GB2432231A

GB2432231A - Controlling the allocation and conflict free use of airport resources and global air space time

Info

Publication number: GB2432231A
Application number: GB0413593A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Blaga Nikolova Iordanova
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-04-29
Filing date: 2004-06-17
Publication date: 2007-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 2024-06-17
Also published as: GB2432231B; GB0413593D0

Abstract

Controlling the allocation and conflict free use of airport resources and global air space time using a global networking infrastructure of integrated operational ground systems automating the planning and monitoring of global traffic flows and four dimensional trajectories of flights. Preferably the integrated operation ground systems communicate directly with the aircraft (using satellites), airport terminals and airline terminals.

Description

1. Introduction

Since the early age of the a r traffic the airspace is divided into sectors and is managed and controlled by national and regional control centres.

According to published statistics one in four flights have been delayed 15 minutes or more since 1997 causing substantial cosl to airlines. Delays of flights are described as equally caused by congested airports and airlines inefficiencies, and by the complexity o the rules and procedures of some national and local centres of air traffic control, each of which use different systems and equipment.

Due to the current system of rrianual design and control of airspace the aircraft are flying today in predelined corridors and ai handled over from one control centre to another when they cross boundaries of control sectors. According to a reported mid air collision occurred between charter plane and cargo plane in bordering area of Western Germany, Austria and Switzerland this practice of controlling airspace in sectors may be a cause for safety hazards in the future too.

During the years the increase of air traffic raised anxieties and concerns resulting in acknowledged needs of reducing the workload of air traffic controllers. Attempts of balancing the increase of traffic and the need of reducing the workload of controllers resulted in the airspace today being divided and managed into even smaller sectors and that itself created further problems.

It has been said that spokesmen of the European Airlines Association and the European Union's commissioner for energy and transport agree that the current air traffic control system and the current occurrences of congeslions on the ground make it impossible to put more planes in the air at the present time. The cost nd time required is estimated to be too high to render feasible any attempt at reducing the "bottlenecks" caused by low capacity sectors under the current system.

The fact that the capacity of sequence of sectors along a corridor is limited by the sector with the lowest capacity makes it.pparent that the current practice prevents the efficient use of the capacity of the airspace and of the airports.

Yet air traffic is growing at a rate of 4 percent a year.

The air traffic industry today is facing immediate, serious and daunting problems caused by the increase of air traffic and the limited airport and airspace capacity. The current systems in use do not enable mechanisms for the efficient planning of global traffic flows and for the efficient allocation and control of the u:;e of the capacity of global air space-time and airport resources. S...

It is thus for the air traffic Lndustry a major priority to improve the air traffic management * :: operations though global integration of systems and new global control mechanisms enabling *:. automated planning of global traffic flows and of the use of the capacity of global air space-time * and of airports. *. . * S.. * * *S..

2. Global Innovations The increased traffic and technical performance of aircraft today requires changes of the current practices of management and of control of traffic.

The air traffic management ani control operations must be done with the greatest possible precision and efficiency through an automation of conflict-free planning of four dimensional (4D) end-to-end trajectories o I flights and of allocation of global air space-time and airport resources. The vital decision-riaking processes must be speed up too through a provision of Integrated Operational Decision Support (JODS) for the airport and the airline operators and for the air traffic controllers and the pilots.

In this divisional patent application we introduce the I3ODS infrastructure of JODS systems and their technology and global control mechanisms for flight trajectories and air traffic flow management and control of allocation and of use of global air space-time and airport resources.

We show the way in which th IODS technology provides global control mechanisms for a future global air traffic management system and benefits too to airlines, airports, controllers and pilots, and passengers too.

It is the claim of the IODS technology that it provides a new integrated method of automation of air space-time allocation, of controlling traffic flows and of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and of ensuring conflict-free and efficient use of capacity of global air space-time and of airports too.

The new technology changes the global system through a provision of an integrated operational decision support (IODS) for airport operators, airlines, air traffic controllers and pilots via satellites. It integrates and synchronizes global air traffic operations by new management of knowledge and new control mechanisms of global resources and of traffic flows.

The global networking architecture of ground IODS systems for airports, airlines and air traffic control and their communications with on-board computer of aircraft through satellites will provide a global intelligent, interactive and integrated I3ODS infrastructure. It automates the planning and the clearances of 4D end-to-end trajectories in response to distributed flight requests. It monitors and controls these 4D trajectories and global traffic flows too. It controls the use of global air space-time and airports capacity, synchronizes global operations and ensures their safety and the overall efficiency olair traffic and travel.

3. Objectives of the LODS Technology S...

s11S* The integration and synchronization of global operations, procedures and systems are vitally important for a future integrated aerospace and air traffic management and control systems. A : new global networking infrastructure is needed for efficient allocation and use of global air space-time and of airport resources and control of traffic flows. It requires supporting global * control mechanisms of automation of allocation and of control of global resources of air space-time and of airports. l'he Integrated Operational Decision Support (IODS) technology provides these global control mechanisms through communication via satellites. The IODS technology is * SS* * S aSS.

vitally important for controlling global resources, four dimensional (4D) end-to-end trajectories of flights and global traffic flows too.

The IODS embedded global control mechanisms of automation of air space-time allocation and control ensure the efficient arid conflict-free four dimensional end-to-end flight trajectories and their use of air space-time and airport resources before the aircraft take off and keep them conflict-free and most efficient in the long term with the fewest air traffic control intervention in real-time.

The IODS embedded logic of parallel and distributed processes learn global Air Space-Time (AST) knowledge-and-data control structures of clearance-categories from a series of distributed flight requests and monitor and control 4D trajectories through satellites. Their global control mechanisms automate and synchronise the allocation of air space-time and airport resources through those global AST control structures and their clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. The intelligent control mechanisms verify the current aircraft positions and control their 4D end-to-end Ilight trajectories and their clearances and synchronised up-dates through satellites. Thus they secure the conflict-free use of the air space-time and airport resources through automation of monitoring and of clearing 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and through direct data link communications with on-board equipment of aircraft via satellites.

The neural learning logic arid intelligent mechanisms of global AST control structures are embedded in the technology of global control mechanisms of IODS systems. They automate the planning of conflict-free allocation of global air space-time and airport resources, of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and of learning their clearance-categories. Through those control structures the intelligent global mechanisms monitor, synchronise and control the use of global air space-time and airport resources.

