Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to regional, national, or global aviation route charging using satellites.

Background of the invention

The costs of air traffic management (ATM) services (infrastructure, staff and other operational costs) are in many countries funded through air navigation charges. ATM services are funded through the "user pays principle".

There are different sorts of air navigation charges: route charges, terminal navigation charges, and communication charges.

The route charge is often calculated by reference of an aircraft weight factor, a distance factor and a unit rate of charge (for each charging zone, such as a Flight Information Region (FIR)). The result obtained when multiplying these three elements is the route charge per charging zone. This operation must be repeated for each charging zone concerned by the flight.

However, the distance factor is based on the flight route in the flight plans, but often, major deviations occur when the flight is actually taking place.

Furthermore, the flight plans may not be created, or may not reach the state in time, or at all, for the state to enforce the route charge.

It is therefore desirable to provide a route charge system, and a method for enforcing route charging, which can estimate the route of an individual flight without the use of flight plans.

Summary of the invention

Today, aircrafts are tracked with primary (PSR) and secondary (SSR) surface radars. In areas without radar coverage, the pilots have to fly according to procedural flight rules. Recently, with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) it has become possible to track air transport aircraft also with ADS-B ground stations complementary to radars. The ADS-B signals are not directed to a specific receiver but rather can be received by any receiver within reach of the broadcast transmitter and technically capable of receiving the signals.

The principle of ADS-B is the automatic, periodic and unaddressed broadcast of existing on-board data by each aircraft equipped with appropriate transmitters. Data to be broadcast can be, e.g. position, altitude, speed vector, intent, and/or call sign of the aircraft, or the aircraft class, etc. The data broadcast is mostly performed at the aviation frequency of 1090 MHz. The broadcast data can be received at ADS-B ground stations, which monitor this frequency and extract the Mode-S 1090 MHz.

An alternative technology for broadcast of ADS-B signal is the Universal Access Transceiver operating at 978MHz.

One aspect of the present invention relates to the use of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, ADS-B, Monitoring for regional, national, or global aviation route charging;

wherein the ADS-B signal, emitted by an aircraft, is received by one or more satellites. Using satellites solves the problem in areas without radar coverage or in areas without coverage provided by terrestrial ADS-B receiving stations. In one or more embodiments, the ADS-B signal emitted by an aircraft, comprising information regarding said aircraft, is used to estimate the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace, and wherein the estimated time period is used to calculate the route charge of said airspace.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method for performing regional, national, or global aviation route charging, comprising the steps of: - using an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Signal, ADS-B signal, emitted by an aircraft, for estimating the time period said individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace;

wherein the ADS-B signal, emitted by said aircraft, is received by one or more satellites.

Using satellites solves the problem in areas without radar coverage or in areas without coverage provided by terrestrial ADS-B receiving stations.

In one or more embodiments, the ADS-B signal emitted by an aircraft comprises information regarding the aircrafts position, speed, and direction; wherein the aircrafts position, speed, and direction is combined with a mapping of the borders of individual regions or countries to estimate the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace; wherein the estimated time period is used to calculate the route charge of said airspace.

There may be situations where the satellite coverage of an individual aircrafts actual flight route within a specific airspace may be incomplete. In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100% (or incomplete), the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from an earlier flight route of said aircraft within said airspace. The data from the earlier flight route is thereby used to fill-in the gaps of the present flight route.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100% (or incomplete), the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including average data from earlier flight routes of said aircraft within said airspace.

By using average data from earlier flight routes, the estimated flight route will statistically be closer to the actual flight route.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100% (or incomplete), the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from an earlier flight route of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100% (or incomplete), the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including average data from earlier flight routes of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the data from earlier flight routes comprises data from earlier ADS-B signals emitted by the aircrafts. In one or more embodiments, wherein when a first satellite's coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100% (or incomplete), the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from a second satellite's coverage of the same aircraft's flight route within the same airspace.

In various alternate arrangements and preferred embodiments, data transmission between individual satellites is performed for data qualifying parsing, assembling and/or distributed processing.

In one or more embodiments, the extracted information from the ADS-B signal is converted into an Air Traffic Control (ATC) standard protocol by the satellite, and forwarded to a ground station (ATC or other users). In one or more embodiments, the satellite is a low earth orbit satellite. A higher orbit would result in a weaker signal making the technical implementation more challenging.

A second aspect relates to a system for regional, national, or global aviation „ route charging comprising:

- one or more satellites adapted for receiving an ADS-B signal emitted by an aircraft;

- one or more ground stations adapted for receiving information from the one or more satellites;

wherein the one or more satellites and/or the one or more ground stations, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal, are configured to estimate the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace. In one or more embodiments, the one or more satellites and/or the one or more ground stations are configured to calculate the route charge for the individual aircraft based on the estimated time period the individual aircraft was present in a specific airspace. The route charge may be calculated by reference of an aircraft weight factor, a distance factor and a unit rate of charge; but may be calculated by any method known to the skilled person, as long as it includes the time period the individual aircraft was present in a specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the ADS-B signal emitted by an aircraft comprises information regarding the aircrafts position, speed, and direction; wherein the aircrafts position, speed, and direction is combined with a mapping of the borders of individual regions or countries to estimate the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace; wherein the estimated time period is used to calculate the route charge of said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from an earlier flight route of said aircraft within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including average data from earlier flight routes of said aircraft within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from an earlier flight route of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace. In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including average data from earlier flight routes of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when a first satellite's coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from a second satellite's coverage of the same aircraft's flight route within the same airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the data comprises data from earlier ADS-B signals emitted by the aircrafts.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when a first satellite's coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from a primary radar's coverage and/or a ground station's coverage of the same aircraft's flight route within the same airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from a primary radar's coverage and/or a ground station's coverage of an earlier flight route of said aircraft within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including average data from a primary radar's coverage and/or a ground station's coverage of earlier flight routes of said aircraft within said airspace.

