Method and system for integration of portable devices with flight deck displays

An airplane comprising:

• a fuselage portion;
• a wing portion;
• and
• a flight-deck-installed, multi-function display;
• an onboard network comprising an aircraft data network and a flight deck crew network, wherein the onboard network comprises a plurality of firewalls to isolate the aircraft data network and the flight deck crew network;
• a gateway connected to the onboard network, wherein the gateway comprises a security gateway;
• an aircraft interface device connected to the onboard network to couple a portable electronic device (PED) to the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display, the aircraft interface device operable to receive information from a PED hosted application in the PED and route the information through the gateway, wherein the aircraft interface device and the security gateway provide multiple layers of network security and wherein the aircraft data network is used by certified avionics for communication between certified components and the flight deck crew network is accessible by operationally approved, un-certified applications hosted on the PED wherein the gateway routes information between the aircraft data network and the flight deck crew network;
• and
• avionics to display the information on the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display.

A system comprising:

• a flight-deck-installed, multi-function display;
• a flight deck crew network;
• an aircraft interface device connected to the flight deck crew network to couple a portable electronic device (PED) to the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display, the aircraft interface device operable to receive information from a PED hosted application in the PED;
• an aircraft data network connected to the aircraft interface device;
• avionics connected to the aircraft data network and the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display to display the information on the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display, wherein the avionics comprise a security gateway configured to receive the information from the PED from the aircraft data network, wherein the aircraft interface device and the security gateway provide multiple layers of network security;
• and
• a pilot control interface wherein the pilot control interface and the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display are usable by a plurality of users where each user can provide input and control their own PED and flight-deck-installed, multi-function display.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for accessing a portable electronic device (PED) comprising instructions stored thereon, that when executed on a processor, perform a method further comprising:

• establishing an onboard network coupled to a flight-deck-installed, multi-function display, wherein the onboard network comprises a flight deck crew network and an aircraft data network;
• coupling the PED to the onboard network;
• receiving information from a PED hosted application in the PED by an aircraft interface device;
• routing the information through the aircraft interface device to the aircraft data network;
• receiving the information from the aircraft data network by a security gateway, wherein the aircraft interface device and the security gateway provide multiple layers of network security;
• displaying the information on the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display;
• and
• coupling a pilot control interface to the PED through the onboard network, wherein the coupling of the pilot control interface to the PED comprises coupling a plurality of input and control devices to the PED, the plurality of input and control devices and the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display are usable by a plurality of users.

An airplane comprising:

• a fuselage portion;
• a wing portion;
• and
• a flight-deck-installed, multi-function display;
• an onboard network;
• an aircraft interface device connected to the onboard network to couple a portable electronic device (PED) to the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display, the aircraft interface device comprises an application gateway operable to receive information from a PED hosted application in the PED and route the information through the application gateway;
• a pilot control interface wherein the aircraft interface device is further operable to couple the pilot control interface to the PED through the onboard network to enable controlling a plurality of functions on the PED via the pilot control interface;
• and
• avionics to display the information on the flight-deck-installed, multi-function display, wherein the avionics comprise a security gateway configured to receive the information from the PED, wherein the aircraft interface device and the security gateway provide multiple layers of network security.