The global AST control structures contain clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. Through those clearance-categories the global mechanisms control global traffic flows and 4D end-to-end flight trajectories. They ensure conflict-free planning for global traffic and provide synchronised integrated operational decision support too to airlines, airport operators, air traffic controllers and pilots through communications via satellites. The IODS secures the safest control of airspace and traffic through automated monitoring and protection against hazardous and unexpected events.

The global networking architecture of ground IODS systems implement the neural learning logic and intelligent control mechEtnisms of the new technology through parallel and distributed : processes. Those processes automated the learning of global AST control structures of clearance-categories of flights. They plan and clear 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. Those JODS global processes automate the end-to-end monitoring and the controlling of those 4D trajectories of flights through communications via satellites. They secure the planning and the controlling :": global traffic flows vitally important for securing the safest and most efficient air space-time and * ; airports capacity use.

* * The new IODS technology provides new global processes, procedures and control mechanisms * . . in a future global networking infrastructure integrating aerospace and air traffic management * . systems and operations via ground IODS systems and their communications with on-board S...

computer of aircraft through satellites. By automation of the global air space-time allocation and control the new JODS technology brings the benefits of automated conflict-free planning for global air traffic, automated monitoring and controlling 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and global traffic flows, and an intelligent, integrated operational decision support for pilots, air traffic controllers, airlines and airport operators.

The IODS systems manage knowledge and control air space-time and airport resources, 4D trajectories and traffic flows through the TODS embedded logic and technology of a global neural architecture of AS]' control structures. They automate the global air space-time design in learning clearance-categories of 41) end-to-end trajectories of flights and the synchronised communications of conflict-free updates of these trajectories through satellites too.

Through their global control mechanisms and communications with on-board equipment of aircraft through satellites 101)5 systems control the allocation of global resources and of traffic flows on behalf of all users of the global integrated aerospace and air traffic management systems. Thus they secure conflict-free planning for global traffic. Thus they also synchronise the operations by providing integrated operational decision support. In response to series of distributed requests they allocate global air space-time and airport resources, and clear and keep conflict-free their 4D end-to-c nd trajectories. On behalf of all users they plan flight trajectories and traffic flows according to available global air space-time and airport resources and secure the efficient use of capacity of global air space-time and of airports.

The IODS technology brings Ihe new global operational control mechanisms for keeping the use of air space-time and airports resources and the 4D end-to-end trajectories conflict-free. It puts forward a global 130D5 infrastructure of networking architecture of ground IODS systems for airlines, airports, pilots and controllers and their communications with on-board computer of aircraft through satellites.

4. Significance of the IODS Global Control Mechanisms With the ever increasing demand for the capacity of airspace and airports the global control of traffic flows is becoming of supreme importance if we are to make the best use of the existing capacity of airports and airspace.

The IODS new processes anc global control mechanisms automate the allocation of air space-time and airport resources and the control of global traffic flows. Thus the IODS technology will improve the management of global traffic flows and the congestions at airports will no longer occur with IODS global con;rol mechanisms in place. ]he keeping to the departure and the arrival times of flights will hL significantly improved and thus savings and increased profits for airlines accomplished.

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The IODS automation of air space-time allocation ensures flexibility in the planning of global * traffic flows and of their use of global air space-time and airport resources. It enables too better control of the global resources and prevents occurrences of congestions on the ground and in the * air. 4,. I. _* * I S..,

The TODS processes and control mechanisms provide integrated operational decision support to air traffic controllers, pilots, airlines, airports via the global infrastructure of networking architecture of IODS systern and their communications through satellites. The efficiency of allocating air space-time and airport resources and of controlling of their better use will be significantly improved through planning and controlling of four dimensional (4D) end-to-end trajectories of flights. The logic of learning embedded in the IODS systems will provide automated allocation and conirol of global resources in response to requested flights booked by airlines in advance or at the time of their clearances before the take off of the aircraft and also will ensure the conflictfree use of allocated resources to 4D end-to-end trajectories of aircraft in flight.

The IODS processes automating the allocation of global air space-time and of airports resources together with the JODS processes monitoring 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights control the global resources and ensure their conflict-free use by global traffic flows.

The IODS automated control of global traffic flows benefits airlines, air traffic control and the airport operators too.

The IODS embedded intelligence of learning clearance-categories of flights and of controlling the air space-time allocation significantly reduces the workload of air traffic controllers. The IODS for pilots and controllers secures and improves further the efficiency and the safety of operations.

The IODS control mechanisms improve the efficiency of use the resources of airports too. The capacity of airports will be increased. Airport operations will not be disrupted. Congestions of aircraft in the air or on the ground will be avoided. Airports will no longer as happen now from time to time be closed until such congestions are cleared.

The benefits for all parties in'olved in the air traffic industry are the IODS provision of conflict-free planning of global air tra fic and intelligent and interactive and integrated (1) infrastructure of operational decision support (ODS) for airports operators and airlines, air traffic controllers and pilots within global 1301)S infrastructure communicating through satellites in controlling global resources and traffic.

The IODS technology brings significant changes too.

The IODS technology, processes and control mechanisms of planning, monitoring and controlling 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights changes the global system by obviating the current practice of the division of airspace by sectors and the controlling airspace and traffic within sectors by national and regional control centres. The JODS technology obviates also the need for arranging predefined corridors of flights as it is in the current practice. Instead the * * global networking architecture of ground IODS systems will monitor, control and manage safely 4D end-to-end trajectories and global traffic flows from departure to arrivals at destination : airports.

The LODS automation of allocation and of control of air space-time and of airport resources a. * provides the flexibility needcd in planning global traffic flows and in controlling the use of -S..

global air space-time and airDort resources. The IODS monitoring processes and mechanisms control the conflict-free use o 1 global resources by 4D end-to-and trajectories of fights. Thus the JODS technology provides el'Iicient global control mechanisms not available under the current practice for avoiding congestions or so called "bottlenecks" occurring frequently in the current practice due to sectors with low capacity causing delays of flights and high airlines costs too.

