Ground link with on-board security surveillance system for aircraft and other commercial vehicles

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BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The subject invention is generally related to safety and surveillance equipment for aircraft, ships and other commercial vehicles and is specifically directed to a comprehensive multi-media security surveillance system for same while in port or terminal and/or unattended whether taxiing or parked, combined with the on-board monitoring and safety systems through a vehicle-to-ground link. The system of the subject invention also permits tracking while en route.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Security is of ever increasing importance. This is particularly true with respect to commercial airlines as more and more people and freight are moved in this manner and aircraft and other commercial transports increasingly become the targets of terrorists activities. The airways are becoming increasingly crowded with traffic. Global tracking systems are now in place to monitor the flight of the aircraft from the moment it lifts off until it safely lands at its destination. Radar and navigational positioning systems are commonplace both on the aircraft and at the ground tracking stations. All of these electronic systems have increased the overall safety record of commercial traffic to new standards as the number of miles flown continues to escalate.

In addition, the on board avionics including electronic monitoring and diagnostic equipment, particularly on large commercial jets, continues to evolve, giving both the on board crew and the ground assets more complete, accurate and up to date information regarding the condition of the aircraft while in flight. Flight recorders long have been incorporated in order to provide a record of each flight and in order to provide critical information to aid in the determination of the causes of an accident or malfunction should one occur.

However, one area which has been neglected with the ever increasing availability of electronic surveillance is the security of the aircraft or other vehicles or vessels, including, but not limited to, over-the-road vehicles, railroad rolling stock, ships and other commercial transports (collectively referred to as commercial transports), particularly when unattended. Typically, when an aircraft is on the ground, or in port, and unattended the only security provided is the security of the location. If the security of the area in which the commercial transport is stored is breached, the commercial transport is an easy target. In most cases, even the access doors are left open and further, for obvious safety reasons, are designed not to be locked from the outside. Many critical areas of the commercial transport are left exposed such as in an aircraft, by way of example, the landing gear, the engine housing and critical wing and tail components.

With terrorism and sabotage an increasing problem there is significant need to develop an integrated system capable of providing good physical/visual and/or audio surveillance as well as monitoring of the environmental, security and motion conditions of the commercial transport and various components while the commercial transport is on the ground. For example, a good visual surveillance system would give instant evidence of a breach of commercial transport security, could sound an alarm and could immediately secure the area.

Such a system would also permit the recording of visual information to provide a history for later review, providing yet another source of information for increasing the overall security of commercial transportation.

While such a system would be of great benefit to the commercial transport and airline industries in general and to the commercial airlines in particular, there are no integrated systems currently available which adequately meets these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject invention is directed to a comprehensive multi-media safety, tracking and/or surveillance system with full two-way communication capability between the commercial transport and a ground surveillance station. In the preferred form, the system provides both visual and/or audio information as well as critical data such as location, direction, intrusion, fire and/or smoke detection and/or status of environmental conditions and/or transport systems status. In my aforementioned patent and copending applications, incorporated herein by reference, detection and sensor systems are utilized to provide the flight crew and/or a ground tracking station for commercial aircraft critical information during flight and/or to record the information and data generated during flight for later reconstruction of catastrophic events. The subject invention is an expansion of this concept and adds not only ground security and surveillance, but tracking while in port or on the ground as well as while in route, as well as incorporating the onboard systems of the aforementioned patent and applications. It is an important feature of the invention that the transmitting network for provides a comprehensive communications link between stationary and mobile stations on the ground, the craft or vehicle being monitored and strategic sensors both onboard the commercial transport and the sensors on the ground. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a wireless LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network) or other wireless transmission scheme is used as the transmission system of choice. A digital wireless voice intercom is provided for security purposes and for communication between the onboard crew and the ground based personnel. In the preferred embodiment video intercom is also provided.

