure to
aircraft gate arrival. This can be either scheduled block time
(scheduled departure time to scheduled arrival/departure time as
posted in the airline schedule) or actual block time (time
difference between when the aircraft door is closed and the brakes
are released at the departure station until the brakes are set and
the door is open at the arrival station).
[0101] CAA--Civil Aviation Authority. As used herein is meant to
refer to any aviation authority responsible for the safe separation
of moving aircraft, including the FAA within the US.
[0102] Cooperative Decision-Making (CDM)--A manual program between
FAA and the airlines wherein the airlines provide the FAA a more
realistic real time schedule of their aircraft. Airlines and FAA
also hold telephone calls each day to discuss that day's operation
and problems. For example if an airline cancels 20% of its flights
into a hub because of bad weather, it would advise the FAA. In
turn, the FAA compiles the data and redistributes it to all
participating members.
[0103] Common Assets--Assets that must be utilized by all of the
airspace/airport/runway users and which are usually controlled by
the aviation authority (e.g., CAA, FAA, airport). These assets
(e.g., runways, ATC system, airspace, etc.) are not typically owned
by any one airspace user.
[0104] CTAS--Center Tracon Automation System--This is a NASA
developed set of tools (TMA, FAST, etc.) that seeks to temporally
track and manage the flow of aircraft from approximately 150 miles
from the airport to arrival/departure.
[0105] Federal Aviation Administration--The government agency
within the United States responsible for the safe separation of
aircraft while they are moving in the air or on the ground.
[0106] Figure of Merit (FOM)--A method of evaluating the accuracy
of a piece of data, data set, calculation, etc. It also is a method
to represent the confidence, i.e. degree of certainty; the system
has in the data, trajectory and/or prediction.
[0107] Fix or Fix Point--geographic point along the aircraft
trajectory. Examples could be arrival fix, cornerpost, runway, taxi
way, gate, etc., with which an altitude may or may not be
associated.
[0108] Four-dimensional Path--The definition of the movement of an
object in one or more of four dimensions--x, y, z and time.
[0109] Goal Function--a method or process of measurement of the
degree of attainment for a set of specified goals. A method or
process to evaluate the current scenario against a set of specified
goals and generate various alternative scenarios. Then, using all
of the available generated scenarios, identify which of these
scenarios will yield the highest degree of attainment for a set of
specified goals. The purpose of the Goal function is to find a
solution that "better" meets the specified goals (as defined by the
operator) than the present condition and determine if it is worth
(as defined by the operator) changing to the "better"
condition/solution. This is always true, whether it is the initial
run or one generated by the monitoring system. In the is case of
the monitoring system (and this could even be set up for the
initial condition/solution as well), it is triggered by some
defined difference (as defined by the operator) between how well
the present condition meets the specified goals versus some
"better" condition/solution found by the present invention. Once
the Goal function finds a "better" condition/solution that it
determines is worth changing to, a process translates said "better"
condition/solution into some doable task and then communicates this
to the interested parties, and then monitors the new current
condition to determine if any "better" condition/solution can be
found and is worth changing again.
[0110] Hub Airline--An airline operating strategy whereby
passengers from various cities (spokes) are funneled to an
interchange point (hub) and connect to flight to various other
cities. This allows the airlines to capture greater amounts of
traffic flow to and from cities they serve, and offers smaller
communities one-stop access to literally hundreds of nationwide and
worldwide destinations. Also a network airline.
[0111] IFR--Instrument Flight Rules. A set of flight rules wherein
the pilot files a flight plan with the aviation authorities
responsible for separation safety. Although this set of flight
rules is based on instrument flying (e.g., the pilot references the
aircraft instruments) when the pilot cannot see at night or in the
clouds, the weather and the pilot's ability to see outside the
aircraft are not a determining factors in IFR flying. When flying
on a IFR flight plan, the aviation authority (e.g., ATC controller)
is responsible for the separation of the aircraft when it
moves.
[0112] Long-Trajectory--The ability to look beyond the current
flight segment to build the trajectory of an aircraft or other
aviation asset (i.e., gate) for x hours (typically 24) into the
future. This forward looking, long-trajectory may be comprised of
numerous flight segments for an aircraft, with the taxi time and
the time the aircraft to is parked at the gate as part of this
trajectory. For example, given an aircraft's current position and
other factors, it is predicted to land at ORD at 08:45, be at the
gate at 08:52, depart the gate at 09:35, takeoff at 09:47 and land
at DCA at 11:20 and be at the DCA gate at 11:31. At each point
along this long trajectory, numerous factors can influence and
change the trajectory. The more accurately the present invention
can predict these factors, the more accurately the prediction of
each event along the long trajectory. Further, within the present
invention, the long-trajectory is used to predict the location of
an aircraft at any point x hours into the future.
[0113] OOOI--A specific aviation data set comprised of; when the
aircraft departs the gate (Out), takes off (Off), lands (On), and
arrives at the gate (In). These times are typically automatically
sent to the airline via the ACARS data link, but could be collected
in any number of ways.
[0114] PASSUR--A passive surveillance system usually installed at
the operations centers at an airport by the airline or airport.
This proprietary device allows the airline's operational people on
the ground to display the airborne aircraft in the vicinity (up to
approximately 150 miles) of the airport where it is installed. This
system has a local capability to predict landing times based on the
current flow of aircraft, thus incorporating a small aspect of the
ATC prediction within the present invention.
[0115] Preferred Movement--information provided by the airline,
aircraft operator or pilot about the Preferred Movement (forward or
backward) of the Requested Slot Time if a conflict exists for the
Requested Slot Time. See Slot Time Movement.
