JPH01500469A - Terrain map memory matrixing - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Suh Memory Matrixing 11 to i arc 11 Koiku 4 The invention generally generates warnings and advisory notices specific to the particular terrain that it passes through. A large number of discrete non-volatile semiconductor memory devices for storing terrain data used for Special regulations apply to devices used as warning or advisory notification devices for aircraft that use harpoons. Then, the memory of the whole group is zeroed by selectively energizing less than the total number of memories. terrain data that defines the terrain in the vicinity of the aircraft. method and apparatus for use at a given time only with preselected equipment, including It is something that

Nine flames” 11 Various devices that provide warning or advisory notification instructions in the event of hazardous flight conditions are publicly available. It is knowledge. Such equipment monitors the flight status of the aircraft and determines whether the flight status is relative to the ground. Aircraft ground contact to help provide warning in case of inadvertent contact is an emergency It is commonly known as a proximity alarm device. Flights monitored by such devices The status is radio altitude and radio wave speed, pressure altitude and pressure speed, flight speed and flaps. and gear position. Said parameters are monitored and said conditions, i.e. said parameters are If the relationship between parameters is such that a ground collision may occur, an advisory notice or warning may be issued. information will be generated. A typical example of such a device is.

U.S. Patent No. 3,715,7, all assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of this invention. No. 18, U.S. Patent No. 3936.796, U.S. Patent No. 3,958 , 218; U.S. Pat. No. 3,944.968.

U.S. Patent No. 3,947.808, U.S. Patent No. 3947.810 U.S. Patent No. 3,934,221; U.S. Patent No. 3,958,219; Specification.

U.S. Patent No. 3.925,751, U.S. Patent No. 3.934.222 , U.S. Patent No. 4.060,793, U.S. Patent No. 4.030.065 U.S. Pat. No. 4.215.334 and U.S. Pat. No. 4.319.21 It is disclosed in Specification No. 8.

While the aforementioned devices provide advisory notices and warning signals when approaching terrain, this devices generate warnings based primarily on aircraft flight conditions and do not use navigation information. stomach.

Therefore, the sensitivity of this device is critical regardless of the type of terrain the aircraft is flying over. dangerous flight conditions without generating false or noisy alarms when Must be adjusted as a compromise to provide adequate warning if present. 0 In order to optimize the warning criteria for various terrains, the warning criteria should be made as a function of the terrain. In one device, such adjustments must be made until the aircraft is in flight. by modifying the terrain alert envelope that is specific to a particular terrain area. is achieved. Such devices may be assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of this invention. Co-pending patent application number 061560 filed on December 9, 1983 ,073, now U.S. Patent Application No. 4.675,823.

In the last-mentioned device, global terrain data is stored in an individual device built into the aircraft. Stored in separate memory. An aircraft's navigation system determines the aircraft's position.0 position information is Specific information entered into the warning system and specific to the geographic area in which the aircraft is currently flying used to modify warning and advisory notification devices according to terrain data. voyage Since aircraft can fly anywhere in the world, terrain data of aircraft all over the world It is desirable to store in memory 0 the world is subdivided into smaller regions, Although terrain data is stored in a form that is optimized for each area, it still of memory storage space is required. Memory mapping of terrain used Therefore, a 10 megabit memory device is required. Each such device is .

During zero-input conditions, it consumes approximately 400 milliwatts, and with 10 devices it consumes approximately 4 watts. do. This represents a significant portion of the total power dissipated by the alarm device and is Significant to the power that can be dissipated by the processor and other devices that work with the memory. Give limits. Therefore, the warning criteria can be established or changed as a function of terrain data. Reduces memory power consumption used with aircraft advisory and warning systems that are updated There is a need to provide a device for reducing

2 to 11 to 11 It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an aerodynamic memory device which overcomes many of the drawbacks of prior art memory devices. An object of the present invention is to provide a memory device used for instrumentation of a machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide an aerial vehicle responsive to terrain data which overcomes the disadvantage of high power consumption. Its purpose is to provide memory used in the aircraft's warning and advisory notification systems.

Another object of this invention is to divide the world into three geographical regions.

Each area of memory in a specific way such that all of the following needs to be energized at a given time It consists in memory mapping.

Yet another object of the invention is to It consists in selectively activating the memory that corresponds to the physical domain.

Briefly, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, one world or relevant geography The scientific region is subdivided into regions1, which are divided into latitude bands and longitude bands. The data defining the topographical features of these areas are then further subdivided into six areas. data is mapped to a memory device within the aircraft. In a preferred embodiment, one The terrain data corresponding to the area is mapped to one memory of the memory device. subordinate So, when an aircraft is flying in a specific area.