Digital wireless telecommunication capability provides for text communications. Digital wireless (such as, by way of example, LAN) based file communication capability permits the transmission of information such as route or flight plans or gate and dock information. As an example, a LAN or WAN has worldwide tracking capability adapted to be used in connection with a global satellite communication system such as IRIDIUM, wherein the entire path and status of the commercial transport may be monitored while airborne over satellite connections. While wireless systems provide the preferred form of communication, many features of the invention may be practiced using other communication links within the scope and spirit of the invention.

One important feature of the invention is the ability to remotely monitor a commercial transport while on the ground, whether or not the commercial transport is attended. This will permit detection of unexpected events, breach of security, change in environmental conditions and other activities both on and in the vicinity of the commercial transport. A GPS system may be included to provide accurate positioning information of the commercial transport, establishing the parked position of the commercial transport at any time, as well as tracking its movements.

In its preferred form, a plurality of sensor units, which may include at least one video or image sensor/device and/or at least one audio sensor and/or at least one motion sensor, are placed strategically about the interior and exterior of the commercial transport and at strategic ground based locations. In addition, strategically placed motion detectors, fire sensors, smoke sensors, door or latch sensors and other monitoring equipment are incorporated in the system. A comprehensive system incorporating these various sensing devices provide a broad based, multi-media safety, security and surveillance system for monitoring commercial transports at any time, whether or not attended.

In addition to safety and/or surveillance issues, the comprehensive data collection scheme of the subject invention provides a system permitting enhanced monitoring and/or response to crew generated work orders or re-supply orders, and may even avoid the requirement that the crew order certain supplies. For example, by monitoring the fuel, fresh water, waste water and/or hydraulic levels onboard and transmitting this to a ground station, refueling, water delivery and/or hydraulic fluid check and supply may be initiated by the station crew and prepared for delivery when the commercial transport arrives in port. The performance parameters of the commercial transport may also be monitored and may be utilized for initiating maintenance procedures, for example, even before the commercial transport is in port. Pre-flight or pre-mission checklists may be enhanced or automated by monitoring the critical functions and criteria via the system of the subject invention. The system of the subject invention greatly enhances maintenance procedures and efficiency. Where desired, the system is capable of permitting the commercial transport to carry its detailed maintenance record onboard, permitting full access to such information at remote locations. The maintenance record can be routinely updated or polled from the home based maintenance station using the system's unique uplink capability. The ability to both send and receive information will support remote control of the commercial transport onboard systems such as lighting, strobes, alarm setting/resetting, environmental controls, locking systems, siren or other audible signals, fuel flow, fire detection and the like.

Once in port, the system of the subject invention permits complete monitoring of on ground movement, and allows the monitoring of other commercial transport in the area to assure that the various transports do not interfere with one another. This provides collision avoidance, and can be utilized both on the ground and in the air or in route via water or land. Current airborne collision avoidance is accomplished by use of a radar transponder. Aircraft position is located by radar "echo" response and altitude by a "reporting altimeter" reading being returned to the radar system encoded in the transporter return. Use of a satellite based LAN or WAN will provide an "intranet in the sky", providing much more accurate GPS position, altitude, heading, speed and other navigational information to the FAA and other operators and computer tracking and monitoring stations, thus enhancing collision avoidance information.

Situational awareness is also provided by the subject invention. All transports in the terminal area are provided with a GPS location sensor such that the home or ground crew will be able to track and identify the location of every transport in the terminal. This provides better flow of the commercial transports in the terminal area, assuring that proper distance is maintained and appropriate pathways are followed.

The system also permits full situational awareness capability where all ground or water transports in the are provided with GPS location information such that the ground crew will know where all assets are at any point in time. This can provide both collision avoidance as described and also check to assure that the transports are in an authorized area. A composite of all transport location information can be used to provide a "live" display of all assets in the area. Logging of this information will provide good archival information in the event a reconstruction of events, such as a security breach or collision, is required.