[0116] Requested Slot Time--Requested Slot Time or Required Time of
Arrival. This is a time request by an airline, aircraft operator or
pilot for their aircraft, or other component in the system, to be
at a specified location at the Requested time. See also Requested
Slot Time.
[0117] Requested Slot Time or Slot Time Request--a request by an
airline, aircraft operator or pilot for a specific Slot Time.
[0118] Required Time of Arrival (RTA). This is sent to an aircraft
or other component in the system to provide direction as to the
time that the aircraft or asset should be at a specified
location.
[0119] Slack Time--an open, yet unavailable Slot Time deemed
necessary for the optimal aircraft flow.
[0120] Slot Time--a time over a specified location that is assigned
or open and potentially available for use, i.e., a requested or
assigned time for an aircraft, or other system component, to be at
a specified location at a specified time.
[0121] Slot Time Movement--information provided by the airline,
aircraft operator or pilot about the Preferred Movement (forward or
backward) of the Requested Slot Time if a conflict exists for the
Requested Slot Time. See Preferred Movement.
[0122] Strategic Tracking--The use of long range information
(current time up to "x" hours into the future, where "x" is defined
by the operator of the present invention, typically 1 to 24 hours)
to determine Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), demand and certain
choke points in the airspace system along with other pertinent data
as this information relates to the trajectory of each aircraft to
better predict multi segment arrival/departures times for each
aircraft.
[0123] System Resource--a resource like an airport, runway, gate,
ramp area, or section of airspace, etc, that is used by all
aircraft. A constrained system resource is one where demand for
that resource exceeds capacity. This may be an airport with 70
aircraft that want to land in a single hour, with arrival/departure
capacity of 50 aircraft per hour. Or it could be an airport with 2
aircraft wanting to land at the same exact time, with capacity of
only 1 arrival/departure at a time. Or it could be a hole in a long
line of thunderstorms that many aircraft want to utilize.
Additionally, this can represent a group or set of system resources
that can be tracked and predicted simultaneously. For example, an
arrival/departure cornerpost, runaway and gate represent a set of
system resources that can be tracked and predictions made as a
combined set of resources to better predict the arrival/departure
times of aircraft.
[0124] Tactical Tracking--The use of real time information (current
time up to "n1" minutes into the future, where "n1" is defined by
the operator of the present invention, typically 30 to 40 minutes)
to predict single segment arrival/departure times for each
aircraft.
[0125] TMA--FAA's Traffic Management Advisor that provides ATC
controllers arrival coordinated times for the last 30 to 40 minutes
prior to landing.
[0126] Trajectory--See aircraft trajectory and four-dimensional
path above.
[0127] VFR--Visual Flight Rules. A set of flight rules wherein the
pilot may or may not file a flight plan with the aviation
authorities responsible for separation safety. This set of flight
rules is based on visual flying (e.g., the pilot references visual
cues outside the aircraft) and the pilot must be able to see and
cannot fly in the clouds. When flying on a VFR flight plan, the
pilot is responsible for the separation of the aircraft when it
moves.
8. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0128] Before explaining at least one embodiment of the present
invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is
not limited in its application to the arrangements of the component
parts, method, system or process steps set forth in the following
description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is
capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out
in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology
and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description
and should not be regarded as limiting.
[0129] The present invention generally relates to methods for more
accurately, efficiently and safely managing, coordinating and
allocating arrival/departure Slot Times for a plurality of aircraft
into or out of an aviation system resource, like an airport. For
ease of understanding, the following description is based on the
allocation of a single aircraft's Slot Time at an arrival fix near
an airport.
[0130] In a preferred embodiment, an aircraft's arrival time slot
is allocated by the present invention, earlier in the arrival flow,
based upon consideration of specified data regarding many factors
that are comprised of: the aircraft position, aircraft performance,
capacity of the airport and arrival/departure paths, environmental
factors, predicted ATC actions, airline and pilot requirements, the
temporally varying positions and trajectories of said aircraft, the
Slot Time Requests and Preferred Movement of the airlines, aircraft
operators and pilots, the temporally varying weather conditions
surrounding said aircraft and resource, the flight handling
characteristics of said aircraft, the safety regulations pertaining
to said aircraft and resource, the position, demand and capacity of
said resource.
