WO2015124446A1

WO2015124446A1 - Method and system for transmitting data in an aircraft

Info

Publication number: WO2015124446A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/052544
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gérard BOUCOURT; Laurent GROUX; Jean Charles BERNIER; Martial GRIMM; Jacques TRAN
Original assignee: Latecoere
Priority date: 2014-02-18
Filing date: 2015-02-06
Publication date: 2015-08-27
Also published as: FR3017758A1; FR3017758B1

Abstract

The invention proposes to facilitate communication in an aircraft between the portable devices of the air crew and those of the passengers, in particular for the transfer of video data. For this purpose, the invention provides an open network architecture capable of optimising the transmission of data coming from sources linked to the network. According to one embodiment, the system for transmitting data between sources (4, 5, 6) in the aircraft and portable devices of passengers (2) installed in the cabin (21) comprises a network architecture (1) consisting of a server (11) connected to a plurality of access points (12a,..., 12n) by a main Ethernet connection cable (7). The server (11) is also connected to the data sources (4, 5, 6), and the access points (12a,..., 12n) are connected wirelessly to the portable devices of the passengers (2) and the air crew (3) of the aircraft. The Ethernet cable (7) forms a data-exchange bus for exchanging data between the portable devices (2, 3) and the data sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52).

Description

TRANSMISSION METHOD AND SYSTEM

DATA ON BOARD AN AIRCRAFT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND STATE OF THE ART

The invention relates to a method for transmitting data, in particular but not exclusively, for transmitting video or photographic images between data sources, portable equipment of cabin crew on board an aircraft and those passengers of the aircraft, and a system for implementing such a method.

The field of the invention is that of wireless data transmission in an aircraft. Today, aircraft can be equipped with communication systems to provide services, information and entertainment media to passengers. For example, patent document EP 2 068 401 describes an in-flight entertainment system using radio communication between a server and terminals arranged near the passenger seats of an aircraft cabin.

In this document, the communication is performed by a connection cable between the server and routers or wireless access points (WAP in English terminology) and wirelessly between the WAP, arranged in the cabin, and passenger terminals. WAPs and terminals respectively have wireless network interface circuits and receive antennas for establishing radio communication. This communication uses a wireless local area network in a given frequency band. However, such systems do not allow communication between portable equipment controlled by aircrew - technical flight crew or PNT and commercial cabin crew or PNC - and portable equipment held by passengers. These devices are so-called smart electronic devices and hereinafter called PED (initials of "personal electronic device" in English terminology) as telephones smart phones (smartphones in English terminology), tablets (touchpad in English terminology) or connected watches.

Such portable equipment can communicate data across multiple applications on various media: videos, photographs, location on maps or videos / photographs, videoconferences, documentation and various records, etc. This communication is carried out on the ground via the Internet network.

[0006] However, the current systems that equip the aircraft do not make it possible to use all this range of applications include the PNC / PNT equipment and the passenger equipment, nor to integrate the existing parallel communication systems between the members of the aircraft. the crew and the PNT / PNC. These parallel systems use clean networks, each system having its access protocol. In addition, the redundancy of wireless systems decreases network performance, complicates security applications, and increases the size and weight of the aircraft.

Other brakes for use in aircraft portable equipment held by passengers exist: the prohibition of their use during the take-off and landing phases, non-stabilized shots during takeoff phases / landing / turbulence, shooting poor quality with passenger equipment (presence of a window or copying a terminal screen), or insufficient bandwidth of communication networks to remain compatible with the number of users and the diversity of services that can be offered.

STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION

The invention proposes to promote the communication on board an aircraft between the various portable equipment PNC / PNT personnel and those of passengers, especially for the transfer of video or photographic type data, while allowing any type of data transmission in a network of minimum weight and space. To do this, the invention provides an open network architecture capable of optimizing the transmission of data from sources related to the network between portable equipment PNC / PNT personnel and those of passengers. As such, the present invention more specifically relates to a data transmission method, in particular image transmission between data sources, portable equipment cabin crew PNC commercial or technical PNT and portable equipment passengers of the aircraft installed in a passenger cabin of the aircraft. In this method, the data transmission to the portable passenger equipment is performed wirelessly from access points distributed in the passenger cabin. These access points are connected to a server by a communication bus to form a network architecture and the data sources, in particular image data, are connected to the server to supply this network. On request of a passenger equipment having acquired an application capable of connecting it to the network, and after transmission of a network identification message provided by the application and validated by the server, data from at least the one of the sources is transmitted to said passenger equipment by a reverse path via the server, the Ethernet bus and the access point as close as possible to said passenger equipment.

According to a preferred mode of implementation, the passenger acquires the application by an acquisition acquisition and download before takeoff of the aircraft. PNC / PNT personnel equipment is configured with the application well before take-off, or permanently. Data sources are recorded and an automatic montage of videos from the connection sources of his equipment on a website capturing images is set up. On valid request of the passenger equipment, these images are recorded on the passenger equipment via the network.

According to advantageous characteristics: the server acquires the data streams from the sources, in particular the image sources, for routing them via the Ethernet bus to the various access points and the portable passenger equipment using a distribution function. communication protocols; - the protocol distribution function is dynamic host configuration type or DHCP (initials of "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol" in English terminology) to distribute IP addresses to portable equipment;

the broadcasting of the data streams can be chosen between two types of IP address for a point-to-point or unicast broadcast, namely an IP address by portable equipment, and a multicast or multicast distribution, namely an IP address covering a set equipment;

- the server can save data from sources and portable equipment; the server transmits on / off commands to the access points, in particular according to the phases of flight and turbulence or other incidents of theft, and receives in response the status of these access points;

a connection between a network access point dedicated to the remote portable equipment, located outside the aircraft, and an external server can provide previously secured data (for example by validation by appropriate software filtering), in particular data from image, to these remote portable equipment via the Ethernet bus, the dedicated access point and the external server;

- A bidirectional data distribution is performed by the Ethernet bus to record image data provided by the passenger equipment and / or crew equipment.

The invention also relates to a data transmission system between sources of an aircraft and portable equipment of passengers in the cabin. The system includes a data network architecture consisting of a server connected to a plurality of access points by an Ethernet type main link cable arranged in an upper space of the passenger cabin. The server is also connected to data sources, for example other Ethernet link cables. The access points are connected by a wireless link to the portable equipment of the passengers and aircrew of the aircraft, the portable passenger equipment being able to connect via a communication protocol. The Ethernet cable forms a bus for the purpose of exchanging data between portable passenger equipment, navigable portable equipment and data sources.

According to a preferred embodiment, the data sources are chosen from sources of navigation data of the aircraft secured by validation, image capture cameras having a goal of direct access to the surrounding space. the aircraft, and databases capable of providing complementary information or images.

[0015] According to advantageous characteristics:

the access points are connected to the portable equipment by wireless communication chosen between a radiofrequency link on a WIFI band via interface circuits and antennas, and a link in a frequency band of visible light by modulation of amplitude of type LIFI;

the Ethernet bus is connected to at least one mobile medium for recording data from at least one portable passenger equipment and distributing this data on request to other portable equipment. PRESENTATION OF FIGURES

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows and which relates to a detailed embodiment, with reference to the appended figures which represent, respectively: FIG. 1, a schematic example of an aircraft communication system comprising a partly wireless network architecture according to the invention for portable equipment;

FIGS. 2a to 2c, an example of steps of acquisition of the application, recording of the sources and access to the data by a portable passenger equipment according to the invention;

FIG. 3, a schematized exemplary variant of the communication system according to FIG. 1, comprising a cable network architecture for a mobile data recording medium coming from a portable passenger equipment, and

