US 12,586,477 B2Granted

Flight planning based on societal impact considerations

AssigneeThe Boeing Company

InventorsMichael Christian Büddefeld, Hugo Eduardo Teomitzi, Anna-Lisa Mautes

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Abstract

A method includes obtaining, at a device, source and destination data for one or more upcoming flights through a particular airspace. The method also includes obtaining, at the device, a map of societal impact hotspots associated with traffic through the particular airspace, and generating, based on the map of societal impact hotspots, a set of trajectories for the one or more upcoming flights through the particular airspace.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

obtaining, at a device, source and destination data for one or more upcoming flights through a particular airspace;
obtaining, at the device, a map of societal impact hotspots associated with traffic through the particular airspace;
generating, based on the map of societal impact hotspots and a cost function, a set of trajectories for the one or more upcoming flights through the particular airspace, wherein a first particular trajectory through a first airspace associated with a first region categorized for a first use has a first cost, and wherein a second particular trajectory through a second airspace associated with a second region categorized for a second use has a second cost distinct from the first cost;
performing an iterative optimization process comprising:
analyzing predicted traffic based on the set of trajectories to determine predicted cumulative societal impacts across multiple aircraft;
updating the cost function based on the predicted cumulative societal impacts, wherein the updating comprises modifying cost values for specific airspace volumes responsive to predicted hotspot formation from multiple concurrent flights;
and
generating new sets of trajectories using the updated cost function until a convergence criterion is satisfied, wherein the convergence criterion comprises particular predicted cumulative societal impacts corresponding to the new sets of trajectories falling below predetermined impact thresholds for all regions;
and
generating an updated map of societal impact hotspots based on the new sets of trajectories and the map of societal impact hotspots, wherein a hotspot is identified on the updated map of societal impact hotspots responsive to a particular societal impact for a particular airspace satisfying a corresponding threshold, and wherein the corresponding threshold is determined based on a particular use associated with a particular region associated with the particular airspace and a schedule identifying a plurality of particular events associated with the particular region.

7 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

obtain source and destination data for one or more upcoming flights through a particular airspace;
obtain a map of societal impact hotspots associated with traffic through the particular airspace;
generate, based on the map of societal impact hotspots and a cost function, a set of trajectories for the one or more upcoming flights through the particular airspace, wherein a first particular trajectory through a first airspace associated with a first region categorized for a first use has a first cost, and wherein a second particular trajectory through a second airspace associated with a second region categorized for a second use has a second cost distinct from the first cost;
perform an iterative optimization process comprising:
analyze predicted traffic based on the set of trajectories to determine predicted cumulative societal impacts across multiple aircraft;
update the cost function based on the predicted cumulative societal impacts, wherein the updating comprises modifying cost values for specific airspace volumes responsive to predicted hotspot formation from multiple concurrent flights;
and
generate new sets of trajectories using the updated cost function until a convergence criterion is satisfied, wherein the convergence criterion comprises particular predicted cumulative societal impacts corresponding to the new sets of trajectories falling below predetermined impact thresholds for all regions;
and
generate an updated map of societal impact hotspots based on the new sets of trajectories and the map of societal impact hotspots, wherein a hotspot is identified on the updated map of societal impact hotspots responsive to a particular societal impact for a particular airspace satisfying a corresponding threshold, and wherein the corresponding threshold is determined based on a particular use associated with a particular region associated with the particular airspace and a schedule identifying a plurality of particular events associated with the particular region.

7 more elements

A device comprising:

one or more processors configured to:
obtain source and destination data for one or more upcoming flights through a particular airspace;
obtain a map of societal impact hotspots associated with traffic through the particular airspace;
generate, based on the map of societal impact hotspots and a cost function, a set of trajectories for the one or more upcoming flights through the particular airspace, wherein a first particular trajectory through a first airspace associated with a first region categorized for a first use has a first cost, and wherein a second particular trajectory through a second airspace associated with a second region categorized for a second use has a second cost distinct from the first cost;
perform an iterative optimization process comprising:
analyze predicted traffic based on the set of trajectories to determine predicted cumulative societal impacts across multiple aircraft;
update the cost function based on the predicted cumulative societal impacts, wherein the updating comprises modifying cost values for specific airspace volumes responsive to predicted hotspot formation from multiple concurrent flights;
and
generate new sets of trajectories using the updated cost function until a convergence criterion is satisfied, wherein the convergence criterion comprises particular predicted cumulative societal impacts corresponding to the new sets of trajectories falling below predetermined impact thresholds for all regions;
and
generate an updated map of societal impact hotspots based on the new sets of trajectories and the map of societal impact hotspots, wherein a hotspot is identified on the updated map of societal impact hotspots responsive to a particular societal impact for a particular airspace satisfying a corresponding threshold, and wherein the corresponding threshold is determined based on a particular use associated with a particular region associated with the particular airspace and a schedule identifying a plurality of particular events associated with the particular region.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

A method comprising:

obtaining, at a device, source and destination data for one or more upcoming flights through a particular airspace;
obtaining, at the device, a map of societal impact hotspots associated with traffic through the particular airspace;
generating, based on the map of societal impact hotspots and a cost function, a set of trajectories for the one or more upcoming flights through the particular airspace, wherein a first particular trajectory through a first airspace associated with a first region categorized for a first use has a first cost, and wherein a second particular trajectory through a second airspace associated with a second region categorized for a second use has a second cost distinct from the first cost;
performing an iterative optimization process comprising:
analyzing predicted traffic based on the set of trajectories to determine predicted cumulative societal impacts across multiple aircraft;
updating the cost function based on the predicted cumulative societal impacts, wherein the updating comprises modifying cost values for specific airspace volumes responsive to predicted hotspot formation from multiple concurrent flights;
and
generating new sets of trajectories using the updated cost function until a convergence criterion is satisfied, wherein the convergence criterion comprises particular predicted cumulative societal impacts corresponding to the new sets of trajectories falling below predetermined impact thresholds for all regions;
and
generating an updated map of societal impact hotspots based on the new sets of trajectories and the map of societal impact hotspots, wherein a hotspot is identified on the updated map of societal impact hotspots responsive to a particular societal impact for a particular airspace satisfying a corresponding threshold, and wherein the corresponding threshold is determined based on a particular use associated with a particular region associated with the particular airspace and a schedule identifying a plurality of particular events associated with the particular region.

7 more elements