[0131] Several, seemingly independent, computer programs, methods,
system, process tasks or steps may be involved in the present
invention's allocation of Slot Times. These steps are comprised
of:
[0132] (a) An asset trajectory tracking (e.g., three spatial
directions and time) process that monitors the position and status
of all aircraft and other assets of the system,
[0133] (b) An asset current trajectory predicting process that
predicts for the time period comprised of the current flight
segment the asset's future position or usage and status,
[0134] (c) A long trajectory management process that
generates/allocates arrival/departure fix times for each aircraft's
current and follow-on flight segments,
[0135] (d) An environmental impact evaluation process that predicts
how environmental factors (weather, turbulence, etc.) will alter
the initial aircraft arrival/departure Slot Times and then directs
that any necessary trajectory changes be made so that allocated
Slot Times can be met, or, if this is not possible, suggests
alternative Slot Times that most efficiently and effectively
utilize the system's resources/assets,
[0136] (e) A capacity identification and calculation process that
looks at all of the system resources and other airspace related
assets to determine availability of said assets so that allocated
Slot Times can be met, or, if this is not possible, initiates
action that leads to the identification of alternative Slot Times
that most efficiently and effectively utilize the system's
resources/assets,
[0137] (f) An ATC impact assessment process that looks at all of
the arriving/departing aircraft, airport capacity versus demand and
other airspace related issues and predicts how expected ATC actions
will impact the aircrafts' ability to meet Slot Times, or, if this
is not possible, initiates action that leads to the identification
of alternative Slot Times that most efficiently and effectively
utilize the system's resources/assets,
[0138] (g) A validation and approval process, which entails an
airline/CAA or other system operator validating the practicality
and feasibility of the predicted arrival/departure fix times,
[0139] (h) A Slot Time request process that provides Slot Time
requests and Preferred Movement,
[0140] (i) A Slot Time generation process that looks at the above
processes and an airlines business needs,
[0141] (j) A Slot Time approval process that accepts Slot Time
requests and Preferred Movement and allocates constrained resources
fairly and equitably though the use of Slot Time Assignments to all
airlines (may be expressed as an RTA or speed), aircraft operators
and pilots,
[0142] (k) A communication process which involves an airline/CAA,
other system operator or automated process communicating these
assigned arrival/departure Slot Times to the aircraft and all other
interested parties, and
[0143] (l) A closed loop monitoring process, which involves
continually monitoring the current state of the aircraft and other
factors. This monitoring process measures the current state of the
aircraft against their initially assigned arrival/departure Slot
Times. If at anytime the actions or change in status of the
specified data, aircraft or other system resource assets would
change the current arrival/departure Slot Times beyond a specified
value, the system operator can be notified, and/or the system can
automatically be triggered, at which time more accurate
arrival/departure Slot Times for the aircraft can be calculated,
coordinated and communicated to all appropriate personnel.
[0144] This method is seen to avoid the pitfall of not managing
arrival/departure Slot Times at all or managing arrival/departure
Slot Times too late (FAA's TMA process), too early (FAA's GDP
process), with limited data sets, limited or no input from
airlines, aircraft operators or pilots, as is done within the prior
art.
[0145] For the sake of brevity, the following explanatory
discussion involves only the aircraft movement aspects into a
single arrival fix. It should be understood that the present
invention works as well with the arrival/departure Slot Times of
aircraft into or out of any aviation system resource or set of
sequentially accessed resources (e.g., airspace, runways, gates,
ramps, etc.).
[0146] FIG. 8 illustrates the various types of data sets that are
used in the present invention, which are comprised of: air traffic
control objectives, generalized surveillance, aircraft kinematics,
communication and messages, airspace structure, airspace and runway
availability, user requirements (if available), labor resources,
aircraft characteristics, scheduled arrival and departure times,
weather, gate availability, maintenance, other assets, and safety,
operational and efficiency goals, as well as specified data chosen
from the group comprised of the temporally varying positions and
trajectories of said aircraft, the Slot Time Requests and Preferred
Movement of the airlines, aircraft operators and pilots, the
temporally varying weather conditions surrounding said aircraft and
resource, the flight handling characteristics of said aircraft, the
safety regulations pertaining to said aircraft and resource, the
position, demand and capacity of said resource.
[0147] As discussed above, in the prior art, the arrival/departure
Slot Times of aircraft are random and based on numerous independent
decisions, which leads to wasted system capacity. For example, FIG.
9 shows two different distributions of the same arrival flow. The
first line shows the predicted unaltered Slot Times of seven
aircraft at the arrival fix. Recognizing that the arrival fix can
only accommodate one aircraft at a time, they must be linearized in
some manner. Line two shows a typical distribution of an ATC
response to line one. In line two, the aircraft are distributed in
a "first come, first served" manner. Aircraft #1 and #2 are left
alone, while aircraft #4 through #7 are pushed backward in time in
order.
[0148] In line 3, the aircraft arrival fix times are altered by the
present invention to better meet the demands of the airlines,
aircraft operators and pilots, while still meeting safety and
efficiency requirements. In this example, rather than applying a
"first come, first served" solution as is done in the prior art,
the present invention has the ability to alter the sequence based
on the specified data, Requested Slot Time, Preferred Movement,
etc., so as to improve the business solution of all airlines,
aircraft operators and pilots. Further, not only is the arrival
sequence altered, the entire arrival sequence is moved forward in
time, a unique aspect of the present invention.
[0149] Moving the queue forward is possible because of the
timeframe in which the present invention operates. Rather than
waiting until 10 to 30 minutes prior to the arrival fix, as is
typically done in the prior art, the present invention determines
and implements a more optimal arrival sequence and flow 1 to 3
hours or more (up to 24 hours) prior to the arrival fix, allowing
time for the business goals of the aircraft to be incorporated into
the arrival flow and enough time to move the first aircraft forward
in time.
[0150] FIG. 15A provides a flow diagram that represents the top
level decision steps involved in the control of the aircraft
approaching an airport whose operations are sought to be optimized.
It denotes (step 1501A) how the present invention must first select
a set of aircraft within a specified time period. In step 1502A,
this method is seen to compute all of the trajectories of the
aircraft.
[0151] Next, the value of the Goal Function is calculated (step
1503A).
[0152] Step 1504A optimizes all of the trajectories and Slot Time
Requests to find a better value of the solution.
[0153] Next, step 1505A translates the optimized trajectories into
Assigned Slot Times, and in step 1506A, facilitates the trading of
the Slot Time requests or allocated Slot Times among the airlines,
aircraft operators and/or pilots.
[0154] Then the present invention communicates the Assigned Slot
Times in step 1507A.
