System and method of aircraft surveillance and tracking

A system for aircraft tracking within an airspace region that is partitioned into multiple sectors, the system comprising:

• a database including multiple data structures corresponding respectively to each of the sectors, wherein each data structure of the multiple data structures has a primary identifier, wherein each data structure of the multiple data structures further includes at least one secondary identifier that matches the primary identifier of another data structure corresponding to another sector within a range of interest;
• a communications unit configured to receive at least one data packet from an aircraft located within one of the sectors and configured to, for each of the sectors, send each aircraft within a sector aircraft information stored within a data structure corresponding to the sector, the aircraft information including location information corresponding to aircrafts within the sector and within the other sector within the range of interest;
• and
• a ground-based server with a control unit configured to:
• retrieve the primary identifier of the data structure corresponding to the one of the sectors based on aircraft data from the data packet;
• store at least a portion of the aircraft data from the data packet within the data structure corresponding to the one of the sectors;
• and
• store the portion of the aircraft data within each of the data structures that has a secondary identifier matching the primary identifier of the data structure corresponding to the one of the sectors, wherein, for each of the sectors, the stored portion of the aircraft data makes up at least part of the aircraft information that is sent to each aircraft within the sector.

A method for aircraft tracking comprising:

• generating, in an aircraft, a data packet header, wherein a source address of the data packet header includes information about a position of the aircraft and an indication of a primary identifier associated with a sector in which the aircraft is positioned, wherein airspace in which the aircraft is located is partitioned into multiple sectors including the sector in which the aircraft is positioned, and wherein the primary identifier is determined within the aircraft based on a location of the aircraft;
• generating, in the aircraft, one or more data packets that include the data packet header;
• transmitting the one or more data packets to a receiver;
• and
• receiving position information regarding aircrafts within the sector in which the aircraft is located and within at least one additional sector within a range of interest of the aircraft.