The comprehensive surveillance/communication of the subject invention supports communication of monitored data and/or commands or operational data between the ground or base station and the transport, between the transport and ground or terminal support vehicles and/or equipment, between the transport and various monitoring stations or systems, between transports, between the ground station and the support vehicles, between the monitoring station and support vehicles and between the monitoring stations or systems and the support vehicles. This permits the ground station to monitor and/or determine the identity, location, and heading of any vehicle in its range for tracking and collision avoidance, as well as monitoring sensor information, alarm conditions, emergency conditions, servicing requests, maintenance information, navigational information, requests for information such as flight plans, weather information, route maps, message traffic such as e-mail and the like. Similar information may be transmitted and received between transports, between transports and support vehicles and any of these and the ground station. The ground station may also send operational commands to the various monitoring systems both on-board the transport and ground mounted, such as camera tilt, pan and zoom and sensor activation. Other command signals such as "lock-on" a specific condition or transport, sensor download, activation such as "lights-on" or alarm (e.g., siren) activation and the like.

The comprehensive multi-media system of the subject invention permits the collection and dissemination of virtually all data associated with the commercial transport at any time, both while in port or in service. In the preferred embodiment a combination of sensors systems are used, with sensors being installed within the transport, on its exterior and at ground-based locations for monitoring the transport when is in port. In such areas where ground based systems are not available, the transport-installed systems still provide useful and enhanced information over the prior art. Likewise, in those areas where unequipped transports enter a system equipped port, the ground based system of the subject invention can communicate via standard ground-to-air radio to provide useful information such as perimeter surveillance and the like. For example, even without the use of on-board systems, the identification number (such as the tail number on an aircraft), owner, state or country of origin and other identifying information can be matched with available data to provide immediate and accurate identification of a specific commercial transport. This permits efficient tracking and response capability of the transport in port, on the ground, or anywhere in the world using satellite communications.

In the preferred embodiment, fixed view and steerable video cameras may be incorporated either on the commercial transport or independently of the transport at ground based sites where commercial transport is located in order to monitor movements around the perimeter of the monitored commercial transport. It is also desirable to include focusing and/or timing functions so that selective pan, tilt and/or zoom (x,y,z) positioning can be utilized. The cameras may be activated and/or aimed and/or focused based on the location data provided by a GPS system integral to the monitored commercial transport, may automatically pan an area, or may be manually operated by crew or ground personnel. Automatic tracking of each transport in the terminal by one or more tracking cameras in conjunction with a recording device can provide an archival record of each asset in case of a detrimental event, such as fire, terrorist event, theft, collision and the like.

Several video cameras may be placed such that the lens of each is aimed through a window opening provided in the fuselage or body in order to provide video imaging of the engines, tail section, and/or landing gear and other functional components of an aircraft. Cameras may be placed throughout the interior of the commercial transport on the flight deck, in the cargo hold, in passenger cabin and/or other desired spaces including on the ground outside the commercial transport. The audio sensors/transducers and/or other sensors and detectors are also strategically located throughout the commercial transport and positioned at strategic locations both internal and external of the fuselage. External sensors based on the ground area surrounding the commercial transport may also be added.

In its simplest form, current sensors are already on the commercial transport coupled with strategically based ground sensors and may be used to provide surveillance and/or warning system. Thus, a basic system may be implemented with a minimum of alteration to the commercial transport and a minimum of expense.

Within the commercial transport, the system may be hardwired or may use wireless transmission and receiving systems. The wireless system is particularly useful for adapting the system as a retrofit on existing equipment and also provides assurances against disruption of data transmission during structural catastrophes such as fire or airframe breakup. In the preferred embodiment, the wireless system is fully self-contained with each sensor unit having an independent power supply and where appropriate, a sensor light source. The ground sensors may likewise be hardwired or use wireless transmission and receiving of video and/or alarm telemetry signals. The ground security system may include motion sensitive, weight sensitive, infrared sensitive, audio sensitive, or other typed activation system so that the equipment is not activated until some event is detected, i.e., the system is action triggered. The ground communications link, monitoring and/or recording systems for collecting and/or transmitting the data as disclosed in my copending applications may be adapted for processing the information gathered by the on-ground security system and, in the preferred embodiment. The wireless system may use radio frequency transmission and may incorporate the wireless communication system already in place as an integral component of the system. Where desired, a wireless local area network (LAN) or other wireless system may also be utilized for intercommunication among the system components. Preferably, the entire capture, retrieval, monitor and archive system is installed utilizing the wireless transmitting/receiving system in order to assure that transmission will not be lost in the event of a power shutdown or a failure causing possible open or shorted circuit conditions which could occur in a hard wired system.