The JODS global control mechanisms fundamentally change the current practice by providing new global procedures and processes of automated design of global air space-time and of automated control of global traffic. They introduce new automated processes of planning and of controlling the efficient allocation and the conflict-free use of air space-time and airport resources. They provide also new automated mechanisms of learning clearance-categories of flights and new processes autcrnating the planning and the clearing most efficiently their 4D end-to-end trajectories according to the global resources available. They introduce also automated mechanisms of monitoring and of controlling four dimensional (4D) end-to-end trajectories of flights and of global traffic [lows so that congestions, delays of flights and related high costs for airlines to not occur in a future global air traffic management system.

5. Relation to Previous Work The background of the work on IODS technology relevant to future global air traffic management system and automation of Air Space-Time (AST) allocation and control is described in publications and patent applications pending.

The Hierarchies of Air Space-. Time (AST) knowledge-and-data control structures are designed to set up a new tecimology of managing traffic, knowledge and resources of great importance to conflict-free planning for global air traffic and a new air traffic knowledge management policy.

It brings Integrated Operational Decision Support (IODS) for pilots and controllers. It also brings the benefits of an automated and synchronised AST allocation and a global planning and controlling of traffic flows, 411) end-to-end trajectories of flights and of their automated revisions and conflict-free updates thou:;h direct data communications with on-board equipment of aircraft via satellites. It brings lOI)S parallel processes of continuous end-to-end monitoring of 4D trajectories of flights and of their automated clearances. Any predicted conflicts between trajectories are resolved off-line during a certain air space-time period ahead of current positions of aircraft reported and verified through ground positioning system and satellites. The above principles of future global air traffic management system we invented during our doctoral work.

We claim a prior art on those major innovative principles of a future global system for future air traffic management since 2000 6. IODS technology The IODS technology includes the design of the parallel and distributed processes and the * *..* control mechanisms and structures. It includes the global neural network mechanisms for allocation of resources and for control of traffic. The technology also includes the logic and the complexity of learning clear nce-categories of flights requested within the global networking * : " : architecture of distributed IOl)S systems. The IODS learning logic, processes and mechanisms *:. will be embedded in a future global infrastructure of networking architecture of IODS systems S. S

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and will operate through their parallel and distributed processes and communications through satellites.

6.1. Key Issues The JODS technology concerns the design of a global network of dynamic Air Space-Time (ASl') knowledge-and-data control structures and of intelligent neural control mechanisms for creating and updating clearance-categories of flights in response to series of requests in a future global networking infrastructure for global air traffic management. The global flows of AST structures organise and control clearances of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. Their neural mechanisms and parallel processes monitor and control global traffic flows and their conflict-free use of air-space-time and of airport resources.

The important outcomes the new technology brings are the automated learning of decision support knowledge of most efficient clearances of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights from series of requests and of automated eflicient allocation and control of global air space-time and airport resources.

The key issues in achieving this are as follows. The flight requests and traffic flows are distributed, and will be managed and controlled in a future global infrastructure for global air traffic management by distributed and integrated operational decision support (IODS) systems of departure and of arrival airports, of airlines and of national control centres. The global networking architecture of ground IC)DS systems will be dedicated to automated control of allocation of global air space-time and of airport resources to four dimensional (4D) end-to-end trajectories of flights and to traffic flows. The ground IODS systems will respond to flight requests with creating conflict-free 41) end-to-end trajectories of flights. They will use the embedded logic of learning of clearance-categories for allocating most efficiently global resources to requested flights. Their global control mechanisms and communication processes via satellites will synchronise the use of global resources. They will monitor and control 4D end-to-end trajectories of aircraft. They will periodically verify the current positions of aircraft on these trajectories by autornatci reports of actual positions of aircraft through ground positioning system (GPS) and satellite c(:mmunications and will revise the projected trajectories of flights ahead of the actual position of aircraft accordingly. They will automatically update their clearance-categories organised in global dynamic AST knowledge-and-data control structures.

Key computational issues in achieving an efficient automated allocation and control of global resources are as follow. First are the embedded logic and complexity in learning of clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and their global dynamically and incrementally up-datable air space-time control structures from a series of distributed flight requests. Second are the parallel and distributed processes of the global control mechanisms in maintaining these dynamic control structures and their 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights conflict-free while the traffic flows progress. *S..

** Further important consequence of this new technology is that the networking architecture of dedicated IODS ground systems plans the most efficient allocation of global air space-time and * :: airport resources to 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights of aircraft. In this way it also plans * global traffic flows. It monitors and secures the conflict-free use of global resources by those I. S... **.. * S S...

end-to-end trajectories and trnffic flows. It keeps conflict-free use of global resources from take off to landing of aircraft. Their predicted trajectories are monitored and revised according to automated reports of verified current positions of aircraft through GPS and satellites.

The IODS systems ensure synchronised revisions and automated clearances of flight trajectories to avoid any conflicts or congstions predicted during a certain air space-time period ahead from the current verified positions of aircraft. They monitor and control 4D end-to-end trajectories through global flows of AST control structures communicated via satellites. These structures control the conflict-free allocation of global resources in clearance-categories of flights and the conflict-free updates of 4D end-to-end trajectories. The LODS systems synchronise these updates of clearance-categories of flights in the global AST control structures through satellite communications and the updates of their cleared 4D trajectories of flights through direct data communications with on-board computer of aircraft via satellites too.

Important computational and complexity issues result from the dynamic nature of allocation of global resources and of controlling their conflict-free use by 4D end-to-end trajectories of aircraft in flight. The dynamic and real-time nature of series of flights and of control of dynamic allocation of global resources increases the complexity in learning from the series of distributed requests. The computational complexity is in the constraint-satisfaction and in the efficiency-optimisation involved in thc automated learning of clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights in response to the dynamic series of requests. It is also in keeping the conflictfree use of allocated air space-time and airport resources to global traffic flows and to 4D end-to-end trajectories of ircraft in flight too.

The dynamics of allocation aiid of use of global airspace-time and of airport resources result in creating and in dynamically up-dating computational images of global air space-time and airport resources allocated to 41) end-to-end trajectories of flights and to global traffic flows. These computational images are organised in flows of global air space-time knowledge-and-data control structures of clearance -categories of flights These control structures are dynamic. They move and change together with the progress of aircraft in flight towards their destination. Those flight trajectories cleared within each clearance-category are continuously monitored. Positions of aircraft are checked and verified with actual positions through GPS and satellites. Projected 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights from the current verified positions of aircraft are updated accordingly and their clearance-categories in the global AST control structures too.

l'he computational outcomes are through distributed processes of constraint satisfaction and of optimisation and of decentralised mechanisms of control in allocating global resources in response to a series of distributed requests.

