FR3093602A1 - Multi-party message management system, in particular for multi-aerodrome virtual control tower platform - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-interlocutor message management system, comprising a display screen interface and a processing unit configured on the one hand to manage the storage of the messages received and on the other hand to manage the display on said screen- of at least one chronological presentation on which the current instant appears and - of at least one label representing at least one message received, prior to the current instant, the processing unit positioning said label of dynamically on the chronological representation, the interface being further configured to allow a user, via said interface, to access the content of the stored message Figure for the abstract: Figure 2

Description

Multi-contact message management system, in particular for multi-aerodrome virtual control tower platform

General technical field and prior art

The present invention relates to a multi-interlocutor message management system.

It finds particular, but not limited to, application for multi-aerodrome virtual control tower platforms.

By aerodrome is meant here and throughout this text any area intended to be used for the arrival, departure and ground movements of aircraft (terrain, body of water, areas equipped with one or more runways) , including airports and military airbases.

The opening of an aerodrome to commercial air traffic necessarily implies the presence of one or more air traffic controller(s). This poses cost problems in low traffic aerodromes. An aerodrome receiving only 5 to 10 planes per day will monopolize an operator all day, whereas if he had spent his day in a high traffic airport, he would have had better performance by controlling dozens of planes.

It has recently been proposed to manage the air traffic control of an aerodrome remotely, in a remote room equipped with viewing means on which a developed video image is displayed corresponding to the view that a controller could have from the control tower. from the airfield.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the local control tower T is for this purpose equipped with cameras C which make it possible to reproduce remotely and in real time on a panoramic display (screen E in the remote room) the images that a controller if he was physically present at this control tower T.

Radio communications are also deported to this room, which is also equipped with various Human Machine Interface (HMI) elements allowing the controller to have the same information and to have the same interactions as if he were in the field control tower T.

Such systems - called RVT or "Remote and Virtual Tower" according to the Anglo-Saxon terminology generally used - offer controllers significant advantages in terms of security, since the display of images of the terrain in the remote room can be done in increased vision, thanks to night vision or infrared cameras, for example.

Even if its regulatory framework does not yet allow systematic deployment, RVT technology is now a proven technology, which has been the subject of initial trials and operational commissioning, particularly in Sweden.

Current developments are now focusing on multi-aerodrome configurations, intended to make it possible to manage several remote aerodromes simultaneously from the same virtual control tower. The centralization on the same team of controllers of the management of several aerodromes would indeed present significant advantages in terms of costs or the possibility of maintaining in operation (or even reopening) airfields with low traffic.

A difficulty encountered in the case of the simultaneous management of several aerodromes is due to the flow of messages coming from several radio frequencies (one frequency per aerodrome) that the controllers may have to manage in parallel. In the case of simultaneous take-offs or landings - or close in time - at different aerodromes, the controller must be able to follow at the same time and process, in a perfectly safe manner, the radio messages he receives from the different aircraft at different frequencies.

It should be noted that frequency grouping is a feature that already exists today: today it concerns coherent and close areas of space, context sharing then being natural whether for controllers, pilots or for passengers. On the other hand, the case mentioned here is that of separate and distant aerodromes. This requires a common view from the point of view of the controller who manages them, but without sharing context for the pilots and passengers, a common view for the pilots or passengers being able on the contrary to be harmful to the pilots or users who do not share the context one another.

General presentation of the invention

A general aim of the invention is to further improve multi-interlocutor message management system solutions, in particular in terms of security and/or efficiency and/or productivity.

The invention in particular proposes a system which, in the case of air traffic control, allows the controller to manage the radio messages he receives, in particular to listen to them or read them without the constraint of real time.

He can also plan his messages in advance in a simple way.

• d’au moins une présentation chronologique sur laquelle apparait l’instant courant et
• d’au moins une étiquette représentative d’au moins un message reçu, préalablement à l’instant courant,

Thus the invention proposes a multi-interlocutor message management system, comprising a display screen interface and a processing unit configured on the one hand to manage the storage of the messages received and on the other hand to manage the display on this screen:

• at least one chronological presentation on which the current moment appears and
• at least one label representing at least one message received, prior to the current instant,

the processing unit positioning said label dynamically on the chronological presentation,

the interface being further configured to allow a user, via said interface, to access the content of the stored message.

The messages stored in this way are, for example, audio messages, in particular messages originating from airplanes communicating with radio relays of remote control towers, the processing unit being configured to manage the storage and display thereof.