[0155] Finally, the computer program, method and/or system involves
monitoring the assets to determine if each of the aircraft will
meet their current/new trajectory goal Assigned Slot Times (step
1508A). The computer program, method and/or system embodied in the
present invention continuously monitors an analyzes aircraft from
present time up to "n" hours into the future, where "n" is defined
by the airline, aircraft operator, pilot, CAA, etc. The overall
time frame for each analysis is typically 1 to 24 hours, and then,
based on the current level of data accuracy, optimizing the
arrival/departure bank and assigning Slot Times at least one to
three hours into the future and then continuously monitoring the
aircraft as they proceed to approach the airport. As data accuracy
increases, the optimization cycle and Slot Time assignments can be
done earlier, and then updated as the aircraft gets closer to the
airport.
[0156] The number of slots in the data structure will be
proportional to the arrival rate at the
fix/airspace/airport/runway. For example, a arrival fix with an
arrival rate of one aircraft per minute will have one data slot per
minute or sixty for each hour. If that rate is reduced, say by flow
restrictions from the aviation authority, then the number of Slot
Times will be dynamically reduced using Slack Time. If the airspace
is closed then no Slot Times will exist.
[0157] In one embodiment of the present invention, Slots are
comprised of the following five states:
[0158] O--Open, no Requested Slot Time currently exists for this
time slot,
[0159] P--Passive Requested Slot Time, the present invention is
predicting a valid aircraft will take this slot even though no
Requested Slot Time has been made,
[0160] L--Locked, a transaction is in process on this Slot Time,
and
[0161] R--Reserved, an Assigned Slot Time exists for a valid
aircraft for this slot.
[0162] S--Slack, an open, yet unavailable Slot Time deemed
necessary for the optimal aircraft flow.
[0163] As is shown in FIG. 13, one preferred embodiment of the
present invention allows for Slot Time requests to be made by the
airline, aircraft operator or pilot, including the Preferred
Movement (i.e., forward or backward in time) if the Requested Slot
Time is not available. The Slot Time assignments of the present
invention are allocated based on policy as determined by the CAA or
operator of the present invention by using a Assigned Slot time,
RTA or speed component instead.
[0164] In one embodiment of the present invention, only when two
parties request the same slot will the over-demand resolution
calculations of the present invention be exercised. And it there
request for the same Slot Time by 2 airlines, aircraft operators or
pilots, the present invention, if supplied by the airline, aircraft
operator or pilot, would use the preferred direction (i.e., forward
or backward) to move the Requested Slot Time.
[0165] For example, if Airline 1 requested an Slot Time of 12:30
PM, and a move backward request if the Slot Time was not available,
and Airline 2 requested a Slot Time of 12:30 PM, and a move forward
request if the Slot Time was not available, in one embodiment of
the present invention, Airline 1 would be assigned 12:31 PM and
Airlines 2 assigned 12:29 PM. In this way, the present invention
could provide airlines, aircraft operators and pilots an Assigned
Slot Time that better reflects their business and internal goals
and requirements.
[0166] Slot Time requests may be made by any valid (meets Figure of
Merit and other policy requirements to be classified as a valid
flight) airline, aircraft operator or pilot using one of two
methods. First, active Slot Time requests are made by participating
airlines, aircraft operators and pilots. In one embodiment, any
participating user may access the present invention on-line using a
secure electronic network or other access system.
[0167] Secondly, if airlines, aircraft operators and pilots do not
choose to participate, they would be assigned a Passive Slot Time
requests. These are implicit Slot Time requests made by
non-participating aircraft.
[0168] As part of the present invention, the present invention
constantly monitors the airspace and the trajectory of every
aircraft. If a valid flight, whether participating or not, is bound
for the selected airspace or point in space without an active Slot
Time requests, the present invention will compute an estimated time
of arrival. This time will be continuously updated as the flight
progresses. Once the FOM of the aircraft meets specified criteria,
the present invention will assign a Passive Slot Time requests for
non-participating aircraft based on the calculated estimated time
of arrival at the specified point in space.
[0169] Since one embodiment of the present invention uses a
multi-dimensional calculation that evaluates numerous parameters
and Assigned Slot Time scenarios simultaneously, the standard,
yes-no arrival/departure Slot Times chart is difficult to construct
for the present invention. Therefore, a table has been included as
FIG. 14 to better depict the parameters that can alter the
aircraft's trajectory and the solution of the present
invention.
[0170] Data Lists 1 and 2 (FIGS. 14b and 14c) are seen to involve a
number of airline, aircraft operator or pilot defined parameters
that contribute to determining their requirements for its
aircraft's arrival/departure Slot Time.
[0171] Since it would be difficult for a non-airline
operator/CAA/airport to collect the necessary data to make these
decisions, one embodiment of the present invention leaves the
collection and incorporation of this data into the present
invention to the airline, aircraft operator or pilot. That said, it
is then incumbent on the airline, aircraft operator or pilot to
access the present invention to request their arrival/departure
Slot Time based on their internal requirements.
[0172] In Data List 1 (FIG. 14b), and initially ignoring other
possibly interfering factors such as the weather, other aircraft's
trajectories, external constraints to an aircraft's trajectory,
etc., upwards of twenty aircraft parameters must be analyzed
simultaneously to calculate an optimal arrival/departure Slot Time
of an aircraft. This is quite different than current business
practices within the aviation industry, which is comprised of
focusing arrival/departure predictions on a very limited data set
(e.g., current position and speed, and possibly winds) and does not
attempt to use this data to temporally alter the flow of
aircraft.
[0173] In Data List 2 (FIG. 14c), an airline's local facilities at
the destination airport are evaluated for their ability to meet the
needs and/or wants of the individual aircraft, while also
considering their possible interactions with the other aircraft
that are approaching the same airport.
