US 8,559,420 B1Granted

Method and apparatus for reducing control communication delay in a remotely controlled apparatus

AssigneeUnmanned Systems, Inc.

InventorPaul Beard

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Abstract

A scatterer gatherer method and device configured to remotely manipulate an apparatus. The scatterer sends a group of identical packets through a network. The route each packet takes through the network is determined by the network. The time taken for a first packet of a group to travel from origin to destination is unequal from that taken by a second packet of the group. A gatherer is configured to receive each packet, determine which is the first of the group of identical packets to arrive, store the first and discard the later arriving packets of the group. The gatherer further configured to interpolate to determine a value for a missing group of packets should none of the group arrives within a predetermined time. The method and device further configured to use the stored data to remotely manipulate an apparatus then provide feedback to the user through a return network path.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method for reducing control communication delay through a network to remotely operate an apparatus, the method comprising:

(a) connecting a scatterer device to the network, the scatterer configured for:
(1) receiving a first analog input from a user;
(2) converting the first analog input to a first digital value;
(3) making at least one clone of said first digital value;
(4) packetizing said first digital value and said at least one clone;
(5) sending a first group of identical packets through the network, the packets representative of the first digital value and said clone;
(6) receiving a second analog input from the user;
(7) converting the second analog input to a second digital value;
(8) making at least one clone of said second digital value;
(9) packetizing said second digital value and said at least one clone;
(10) sending a second group of identical packets through the network, the packets representative of the second digital value and said clone;
(11) receiving subsequent analog inputs from the user, translate said inputs to subsequent digital values, clone and send a sequence of subsequent groups of identical packets through the network, the packets representative of the subsequent digital values and said clone;
(b) connecting a gatherer device to the network, the gatherer configured for:
(1) receiving a first packet of data;
(2) associating the first packet with the first group;
(3) storing the digital value of the first packet into a memory;
(4) receiving a second packet;
(5) associating the second packet with a group;
(6) storing the digital value of the second packet into the memory if the second packet is a first packet to arrive from the second group or if the second packet is a first packet to arrive from a subsequent group;
(7) deleting the second packet if the second packet is a member of the first group or if the second packet is not the first packet to arrive from the second group or if the second packet is not the first packet to arrive from a subsequent group;
(8) receiving a time threshold input from a user;
(9) interpolating to determine a value for a group in the sequence if none of the packets of the group are received by the expiration of the time threshold;
(10) converting the digital value to a signal configured for the apparatus;
and
(c) manipulating the apparatus according to the sequence of digital values stored in the memory by transmitting the signal to the apparatus.

22 more elements

A scatterer-gatherer device for remote operation of an aircraft, the scatterer-gatherer device comprising:

(a) a scatterer device connected to the network, the scatterer device configured to:
(1) receive a first analog input from a user;
(2) convert the first analog input to a first digital value;
(3) send a first group of at least eight identical packets through a network, the packets representative of the digital value;
(4) receive a second analog input from the user;
(5) convert the second analog input to a second digital value;
(6) send a second group of at least eight identical packets through the network, the packets representative of the second digital value;
(7) receive subsequent analog inputs, translate said inputs to subsequent digital values, and send a sequence of subsequent groups of at least eight identical packets through the network, the packets representative of the subsequent digital values;
(b) a gatherer device connected to the network, the gatherer device configured to:
(1) receive a first packet of data;
(2) associate the first packet with the first group;
(3) store the digital value of the first packet into a memory;
(4) receive a second packet;
(5) associate the second packet with a group;
(6) store the digital value of the second packet into the memory if the second packet is a first packet to arrive from the second group or if the second packet is a first packet to arrive from a subsequent group;
(7) delete the second packet if the second packet is a member of the first group or if the second packet is not the first packet to arrive from the second group or if the second packet is not the first packet to arrive from a subsequent group;
(8) receive a time threshold input from a user;
(9) interpolate to determine a value for a group in the sequence if none of the packets of the group are received by the expiration of the time threshold;
(10) convert the digital value to a signal configured for the apparatus;
and
(11) manipulate the apparatus according to the sequence of digital values stored in the memory by transmitting the signal to the apparatus.

18 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.