# US 10,482,690 B2 · Method, system and apparatus for monitoring, analyzing, and reporting usage of aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs) > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,482,690 B2 - Document ID: US10482690B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/698,039 - Filed: 2017-09-07 - Published: 2019-01-17 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2016-09-08 - Assignees: Aputrac - Applicants: Aputrac - Inventors: Patric Jordan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10482690B2 ## CPC - G07C 5/085: {using electronic data carriers} - B64D 33/00: Arrangement in aircraft of power plant parts or auxiliaries not otherwise provided for - G01F 23/804: {containing circuits handling parameters other than liquid level} - G08G 5/21: located onboard the aircraft - G08G 5/26: Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft and ground stations - G08G 5/53: for cruising - G08G 5/55: for a single aircraft - B64D 41/00: Power installations for auxiliary purposes - B64D 2045/0085: {Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration} - G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE - B64D: EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLIGHT SUITS; PARACHUTES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF POWER PLANTS OR PROPULSION TRANSMISSIONS IN AIRCRAFT - G01F: MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) ## Abstract An on-aircraft recording device includes an interface that receives APU usage data from an aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU) independently of a flight data recorder and data acquisition unit. The on-aircraft recording device can be communicatively coupled (e.g., wirelessly) to a data acquisition service (DAS) system that communicates APU ground-run usage data received from a plurality of on-ground aircraft to a data management center (DMC) utilizing a plurality of unique callback identifiers. The DMC can include a DMC APU ground-run data structure for storing APU ground-run usage data and a processor configured to receive APU ground-run usage data for a plurality of on-ground aircraft, record, in the DMC APU ground-run data structure, the APU ground-run usage data for the plurality of on-ground aircraft, detect if the APU ground-run usage data satisfies an APU usage threshold, and electronically communicate, via a communication network, an alert indicating potentially excessive APU use. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A data management center (DMC), comprising: data storage including a DMC auxiliary power unit (APU) ground-run data structure for storing APU ground-run usage data; a processor configured to: receive APU ground-run usage data for a plurality of on-ground aircraft; record, in the DMC APU ground-run data structure, the APU ground-run usage data for the plurality of on-ground aircraft; detect if the APU ground-run usage data satisfies an APU usage threshold; and electronically communicate, via a communication network, an alert indicating potentially excessive APU use. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) A system comprising: the data management center (DMC) of claim 1, wherein the processor is a first processor and the data storage is first data storage; and an on-aircraft recording device, including: a first interface that receives a flight dataset including APU usage data from at least one of a flight data recorder and a data acquisition unit; a second interface that receives a ground dataset including APU usage data from a APU independently of the flight data recorder and data acquisition unit; a storage device; and a second processor coupled to the storage device and configured to record the APU usage data received from the APU via the second interface on the storage device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the second processor is further configured to record both the flight dataset and the ground dataset on the storage device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, and further comprising at least one of the flight data recorder and the data acquisition unit. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, and further comprising an auxiliary power unit (APU), wherein the APU includes a first interface communicatively coupled to the data acquisition unit and a second interface communicatively coupled to the on-aircraft recording device. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, and further comprising: a data acquisition service (DAS) system communicatively coupled to the on-aircraft recording device, wherein the DAS system includes: second data storage including a DAS aircraft data structure; and a third processor coupled to the second data storage, wherein the third processor is configured to: record, in the DAS aircraft data structure, identifiers of a plurality of on-ground aircraft for which APU ground-run usage data is authorized to be forwarded to the data management center (DMC); update the DAS aircraft data structure to associate a respective one of a plurality of unique callback identifiers with each of the plurality of identifiers; and communicate APU ground-run usage data received from the on-aircraft recording device to the data management center (DMC) utilizing one of the plurality of unique callback identifiers. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) A system, comprising: the data management center (DMC) of claim 1, wherein the processor is a first processor and the data storage is first data storage; a data acquisition service (DAS) system, including comprising: second data storage including a DAS aircraft data structure; a second processor coupled to the second data storage, wherein the second processor is configured to: record, in the DAS aircraft data structure, identifiers of a plurality of on-ground aircraft for which APU ground-run usage data is authorized to be forwarded to the data management center (DMC); update the DAS aircraft data structure to associate a respective one of a plurality of unique callback identifiers with each of the plurality of identifiers; and communicate APU ground-run usage data received from the plurality of on-ground aircraft to the data management center (DMC) utilizing the plurality of unique callback identifiers. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The data acquisition service (DAS) system of claim 7, wherein: the second data storage includes a DAS auxiliary power unit (APU) ground-run data structure; and the second processor is further configured to store the APU usage data in the DAS APU ground-run data structure. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The data management center (DMC) of claim 1, wherein: the data storage further includes a DMC airline data structure; and the processor is further configured to establish, in the DMA airline data structure, the APU usage threshold in response to a user input. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The data management center (DMC) of claim 1, wherein: the APU usage threshold is an aggregate APU usage threshold for APU usage of multiple of the plurality of on-ground aircraft. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The data management center (DMC) of claim 1, wherein: the APU usage threshold is defined solely for APU ground-run usage. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The data management center (DMC) of claim 1, wherein: the processor is further configured to record in the data storage a user-supplied reason for the potentially excessive APU use.