Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an avionic central control computer which is designed to control target detection and weapon, electronic warfare, navigation, tactical data transmission and communication systems integrated on an aircraft, to perform mission and flight management, to manage display presentation and to supervise all information exchange on the platform from a single center.

Background of the Invention In applications known in the state of the art, the management of the avionic and weapon systems are provided via distributed architecture. Within this scope, target detection and weapon, electronic warfare, navigation, tactical data transmission and communication system are communicated through defined data buses via more than one computer. In addition to this, these applications do not have open architecture hardware and software design.

Realizing target platform (helicopter, plane, etc.) functions in distributed architecture design is controlled by more than one unit. In this case, the synchronization and the back-up statuses of the controlling units make the system architecture complicated. Furthermore, the control of the messages and statuses of the sensors and other units coming from the platform by the discrete computers increases the platform cable connection and weight.

In design of distributed architecture, more units should be backed up during maintenance/repair stage. Hardware/software changes in more than one unit are required in order to realize the functions to be newly added to the platform, and realizing these changes in a coordinated way and verifying them increase the cost.

The Problems Solved with the Invention

The objective of the present invention is to realize an avionic central control computer which is designed to control target detection and weapon, electronic warfare, navigation, tactical data transmission and communication systems integrated on an aircraft, to perform mission and flight management, to manage display presentation and to supervise all information exchange on the platform from a single center. The control of the statuses and the messages of the sensors and other units coming from the platform by central computers instead of discrete computers decrease platform cable connection, and thus the weight of the cables to be placed on the platform.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an avionic central control computer which enables to integrate additional functions swiftly in the future by means of the design realized with open architecture techniques. The inventive avionic central control computer can be used only with software change in air platforms wherein similar system integrations are performed.

Furthermore, the inventive avionic central control computer is developed compatible with environmental requirements determined by military standards (MIL-HDBK-5400, MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-461). Within this scope, altitude, low and high temperatures, thermal shock, humidity, vibration, mechanical shock, dust, salt atmosphere, rain, acceleration, temperature-altitude, temperature-vibration, power and EMI/EMC tests have been performed. Detailed Description of the Invention

An avionic central control computer developed to fulfill the objectives of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 is the perspective view of the avionic central control computer. Figure 2 is the schematic view of the avionic central control computer.

The components shown in the figures are each given reference numbers as follows:

1. Avionic central control computer

2. Chassis

3. Avionic processor card

4. MIL-STD- 1553 interface mezzanine board

5. ARINC-429 interface mezzanine board

6. Graphic processing card

7. Video processing card

8. Discrete interface card

9. Power storage card

10. Power board

11. Power filter

12. Input output filter

V. VME-64x mainboard

G. Power line

An avionic central control computer (1), which enables to control target detection and weapon, electronic warfare, navigation, tactical data transmission and communication systems integrated on an aircraft, to perform mission and flight management, to manage image presentation and to supervise all information exchange on the platform from a single center, essentially comprises at least one chassis (2) which provides mounting interface for the electronic cards located therein,

at least one avionic processor card (3) which is adapted to perform navigation, communication, surveillance, emergency management and task planning processes,

at least one MIL-STD-1553 interface mezzanine board which provides data bus compatible with MIL-STD-1553B standard for navigation, communication, and weapon management,

at least one ARINC-429 interface mezzanine board (5) which provides an interface compatible with ARINC 429-11, Mark 33 requirements, at least one graphic processing card (6) which is adapted to generate graphic to be displayed on the screens for user interface,

at least one video processing card (7) which is adapted to perform the process of switching video signals and changing the video forms,

- at least one discrete interface card (8) which provides discrete input and output interface for discrete markers,

at least one power storage card (9),

at least one power board (10) which provides the electric energy required by the electronic cards used in the unit,

