Aircraft flight data acquisition and transmission system

A data system for an aircraft, comprising:

• a digital flight data acquisition unit in communication with at least one sensor;
• a processor in communication with said digital flight data acquisition unit;
• a serial card in communication with said processor;
• and
• a plurality of cell channels in communication with said serial card, said cell channels for transmitting data via a cellular infrastructure after the aircraft has landed, wherein the communication between the cell channels and the serial card is initiated automatically upon landing of the aircraft.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a digital flight data acquisition unit in communication with at least one sensor;
• and
• a communications unit in communication with said digital flight data acquisition unit, said communications unit including:
• a processor in communication with said digital flight data acquisition unit;
• a serial card in communication with said processor;
• and
• a plurality of cell channels in communication with said serial card, said cell channels for transmitting data via a cellular infrastructure after the aircraft has landed, wherein the communication between the cell channels and the serial card is initiated automatically upon landing of the aircraft.

A method of transmitting aircraft flight data from an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving flight data from a data acquisition unit;
• transmitting said flight data via a cellular communications infrastructure after the aircraft has landed, wherein the cellular communications infrastructure is accessed automatically upon landing of the aircraft;
• and
• receiving said transmitted flight data.

A computer-implemented method of transmitting aircraft flight data from an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving flight data from a digital flight data acquisition unit;
• processing said flight data to prepare said data for transmission;
• and
• transmitting said processed data via a cellular infrastructure after the aircraft has landed, wherein the cellular infrastructure is accessed automatically upon landing of the aircraft.

A computer-implemented method of transmitting aircraft flight data from an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving flight data from a digital flight data acquisition unit;
• processing said flight data to prepare said data for transmission;
• and
• transmitting said processed data via a cellular infrastructure after the aircraft has landed, wherein processing said flight data includes:
• receiving a weight-on-wheels signal;
• initiating a data transfer;
• compressing said flight data;
• encrypting said compressed data;
• creating a packet queue;
• starting a primary data thread;
• waiting a predetermined period of time;
• determining if any threads are active;
• repeating, when threads are active, the steps of waiting a predetermined period of time and determining if any threads are active;
• and
• exiting processing said flight data when no threads are active.

A computer-implemented method of transmitting aircraft flight data from an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving flight data from a digital flight data acquisition unit;
• processing said flight data to prepare said data for transmission;
• and
• transmitting said processed data via a cellular infrastructure after the aircraft has landed;
• and
• receiving said transmitted data at a flight operations center, wherein receiving said transmitted data includes:
• creating a socket;
• receiving a message;
• determining if said message is an initialization message;
• initiating a session when said message is an initialization message;
• determining if said message is a data message when said message is not an initialization message;
• processing said message when said message is a data message;
• determining if said message is an end session when said message is not a data message;
• processing said message when said message is an end session;
• and
• repeating, when said message is not an end session message, the step of receiving a message.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

• receiving flight data from a digital flight data acquisition unit in an aircraft;
• processing said flight data to prepare said data for transmission;
• and
• transmitting said processed data via a cellular infrastructure when said aircraft has landed, wherein the cellular infrastructure is accessed automatically upon landing of the aircraft.