The technology brings further outcomes and benefits too through new global mechanisms of monitoring and of controlling 4D end-to-end flight trajectories and traffic flows. They keep air * space-time use conflict-free and the capacity of airports most efficiently used.

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Further important issue relate' to a series of dynamic events triggering the learning processes and intelligent control mechanisms in the neural architecture of AST structures in a global network of distributed IODS systems.

6.2. Series of Events Events triggering the learning mechanisms in the neural architecture occur when new flights from departure airports to destination airports are requested. The embedded logic of the neural architecture learns how to accommodate these requests most efficiently for the individual flights requested by airlines and for the global planning, monitoring and controlling of conflict-free use of air space-time and airport resources by 4D end-t-end trajectories of flights.

The learning mechanisms are also triggered by events such as predictions of conflicting trajectories of flights ahead of air space-and-time from the actual dynamically verifiable and updateable positions of the aircraft on the monitored trajectories. The above events form a seri s of distributed requests for clearances

of flight trajectories. l'hese events request conflict-free pImning of' allocation of global air space-time and airport resources.

These requests form a population of 4D end-to-end flight trajectories which the architecture of the global neural network of AST control structures has to accommodate most efficiently within the global air space-time and airport resources available and also to keep them conflict-free from take off to landing of aircraft.

6.3. Global Neural Network of AST Control Structures The global neural network for synchronised Air Space-Time (AST) allocation and control aims to operate within a new global infrastructure for future air traffic management created by the networking architecture of distributed IODS systems for airports, airlines and air traffic control and direct data communications with the on-board equipment of aircraft through satellites.

ftc work deals the computational and complexity issues related to the embedded logic of learning clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end [light trajectories and of creating global AST knowledge-and-data control structures. It deals with the complexity of decentralised and distributed intelligent mechanisms for monitoring and for controlling 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and their automated clearances organised in the dynamically up-datable AST knowledge-and-data control structures.

The work designs the new global processes of the IODS technology for securing conflict-fee use of global air space-time resources and of airports capacity. It develops also global intelligent mechanisms and their paraliel and distributed processes for continuously monitoring and controlling 4D end-to-end trajectories of aircraft in flight through satellites.

The IODS technology creates AST control structures for synchronising revisions and updates of those dynamic 4D end-to-enc trajectories off-line any predicted conflict along those projected *....: trajectories ahead of the current positions of aircraft. The control structures are created by * parallel and distributed learning processes called knowledge-acquisition and reasoning (KAR).

* . These processes create clearance-categories of flights and allocate air space-time and airport *s I *S. S

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resources to their 4D end-to-cnd trajectories. Those categories and their cleared trajectories are periodically revised for keeping the flights and their use of global resources conflict-free. Thus the IODS technology ensures the continuous conflict-free use of global resources and most efficient use of air space-time and airports capacity.

7. The Global Architecture f IODS Systems The IODS technology for Iliture global air traffic management proposes a future global networking infrastructure 13(IDS of ground IODS systems for synchronised and automated management of global resources, of' traffic flows and of end-to-end trajectories of flights and of knowledge.

The global I3ODS infrastructL re incorporates the new IODS global processes and technology of new global control mechanisnis for aulomated monitoring and controlling the efficient allocation of conflict-free air space-time and airport resources in response to distributed requests of flights.

7.1. Distributed Flight Requests We make the following distinction between two types of requests. Those of flight-plans and those of flight-paths.

We define flight-plans as 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights requested in advance or at the time of take-off of aircraft. In both cases the clearances of flight-plans (4D end-to-end trajectories) are requested from agents of the on-board computer of aircraft or of terminals of airlines prior to departure.

Flight paths we define as 4D end-to-end trajectories of aircraft in flight. The requests for conflict-free alterations of flight-paths are made by agents of the AST management components (Fig. 3) and their processes of monitoring the AST control structures containing the clearance-categories of the 4D end-to-end trajectories of the flightpaths (Fig. 2). Requests of alterations of flight trajectories can also be made by pilots, airline or airport operators and air traffic controllers.

The Knowledge Acquisition and Reasoning (KAR) processes introduced in the next sections deal with the above two types of requests. They maintain and update incrementally the AST knowledge-and-data control sLructures of conflict-free and optimised 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. Thus they also generate the decision support knowledge for sustaining the efficiency of the air space-time use and of the 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights in the long term.

Now I would like to introdue the design of the global networking architecture of integrated operational decision support systems for airlines, airport operators, controllers and pilots and : *, their communications through satellites. 5..

**** 7.2. IODS Layers.

* : : The global infrastructure incrporate five management layers of components (Fig. 1) of the *: global networking architecture of IODS systems. Each of these layers forms a concentric circle. S. *

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Each circle contains hierarchical components and their protocols within the global networking architecture of the IODS systems.

The outermost layer represen1. the user-interface components managing sequences of distributed flight requests. The user inteiface of each ground IODS system communicates with the on- board equipment of aircraft through satellites and with the parallel and distributed Knowledge-Acquisition and Reasoning (KAR) processes of the intelligent Decision Support components higher up in the hierarchy (Fig. I).

The KAR processes are associated with the internal components of the Intelligent Decision Support components, namely ihe Hierarchy of Objects and Constraints (HOC) components of the architecture. The HOC compDnents and their parallel and distributed KAR processes (Fig. 2) allocate the air space-time and airport resources in response to a series of distributed flight requests and create their clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories. They organise these in AST knowledge-and-data control structures. These AST control structures and their clearance-categories are revised with the progress of the traffic flows. Their revisions and updates of trajectories of flights are communicated through satellites to the on-board computer of aircraft and to other IODS systems and their terminals of controllers, airlines and airport operators concerned with the updates.

The KAR processes communicate with the AST management components managing global Air Space-Time (AST) and airport resources and their parallel and distributed processes. The latter processes monitor AST kno\vledge-and-data control structures of clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of fii;hts during a certain air space-time period ahead of the current positions of aircraft on that trajectories from their departure to their destination. These structures are associated with the innermost hierarchical layer of the global architecture of IODS systems.