- at least one power filter (11) which is adapted to prevent electromagnetic entrance spread from the power line (G),

at least one input-output filter (12) which is adapted to suppress the signal parasites (noises) on the power line (G). The inventive avionic central control computer (1) has essentially been developed in open architecture structure and compatible with VME-x64 (Versa Module Europa), PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and PMC (PCI Mezzanine Card) standards. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is a chassis (2) which provides mounting interface for nine VME 6U size electronic cards (Figure 1). The said chassis (2) is designed and manufactured for precision-casting method. The cards used in the chassis (2) are cooled by means of thermal conduction, heat discharge ways are considered during arrangement design. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there are preferably two fans on the chassis (2), and the outer part of the chassis (2) is cooled by means of the said fans.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there are four avionic processor cards (3) in type of VME electronic card with size of 6U and performing system management, communication and recognition management, navigation management, surveillance management, emergency management and task planning operations; a MIL-STD-1553 interface mezzanine board (4); an ARINC- 429 interface mezzanine board (5); four graphic processing cards (6), a video processing card (7) for video processing; two discrete interface card (8) for data management; a power storage card (9) in 300 W for power management having the ability to provide the stored power to the said cards for about 50ms even the power is cut (hold-up ability); two power boards (10), a power filter (11) for power input; and input output filter (12) for platform interfaces in the main body (2) (Figure 2). By means of these cards, all avionic and weapon systems located on the aircraft are managed from a single center. The number of the said cards is not fixed; these cards can be increased or decreased according to need.

In one embodiment of the invention, two avionic central control computers (1) are used for back-up. The supervision of all systems is through one of the avionic central control computers (1), the other computer is ready to be activated in case the first supervising computer breaks down, and continuously updates the data thereon.

The system safety and reliability is kept in the highest level by means of the software stored in a data storage unit such as flash, NVRAM etc. designed compatible preferably with RTCA/DO-178B software developing standard and located in the avionic central control computer (1). Different software partitions run on the same processor on the avionic central control computer (1) are completely separated from each other by means of using ARINC-653 operating system interface compatible with the "Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA)" structure. By means of the said structure, new features can easily be added without affecting the current software more. Different configuration in different aircrafts can easily be formed in this structure by selecting the related common software partitions.

The partition concept has been formed with the software safety concept. Partitioning completely separates the software parts from each other both in terms of memory use and the processor time use. By this means, the software can operate without affecting each other on single processor as if they operated on different processors. An error formed in one partition does not absolutely affect the other one, and when an error is formed in a partition, it can be restarted alone. ARINC-653 presents a standard operating system interface suitable for this partitioning. In addition to this partitioning, the operating system dependency is eliminated by means of the said standard interface, the operating system changes can easily be performed in application level.

The avionic central control computer (1) software has been developed by using the said partitioning structure, and whole software is partitioned into modular parts in terms of criticality and functionality. By means of the standard interfaces used for communication between the partitions, the partitions depending on the aircraft configuration and requirements can be run either on a single processor or on a plurality of processors. A partition running on one processor can directly be transferred on a different processor depending on the expansion requirements that can emerge in the future. The software of the avionic central control computer (1) is set on a modular, multi-layered, model-based software architecture; and its dependency to hardware is minimized with operating unit compatible with ARINC-653. At the bottom of the layered structure, the board support packages providing access to the hardware and the driver softwares are located. These softwares are developed completely specific to the hardware independent from the application. These softwares are updated in all kinds of hardware changes. Board support packages and driver softwares are developed specific to the operating system which is used.

On this layer, the operating system layer providing access to the operating system through a standard interface and compatible with ARINC-653. These two layers are configured completely specific to the hardware and the operating system independent from the application. The said two layers are directly affected from the hardware changes. However, in different applications wherein the same hardware is used, the said two layers stay the same.

There is a common software layer on the said two layers, independent from the application. This layer comprises common software modules for all task computers and basic softwares specific to the hardware and the configuration. At the same time, it provides a high level interface between the application softwares and the hardware, and thus the hardware is enabled to be completely isolated from the application. By means of the said layer, all kinds of software and medium changes are easily possible without changing the application layer. The application layer which is on the top level realizes the tasks specific to the aircraft.