The processing unit can be configured to display on the screen several time lines in parallel coming from several aerodromes and to display the tags of messages coming from different interlocutors.

In one embodiment, the system comprises memory means in which the contents of messages intended for the interlocutors are pre-recorded,

the display screen interface and the processing unit being configured for:

- display labels corresponding to these messages,

- allow the selection of such a label by a user and its positioning on a time line at a time equal to or later than the current time,

- give access to the content of this message to a given interlocutor, when the label coincides with the current instant.

By interlocutor is meant the aircraft approaching or taking off from each aerodrome, and which are fully identified by a name and a number attached to the flight.

For example, the messages thus stored are audio messages, the processing unit being configured to remotely transmit to the interlocutor the audio content of the selected message.

In another embodiment, the system comprises means for transcribing an audio message in the form of a text message.

For example, a voice recognition system associated with the processing unit could convert the content of the audio message received into a digital file, to transform it into a series of words and associate it with a label and a contact person when the quality of the transcript is sufficient. In this way the air traffic controller can dispense with listening to the message received.

In the case of an application to air traffic control and flight tracking, the system can also comprise memory means in which are stored flight references likely to be tracked by a controller, the display screen interface and the processing unit being configured for:

- display labels corresponding to these references,

- allow the association of such a label by a user with the label of a message intended for a given interlocutor.

The invention further relates to an RVT platform comprising such a system.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description, which is purely illustrative and not limiting, and must be read in conjunction with the appended figures in which:

• Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the main means of a virtual control tower platform known in the state of the art;

• FIG. 2 is a schematic representation illustrating a configuration in which the same RVT platform manages several aerodromes in parallel;

• FIG. 3 is a schematic representation similar to that of FIG. 1, in the case of a multi-aerodrome platform;

• Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a display of an interface system according to one possible embodiment of the invention;

• FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a general architecture implemented by an interface system in accordance with a possible embodiment of the invention.

Description of one or more modes of implementation and realization

General context

We place ourselves in what follows in the case, illustrated in Figure 2, of a multi-aerodrome virtual control tower platform.

In the case illustrated in this figure, several aerodromes, referenced from AE1 to AE4, are managed by a controller or a team of controllers, from the same platform P located at a distance from each of them (or from at least some of them).

Each of the aerodromes AE1 to AE4 at a distance from the platform P is equipped with a set of cameras (respectively referenced C1 to C4) which film the runway(s) of the aerodrome, the parking lots and the taxiways, their surroundings and the nearby airspace. The video images collected by these cameras are transmitted to the P platform for real-time display that can give controllers the same field of vision as if they were in a control tower in the field.

Cameras can also be placed elsewhere than on the tower to provide different points of view. This is particularly interesting for hidden areas or remote areas of the tower, the virtual nature of the platform precisely making it possible to overcome the material constraints of conventional towers.

The cameras C1 to C4 are typically high-resolution cameras, where appropriate with “night vision” or “infrared” functions, to allow an increased vision display.

The platform P where the controller(s) work comprises for this purpose several panoramic screens (E1, E2 in figure 3) allowing the panoramic display in real time and simultaneously of the video images of different aerodromes.

The screens E1, E2 can each consist of a plurality of monitors, which together form a wall of screens to which a curved shape is given tending to reproduce the arrangement of the windows of a control tower.

In FIG. 3, there are two screens for monitoring four aerodromes: each screen E1, E2 is dedicated to displaying the images of two of the aerodromes AE1 to AE4; for example, in a standby operating mode, each screen E1, E2 is divided into two and displays in the upper part the images of an aerodrome and in the lower part the images of another aerodrome; when an event occurs at one of the two aerodromes while the other remains on standby, the format of the video images is changed, the video images of the aerodrome which requires controller intervention being displayed over a major part of the screen, while the images of the aerodrome which remains on standby are displayed in the form of a strip of smaller dimensions.

In addition to the live video feed from an airfield, air traffic controllers have the same air traffic management computer systems as in a local control tower: voice communication systems, weather systems, flight plan systems and display interfaces ground movement surveillance and control systems (A-SMGS, for example), beacon management system, radio guidance systems, etc. The level of equipment can of course vary according to the types of services required according to the aerodromes monitored.

The platform P comprises for this purpose at least one desk or console B where the controller(s) are intended to be held.

