Flight recorder system and method
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsBrian Lynn Douthitt, Theodore William Gerken, Samuel Nyall Stearley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A CVFDR system of an aircraft includes a cockpit voice and flight data recorder (CVFDR) communicatively coupled, via a data communication network, to a set of flight recorder modules. The CVFDR receives a first voltage from a remote first power source. In the event of an interruption of the first voltage, the CVFDR receives a second voltage from a local second power source for a predetermined period.
Claims19
A cockpit voice and flight data recorder (CVFDR) system couplable to a data communications network, the CVFDR system comprising:
- a control module comprising a processor and coupleable to a remote first power source to receive a first voltage therefrom;
- a first memory communicatively coupled to the processor;
- a second memory communicatively coupled to the processor;
- a second power source coupled to the control module,
- the control module configured to operate in a normal mode of operation comprising providing power to the processor, executing program code read from the first memory, receiving data from the communications network, and transmitting the received data to the second memory, the second power source configured to provide a second voltage to the control module for a first predetermined period in response to an interruption of the first voltage;
- and
- wherein, at a conclusion of the first predetermined period, the control module is configured to operate in an economy mode of operation comprising suspending receiving data from the communications network for a second predetermined period;
- and
- wherein the processor includes a set of integrated peripheral controllers, and wherein the economy mode of operation includes ceasing providing power to at least one of the integrated peripheral controllers for the predetermined second period.
A method of operating a CVFDR system of an aircraft, including a CVFDR having a control module comprising a processor communicatively coupled to a first memory and a second memory, the method comprising:
- receiving, by the processor, a first voltage from a first power source remote from the CVFDR;
- executing, by the processor, program code read from the first memory;
- receiving, by the processor, a data signal indicative of operational data from a communications network;
- transmitting the operational data to the second memory;
- receiving a second voltage from a second power source in response to an interruption of the first voltage;
- operating the processor in a normal mode of operation for a first predetermined period;
- and at a conclusion of the first predetermined period, and operating the processor in an economy mode of operation for a second predetermined period;
- wherein the processor includes a set of integrated peripheral controllers, and wherein operating the processor in the economy mode of operation includes suspending providing power to at least one of the integrated peripheral controllers for the second predetermined period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.