In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including data from a primary radar's coverage and/or a ground station's coverage of an earlier flight route of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace. In one or more embodiments, wherein when the satellite coverage of an aircraft's flight route within a given airspace is less than 100%, the time period said aircraft is present in said airspace is estimated by including average data from a primary radar's coverage and/or a ground station's coverage of earlier flight routes of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace.

In various alternate arrangements and preferred embodiments, the system comprises multiple satellites, where data transmission is performed between individual satellites for data qualifying parsing, assembling and/or distributed processing.

In one or more embodiments, the (ground based) processing means are adapted to disseminate the calculated and/or estimated data to users. A third aspect relates to a satellite for regional, national, or global aviation route charging, the satellite comprising:

- a single or multiple ADS-B receivers for receiving an ADS-B signal emitted by an aircraft; and

- a processor programmed to estimate and/or calculate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal, the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace. In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises input means for inputting airspace border information into the processor; wherein the processor is programmed to estimate and/or calculate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal and the airspace border information, the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the input means comprises a database, preferably updatable, with information on airspace borders, data from an earlier flight route of said aircraft within the specific airspace, average data from earlier flight routes of said aircraft within the specific airspace, data from an earlier flight route within said airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline, data from an earlier flight route within the specific airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline, and/or average data from earlier flight routes within the specific airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline.

In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises input means for inputting data from an earlier flight route of said aircraft within the specific airspace into the processor; wherein the processor is programmed to estimate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal and the data from an earlier flight route of said aircraft within the specific airspace, the time period an individual aircraft is present within the specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises input means for inputting average data from earlier flight routes of said aircraft within said airspace into the processor; wherein the processor is programmed to estimate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal and the average data from earlier flight routes of said aircraft within the specific airspace, the time period an individual aircraft is present within the specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises input means for inputting data from an earlier flight route of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace into the processor; wherein the processor is programmed to estimate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal and the data from an earlier flight route of one or more aircrafts from the same airline within said airspace, the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises input means for inputting data from an earlier flight route within said airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline into the processor; wherein the processor is programmed to estimate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal and the data from an earlier flight route within said airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline, the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises input means for inputting average data from earlier flight routes within said airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline into the processor; wherein the processor is programmed to estimate, based on the information received in the ADS-B signal and the average data from earlier flight routes within said airspace of one or more aircrafts from the same airline, the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace.

In one or more embodiments, the processor is programmed to calculate the route charge for the individual aircraft based on the calculated and/or estimated time period the individual aircraft was present in a specific airspace. In one or more embodiments, the satellite is further adapted to broadcast the calculated and/or estimated time period, and/or calculated route charge to a ground station, a satellite and/or an aircraft.

In one or more embodiments, the satellite further comprises means adapted for rebroadcasting the received ADS-B signal to other satellites or to an aircraft as an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Rebroadcast, ADS- R.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a system for regional, national, or global aviation route charging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; and

Figure 2 shows the ASECNA FIRs covered by the low earth orbit satellites.

Detailed description of the invention

The Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa (ASECNA) is the organization in charge of managing the facilities and the services for transmitting AIS messages. ASECNA comprises 18 states members: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'lvoire, France, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad and Togo. The organization is in charge of collecting air navigation charges based on Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) and distance flown of aircrafts. Charge is collected only once for one flight performed inside one or several Flight Information Regions (FIR) inside the jurisdiction of ASECNA (similar procedure to EUROCONTROL through CRCO). However, it is estimated that about 50% of the flight plans will never reach ASECNA. Not only ASECNA has problems. The Western and Central African (WACAF) Office from ICAO through the AFI (African and Indian Ocean Region) Planning and Implementation Regional Group (APIRG) has been working to solve the problem of missing flight plans and its consequences, affecting their member states.

The general aspects of the invention are described in the following as a solution to their problems in regards to aviation route charging. The inventors have proposed to use real flight data, rather than flight plans, to calculate aviation route charging. This is possible by using the ADS-B signal emitted by an aircraft to estimate the time period an individual aircraft is present within a specific airspace. The estimated time period is then used to calculate the route charge of said airspace. Hence, the route charge of a specific aircraft within a given airspace is based on the information about the geographic position of the boundaries of the chargeable areas, and the information on speed and direction of the given aircraft.

In order to use real flight data, one will need access to the ADS-B signal within the airspace to be route charged. However, many oceanic and African Flight Information Regions (FIRs) are not reachable by terrestrial systems.

Therefore, the inventors have proposed to use satellites to access the ADS- B signal from the aircraft present in the airspace to be route charged.

Figure 2 shows the ASECNA FIRs covered by the low earth orbit satellites.

A schematic view of a system for regional, national, or global aviation route charging according to the present invention is shown in Figure 1.