This desk or console B is equipped with various HMI man-machine interface elements that an operator uses in head-down vision when installed, while he has on the screens E1, E2 in front of him panoramic images aerodromes in head-up vision.

Support system for monitoring exchanged messages

Introduction – emission types

The communication tool is multimodal and messages can be exchanged in different ways.

In particular, some messages may be audio messages, in particular voice messages, exchanged via radio mode. The exchanges can then be:

- in real-time transmission via a microphone,

- in real-time transmission of pre-existing messages that are selected,

- in deferred transmission of specific audio messages that the controller records on the microphone.

Other messages can be transmitted according to other methods, for example "data link" textual data messages, sent immediately or deferred, other methods of transmission can of course be envisaged.

This processing unit retains the ability to transmit messages directly and conventionally (by speaking on the radio) in order to allow the coexistence of two radio communication methods (real time and deferred time). The preservation of this cohabitation of the two modalities is important not only to facilitate for users the period of transition to the new modality but also presents interests from the point of view of security, redundancy of tools and resilience to hazards or failures and malfunctions of the system. one of the modalities.

As shown in Figure 4, at least one of the interfaces available to a controller at the desk or desk is an ET display screen making it possible to view, in this case on a timeline, the messages exchanged between at least one aircraft and said controller for at least one aerodrome.

This display is dynamic and changes in real time.

It shows the current instant as a reference on the timeline.

The radio messages received or sent by the controller are represented there by labels (for example, for the aerodrome 3, the labels ETQ1, ETQ2 and ETQ3 in figure 4), which are displayed by being positioned with respect to the line of time, so as to occupy the time zone for which they were received or transmitted.

Messages other than audio messages (for example textual data) may have a less analog representation and without notion of size proportional to their duration.

Also, with regard to the messages transmitted by the controller, the display can provide labels corresponding to messages whose content - in this case audio - will have to be transmitted later and that the controller positions on the timeline, at the instants where their emission should be triggered.

Since the frequency is a single channel, the device must provide a mechanism for excluding any simultaneous use or transmission on a frequency.

The interface in question is for example a touch screen interface, thus allowing a controller to easily manipulate the labels of the messages, whether they are messages received or messages to be sent.

Additionally, some or all of the message labels may be activatable buttons allowing the controller to listen to or play the corresponding messages.

The activation of a button / label can be done conventionally, by single or double "click".

In the case of radio messages received from an aircraft, these radio messages are digitized and recorded. Activation by the controller of the button/label which appears on the timeline and which represents a given radio message received allows the controller to replay the audio file of the message in question and to listen or re-listen to the content of the message.

It will also be noted that the content of the message can be made accessible to the controller other than in an audio way: it can for example be converted into an alphanumeric message and displayed on the ET screen.

In such an embodiment, for example, a voice recognition system associated with the processing unit converts the content of the audio message received into a digital file, to convert it into a series of words and associate it with a label and an interlocutor when the quality of the transcription is sufficient. In this way the air traffic controller can dispense with listening to the message received.

The display of labels also makes it possible to distinguish "read" messages from "unread" messages to allow faster identification of tasks in progress and not yet processed.

An alarm mechanism can also be provided on the messages intended to draw attention to their non-processing after a certain time.

In addition, background processing monitors the messages received and the actions taken by the controllers over time, to highlight an increase in the workload and trigger a reconfiguration (human reinforcement on the position, i.e. i.e. on the controller post).

Similarly, the messages to be sent can be pre-recorded digitized messages. If a controller has the label of such a message on the time line dedicated to an aerodrome, its audio file is activated and played for the pilots of this aerodrome at the moment chosen by the controller (i.e. i.e. when on the displayed time line, the label appears at the current instant).

• Restez en attente (“Standby”),
• Maintenez la position (“Maintain position"),
• Autorisation de décoller (“Authorized to take off”),
• Stoppez immédiatement (“Stop immediately”) (par exemple pour permettre au contrôleur qui est dans une conversation concernant un terrain T1 de demander à un aéronef au sol sur le terrain T2 de s’arrêter immédiatement, et ce sans interrompre la discussion concernant le ou les autres aéronefs),
• Je vous rappelle (“I shall call you back “).

For example, in the case shown in Figure 4, the system has different pre-recorded message labels such as:

• Stay on hold (“Standby”),
• Maintain position,
• Authorization to take off (“Authorized to take off”),
• Stop immediately (for example to allow the controller who is in a conversation concerning a terrain T1 to ask an aircraft on the ground on the terrain T2 to stop immediately, and this without interrupting the discussion concerning the other aircraft),
• I will call you back (“I shall call you back”).