- Figure 4, a schematic example of radio frequency link between a remote portable equipment, located outside the aircraft, to receive the data according to the communication method of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The example of communication system in an aircraft according to Figure 1 comprises a network architecture 1 (hereinafter the "network") between, on the one hand, portable equipment 2 passengers - installed in a cabin passenger 21 - and portable equipment 3 PNC cabin crew or technical PNT and, on the other hand, data sources, namely in the example: a camera 4 of shooting type "landscape"("landscape" In English terminology), prerecorded resource units 5 and a database 6. The portable equipment may be PEDs, tablets, connectable watches or glasses and the camera 4 advantageously has a direct access objective. space surrounding the plane. The network 1 is composed of a server 1 1 connected to a plurality of access points 12a, ..., 12n, n being adapted to the length of the cabin, distributed in line on the upper face of the cabin 21. These access points 12a, 12n have interface circuits and antennas (not shown) for making an RF radio connection on a WIFI band between a device. portable 2 or 3 and the access point located closest to this equipment. Alternatively, a connection in a spectral band visible by amplitude modulation LIFI type with a defined protocol can be implemented.

A main Ethernet type connecting cable 7 connects the access points 12a, ..., 12n to the server 1 1 on which are connected the data sources or other Ethernet cables, for example in the case of the camera 4 or the resource units 5, either by simple wiring as for the database 6. Of course, the camera 4, the resource units 5 and the network are powered by the aircraft's electrical system. . The portable passenger equipment 2 then connect to the network 1 via a communication protocol on the bus formed by the Ethernet cable 7 to exchange data between the portable passenger equipment 2, the portable equipment 3 cabin crew PNC / PNT and the data sources 4, 5 or 6. Advantageously, the data sources can also be sources of aircraft navigation data, for example video streams in terms of payload ("payload" in English terminology). These flows make information about the flight directly accessible to passengers, and this information is previously secured by validation by the PNC / PNT staff, as well as by software filtering. Thus, upon request of a passenger equipment 2 having acquired the application capable of connecting it to the network 1, and after transmission of a network identification message 1 (known by the abbreviated name SSID) provided by the application and validated by the server 1 1, data from at least one of the sources 4, 5 or 6 are transmitted to said passenger equipment 2 by routing via the server 1 1, the Ethernet bus 7 and the point d access located closest to said passenger equipment 2.

Figures 2a to 2c illustrate an example of implementation of the invention by the application acquisition steps, source registration and access to data by a portable passenger equipment 2. [0023] With reference to FIG. 2a, the future passenger user acquires the communication application 10 (hereinafter "the application") by a connection of his portable equipment 2 on an acquisition website 20 of this application. application 10 by purchase and download before takeoff of the aircraft. The equipment PNC / PNT personnel are already configured with the application 10, preferably from the implementation of any new application. The means for recording the data sources - aircraft data source 51 or other data sources 52 (data provided by dedicated applications, for example "MAP VISION", DVB-T2 or an equivalent standard) in the illustrated example of FIG. 1 - and automatic editing of the video provided by cameras 41 to 43 - of the same type as the camera 4 - are activated at the server 1 1 before take-off of the aircraft 30 (FIG. 2b ).

As illustrated by FIG. 2c, after take-off of the aircraft 30 and on request of the application 10 triggered by a passenger equipment 2 - and validated by a navigating equipment 3 - the images recorded on the server 1 1 ( Figure 2b) are transmitted to the passenger equipment 2 via the network 1 and RF radio frequency, for example in the WIFI frequency band already mentioned. The radio frequency links are bidirectional between the network 1 and the equipment 2 and 3. The server 1 1 having the data streams from the aircraft data sources 51, other sources 52, here a database "MAP VISION ", And shots from cameras 41 to 43 (Figure 2b), he directs them via the Ethernet bus 7 to the various access points and the passenger portable equipment 2 located closest, with the help of a function of distribution of communication protocols.