(Fig. 1).

7.3. IODS Distributed and Parallel Processes The architecture of IODS systems integrates two main components and the collaboration and communications between thei parallel and distributed processes. They are those of management of global air space-time and airport resources through parallel and distributed monitoring processes (Fig. 3) of AST knowledge-and-data control structures and those of' management of Hierarchies of Objects and Constraints (HOC) (Fig. 2) Knowledge-Acquisition and Reasoning (KAR) for intelligent decision support. The collaboration between their processes (Fig. 3) results in allocating conflict-free air pace-time and airport resources to clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and in keeping these trajectories conflict-free from take off of' aircraft to their landing.

These parallel and distributed KAR processes (Fig. 2) automate the efficient allocation of the air space-time and airports resources according to the technical capabilities of the various aircraft : ... and to the efficiency requirenl ents of flight trajectories and of global air space-time and airports capacity use. They generate the decision support knowledge for efficient clearance-categories of flights (4D end-to-end trajectories) and for keeping them conflict-free and most efficient within the global resources available The lOl)S technology also communicate the automated clearance : : up-dates of those trajectories via data communications with the on-board computer of aircraft *:. through satellites (Fig. 2).

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The global networking architecture of TODS systems synchronizes the processes updating the global AST knowledge-and-data control structures of clearance-categories of flights. It does this via communications through satellites, it also synchronises the updates of the clearance-categories through secure communications between a ground IODS system and the relevant terminals of the airlines, airport operators, and air traffic controllers concerned with the 4D end-to-end trajectories cleared by those categories and their global control structures.

The KAR processes (Fig. 2) automate the efficient allocation of available air space-time and airport resources to requested flights and create their clearance-categories in AST knowledge-and-data control structures of conflict-free and optimised 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights.

The KAR processes also maintain the AST knowledge-and-data control structures, revise the clearance-categories of Ilighis and their 4D end-to-end trajectories in order to keep them conflict-free and efficient within the dynamic availability of global resources. Through distributed KAR processes (F ig. 4) the hOC components (Fig. 2) create and maintain a flow of AST knowledge-and-data control structures and their 4D trajectories of flights conflict-free and optimised within the available global resources.

Each of these clearance-categories and their AST structures is controlled by monitoring processes of the AST management components (Fig. 3). They test a predicted 4D end-to-end trajectory for conflict during a certain air space-time period ahead of the current dynamically up-datable position of'aircraft via automated reports through GPS and the satellites.

An individual AST monitoring process (Fig. 3) monitors an individual 4D end-to-end trajectory cleared within an AST knowledge-and-data control structure of clearance-categories of conflict-free and optimised flights. It verifies and updates the recorded current position of the aircraft on the monitored trajectory with reported real-time position of aircraft via GPS and communications through satellites. It revises the 41) trajectory and performs a trajectory prediction from the current real position of aircraft. It performs tests for conflicts along the 4D end-to-end trajectory predicted ahead of the currently verified and updated real position of the aircraft.

The KAR process (Fig.4) provides a trajectory maintenance service by automating the clearance of the predicted trajectory ahead of the reported verified real position of the aircraft. Thus it maintains the conflict-free revision of the 4D end-to-end trajectory of aircraft. The KAR process generates knowledge of con Ilict-free and most efficient alterations of 4D end-to-end trajectories within the current or new clearance-category. It up-dates the old and the new clearance-categories and their global AS I' knowledge-and-data control structures.

When an AST conflict is predicted during an air space-time period ahead of current position of :. aircraft the AST monitoring process (Fig. 3) communicates with the relevant KAR process * *** (Fig.3) and requests a maintenance service. The latter process plans conflict-resolution alterations of the flight-plans and their AST structures off-line during this air space-time period in advance before any conilict can develop in real time. These alterations are communicated : through the user-interface of the system to the terminal of the controllers, airlines and airport operators and to the on-board computer of the aircraft. : S., * S * **.

An individual KAR process (Pig. 4) learns initially concepts through parallel concept-formation processes. It generates the decision support knowledge about the most efficient clearances-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights given the resources available by exploring the alternative concepts it creates from a series of requests and also by incrementally specialising those concepts. The most efficient concepts accommodating most efficiently the series of flight requests are accepted as clearance-categories of these flights.

The hierarchical AST strategies and integrated constraints-satisfaction and efficiency-optirnisation reasoning operators guide the concept-learning at hierarchical levels of the automated acquisition of an AST knowledge-and-data control structure of clearance-categories (Fig. 5) from series of flight requests.

A clearance-category of a flight consists of hierarchical objects of an AST knowledge-and-data control structure (Fig 5) such as the air traffic route and the stream of aircraft that most efficiently accommodate the 4D end-to-end trajectory of the flight in respect of its own efficiency and the efficiency of its air space-time and airport capacity use.

The KAR process (Fig.4) organises this knowledge of the most efficient clearance-categories of flights in hierarchical AST knowledge-and-data control structures of conflict-free and optimised flights. Thus it automates the design of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights, the allocation and the control of global air space-time and airport resources and the planning of global traffic flows too.

8. Global Networking of IOi)S systems The IODS technology, processes and control mechanisms provide intelligent, interactive and integrated (J3) operational decision support (ODS) to pilots via direct data link communications though satellites with on-board computer of aircraft and to controllers, airlines and airport operators via synchronized and secure communications within the global I3ODS infrastructure of the networking architectures of dedicated ground IODS systems.

8.1. The Global Infrastructure The global I3ODS infrastruct re of networking LODS systems communicates to each other AST knowledge-and-data control structures via satellites. Thus they control the conflict-free use of the global resources and secure the conflict- free planning for global traffic. They monitor and control air space-time and airport capacity use and global traffic flows through satellites.

They accomplish the latter by the integrated management of automated monitoring and automated control of allocation of global air space-time and airport resources. They secure global S. planning of conflict-resolutions of 4]) end-to-end trajectories of aircraft off-line before any a* conflict can develop in real-time. The collaboration between TODS parallel AST and KAR a.*,* processes (Fig. 3) and their secure communications provides the knowledge for the global planning of the conflict-free Lnd efficient use of AST and airports capacity. The IODS systems secure most efficient clearances of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and traffic flows * according to the global resources available. They also keep the 4D end-to-end trajectories * : conflict-free and most ef.iicicnt in the long term. This they accomplish by the planning of S. 5

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conflict-resolutions off-line during a certain AST period in advance before signs of AST conflict caii develop in real-time.

