# US 10,484,083 B1 · Systems and methods for Internet based aircraft communication

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,484,083 B1
- Document ID: US10484083B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 15/673,305
- Filed: 2017-08-09
- Granted: 2019-11-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-08-09
- Assignees: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
- Applicants: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
- Inventors: Madhu S. Niraula; Lori J. Sipper
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10484083B1

## CPC

- H04B 7/18578: {Satellite systems for providing broadband data service to individual earth stations (for selecting H04W; provisions for broadband connection, H04Q11/0478)}
- H04L 61/2592: using tunnelling or encapsulation
- H04L 61/5007: Internet protocol [IP] addresses
- H04L 69/04: Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
- H04L 69/325: in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 (H04L69/16 takes precedence)
- H04L 69/326: in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] (H04L69/16 takes precedence)
- H04B: TRANSMISSION
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

An aircraft with Internet based communication includes a plurality of communication radios and a processing circuit. The plurality of communication radios are configured to communicate with a ground message manager. The processing circuit is configured to receive a message from a system of the aircraft and encapsulate the received messages into a transport layer segment. The processing circuit is further configured to encapsulate the transport layer segment into an Internet layer packet and add a protocol identifier to the Internet layer packet, the protocol identifier indicating to the ground message manager that the Internet layer packet is an Internet based message. The processing circuit is configured to send the Internet layer packet to the ground message manager via the plurality of communication radios.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An aircraft with Internet based communication, the aircraft comprising:
a plurality of communication radios configured to communicate with a ground message manager; and
a processing circuit configured to:
receive a message from a non-Internet system of the aircraft, the non-Internet system associated with a non-Internet communication protocol;
store a conversion table, the conversion table linking a plurality of non-Internet services with a plurality of transport layer port numbers, the conversion table linking each of the plurality of non-Internet services with one of the plurality of transport layer port numbers;
identify, based on the conversion table, a transport layer port number of the plurality of transport layer port numbers, the transport layer port number linked to a non-Internet service, the non-Internet system being a first system of the non-Internet service;
encapsulate the received messages into a transport layer segment with the transport layer port number identifying a non-Internet ground system corresponding to the non-Internet system, the non-Internet ground system being a second system of the non-Internet service;
encapsulate the transport layer segment into an Internet layer packet;
add a protocol identifier to the Internet layer packet, the protocol identifier indicating to the ground message manager that the Internet layer packet is an Internet based message; and
send the Internet layer packet to the ground message manager via the plurality of communication radios to be delivered to the non-Internet ground system via the non-Internet communication protocol.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the plurality of communication radios comprise very high frequency (VHF) radios, satellite communication (SATCOM) radios, and high frequency (HF) radios.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
compress the message received from the non-Internet system; and
encapsulate the compressed message into the transport layer segment with the transport layer port number.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
compress the Internet layer packet; and
add the protocol identifier to the compressed Internet layer packet.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
select two or more of the plurality of communication radios; and
send the Internet layer packet to the ground message manager via the selected two or more communication radios.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
receive, via one or more of the plurality of communication radios, a second Internet layer packet from the ground message manager, the second Internet layer packet comprising the protocol identifier; and
identify the second Internet layer packet as the Internet based message based on the protocol identifier.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
decompress the second Internet layer packet in response to identifying the Internet layer packet as the Internet based message;
identify the non-Internet system based on the transport layer port number included in the second Internet layer packet, the transport layer port number being associated with the non-Internet system of the aircraft;
decompress a second message of a second transport layer segment of the Internet layer packet; and
send the second message of the second transport layer segment to the non-Internet system.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The aircraft of claim 7, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
receive one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet via the plurality of communication radios, wherein each of the one or more duplicates is received via a separate communication radio of the plurality of communication radios; and
de-duplicate the second Internet layer packet and the one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet by:
identifying that the one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet are duplicates of the second Internet layer packet; and
discarding the identified one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet.