A commercial transport equipped with the ground surveillance system of the subject invention may not always be located at a port or terminal equipped with a ground security system. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the on-board system is self-contained and can operate on a stand-alone basis at sites where compatible comprehensive electronic ground security is not available. In those sites with a compatible ground surveillance system, the on-board system communicates with the site-based system to provide information to airport ground personnel and security personnel. The system of the present invention also lends well to a deployable surveillance device carried by the transport, which can be deployed at unequipped sites to permit off-craft monitoring while the commercial transport is at the port or terminal. The system can be positioned at a strategic location within the site whenever the commercial transport is unattended to permit monitoring of the commercial transport from a remote location. The deployable device is then retrieved and stowed in the commercial transport when the commercial transport departs from the site.

In the preferred embodiment, the system will transmit any detected information to a monitor system located at a ground control security station, typically located somewhere within the terminal, tower and/or safety sites such as security stations and fire stations. Detection of activity or fire can sound local and/or remote alarms and/or dial emergency numbers. The data may also be recorded on the standard recorders provided onboard the commercial transport and/or on ground based recorders of conventional type, digital type or a computer based logging system. The security station has instant live access to all of the image and/or audio signals as they are captured by the sensors, and where used, the commercial transport recorder will make an historic record of the images for archive purposes. Where random access recording techniques are used, such as, by way of example, digital random access memory storage devices, the information by be readily searched for stored information.

If unauthorized personnel breaches the security area and the audio and/or video equipment is activated, signals will be immediately transmitted to the security station. This will give immediate access to information identifying the activity and the personnel involved. Further, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, an alarm system will be activated for securing the immediate area and taking counter measures to tighten security such as remote operation of lights and doors, and respond to a breach of same.

In the one embodiment, information from the plurality of sensors on the transport is synchronized through an on board capture/multiplexing system whereby the plurality of data, including visual image data, may be displayed, recorded, and/or transmitted in either a split screen or serial fashion. A "time-stamp" or chronology signal may also be incorporated in the data scheme. Any signal which is capable of being captured and stored may be monitored in this manner. Utilizing the wireless system of the invention in combination with the battery back-up power supply, it is possible to continue collecting information without using ground power or commercial transport power. This assures that the system will operate even if power is disrupted for any reason such as, by way of example, tampering by unauthorized personnel or by fire. In its simplest form, only triggered (activated) sensors are active, i.e., an activity at the site causes a triggering effect and activates the sensor, and only the signals generated thereby are transmitted to the security station. In such a system, multiplexing of continuous signals is not nearly as critical. The "time-stamp" is particularly useful as an aid in reconstructing the events in a "post-event" investigation.

In the one embodiment, the system includes a plurality of strategically located video image sensors and/or audio sensors, each sensor adapted for transmitting the signals to a multiplexer for distributing the signals to monitors and/or archival recorders. The data multiplexer combines all of the signals from the various detector circuits to provide a data stream suitable for transmission over the wireless system.