The protocol distribution function is dynamic host configuration type or DHCP (initials of "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol" in English terminology) and distributes IP addresses to portable equipment 2 passengers and 3 flying (Figure 1). In the example, the broadcasting of the data streams is a point-to-point or unicast broadcast, namely by portable equipment 2. Alternatively, multicast or multicast, ie for a set of equipment according to a global IP address, can be used.

The server 1 1 can then advantageously transmit on / off commands 100 (Figure 1) to the access points 12a, 12n, depending on the flight phase - especially "stop" transmission during the takeoff phases , landing and turbulence or other incidents of the flight -, and receives in response the status of these access points 101.

According to a variant of the communication system, illustrated by FIG.

3, the server 1 1 is connected to a mobile support 8 via the Ethernet bus 7. This mobile support 8 is able to record data from a portable equipment 2 or 3 by connecting to this equipment or to provide data from from server 1 to equipment 2 or 3.

The bidirectional data distribution performed by the Ethernet bus 7 can record data provided by the passenger equipment 2 and the equipment of flight personnel 3, for example additional image data recorded on these equipment before takeoff. This data can then be distributed on request to other portable equipment 2 or 3.

[0030] With reference to the particular embodiment of FIG. 4, an off-plane connection is provided. This link is made by RF radiofrequency between a remote portable equipment 2a - located outside the aircraft - and the dedicated access point 12n, via an external server 14 located outside the aircraft and near the remote equipment 2a . The data provided is previously filtered (by any known means, in particular by appropriate software) for security reasons: the confidential information concerning the aircraft and the flight are thus withheld at source. Image data can then be transmitted to this remote equipment 2a from the server 1 1, after receiving the connection protocol data from this equipment 2a, via the distribution of bidirectional data of the Ethernet bus 7, the dedicated access point 12n and the external server 14.

The invention is not limited to the examples described or shown. For example, it is possible to switch the communication in automatic mode at any time by the on-board personnel, for example in the event of turbulence, in the event of an unplanned landing or for any reason imposed by the circumstances. It is also possible to plan a video conference to start data communication, either one-way (PNC cabin crew announcement) or bidirectional (PNC / PNT specific passenger requests). A videoconference between PNC and PNT staff can also be organized. After having acquired the data flow coming from the PNC / PNT personnel equipment, the server interrupts the current broadcast to transmit this stream to the passenger equipments. Thus, the different communication systems can be shared in one. The diffusion of point-to-point or multicast data streams can be implemented with or without digital protection.

Moreover, it is also possible to provide for the selection of different presentation channels - vertical camera, horizontal, different formats - in the automatic editing of the video, in real time or delayed mode. The dissemination of information remains open to any type of data: documentation (magazine on the airline company, airport and aircraft data, tourism, etc.), information from pilots or flight crew (videos with audio channel, presentation of products, etc.). Other services may be added without modification of the communication system according to the invention.

In particular, good quality videos relating to taxi, take-off and take-off will be available later, while it is forbidden until now to take pictures during these critical phases. Cameras can be implanted with a forward, downward or the tail empennage. The videos can include pre-recorded sequences (advertising, report on the city / country of destination, etc.) or inlays provided by the passengers (portraits of passengers, personal items, etc.).

The invention allows a large number of applications relating to the preparation of travel (airport, rental car park, hotel, etc.), the transport apparatus (history, characteristics), the services available concerning the real-time or deferred cameras, geolocation, cabin management and security: communications, location of passengers by a QR code, detection of equipment turned on during critical phases (taxi, take-off, landing, turbulence), entertainment (network games, cockpit simulator), or social exchanges (local social network, request for grouping for transport on arrival, complaints, suggestion box, etc.).