[0174] Finally, in Data List 3 (FIG. 14d) the authority responsible
(i.e., CAA) for the safe allocation of the asset (i.e., runway)
must determine the safe capacity of that asset, but the airline,
aircraft operator or pilot could have this information as well, to
calculate a more realistic Slot Time request.
[0175] For example, under current rules, aircraft of similar size
must have three nautical miles separation between arrivals to a
single runway. Further, the preceding aircraft must clear the
runway before the next aircraft can land. In this example, if all
of the aircraft are the same size, the safe arrival capacity of the
dedicated arrival runway is approximately 50 aircraft per hour.
Yet, weather can reduce this safe arrival capacity. For example,
snow may slow the deceleration of the aircraft on the runway
requiring longer runway occupancy times, therefore lowering
capacity. The aviation authority must continually determine the
safe capacity of each airspace/runway asset and assure the present
invention is accurate at all times.
[0176] For hub airports, this can be a daunting task as thirty to
sixty of a single airline's aircraft (along with numerous aircraft
from other airlines) are scheduled to arrive at the hub airport in
a very short period of time. The aircraft then exchange passengers,
are serviced and take off again. The departing aircraft are also
scheduled to takeoff in a very short period of time. Typical hub
operations are one to one and a half hours in duration and are
repeated eight to twelve times per day.
[0177] Finally, in FIG. 14e, the operator must use all of the data
to find a more optimal solution to be implemented.
[0178] Once the airline, aircraft operator or pilot data set is
coordinated and the airline, aircraft operator or pilot has
determined their optimal arrival/departure Slot Time for each of
their aircraft, they then access the present invention to request
an arrival/departure Slot Time.
[0179] As described, the present invention must determine the
accuracy of the trajectories. It is obvious that if the
trajectories are very inaccurate, the quality of any prediction
based on these trajectories will be less than might be desired. The
present invention determines the accuracy of the trajectories based
on an internal predetermined set of rules and then assigns a Figure
of Merit (FOM) to each trajectory.
[0180] For example, if an aircraft is only minutes from
arrival/departure, the accuracy of the estimated arrival/departure
Slot Time is very high. There is simply too little time for any
action that could alter the arrival/departure Slot Time
significantly.
[0181] Conversely, if the aircraft has filed its flight plan
(intent), but has yet to depart Los Angeles for Atlanta there are
many actions or events that would alter the predicted
arrival/departure Slot Time.
[0182] It is easily understood that the FOM for these predictions
is a function of time, among other factors. The earlier in time the
prediction is made, the less accurate the prediction will be and
thus the lower it's FOM. The closer in time the aircraft is to
arrival/departure, the higher the accuracy of the prediction, and
therefore the higher its FOM. Effectively, the FOM represents the
confidence the present invention has in the accuracy of the
predicted arrival/departure Slot Times. Along with time, other
factors in determining the FOM is comprised of validity of intent,
available of wind/weather data, availability of information from
the pilot, etc.
[0183] It was noted that a goal function could be use to assist in
the allocation of the available Slot Times. The use of such goal
functions is well known in the art of process optimization.
However, when these goal functions are nonlinear functions of
several variables, such as in the present case, it is not always
clear how to proceed with the optimization of such functions. The
following discussion is meant to help clarify this process.
[0184] While the present invention is capable of providing a linear
(i.e., aircraft by aircraft optimization) solution to the optimized
control of a plurality of aircraft approaching an airport, it is
recognized that a multi-dimensional (i.e., optimize for the whole
set of aircraft, airport assets, system resources, specified data,
etc.) solution provides a better, safer and more efficient solution
for the total operation of the airport, including all aspects of
the arrival/departure flow. For the sake of brevity, only the
aircraft movement aspects into an airport are described herein in
detail. It should be understood that the present invention works as
well with the flow of aircraft into or out of any aviation system
resource (e.g., airspace, runways, gates, ramps, etc.).
[0185] To provide a better understanding how this goal function
process' optimization routine may be performed, consider the
following mathematical expression of a typical slot over demand
problem in which a number of aircraft, 1 . . . n, are expected to
arrive to a given point at time values t.sub.1 . . . t.sub.n. They
need to be rescheduled so that:
[0186] The time difference between two arrivals is not less than
some minimum, .DELTA.;
[0187] The arrival/departure times are modified as little as
possible;
[0188] Some aircraft may be declared less "modifiable" than
others.
[0189] We use d.sub.i to denote the change (negative or positive)
our rescheduling brings to t.sub.i. We may define a goal function
that measures how "good" (or rather "bad") our changes are for the
whole aircraft pool as
G.sub.1=.SIGMA..sub.i|d.sub.i/r.sub.i|.sup.K
[0190] where r.sub.i are application-defined coefficients, putting
the "price" at changing each t.sub.i (if we want to consider
rescheduling the i-th aircraft "expensive", we assign it a small
r.sub.i, based, say, on safety, airport capacity, arrival/departure
demand and other factors), thus effectively limiting its range of
adjustment. The sum runs here through all values of i, and the
exponent, K, can be tweaked to an agreeable value, somewhere
between 1 and 3 (with 2 being a good choice to start experimenting
with). The goal of the present invention is to minimize G.sub.1 as
is clear herein below.
[0191] Next, we define the "price" for aircraft being spaced too
close to each other. For the reasons, which are obvious further on,
we would like to avoid a non-continuous step function, changing its
value at .DELTA.. A fair continuous approximation may be, for
example,
G.sub.2=E.sub.ijP((.DELTA.-|d.sub.ij|)/h))
[0192] where the sum runs over all combinations of i and j, h is
some scale factor (defining the slope of the barrier around
.DELTA.), and P is the integral function of the Normal (Gaussian)
distribution. d.sub.ij stands here for the difference in time of
arrival/departure between both aircraft, i.e.,
(t.sub.i-d.sub.i)-(t.sub.j+d.sub.j).
