System and method for displaying vertical profile of intruding traffic in two dimensions

An electronic circuit for converting a signal conveying position data of other aircraft relative to an aircraft hosting the electronic circuit, the electronic circuit comprising:

• a) a memory for storing a plurality of machine instructions;
• b) a processor coupled to said memory, said processor executing said plurality of machine instructions to implement a plurality of functions, said functions including:
• i) accessing a signal processed as situational awareness information relative to the host aircraft;
• ii) defining said situational awareness information relative to a vertical sampling volume defined relative to the host aircraft;
• iii) transposing said situational awareness information into a vertical profile view relative to said vertical sampling volume;
• and
• iv) generating a video signal of said vertical profile view of said situational awareness information.

A method for using an electronic circuit to convert a signal conveying position data of other aircraft relative to an aircraft hosting equipment implementing the method, the method comprising:

• a) processing the signal as situational awareness information relative to the host aircraft;
• b) with the electronic circuit, defining said situational awareness information relative to a vertical sampling volume defined relative to the host aircraft;
• c) with the electronic circuit, transposing said situational awareness information into a vertical profile view relative to said vertical sampling volume;
• and
• d) displaying said vertical profile view of said situational awareness information.

A method for displaying vertical situational awareness information relative to an aircraft hosting equipment implementing the method, the method comprising:

• defining a vertical sampling volume;
• detecting aircraft intruding into said sampling volume;
• determining a range and altitude of said intruding aircraft;
• and
• displaying in a two-dimensional vertical profile view information describing said range and altitude of said intruding aircraft.

A method for displaying vertical situational awareness information relative to an aircraft hosting equipment implementing the method, the method comprising:

• defining a three-dimensional sampling reference frame relative to the host aircraft;
• defining a vertical sampling volume comprising a predetermined volume of airspace;
• applying said vertical sampling volume to said sampling reference frame;
• detecting other aircraft within a predetermined range of the host aircraft;
• determining a position of said other aircraft relative to said sampling volume;
• for each of said other aircraft positioned within said sampling volume, displaying in a two-dimensional vertical profile view a symbol representing a three-dimensional position of said other aircraft.

A situational awareness information system for generating and displaying situational awareness information relative to a host aircraft, the situational awareness information system comprising:

• a radio frequency transmitter;
• a radio frequency receiver;
• a signal processor coupled to said transmitter to broadcast radio frequency signals and to said receiver to receive radio frequency signals, said signal processor operating traffic alert and collision avoidance software and generating a video output signal conveying situational awareness information relative to a vertical sampling volume defined relative to the host aircraft;
• a display coupled to convert said video output signal and display said situational awareness information as a vertical profile view relative to said vertical sampling volume.