RADAR SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING AIR TRAFFIC

This invention relates to a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone.

The invention is applicable in particular for medium and large airports.

As is known, the tower and approach control comprises the management of the traffic on the manoeuvring area of an airport and of the aircraft in flight in the immediate vicinity of it.

The aims of the air traffic control are substantially those of preventing collisions between aircraft both in flight and on the ground, preventing collisions between aircraft and obstacles of another kind present in the airport manoeuvring areas as well as making the air traffic flow quick and keeping it in an orderly fashion, providing messages and information useful for a safe and efficient operation of the airport.

The task is typically performed by the air traffic control tower.

The activities of the air traffic control tower are based substantially on the use of radar and on direct visual control.

In particular, the air traffic control tower comprises a plurality of services such as radio personnel for communicating with the aircraft, Surface Movement Radar (SMR) personnel for displaying aircraft on the ground and personnel responsible for the airport radar for an immediate view of the traffic.

The control tower also comprises apparatuses for reading weather conditions, a telephone network for communication between control personnel and/or with the outside and computerised systems for displaying telemeters and flight status.

This system, although well-established, has a series of drawbacks which make its use not very high performing.

A first problem concerns the considerable overall costs of the control towers. These costs derive substantially from the installation costs, the procurement costs, the updating costs dictated by the poor flexibility of the structures if the airport area is extended with new terminals as well as the maintenance costs of the apparatuses and the relative infrastructures.

Further costs relate to the large number of personnel needed to control and manage the system.

Another problem concerns the quality and reliability of the controls. In effect, the air traffic control activities near the airport are carried out above all visually. This results in a possible human error especially in situations of poor visibility.

The visual control may be alongside ground radars which, however, may not be able to cover the entire airport area.

In light of the above, the technical purpose of the invention is to provide a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone which is able to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

In particular, the aim of the invention is to provide a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone which is extremely precise and reliable.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone with limited costs.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone which is versatile.

The technical purpose indicated and the aims specified are substantially achieved by a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone, comprising an infrastructure for transmission in low terrestrial orbit configured for transmitting electromagnetic reference signals towards said airport zone in such a way as to intercept at least one aircraft close to said airport zone generating echo signals and a receiving infrastructure operatively positioned close to the airport zone and configured for intercepting and sampling the echo signals. The system also comprises a synchronisation infrastructure, operatively positioned close to the airport zone and configured for establishing a sampling period between the receiving infrastructure and the transmission infrastructure and a control unit connected to the receiving infrastructure and to the synchronisation infrastructure, configured to receive and process the echo signals and to generate a positioning mapping of the at least one aircraft as a function of the sampling period. Further advantageous aspects of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

Further features of the invention are more apparent in the detailed description below, with reference to one or more preferred, non-limiting embodiments of it, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic view of a preferred embodiment of a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone in accordance with the invention.

The numeral 1 in Figure 1 denotes a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone "Z" according to the invention.

The system 1 is used in particular in medium and large airports.

The system 1 comprises an infrastructure 10 for transmission in low terrestrial orbit configured for transmitting electromagnetic reference signals “R” towards the airport zone “Z” in such a way as to intercept at least one aircraft “A” close to the airport zone Z generating echo signals “E”.

In the description below, the expression "low terrestrial orbit" means an orbit around the Earth with an altitude between the atmosphere and the Van Allen belts, that is to say, between 300 km and 1000 km, preferably between 600 km and 900 km.

According to a preferred embodiment, the transmission infrastructure 10 transmits electromagnetic signals in the w or k band. Preferably, also, the transmission infrastructure 10 is of the pulse radar type.

According to an aspect of the invention, the transmission infrastructure 10 comprises a fleet of miniaturised satellites 11, preferably Nanosats, still more preferably Cubesats.

The fleet of miniaturised satellites 11 may be equipped with directional antennas configured for transmitting the above-mentioned reference signals "R".

Preferably, the fleet of miniaturised satellites 11 is equipped with horn antennas.

The fleet of miniaturised satellites 11 may comprise a number of miniaturised satellites 11 of between 15 and 60.

Preferably, said fleet of miniaturised satellites 11 comprises a number of miniaturised satellites 11 of between 20 and 50. Advantageously, the fleet of miniaturised satellites 11 is able to serve and guarantee a complete coverage of a plurality of airport zones "Z" positioned substantially on the same trajectory as the orbit of the satellites.

According to a non-limiting example embodiment, the fleet of miniaturised satellites 11 could operate in a polar orbit in such a way as to serve and guarantee a complete coverage of the airport zones "Z" located on the same meridian.

Moreover, advantageously, as will be described in more detail below, since the transmission infrastructure 10 is configured only for transmitting the reference signals "R" and not for receiving them, the transmission infrastructure 10 requires a low operating power. As a result, the dimensions, costs and technological complexity of the transmission infrastructure 10 are reduced, and in particular the fleet of miniaturised satellites 11.

Advantageously, moreover, the cost of the launches into orbit of the miniaturised satellites 11, for example the Cubesats, reduces progressively over time, making them particularly convenient from an economic point of view.

The system 1 comprises a receiving infrastructure 20 operatively positioned close to the airport zone “Z” and configured for intercepting and sampling the echo signals “E”.

According to a preferred embodiment, the receiving infrastructure 20 comprises a plurality of dipole antennas 21 distributed in the airport zone "Z".

The system 1 also comprises a synchronisation infrastructure 30, operatively positioned close to the airport zone “Z” and configured for establishing a sampling period between the receiving infrastructure 20 and the transmission infrastructure 10.

In other words, according to a preferred embodiment, the synchronisation infrastructure 30 establishes a sampling period of the echo signals "E" and of the reference signals "R" coming from a predetermined miniaturised satellite 11 of the transmission infrastructure 10 as a function of the position of the miniaturised satellite 11.

Preferably, the synchronisation infrastructure 30 comprises one or more parabolas 31 operatively oriented in a direct line of visibility with the transmission infrastructure 10. In particular, the one or more parabolas 31 may have a diameter of between 2 metres and 4 metres. Preferably, the one or more parabolas 31 have a total diameter of 3 metres.

The system 1 comprises a control unit “U” connected to the receiving infrastructure 20 and to the synchronisation infrastructure 30 and configured to receive and process the echo signals “E” and to generate a positioning mapping of the at least one aircraft “A” as a function of the sampling period.

Preferably, the control unit "U" processes the data by means of algorithms based on pattern recognition.

According to another aspect of the invention, the receiving infrastructure 20 is also configured for receiving and sampling signals of the ADS-B type whilst the control unit "U" is configured for generating the positioning mapping by means of the echo signals "E" together with the signals of the ADS-B type.

Advantageously, in this way, the control unit "U" is able to determine the positioning and movement of all the aircraft "A", equipped or not equipped with ADS-B, parked, manoeuvred in transit or in flight close to the airport zone "Z".

According to further aspect of the invention, also comprising at least one localisation device, installed or installable on an aircraft “A”, configured for a regular transmission of the GPS coordinates in such a way as to cover a cruising phase of the flight when the aircraft “A” is far from the receiving infrastructure 20.

Advantageously, the invention achieves the preset aims by providing a radar system for controlling air traffic close to an airport zone which is extremely precise and reliable, advantageous from the economic point of view and versatile.