[0193] Thus, each term is 0 for |d.sub.ij|>>.DELTA.+h and 1
for |d.sub.ij|<<.DELTA.-h, with a continuous transition
in-between (the steepness of this transition is defined by the
value of h). As a matter of fact, the choice of P as the Normal
distribution function is not a necessity; any function reaching (or
approaching) 0 for arguments <<-1 and approaching 1 for
arguments >>+1 would do; our choice here stems just from the
familiarity.
[0194] A goal function, defining how "bad" our rescheduling (i.e.,
the choice of d) is, may be expressed as the sum of G.sub.1 and
G.sub.2, being a function of d.sub.1 . . . d.sub.n:
G(d.sub.1 . . .
d.sub.n)=K.SIGMA..sub.iC.sub.id.sub.i.sup.2+.SIGMA..sub.ijP((.DELTA.-|d.s-
ub.ij|)/h)
[0195] with K being a coefficient defining the relative importance
of both components. One may now use some general numerical
technique to optimize this function, i.e., to find the set of
values for which G reaches a minimum. The above goal function
analysis is applicable to meet many, if not all, of the individual
goals desired by an airline/aviation authority.
[0196] To illustrate this optimization process, it is instructive
to consider the following goal function for n aircraft:
G(t.sub.1 . . . t.sub.n)=G.sub.1(t.sub.1)+ . . .
+G.sub.n(t.sub.n)+G.sub.0(t.sub.1 . . . t.sub.n)
[0197] where each G.sub.i(t.sub.i) shows the penalty imposed for
the i-th aircraft arriving at time t.sub.i, and G.sub.0--the
additional penalty for the combination of arrival times t.sub.1 . .
. t.sub.n. The latter may, for example, penalize when two aircraft
take the same arrival slot.
[0198] In this simplified example we may define
G.sub.i(t)=a.times.(t-t.sub.S).sup.2+b.times.(t-t.sub.E).sup.2
so as to penalize an aircraft for deviating from its scheduled
time, t.sub.S, on one hand, and from its estimated (assuming
currents speed) arrival time, t.sub.E, on the other.
[0199] Let us assume that for the #1 aircraft t.sub.s=10,
t.sub.e=15, a=2 and b=1. Then its goal function component computed
according to the equation above, and as shown in FIG. 16, will be a
square parabola with a minimum at t close to 12 (time can be
expressed in any units, let us assume minutes). Thus, this is the
"best" arrival time for that aircraft as described by its goal
function and disregarding any other aircraft in the system.
[0200] With the same a and b, but with t.sub.S=11 and t.sub.E=14,
the #2 aircraft's goal function component looks quite similar; the
comparison is shown in FIG. 16.
[0201] Now let us assume that the combination component is set to
1000 if the absolute value (t.sub.1-t.sub.2)<1 (both aircraft
occupy the same slot), and to zero otherwise. FIG. 17 shows the
goal function values for these two aircraft.
[0202] The minimum (best value) of the goal function is found at
t.sub.1=11 and t.sub.2=12, which is consistent with the common
sense: both aircraft are competing for the t.sub.2=12 minute slot,
but for the #1 aircraft, the t.sub.1=11 minute slot is almost as
good. One's common sense would, however, be expected to fail if the
number of involved aircraft exceeds three or four, while this
optimization routine for such a defined goal function will always
find the best goal function value.
[0203] Furthermore, although the description of the current
invention describes the time tracking and arrival/departure Slot
Time management of aircraft to an arrival/departure fix, it just as
easily tracks and manages the arrival/departure Slot Times of
aircraft into or out of any system resource. These system resources
may be comprised of a small path through a long line of otherwise
impenetrable thunderstorms, an ATC control sector that is
overloaded, etc.
[0204] Additionally, it should be noted that the description of the
tracking and prediction of the aircraft asset herein is not meant
to limit the scope of the patent. For example, the present
invention will just as easily identify constraints and allocate
access to those constrained resources for passengers, gates, food
trucks, pilots, and other air transportation work-in-process
assets. All of these must be strategically and tactically tracked
and the arrival/departure prediction made as soon as possible and
then continuously managed in real time to operate the aviation
system in the most safe and efficient manner.
[0205] This present invention avoids the pitfall of sub-optimizing
particular parameters. This present invention accomplishes this by
assigning weighted values to various factors that comprise all of
the data sets used within the present invention.
[0206] The present invention contributes to reducing wasted runway
capacity by identifying potential arrival/departure bunching or
wasted capacity early in the process, typically one to three hours
(or more, up to 24 hours, depending on data accuracy) before
arrival such that an Slot Time can be requested and coordinated to
mitigate the negative aspects of the prior art.
[0207] To better illustrate the differences between the present
invention and the prior means used for managing an airline,
consider the following examples:
Example 1
[0208] In the prior art, after the aircraft takes off, the enroute
speed is typically left to the pilot. As depicted in FIG. 9, this
leads to a random flow of aircraft as they approach the airport.
Yet, as soon as the aircraft takes off at the point of departure, a
more accurate prediction of the arrival time can be calculated
based on the currently available data.
[0209] With this data, the airline can calculate the optimal
arrival fix Slot Time based on the airline's internal needs (see
FIGS. 14a, 14b and 14c). Once a managed airline (using U.S. Pat.