The satellite communications of the global I3ODS infrastructure of networking architectures of dedicate ground IODS systems and the on-board computers of aircraft will deliver the synchronised and automated updates of conflict-free 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights to the pilots via the direct data link between IODS systems and the on-board computer of aircraft.

Those automated updates they will deliver to the relevant terminals of airlines, controllers and airport operators through satellite communications between the ground TODS systems. Thus they will keep the use of global resources by the 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights conflict-free.

Through their global AST control structures of clearance-categories they will allocate traffic flows according to global resources available too.

The IODS technology brings major innovations for meeting the challenges of today and of tomorrow.

The IODS automated parallel and disiributed design processes and mechanisms of planning of allocation of global air space-time and airport resources to 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights together with the TODS automated monitoring and controlling mechanisms of their conflict-free arid efficient use of global resources produce the technical effect of global automation of allocation and of control of global resources and of traffic flows.

8.2. LODS Agent Models, Communications and Protocols, Interactions and Services The IODS technology sets up the following two main agent management models (Fig 2) of the internal hierarchical components of future global infrastructures of ground IODS systems, the agent management model of the components of Air Space-Time and of airport resources together with their parallel AST mcnitoring processes, and also the agent-management model of Intelligent Decision Support Components.

The latter model contains the ibllowing internal hierarchical components managed by agents, the user interface and the management of requests of flights and of their clearances, and the Hierarchies of Objects and Constraints (HOC) components of parallel KnowledgeAcquisition and Reasoning (KAR) processes.

l'he IODS systems (Fig 2,3) integrate these two main agent management models of the AST management and of the Intelligent Decision Support and the Planning of Conflict-Resolutions (PCR) off-line before any conflict can develop in real-time. They integrate the agent-based automation of the two processes, conflict prediction and conflict resolution, and thus they manage the efficient allocation of the air space-time and airports resources according to the technical capabilities of the various aircraft and to the efficiency requirements of flight trajectories and of global air space-time and airports capacity use. *.s.

The IODS components and their parallel and distributed processes communicate to each other through agents managing the processes and their communications. I.... * S

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The agent-managers of the user interface components of 1ODS systems manage the distributed series of flight requests. Their interface agents communicate with the software agents of the aircraft and secure communications with the on-board computer of aircraft via direct data link through satellites. The interfiuce agents also communicate with the terminals of the controllers, airlines and airport operators via synchronised and secure links between ground LODS systems at airports and their terminals of airlines, of airport operators and of controllers.

The agent-managers of the IODS user interfaces prioritise flight requests and their clearances, and communicate with the igents managing the Al Hierarchies of Objects and Constraints components and their parallel KAR processes.

The agent-manager of the I-] DC component attends to the management of the parallel KAR Processes, and of communications between agents managing the individual KAR processes. He also attends to the management of the communications between the agents managing the individual KAR processes and the agents managing AST components and monitoring the AST control structures.

Each individual KAR process is managed by a KAR agent and generates the Air Space-Time knowledge-and-data control structure of clearances of flights (4D end-to-end trajectories) requested during a certain AST period. The KAR agent also attends to the maintenance service of the AST control structure and of flights (4D end-to-end trajectories) in order to keep them conflict-free and efficient within the available resources.

l'he agent managing the HO( component creates and maintains a flow of AST knowledge and data structures of conflict-free and optimised flights, given the available resources, by agents managing parallel KAR processes.

The Agents managing individual KAR processes are associated with the internal hierarchy of the management of the Hierarchy of Objects and Constraints components of the IODS architecture.

The latter Agents communicate with the Agents managing the Air Space-Time (AST) components and their internal hierarchy of agents managing AST monitoring processes (Fig. 2,3).

The agents managing the AST Management components also manage their parallel AST monitoring processes, and the communications with the agents managing each individual process. The agent also secures the communications between its agents managing the AST Monitoring processes and the Igents managing KAR processes of the HOC components.

The task of the Agents managing individual monitoring process is to monitor an individual 4D end-to-end trajectory cleared with an AST knowledge-and-data control structure of clearance-categories of conflict-free and optirnised 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. The task of the Agents are also to verify an to update the recorded current position of the aircraft on the * * trajectory with reports of real-ime positions of aircraft via GPS communicated through satellites, to revise the 4D trajectory and perform trajectory projection from the reported real position of * aircraft and perform tests for conflicts along the updated 4D end-to-end trajectory ahead of the : currently updated real position of the aircraft. *4* I'..

If required, the agent also attends to communications with a KAR process relating to a service for the maintenance of the AS'f knowledge-and-data control structure and a knowledge of conflict-free and most efficient alterations of 4D end-to-end trajectories within the current or new clearance-category. These communications include the request for the maintenance service asked for by the agent managing the AST monitoring process. This is provided by an agent managing a KAR process of the HOC components.

When an AST conflict is pred Lcted during an AST period ahead the agent managing a monitoring process (Fig. 3) communicates with an agent of the relevant KAR process. The latter KAR agent plans conflict-resolution alterations of the flight trajectory and its AST structures off-line during this AST period in advance. These alterations the KAR agent communicates through the interface agent the IODS system to the terminal of the relevant controllers, airlines and airport operators and to the on-board computer of the aircraft.

An agent managing a KAR process also communicates with the agents of the user interface components. These communications include the request for the flight clearance service asked for by the interface agent on behalf of an user. This is provided by the agent managing the KAR process.

The agent managing the KAR process plans a 4D end-to-end trajectory of a flight, clears this trajectory and secures synclironised up-dates of the trajectory and of its old and/or new clearance-categories and of the AS]' knowledge-and-data control structures containing the clearance-categories too.

The communications betweeii the KAR agent and the user interface agent include also service requests for up-date of flight trajectory or AST control structure asked from the KAR agent through the managing agent o' the HOC component. The up-dates are synchronised by the agent-manager of the user interface and executed by its interface agents.