Only specific memory is activated. Other memory containing data corresponding to other areas will be erased. effectively reducing its power consumption to zero. Therefore, the method at one particular time The power dissipation of all memory elements is essentially equal to the power dissipation of one memory, so Greatly reduces the load on the microprocessor.

Pa's t・ These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the detailed description below and the appendix. This becomes readily apparent by examining the drawings.

Figure 1 shows a world map divided into geographical regions by the device according to the invention. It is.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a memory device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an aircraft warning system using the present invention.

゛の・t- Although this invention is capable of many different variations, the drawings are described in detail herein. A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. However, this disclosure The present invention is limited to the specific embodiment illustrated in the drawings and is considered as illustrative of the principles of the invention. It is understood that they do not intend to do so.

Referring to Figure 1, one world or other related geographical area can be divided into multiple areas. divided. As shown in FIG. 1, sixteen separate regions are shown. child These areas are shown as rectangles of various sizes. These zones or The areas and their size determine which areas pose a danger to aircraft violating the airspace. Determine whether the alert envelope contains any terrain features that are possible or require modification of the alert envelope. 1 is selected by 1 as shown, the region is selected by For example, region 8 corresponds to 0-15° east longitude and north latitude bands. Corresponds to latitude 0-90°.

As can be seen from Figure 1, the nine worlds are an example of being divided into rectangular areas of various sizes. For example, having a number of closely related terrain features such as mountainous areas A zone or area is a geographical area that is smaller than the zone or area and is relatively flat. 0 As shown, the smallest area shown is 15 degrees long. It corresponds to region 5 consisting of degrees and latitudes of 45 degrees. The smallest longitude band is region 2 , 3, 4, 5, 6.8 and 9. The smallest latitudinal band is 0 world corresponding to a latitude of 30° as illustrated for region 12 is 16 Although shown divided into regions, the number of regions is limited by the breadth and scope of the invention. It's within. Additionally, the width or size of the longitude and latitude bands is shown in one diagram. may be smaller or larger than the Co-pending Application No. 0615 filed on December 9, 1983 60.

073, the longitude band is further subdivided into multiple zones, and these zones are It is further divided into regions. The size of a zone or area is a topographic feature of a geographic area. Depends on whether or not it requires changes in the alarm system.

The topographical data for each of the areas shown in Figure 1 are shown in Figure 2. General reference numeral 10 including a plurality of memories indicated by reference numeral 20 to be The memory is mapped to the memory device specified by. In a preferred embodiment, the first The terrain data corresponding to one area shown in the figure is stored in 16 memories (the actual area shown in the figure). In the example, reference numbers are given as 20-1 to 20-16). will be processed. Therefore, the memory elements 20-1 to 20-16 are located at the locations shown in FIG. Terrain data corresponding to each of the physical areas 1 to 16 is stored. illustrated As shown, there are 16 memories. however.

Notes on dividing the world into specific geographical areas and also the number of divisions used For example, the number of elements increases or decreases. For example, the topographical data for the whole world Rather than mapping data to memory devices within the aircraft, If this has not been done, in such instances it is important to Only areas need to be mapped. The topographic data that defines this specific area is For example, between 1 and 10 days of memory is required.

Such conditions are also within the breadth and scope of this invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a plurality of memories 20. switch 30 and decoder 40 As shown, each memory has a capacity of 1 megabit. There is.

To access the 1 million memory locations available within each such memory, At least a 20-bit address from the microprocessor (not shown) need to use. Using less than 20 bit addresses will take up storage space in each memory. make some of the addresses non-addressable. Therefore, the 16 memories shown each of which is connected to 20 address lines of a microprocessor (not shown). In the illustrated device, this requires at least a 20-bit address, so this , a 24-bit address bus and a 32-bit address bus such as the Motorola M68000. Requires a 16-bit microprocessor with a host address register. subordinate Thus, 20 of the 24 address lines access all available memory locations. The 20 address lines must be connected to each of the memories to give the memory Only the lines connected to 20-13 are shown, but the address line of 20 It should be understood that the memory is connected to each of the memories.