### Claim 9

A method for Internet based communication for an aircraft, the method comprising:
receiving a message from a non-Internet system of the aircraft, the non-Internet system associated with a non-Internet communication protocol;
storing a conversion table, the conversion table linking a plurality of non-Internet services with a plurality of transport layer port numbers, the conversion table linking each of the plurality of non-Internet services with one of the plurality of transport layer port numbers;
identifying, based on the conversion table, a transport layer port number of the plurality of transport layer port numbers, the transport layer port number linked to a non-Internet service, the non-Internet system being a first system of the non-Internet service;
encapsulating the received messages into a transport layer segment with the transport layer port number identifying a non-Internet ground system corresponding to the non-Internet system, the non-Internet ground system being a second system of the non-Internet service;
encapsulating the transport layer segment into an Internet layer packet;
adding a protocol identifier to the Internet layer packet, the protocol identifier indicating to a ground message manager that the Internet layer packet is an Internet based message; and
sending the Internet layer packet to the ground message manager via a plurality of communication radios to be delivered to the non-Internet ground system via the non-Internet communication protocol.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising:
compressing the message received from the non-Internet system of the aircraft; and
encapsulating the compressed message into the transport layer segment with the transport layer port number.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising:
compressing the Internet layer packet; and
adding the protocol identifier to the compressed Internet layer packet.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising:
selecting two or more of the plurality of communication radios; and
sending the Internet layer packet to the ground message manager via the selected two or more communication radios.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving, via one or more of the plurality of communication radios, a second Internet layer packet from the ground message manager, the second Internet layer packet comprising the protocol identifier; and
identifying the second Internet layer packet as the Internet based message based on the protocol identifier.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, further comprising:
decompressing the second Internet layer packet in response to identifying the Internet layer packet as the Internet based message;
identifying the non-Internet system based on the transport layer port number included in the Internet layer packet, the transport layer port number being associated with the non-Internet system;
decompressing a second message of second transport layer segment of the Internet layer packet; and
sending the second message of the transport layer segment to the non-Internet system.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, further comprising:
receiving one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet via the plurality of communication radios, wherein each of the one or more duplicates is received via a separate communication radio of the plurality of communication radios; and
de-duplicating the second Internet layer packet and the one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet by:
identifying that the one or more duplicates of the second Internet layer packet are duplicates of the second Internet layer packet; and
discarding identified duplicates of the second Internet layer packet.

### Claim 16

A communication system of an aircraft, the communication system comprising:
a plurality of communication radios configured to communicate with a ground message manager; and
a processing circuit configured to:
receive a message from a non-Internet system of the aircraft, the non-Internet system associated with a non-Internet communication protocol;
store a conversion table, the conversion table linking a plurality of non-Internet services with a plurality of transport layer port numbers, the conversion table linking each of the plurality of non-Internet services with one of the plurality of transport layer port numbers;
identify, based on the conversion table, a transport layer port number of the plurality of transport layer port numbers, the transport layer port number linked to a non-Internet service, the non-Internet system being a first system of the non-Internet service;
compress the message received from the non-Internet system of the aircraft;
encapsulate the compressed message into a transport layer segment with the transport layer port number identifying a non-Internet ground system corresponding to the non-Internet system, the non-Internet ground system being a second system of the non-Internet service;
encapsulate the transport layer segment into an Internet layer packet;
compress the Internet layer packet;
add a protocol identifier to the compressed Internet layer packet, the protocol identifier indicating to the ground message manager that the Internet layer packet is an Internet based message; and
send the Internet layer packet to the ground message manager via the plurality of communication radios to be delivered to the non-Internet ground system via the non-Internet communication protocol.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The communication system of claim 16, further comprising the ground message manager, wherein the ground message manager comprises a second processing circuit configured to:
receive a second message from a ground system;
encapsulate the received second message into a second transport layer segment;
encapsulate the second transport layer segment into a second Internet layer packet;
add the protocol identifier to the second Internet layer packet, the protocol identifier indicating to the ground message manager that the second Internet layer packet is a second Internet based message; and
send the second Internet layer packet to the aircraft via a plurality of communication links.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The communication system of claim 17, wherein the second processing circuit of the ground message manager is configured to:
compress the second message received from the ground system;
encapsulate the compressed second message into the second transport layer segment;
compress the second Internet layer packet; and
add the protocol identifier to the compressed second Internet layer packet.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The communication system of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit of the aircraft is configured to:
receive, via one or more of the plurality of communication radios, the second Internet layer packet from the ground message manager, the second Internet layer packet comprising the protocol identifier; and
identify the second Internet layer packet as the second Internet based message based on the protocol identifier.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The communication system of claim 19, wherein the processing circuit of the aircraft is configured to:
decompress the second Internet layer packet in response to identifying the second Internet layer packet as the second Internet based message;
identify the non-Internet system of the aircraft based on a port number included in the Internet layer packet, the port number being associated with the non-Internet system of the aircraft;
decompress the second message of the second transport layer segment of the second Internet layer packet; and
send the decompressed second message of the second transport layer segment to the non-Internet system.