An agent-manager of an individual KAR process (Fig. 4) deals with the above two types of requests for clearance and for maintenance by dynamically creating interactive groups of agents and of their parallel concept-rormation processes. These agents create possible disjunctive and overlapping concepts of categories of clearances from dynamically selected samples of requests, while collaborating in a search for the most efficient clearances of the series of requested flights within the available global air space-time and airport resources. They create and update dynamically categories and thir fuzzy conceptual descriptions of objects from parameter-values of' 4D end-to-end trajectories associated with them. They evaluate the measures of efficiency of these categories. They order them by the efficiency of individual trajectory and of their AST use.

The concepts which predict the clearances of sets of 4D end-to-end trajectories with the best measures of efficiency are accepted as updates of the global AST knowledge-and-data control structures. The agent-managers of the KAR processes secure the synchronised updates of the global AST knowledge-and-data control structures while responding to distributed clearance requests.

* The aircraft agents or the airline agents who have requested flight clearance have the capacity to influence the decision of an.gent managing the relevant KAR process, by providing him with certain efficiency parameters together with their requests through the interface agents. l'he agent

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managing the KAR process takes into account efficiency measures and functions in evaluating the possible clearance-ca1eories that meet the requested efficiency and meanwhile communicates them in order cf priority to the agents requesting them. The latter agents can make their final choice according to these objectives.

9. The Global Control Mech.inisms The global control mechanisms for synchronised air space-time allocation and control are embedded in the global infrastructure of IODS systems. Their building blocks are those parallel and distributed processes (Fig. 2,3) in the global network of LODS systems. Their embedded learning logic derives knowledge from the series of dynamic and distributed events described in the section 6. The global distributed architecture of IODS systems introduced in sections 7 and 8 generates and maintains fio of AST control structures of clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights.

Air Space-Time knowledge-arid-data control structures are created and used by the global control mechanisms in the global networking architecture of IODS systems. Through the embedded logic of dynamic global meclanisms and parallel processes the JODS systems learn knowledge from a series of distributed requests. They create and monitor clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights organised in global and dynamically up-datable AST control structures.

Through those categories they monitors and controls the global air space-time and airports resources, traffic flows and tnjectories of flights. They control and update those categories and their global AST control structures incrementally and synchronise those updates of control structures and of trajectories through direct data communications with on-board computers of aircraft through satellites. Thus they keep the use of global resources conflict-free while the aircraft progress along their cleared trajectories projected towards their end destinations.

The size and the shape of each of those AST control structures of flight clearance-categories and their global neural architectui-e as awhole depends on the series of dynamic events of flight clearances requested in regions in global air space and time.

Each AST control structure contains hierarchical layers of objects representing learning "neurons' and chains of objects representing the clearance-categories. The "neurons" explore the dynamic series of requests scrching for relevant parameter values and matching the requested efficiency of flights within cx sting or new clearance-categories. They learn clearance-categories of flights and the knowledge about the efficiency with which these categories clear individual requested flights. The layers of neurons of categories encapsulate priorities of satisfying constraints in forming concepts of clearances of flight trajectories, and in validating decisions about allocating air spacc-tilnL and airports resources.

Layers of' neurons satisfy constraints in generating parameters of clearances of 4D end-to-end * . trajectories of flights. Chains of neurons hierarchically inherit and pass down parameters of a a. clearance-categories of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights. Thus they generate validating proofs of clearance-parameters for those 4D end-toend trajectories of cleared flights within * .. individual clearance-categories. They prioritise those categories by efficiency they supply for * flights and for the global AST and airport capacity use. SI. * a...

Major outcomes and benefits are through those JODS parallel and distributed processes and their embedded logic and global control mechanisms in learning clearance-categories from distributed requests in the global neural architecture of AST knowledge-and-data control structures for global automation of allocatioi and of control of resources of air space-time and of airports.

The computational logic of the IODS parallel and distributed processes learn concepts of clearances of 4D end-to-end ttajectories of flights and verify their clearance-categories within the global neural architecture. i'l-ie concepts are formed based on sampling of measurements of parameters of requested flights selected dynamically from the series of requests in regions of global air space and time. Through this logic and control mechanisms the IODS parallel and distributed processes plan and allocate AS'I' and airport resources to 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights, clear these within verified clearance-categories and monitor and control these categories and their end-to-end flight trajectories.

The concepts of clearance-categories are established based on an estimation of the central tendencies of measurements of' parameters of flights. The learning logic of parallel processes and their control mechanisms measure the variance and central tendencies of dynamic samples of the series of requests and creates and updates concepts of categories dynamically and incrementally.

Through this logic and control mechanisms the parallel processes learn knowledge from the parameters of measurements taken from the dynamic samples of requests and use it as an a priory knowledge in dynamically specializing clearance-categories and in updating their AST control structures. The categories are measured by the efficiency they secure for 4D end-to-end trajectories of cleared flights and the efficiency of their use of global air space-time and airport resources. The dynamic specialisation of categories reflects with a higher accuracy the central preferences of the series of requests and improves the efficiency of using global AST and airports capacity.

The complexity analysis of the global control mechanisms regards the computational complexity of the embedded logic of the global neural networking architecture of AST control structures and of their global mechanisms o 1' allocation of AS'!' and of airport resources and of control of 4D end-to-end trajectories and of lobal traffic flows too though communications through satellites.

The global control mechanisms incorporate the embedded logic of learning dynamic flows of AST control structures from distributed series of flight requests and of controlling global air space-time and airport resources. They deal with the complexity in planning and in verifying conflict-free allocation of global dynamic AST and airport resources to 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights in respoi' se to series of distributed requests too.

In the context of a global architecture the complexity of the global control mechanisms is in * . creating and I maintaining dynamic flows of AST control structures of clearance-categories **** accommodating distributed dynamic series of flight requests within the global air space-time and airports resources available. l'hey deal with the complexity of global processes of monitoring * : * * and of controlling traffic flows, four dimensional trajectories of flights, and of planning and of verifying conflict-free allocation of air space-time and airport resources via IODS technology * and through direct data communications between ground JODS systems and on-board equipment of aircraft through satellites. I... a... a...

The work extends the previous work on how hierarchies of objects and constraints reduce complexity. The design of AST structures and how it reduces the complexity of learning clearance-categories are pub ished in TJCNN 2003 and are included in patent application pending. The extended work regards the embedded logic and the reductions of complexity of global control mechanisms in allocation of air space-time and airports resources in response to distributed series of requests in the global neural architecture of AST control structures.