No. 6,721,714 titled, "Method and System for Tactical Airline
Management" issued Apr. 13, 2004 or U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,383 titled,
"Method and System for Aircraft Flow Management by
Airlines/Aviation Authorities", issued Oct. 8, 2002, etc.),
calculates a more optimal arrival fix time, the airline can provide
the present invention the airline's Requested Slot Time for that
aircraft, as well as a Preferred Movement direction (i.e., forward
or backward) to move the requested time if the requested time is
not available.
Example 2
[0210] When weather at an airport is expected to deteriorate to the
point such that the rate of arrival/departures is lowered, the
aviation authorities will "ground hold" aircraft at their departure
points. Ground holds hold the aircraft at the point of departure,
even though the actual problem is thousands of miles away. Once
allowed to depart, many pilots speed up, which increases fuel burn
and costs, while negating some portion of the ground hold.
Additionally, the ground hold process does not input any of the
business goals or alter the random arrival flow, which is still
left for the arrival ATC controller to solve within 30 to 40
minutes prior to landing at the destination airport.
[0211] Further, because of rapidly changing conditions and the
difficulty of communicating to numerous aircraft that are being
held on the ground, it happens that expected one to two hour delays
change to 30 minute delays, and then to being cancelled altogether
within a fifteen minute period. Also, because of various
uncertainties, it may happen that by the time the aircraft arrives
at its destination, the constraint to the airport's
arrival/departure rate is long since past and the aircraft is sped
up for a short period. This leads to variance, many uncertainties,
unpredictable flow of aircraft at the destination and wasted
available capacity. An example of this scenario occurs when a
rapidly moving thunderstorm, which clears the airport hours before
the aircraft, is scheduled to land.
[0212] In an embodiment of the present invention, if an airport
arrival/departure rate is expected to deteriorate to the point such
that the rate of arrival/departures is lowered, the present
invention calculates arrival/departure Slot Times (near the arrival
airport, i.e., the actual constraint) for arriving aircraft based
on a large set of parameters, including the predicted
arrival/departure rate. Once this reduced arrival/departure
capacity is posted on the present invention, airlines can request
and be assigned their Slot Time requests. In addition, the airline,
aircraft operator or pilot can also request a Preferred Movement
direction (i.e., forward or backward) to move the requested time if
the Requested Slot Time is not available. This allows the aircraft
to takeoff as the airline, aircraft operator or pilot deems
necessary and fly a minimum cost routing to the destination.
[0213] As illustrated by the above example, a goal of the present
invention is to manage access to the problem, not limit access to
the system, thus moving the aircraft flow to a pull system instead
of a push system.
Example 3
[0214] Numerous aviation delays are caused by the unavailability of
a gate or parking spot. Current airline/airport practices typically
assign gates either too early (e.g., months in advance) and only
make modifications after a problem develops, or too late (e.g.,
when the aircraft lands). In an embodiment of the present
invention, gate availability, as provided by the airline, aircraft
operator or pilot, is integrated into the airline internal
optimization process. By integrating the real time gate
availability into the airline, aircraft operator or pilot's
business goals and then into present invention as a Requested Slot
Time that meets the internal needs of the airline, along with the
Preferred Movement direction (i.e., forward or backward) to move
the requested time if the requested time is not available, it
becomes possible to more accurately assign a more profitable and
advantageous Slot Time
Example 4
[0215] Given the increased predictability of the aircraft Assigned
Slot Time, the process of the present invention helps the airlines,
aircraft operators and pilots to more efficiently sequence the
ground support assets such as gates, fueling, maintenance, flight
crews, etc.
Example 5
[0216] The current thinking is that the airline delay/congestion
problem arises from airline schedules that are routinely over
airport capacity. The use of the present invention works to alert
the airline, CAA and/or system operator to real time capacity
overloads, allowing the present invention to apply corrections in
the arrival flow. One such system (U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,383 issued
Oct. 8, 2002 and entitled "Method And System For Aircraft Flow
Management By Airlines/Aviation Authorities" and Regular
application Ser. No. 09/549,074, filed Apr. 16, 2000 and entitled
"Tactical Airline Management") does this by moving aircraft both
forward and backward in time from a system perspective. The present
invention builds on this process by adding a method for the
airline, aircraft operator or pilot to provide the present
invention a preferred direction (i.e., forward or backward) to move
the requested time if the requested time is not available.
[0217] Take the example of the arrival/departure demand versus
capacity at a typical hub airport as shown in FIG. 10. During the
day, the airport has eight arrival/departure banks that are
scheduled above the airport capacity. For example, at 8:00 demand
is below capacity, but by 8:30, the scheduled arrival/departure
demand exceeds capacity by 9 aircraft in good weather and 17
aircraft in poor weather. And then by 9:00, demand is below
capacity again. It is one embodiment of the present invention to
allocate arrival/departure Slot Times to flatten the arrival
bunching forward and backward in time in an intelligent manner so
as to better manage this actual over capacity in real time, as
opposed to the prior art which typically only has the ability to
delay the aircraft as they approach the airport.
Example 6
[0218] Consider the case of aircraft flow involving a bank arrival
(i.e., 30 to 50 aircraft of the same airline) plus aircraft from
other airlines converging towards a single airport in a short
period of time. For the sake of brevity, only three aircraft will
be looked at in detail, two from the hub airline, XYZ Airlines (XYZ
1 and XYZ 2) and one aircraft from a different carrier, ABC
Airlines (ABC 3). Additionally, the processes described in this
example will be considered to have been handled manually.
[0219] Further, in this example, the trajectory of all three
aircraft is assumed to take them over the same airport arrival
cornerpost. After passing the arrival cornerpost, the three
aircraft then fly the same path to the airport, where they must
merge with the aircraft from the other arrival cornerposts.