The LAN transceiver is the interface into the LAN. The LAN transceiver can accept software downloads from various system elements to enable the multi-media sensor system to be maintained or upgraded to perform other functions. Other sensors may also be incorporated in the system, such as motion sensors, smoke and/or fire sensors and the like. The system is configured for selectively transmitting all of the data on a "real-time" or "near real-time" basis, i.e., the data is delivered with only delays for processing time such as compression/decompression, multiplexing and the like. The system is also adapted to provide the monitors access to serial, synchronized full screen view of each of the cameras, in sequential viewing, or alternatively to provide split screen or multi-monitor viewing of a plurality of cameras. The system may be hardwired or wireless transmission may be utilized to further minimize the possibility of a malfunction at the onset of a catastrophic occurrence and to make the system more tamper resistant.

In a typical application, when an alarm from a specific transport is sent to the ground station it will be tagged with the GPS coordinates of the transport. The alarm will also be reported to a security system, typically including a computerized center that distributes the information of the wireless LAN and where used, the wired LAN. The mobile and/or personal security units will also report their GPS coordinates to the central computer so that the system knows the location of all security personnel at ant point in time. Once the alarm signal is received, the system can search and identify the closest appropriate personnel and alert them of the alarm condition. This is accomplished by calculating the length of the vectors between the transport GPS and the various personnel GPS signals. The shortest vectors are the nearest personnel and these can be alerted to respond to the alarm condition.

The selected personnel are then signaled by the security system of the present invention to respond. Audio, text and graphic communications may be utilized to inform the selected personnel of the condition and location. The system can also use its "mapping" function to assist the personnel in determining the best route to take in response. Because of the comprehensive nature of the system of the subject invention, both audio and image conditions of the transport can be communicated directly to the selected personnel, using video conferencing compression techniques of the LAN. If the desired, the personnel can switch cameras to obtain different views, or gain control of the steerable camera disclosed herein and survey the scene as appropriate via remote control. The two-way communication capability of the system would also permit the personnel to communicate conditions and the need for additional personnel or equipment both to the system computer and directly to other personnel.

The security computer system will register the GPS location of the selected personnel as well as the location of additional or "back-up" personnel in order to coordinate their movements and actions. The system can then provide essential audio, video and communications to the selected back-up personnel in order to coordinate the entire operation. The coordinates of fixed sensors may also be entered into the system so that personnel can determine the proximity of each available sensor to his GPS location.

It should be noted that the request for back-up can be programmed to be automatically activated under certain conditions. For example, if a security personnel personal system detects an explosion or a gunshot, an automatic alarm condition can be activated to alert central security other personnel in the vicinity to indicated "potential bomb blast" or "potential automatic weapon", all based on the audio signal which is picked up by the sensors by comparing them to known acoustic signatures of these types of events.

Shock and vibration detectors may also be included both on board, at fixed locations on the ground and in the portable or mobile units. For example, if a personal unit is dropped, an alarm would be generated. Smoke and heat detectors may also be incorporated to monitor the safety of the environment of personnel.

It is a primary object and feature of this invention to provide a comprehensive surveillance and monitoring system supported by a wireless transmission system whereby communication of all data including live video and/or audio transmissions can transmitted between the transport, ground or base stations, remote sensor systems, remote or mobile monitoring systems and other transports.

It is another object of the subject invention to provide the means and apparatus for a comprehensive, multi-media, wireless surveillance and monitoring system for monitoring and tracking a commercial transport vehicle while in port or while in route.

It is another object and feature of this invention to provide tracking capability to assure that a transport stays in an assigned zone while either in route or in the port or terminal.

It is a further object and feature of this invention to provide communication capability for monitoring and/or responding to supply needs on board the transport in order to permit support personnel to expedite response and/or re-supply when the transport arrives in port.

It is also an object and feature of this invention to provide for monitoring of situational conditions of and surrounding the transport both while in port and while in route.

It is yet another object and feature of this invention to provide means for archiving performance parameters for later recall in order to review performance and/or reconstruct events.

It is an additional object and feature of this invention to provide a ground surveillance and security system for detecting the breach of commercial transport security while the commercial transport is on the ground or in a port or terminal and is unattended.

It is another object and feature of the subject invention to identify that a commercial transport is on the ground and needs