Claims

1. A method of transmitting data between data sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52), portable equipment (3) PNC commercial cabin crew or PNT technical and portable equipment (2) cabin-mounted aircraft passengers (21), said method being characterized in that the transmission of image capture data from the space surrounding the aircraft and other data to the portable passenger equipment (2) is performed by wireless connection from access points (12a, 12n) distributed in the passenger cabin (21), these access points (12a, 12n) being connected to a server (1 1) by a communication bus (7) to form a network architecture (1), in that the image capture sources (4; 41,42,43) of the directly accessible space surrounding the aircraft and other data (5,6 51, 52) are connected to the server (1 1) to feed this network (1), and in that, at the request of an equipment t passenger (2) having acquired an application (10) capable of connecting it to the network (1), and after transmission of a network identification message (1) provided by the application (10) and validated by the server (1 1), data from at least one of the sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52) are transmitted to said passenger equipment (2) by a reverse path via the server (1 1), the communication bus (7) and the access point (12a, 12n) as close as possible to said passenger equipment (2). ).

A method of data transmission according to claim 1, wherein the passenger acquires the application (10) by a connection of his equipment (2) on an acquisition website (20) by purchase and download before the take-off of the aircraft, wherein data sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52) are recordable and an automatic video editing from the image capture sources is set up and wherein , on valid request of the passenger equipment (2), these images are recorded on the passenger equipment (2) via the network (1).

A data transmission method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the server (1 1) acquires the data streams from the sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52). ), in particular image sources, for routing them via the communication bus (7) to the different access points (12a, 12n) and the portable passenger equipment (2) by means of a function of distribution of communication protocols.

The data transmission method according to the preceding claim, wherein the protocol distribution function is of the dynamic host configuration or DHCP type for distributing IP addresses to the portable equipment (2, 3).

A data transmission method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the broadcasting of the data streams can be selected between two types of IP address for point-to-point or unicast broadcast, namely an IP address per equipment. portable (2), and multicast or multicast, ie an IP address covering a set of equipment (2).

A data transmission method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the server (1 1) stores data from the sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52) and equipment portable (2, 3).

A data transmission method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the server (1 1) transmits on / off commands (100, 101) to the access points (12a, 12n), and receives response the status of these access points (12a, 12n).

A data transmission method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a connection between an access point (12n) of the network (1) dedicated to remote portable equipment (2a), located outside the aircraft, and an external server (14) provides previously secured data, particularly image data to these remote portable equipment (2a) via the communication bus (7), the dedicated access point (12n) and the external server (14).

A data transmission method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a bi-directional data distribution is performed by the communication bus (7) to record image data provided by the passenger equipment (2). and / or flight crew equipment (3).

10. System for transmitting data between sources (4, 5, 6, 41, 42, 43, 51, 52) of an aircraft and portable passenger equipment (2) installed in the cabin (21), capable of implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this system comprises a data transmission network architecture (1), composed of a server (1 1) connected to a plurality of access points (12a, 12n) by a main connecting cable (7) arranged in an upper space of the passenger cabin (21), in that the server (1 1) is also connected to image capture cameras (4; 41, 42, 43) having an objective of direct access to the space surrounding the aircraft and to other data sources (5, 6; 51, 52), in that the access points (12a, 12n) are connected by a wireless link to the portable equipment of the passengers (2) and flight crew (3) of the aircraft, the portable equipment the passengers (2) being able to connect via a communication protocol, and in that the cable (7) forms a communication bus intended to allow data exchanges between the portable passenger equipment (2), the flying portable equipment (3) and data sources (4, 5, 6; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52).

1 1. Data transmission system according to the preceding claim, in which the access points (12a, 12n) are connected to the portable equipment (2, 3) by wireless communication chosen between a radiofrequency link over a WIFI band via circuit boards. interface and antennas, and a link in a frequency band visible light amplitude modulation LIFI type.

A data transmission system according to claim 10, wherein the communication bus (7) is connected to at least one mobile medium (8) for recording data from at least one portable passenger equipment (2) and distributing this data on request to other portable equipment (2, 2a, 3).