[0220] Immediately after the takeoff of the three aircraft, and
using the trajectory prediction calculations within the present
invention, these aircraft are predicted to be at the arrival
cornerpost (fix point) at 1227 for XYZ1, XYZ 2 at 1233 and ABC 1 at
1233. Here, the fix point is chosen as close to the potential
arrival airport (the point of possible congestion) as possible
given the structure of the ATC system and other criteria. This
prediction, along with resource capacity and other specified data
and criteria, is continuously updated within the present invention
as the new data becomes available and is inputted.
[0221] Additionally, the present invention continuously monitors
the capacity of the cornerpost and airport. Based on previous
experience and other criteria, the operator of the present
invention is assumed to have determined that the cornerpost
capacity is one aircraft per minute. Further, it is determined that
the 1230 Slot Time must be designated as slack time. This data is
inputted into the present invention.
[0222] After leveling off at the cruise altitude, the updated fix
point predictions now show XYZ 1 is predicted to be at the arrival
cornerpost (i.e., fix point) at 1228, XYZ 2 at 1234 and ABC 1 at
1231. At this point, the Figure of Merit (FOM) for all three
aircraft is calculated as being high enough to warrant the
calculation of a Requested Slot Time, as well as a Preferred
Movement direction (i.e., forward or backward) to move the
requested time if the requested time is not available, within the
present invention.
[0223] After internal calculations based on XYZ's business goals
(see FIGS. 14a, 14b and 14c), the XYZ Airline has determined that
XYZ should request Slot Time at 1230 for XYZ, with a forward
Preferred Movement, and at 1231 for XYZ 2 with a backward Preferred
Movement. Then XYZ Airline accesses the present invention with the
Requested Slot Time and Preferred Movement for their aircraft. But
the present invention (FIG. 13) calculates that the Slot Time at
1230 is designated as slack time, but the 1229 and 1231 Slot Times
are available.
[0224] Shortly thereafter, since ABC Airlines is not an active
participant of the present invention, a passive Requested Slot Time
for the 1231 Slot Time is entered by the present invention based on
ABC 3's predicted estimated time of arrival at the fix point of
1231.
[0225] As can be seen, there is only one Requested Slot Time at
1229 (XYZ 1 at 1230 with forward movement), but there are two
requests for a Slot Time of 1231. XYZ 1 is assigned the 1229 Slot
Time and, after exercising the internal process and calculations of
the present invention to resolve the conflict for the Slot Time
requests at 1231, ABC 3 is assigned a fix time slot of 1231 and XYZ
2 is assigned a fix time slot of 1232. This conflict resolution is
based on numerous criteria that are comprised of the trajectories,
Requested Slot time, Preferred Movement, additional information
supplied by the airlines, equitable allocation of the resource, the
specified data and criteria such as safety, efficiency, aircraft
characteristics, etc., as outlined herein.
[0226] Once the Slot Times are assigned, the present invention
communicates these Slot Time assignments to the airline, aircraft
operator or directly to the aircraft as a RTA, speed or Mach, such
that the aircraft trajectories can be altered accordingly to meet
the Assigned Slot Time. In the case of the XYZ flights, the XYZ
internal computer system (or Dispatcher) is notified of the arrival
fix Assigned Slot Times, and then communicates the Assigned Slot
Times to the pilots of XYZ 1 and XYZ 2. The pilots then alter speed
(and the lateral path, if required) to meet their Assigned Slot
Times.
[0227] In the case of ABC 3, a non-requesting participant, one
embodiment of the present invention sends the Assigned Slot Time to
the aircraft via ACARS or notifies the ATC controller of ABC 3's
Assigned Slot Time. Then the ATC controller could notify the pilot
of the assigned cornerpost time or the ATC controller could alter
ABC 3's trajectory to meet the cornerpost Slot Time.
Example 7
[0228] Building on the previous example, in another embodiment of
the present invention, the Assigned Slot Times are posted on a
easily accessible display (i.e., intranet or private internet web
site), which would show Slot Time 1229 filled by XYZ 1, Slot Time
1230 as slack time, 1231 filled by ABC 3 and 1232 filled by XYZ 2.
From the display, XYZ, ABC and other airlines, aircraft operators
and pilots can request to trade, move, cancel or otherwise alter
their aircraft's Slot Time.
[0229] Additionally, if updated data or criteria shows that any of
the flights would not make their assigned Slot Time, the capacity
of the cornerpost or airport is changed, etc., this data would be
inputted into the present invention and the process begins
again.
Example 8
[0230] Two airlines (XYZ and ABC) request the same exact Slot time
at 1230 and the same Preferred movement. In one embodiment of the
present invention, both airlines have the same number of flights
into the specified airport, so that the equability function is set
so that each of the 2 airlines managing these 2 flights receive
equal treatment if a they both request the same Slot Time. In this
case, the present invention gives the XYZ flight its Requested Slot
Time, and the ABC flight its alternative Slot Time based on the
Preferred Movement. The next time XYZ and ABC request the same
exact Slot time and same Preferred Movement, in one embodiment of
the present invention, the present invention gives the ABC flight
its Requested Slot Time, and the XYZ flight its alternative Slot
Time based on the Preferred Movement. In this scenario, the present
invention would give equal treatment to both ABC and XYZ airlines
giving ABC its Requested Slot Time 50% of the time and XYZ its
requested Slot time the other 50% of the time when they request the
same Slot Time.
[0231] Although the foregoing disclosure relates to preferred
embodiments of the invention, it is understood that these details
have been given for the purposes of clarification only. Various
changes and modifications of the invention will be apparent, to one
having ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention as hereinafter set forth in the
claims.
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