If volatile memory is used, whenever the memory is powered down, Since a large amount of terrain data will be lost, the memory shown in Figure 1 must be non-volatile. Also, the geographic features must remain relatively constant and the occurrence of natural disasters Read-only memory (ROM) only changes with the erection of man-made structures. ) are used for the separate memory shown in FIG. programmable re Code-only memory (PR, OM), UV erasable FROM (EPROM>, A variety of devices including electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) Can be used as 0. This invention is conventionally known as a hidden RAM. Applicable to things. Hidden RAM is volatile, but non-volatile like EPROM Random access memory with ephemeral backup. The term ROM comes later. ROM, PROM, It should be understood that it includes EPROM, EEPROM and hidden RAM. Ru.

Each ROM 20 has multiple pins for making input/output connections with devices. This pin One of the ports is used to apply power to the device. This pin is shown in Figure 2. , P.0 As shown, each pin P of the ROM is Switch 30. Preferably, it is connected to a FET switch. Also, the ROM The power supply required for proper operation is connected to each switch. 5V DC power supply is shown ing.

As mentioned above, the energized ROM is in a zero input state.

Each dissipates approximately 400 milliwatts or more of power. For the device shown in Fig. 2 , this results in a total power dissipation of approximately 6.4 Watts for 16 memory elements. child That's it.

Can be safely dissipated within the implementation limits of a 2MCU size alarm computer Approximately 1/3 of the total power.

This severely limits the design.

In the device, each element is individually energized and the others are disconnected from the power supply. For example, if the aircraft is flying in region 4, only memory 4 will be energized. It will be done.

The remaining memory is completely disconnected from the power supply by switch 30. The aircraft is Since only one region is flying at a time, this means that only one memory is attached at a time. Direct what needs to be encouraged. Therefore, the maximum power dissipation of all memory devices is Limited to one memory. In the case shown, this means 16 engagements. reduced in number.

Each memory 20 is addressed as required. 1 megapix) and memory usage. As previously mentioned, a minimum of 20 address lines are available in each memory. all storage locations need to be addressed. This is 24 pitsu)...address at least 16 bits with bus and 32 bit address registers Requires chloroprocessor. 20 address lines address storage locations in memory. This means that all 4 address lines can be used to address individual memory addresses. be used to specify the address. 20 lower address line 1, for example A 1-A20 is combined with nine individual memories 20 and accesses storage locations within these memories. Used to dress.

The remaining address lines can be used to address specific memory elements .

Typically, a ROM has multiple chip select (C3) inputs that are mask programmable. have power. What this means is that the purchaser must set each chip select input to “1”. Alternatively, it can be specified to respond to "0". Therefore, appropriate 1 and When a combination of 0's is applied to the C8 input, a particular R, OM is selected. ad The upper address lines 1 of the bus, for example A, 24 to A, 20, correspond to 7 individual memories. 6.1 individual notes as known to those skilled in the art used to address To specify the address of the chip, select the chip select input appropriately and set it to the upper address. This is done by joining to a line. So, by the microprocessor Only one memory element is selected for a particular address given to the address bus. addressable.

In conventional devices, all memory elements are typically

Always energized. According to the invention, one for selectively energizing individual memories 20; There are several other methods. One such other method is chip select and The first step is to handle each of the switches 30 using the same method. Each switch 30.

For each memory element, as described above, the upper address line is connected along with the chip select input. is combined with one of the Therefore, in order to select one particular memory 20, I! i is right A combination of chip selections is given to that memory and connects that memory with a power supply Switch 30 is energized.

Other embodiments include selecting the switch 30 and thus selecting the memory 20. A 4 to 16 bit line decoder 40 such as the Roller MC14514B is used. child A decoder such as the generates high power on one of the outputs. In this example, 4 The two upper address lines are inputs to decoder 40. 16 output boats Each is connected to a single switch 30.

control it. A particular one of the switches 30 is suitable for the four-person power of the decoder 40. For example, if the binary address of 1101 is If applied to the input of decoder 40, memory element 20-13 will be energized. Dew.

Switch 30 can be implemented in a wide variety of commercial equipment. one like this The device is a solid state switch such as the Motorola MC14066B. illustrated As shown, such a device has three terminals, namely input terminals 31. Output 32 ends and a control terminal 33. A logic "1" at the control terminal 33 indicates that the switch Turn on.

A logic "0" at control terminal 33 turns the switch off.

The new memory device can be adapted for use in many systems. One such scene The stem is shown in FIG. In Figure 3, the longitude and latitude of the aircraft are shown. The signal is received from the aircraft's navigation device 42 . These signals are shown in Figure 3. A location logic circuit identified as logic block 44 is provided. This location search The search logic circuit is based on the above-mentioned co-pending application filed on December 9, 1983. No. 061560,073. In such a device, Terrain data is stored in a memory device in longitude and latitude. in general.