These different labels appear on the screen in a B1-AU box listing the pre-recorded messages available to the controller, the message - or one or more key words corresponding to it - being repeated in alphanumeric characters or symbols inside the label displayed.

In Figure 4, this box B1-AU is located at the top right of the screen. A similar B1-DL box may contain digital messages intended to be sent by data-link (box at the top left of the screen).

In addition, the interface makes it possible to monitor several radio frequencies or communication channels in parallel for several aerodromes.

For this purpose, it simultaneously displays several time lines, for incoming and outgoing messages from a given aerodrome (in this case, three lines for the case of three aerodromes managed simultaneously).

The interface provides the controller with a box of labels that identify the aircraft for each aerodrome (“Aircraft Box” column displayed on the right in Figure 4).

In particular, for example, provision may be made for each message to be transmitted to be associated with an identification of a flight either by means of the aircraft tag or by means of a message which was already associated with it.

To this end, the controller can choose the label in the "Audio Messages" label box (box B1-AU in figure 4) and drag it or position it on the timeline, after the current instant, in the different boxes BAi dedicated to the different aircraft (the boxes BA1, BA2, BA3 in FIG. 4). He then associates the desired message with it.

When it has the combination of these two pieces of information, the interface processing plays the pre-recorded message to transmit it on the frequency of the aerodrome where the flight in question is located.

This association logic can be carried out by relying on messages already present, whatever their type, to make the association with the flight concerned more easily.

Note, however, that some messages can be played without necessarily requiring an identifier. Typically, the "I'll call you back" message does not need a flight ID to be played on the field frequency. It can be triggered at any time, for a given terrain, by a controller for immediate transmission.

The various messages thus positioned by the controller are thus transmitted sequentially. Some messages may also only be played under certain conditions: detection of a previous ad hoc message from the aircraft for example, particularly in the case of data-link air-ground communications with preformatted messages.

Thanks to such an interface, the controller can supervise several communication channels without risk of interference or overlapping. In addition, this tool allows him to escape the major constraint of audio communications, namely the obligation of “real time” and allows a “desynchronization of communications”.

It is therefore possible for the controller to manage several aerodromes in complete safety, even if activities are going on at the same time, without the risk of not understanding information that would arrive at the same time or that would arrive while he is monopolized on another task.

Thus, if the controller is concentrated on exchanges with a communication channel Ca1, the system automatically records the simultaneous messages of channel Ca2 on the corresponding time line. It thus escapes real-time pressure while managing simultaneous flows.

The controller can also plan the protocol exchange for its future peak load period and prepare in advance the various messages to be sent to the aircraft, which will thus be played automatically in due time at times when the controller will be free. to focus on another follow-up.

Overall, safety, efficiency and performance are improved.

Example of general architecture

Figure 5 illustrates the main means of the architecture implemented to manage a display interface of the type that has just been described.

In the example illustrated in this figure, two aircraft AV1 and AV2 exchange on different frequencies, in this case “f1” and “f2”, with a controller located at platform P of a multi-aerodrome RVT system .

These exchanges take place via the radio stations R1, R2 of two aerodromes AER1, AER2 connected to said platform P.

The audio messages arriving on these frequencies are digitally converted by ADC/DAC conversion means (referenced C1, C2) which are for example located at the level of the aerodromes AER1, AER2, at the output of the radio stations R1, R2. After digitization, these audio messages are transmitted, for example by optical fiber, to a processing unit µC of the remote platform P.

This processing unit μC stores in a dedicated storage unit MR all the messages received or transmitted by all the controllers of the platform, coming from the various aircraft with which said controllers dialogue. Provision may be made to make a recording for each aerodrome frequency. Registration can also be global: a single registration for the entire platform.

This unit is also connected to another storage unit ME, in which are stored the references of the different flights with which the controllers are likely to dialogue, as well as different pre-recorded messages.

This processing unit µC is associated with the other systems of the P platform, for example the radar control system, to display additional information messages about the aircraft on the screen.

This unit is configured, with the screen display interface, to position there the labels corresponding to the messages received and to display for the controller, in the boxes B1-AU and B1-DL, the labels of the pre-recorded messages and that of the flight references he needs in the BAi boxes.

This processing unit µC also manages the transmission, from the platform P to the radio stations R1, R2 of the aerodromes AER1, AER2, of the pre-recorded digitized messages that the controller(s) have positioned on the timelines to be played at an instant given.