The global I3ODS infrastructire introduced in this divisional patent application relates to patent applications regarding the lOl)S technology, new processes and intelligent control mechanisms for automation of global air space-time allocation and of control of trajectories and traffic flows through satellites.

10. The IODS' Major Innovations For Meeting Global Challenges The automated IODS design processes and control mechanisms of the use of global air space-time and airport resources togther with automated control mechanisms of their conflict-free and efficient use produce the technical effects of automated allocation and control of global resources, The automated TODS planning and monitoring processes of four dimensional (4D) end-to-end trajectories of flights together with the automated control mechanisms of allocation of global resources produce technical effects of an automated control of conflict-free use of air space-time and of airports resources by 41) end-to-end trajectories of flights and by global traffic flows.

The above IODS processes and control mechanisms support IODS mechanisms of automated responses to series of distributed requests of flights. They create conflict-free and most efficient 4D end-to-end trajectory of flights according to the resources available and control the conflict-free use of the allocated resources by each trajectory. They thus produce the technical effects of keeping conflict-free use of air space-time and of airport resources and of automated clearances in response to series of flight requests and in keeping 4D trajectories conflict-free in long term.

The IODS learning processes of air space-time knowledge-and-data control structures of clearance-categories allocate conflict-free resources to 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and control the conflict-free use of allocated air space-time and airport resources. The automated sending and receiving of pericdic reports of the real-position of aircraft by TODS systems is used for verifying and updating the 4D end-b-end trajectories of flights.

The IODS automated processes monitor the 4D end-to-end trajectories of fights and keep the S. trajectories conflict-free by atomated clearances (alterations) of trajectories if any conflict is predicted head of space-and-time from the actual dynamically updateable position of the aircraft . . on the monitored 4D end-to-end trajectories and thus keep the global air space-time and airport capacity use and the aircraft trajectories conflict-free.

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The above IODS processes and control mechanisms automate the generation of knowledge and : the provision of intelligent, interactive (Is) and integrated operational decision support (ODS). It is delivered to the pilots through synchronised communications between the global networking : of IODS systems and the on-board computer of aircraft through satellites. It is also delivered SSS.

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through synchronised communications between IDOS systems and their terminals to the concerned airlines, airport operators, and controllers. The global I3ODS infrastructure of the networking architecture of dedicated ground IODS systems and their data communications with the on-board computers of aircraft through satellites provide technical effects of synchronising global operations through lOl) S management of knowledge, of traffic and of resources and the intelligent, interactive and integrated operational decision support delivered to airlines, airport operators and air traffic controllers and to pilots through communications with on-board computers via satellites.

The global I3ODS infrastructure of networking architecture of IODS systems and their monitoring processes control the allocated global resources to all 4D end-to-end trajectories flights cleared within the clearance-categories organised in the globally created and monitored AST knowledge-and-data control structures and thus also control global traffic flows and their conflict-free use of the global ir space-time and airport resources.

The global I3ODS infrastructure of networking architecture of IODS systems and their KAR processes plans conflict-free 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights and creates clearance-categories of the requested flights, it keeps synchronised updates of their clearance-categories within globally monitored AS1' knowledge-and-data control structures. Thus it also controls the global resources and plans the global traffic flows and their efficient allocation and use of capacity of air space-time and of airport resources.

11. Conclusions

The IODS technology provides a global infrastructure and control mechanisms for global operations and integration of' aerospace and of air traffic management systems through a networking architecture of the integrated operational decision support systems.

It synchronizes global operations through integrated, operational decision support for airports, airlines, pilots and controllers.

It automates the allocation of,lobal resources and the control of global traffic follows and of 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights through IODS systems and their communications through satellites. It automates the control of conflict-free use of global air space-time and airport resources. It secures the conflict-free planning for global air traffic.

The IODS technology of future global I3ODS infrastructure and the IODS global control mechanisms show the way of implementing major innovations and of meeting the current and future challenges. * S

The work makes major contribution to operational research regarding future global air traffic * : . . * management system. It desi ns the new global processes and control mechanisms of the *: integrated operational decision support technology for aerospace and air traffic management systems and for control of allocation and of conflict-free use of global air space-time and airport resources. S. * *.S.

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The work makes contribution to engineering of integration and synchronization of systems and global operations through integrated, operational decision support for airports, airlines, pilots and controllers. It puts forward thc conflict-free planning policy for global air traffic. Its puts forward the automation of allocation of global resources and of control of global traffic via 4D end-to-end trajectories of flights through IODS technology and communications through satellites. * * * S.. S... * . S...

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Claims

Application No. GB 0413593.5 Claims: 1) New global mechanisms and their

parallel and simultaneous processes controlling the allocation and the conflict-free use of airport rcsources and global air space-time via embedded new functional and new technical aspects of a new global networking infrastructure of integrated new operational ground systems automating the planning and the monitoring of global traffic flows and four dimensional trajectories of flights 2) New processes according claim 1 controlling four dimensional trajectories of flights without interferences of air traffic controllers in real-time.

3) New processes according claim 1 obviating the need of a division of the global air space-time in national/regional control sectors and thus obviating the possibilities of safety hazards in border areas.

4) New processes according claim I planning global traffic flows and allocation of resources to end-to-end frajectones of flights.

5) New processes according claim I controlling the allocation of global air space-time and airports resources and obviating occurrence of congestions (in the air or on the ground) at airports, thus improving the efficiency of global operations and of use of the existing capacity of air space-time and of the airports.

6) New processes according claim 1 obviating the need of booking flights in advance.

7) New processes according claim 1 obviating the need of dividing the airspace in oceanic and domestic areas and of different control system for these areas.

8) New teclmical aspects of global networking infrastructure of new integrated systems implementing global control mechanisms according claim 1.

9) New technical aspects of global networking infrastructure according claim 7 and 8 establishing new simultaneous and direct channels of communications between 1. integrated ground systems, II. integrated ground systems and on-board equipment of aircraft, III. integrated ground systems and terminals of airports, IV. integrated ground systems and terminals of airlines.

9) New global control mechanisms according claim I and new technical aspects of global networking infrastructure according claim 7, 8 and 9 obviating current systems and communications between regional /national flight centres, airports and airlines.