The location logic circuit uses the current longitude band to determine the longitude band in which the aircraft is currently located. individual longitude data and preselected longitude bands stored in memory. Compare.

9 position search logic then uses the latitude data to locate the aircraft's current latitude band. 2. Compare data to preselected latitude bands. Therefore, corresponding to the current position of the aircraft Next, the terrain data corresponding to the current aircraft position is determined. A signal representing the memory device 10 is applied to the memory device 10 . According to a novel aspect of this invention: Only one memory corresponding to the current aircraft position is selected and activated, thus A unique memory device for use with an aircraft warning and advisory notification device is disclosed. It is clear that there are. memory device for mapping terrain data and The method is easily adaptable to traditional design practices and standard manufacturing parts. Furthermore, this Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing. There are other examples, modifications and variations. Therefore, it is the elaboration of the attached claims. Covers God and all such other embodiments, modifications and variations extensively. It is intended to

international search report

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. Control or control the vehicle depending on the location of the vehicle to reduce memory power consumption. or for memory mapping terrain data for use with warning systems. The law is (a) dividing the topographic map into multiple areas; and (b) dividing one of the multiple memories. a step of associating it with a specific area; (c) Mapping terrain data associated with a specific area into one or more memories (d) a single region of said region to reduce memory power consumption; selectively energizing only the associated one or more memories; A memory mapping method for terrain data consisting of. 2. The terrain data according to claim 1, wherein the predefined area comprises the earth. memory mapping method. 3. The terrain data according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of regions correspond to 16 regions. memory mapping method for data. 4. Said areas are defined by their corresponding longitudes and latitudes; The memory mapping method for terrain data as described in item 1. 5. 2. A memory for terrain data according to claim 1, wherein said area is not equal to an area. Mapping method. 6. For latitudes greater than or equal to 0°N, as is for latitudes less than 0°S. A topographical data mem- ule according to claim 1, in which there is an equal number of associated memories. Mori mapping method. 7. For use with transport control and alarm equipment depending on the location of the transport A method for memory mapping terrain data for a geographical area of interest And, (a) dividing the geographical area into a plurality of geometric shapes; (b) correlating each shape with a separate memory; (c) topographical data correlating each said area contained within each geometrical shape; a step of mapping to the relevant memory; (d) to reduce quiescent power consumption for that memory or individual memories; selectively energizing each individual memory to A memory mapping method for terrain data consisting of. 8. The memo of terrain data according to claim 7, wherein the geometrical shape is a rectangle. Remapping method. 9. 9. The memory for terrain data according to claim 8, wherein the rectangles have different sizes. Mapping method. 10. each having a power connection extending therefrom and a predetermined number of memory devices; a device coupled to said power connection for selectively energizing a memory device; memory device to reduce memory power consumption. 11. 11. The memory device according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined number is less than or equal to the total number of memories. Place. 12. 11. The memory device according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined number is one. 13. The power consumption of the plurality of memories at zero input is approximately zero. The memory device according to scope 10. 14. The power consumption during the operation of the plurality of memories is based on all of the individual memories. 11. The memory device of claim 10 having a power consumption approximately equal to or less than the total power consumption of the memory device of claim 10. . 15. (a) a plurality of individual memories each adapted to receive power; (b) said approximate number adapted to selectively couple individual memory elements to a power supply; a switching device coupled with a discrete memory; Reduced for use with aircraft control and warning equipment depending on aircraft location with A memory device storing terrain data with reduced power consumption. 16. the switch for selectively addressing one or more memory elements; 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising an addressing device combined with a addressing device. memory device. 17. Claim 1, wherein the memory element comprises a read-only memory (ROM). 16. The memory device according to item 15. 18. Claim in which the memory element comprises a programmable ROM, i.e. a PROM. 16. The memory device according to item 15. 19. In the claimed invention, the memory element comprises an ultraviolet erasable PROM (EPROM). The memory device according to scope 15. 20. Claim wherein the memory element comprises an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM). 16. The memory device according to item 15. 21. (a) a plurality of memory elements having a power connection for receiving a power source; (b) each coupled to a discrete memory element and said power supply, and selectively coupled to said power supply; a plurality of switches adapted to be combined; (c) cooperating with said plurality of switches and operating one or more switches in response to a predetermined input; a selection device for selecting; with mapped memory for terrain data with reduced power consumption device to do. 22. The selection device is for selecting a switch in response to a predetermined input thereto. claim 1, comprising a decoder device having an input port and an output port. 22. The device according to item 21.