When they have to be played, the digital files of these messages are pushed by the lines of communication between the platform P and the conversion electronics C1, C2. These messages are converted there before being transmitted to stations R1 and R2 to be transmitted by radio on the frequency corresponding to the aerodromes AER1 and AER2 for which they must be broadcast.

Finally, this processing unit will have a link to the radar system to transmit and receive data-link messages (DL1 in Figure 5). Their subsequent processing at the HMI level will be done as described previously.

Other Apps

The system which has just been described is particularly interesting in the context of multi-aerodrome RVT air traffic control, but a single aerodrome would also benefit from the device, in particular because of the pooling of several communication methods (VHF and data-link) .

Other multi-party exchange management applications are possible.

In the automotive field, the pooling of several communication methods (radio and telephony and sms, etc.) would allow a more natural use of communications for the driver. The use of emission criteria (temporal or geographical) would be particularly advantageous.

In the field of multiplayer team video games, the planning of sending messages can be used to prepare strategies: anticipation of common actions, meeting point, etc. The use of conditional emission criteria (temporal, geographical or other) would allow rapid adaptation to the evolution of the game. On the other hand, the transcription of past messages makes it possible to verify the information shared without having to ask for it again.

The proposed system can also be used in the field of aeronautics again, to manage several exhibitions / discussion forums in parallel, for example:

- exchanges with several aircraft on a given aerodrome,

- exchanges with different ground services at this aerodrome (fuel, catering, mechanics, firefighters, baggage, etc.),

- exchanges concerning computer maintenance,

- exchanges with other land or space zones in interaction.

Many other applications outside the aeronautical field are possible: call centers, emergency switchboard, police switchboard, firefighters, SAMU, maritime and rail control, hypervision of control centers, smart city and coordination of municipal services, crisis unit , civil security (in particular the intervention teams on the ground), the management of fleets of vehicles, people or other (delivery personnel, repairmen, taxis, hikers, autonomous vehicles, etc.) and in general any supervision of a complex system.

Claims (12)

System for managing multi-interlocutor messages, comprising a display screen interface and a processing unit configured on the one hand to manage the storage of the messages received and on the other hand to manage the display on said screen
- at least one chronological presentation on which the current moment appears and
- at least one label representing at least one message received, prior to the current instant,
the processing unit dynamically positioning said label on the chronological representation,
the interface being further configured to allow a user to access, via said interface, the content of the stored message. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to claim 1, in which the messages thus stored are audio messages, the processing unit being configured to play the audio content of the stored message. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to one of Claims 1 or 2, in which the messages thus stored are textual data messages, the processing unit being configured to display the content of the stored message. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to one of the preceding claims, in which the processing unit is configured to display on the screen several time lines in parallel and to display on different lines the labels of messages coming from different airfields. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to one of the preceding claims, comprising memory means in which the contents of messages intended for the interlocutors are pre-recorded, the display screen interface and the processing unit being configured for:
- display labels corresponding to these messages,
- allow the selection of such a label by a user and its positioning on a time line at a time later than the current time,
- send the content of this message intended for one or more given interlocutors, when the label coincides with the current instant. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to claim 5, further comprising means configured for the recording of other messages by the controller, as well as for the transmission of these messages in real time or delayed by the controller. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to one of Claims 5 or 6, in which the messages pre-recorded or recorded by the controller are audio messages, the processing unit being configured to remotely transmit to the interlocutor the content audio of the selected message. System for managing multi-interlocutor messages according to one of Claims 5 to 7, in which the messages pre-recorded or recorded by the controller are textual data messages, the processing unit being configured to remotely transmit to the interlocutor the audio content of the selected message. Virtual control tower platform of at least one aerodrome, characterized in that it comprises a multi-interlocutor message management system according to one of the preceding claims. Platform according to claim 9, in which the audio messages received are messages originating from aircraft dialoguing with control tower radio stations, the processing unit being configured to manage their storage and display. Platform according to Claim 9 or according to Claim 10, in which the messages received and/or transmitted are air-ground data-link messages. Platform according to one of Claims 9 to 11, in which the management system is a system according to Claim 5, comprising memory means in which are stored flight references capable of being followed by a controller, the interface to display screen and the processing unit being configured for:
- display labels corresponding to these references,
- allow the selection of such a label by a user and its association with the label of a message intended for a given interlocutor.