Traffic advisory-instantaneous vertical speed display

Claim 1

A display for presenting symbolically to an aircraft flight crew the traffic advisory and resolution advisory information developed by a Traffic Advisory and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) computer aboard an aircraft, comprising: an electronic display panel an instantaneous vertical speed sensor aboard the aircraft, said sensor providing output data containing rate of climb or descent information for the aircraft; first means receiving output data from said TCAS computer for controlling said display panel to present thereon a first display indicating the locations of other aircraft relative to the aircraft, said other aircraft being characterized by particular symbols in accordance with their degree of collision threat to the aircraft, second means receiving output data from said instantaneous vertical speed sensor for controlling said display panel to present thereon a second display indicating the vertical speed of the aircraft, said second display being located in an area of said panel adjacent said first display; and third means receiving output data from said TCAS computer for controlling said display panel to cause said second display to indicate vertical speeds of the aircraft which comply with a particular resolution advisory generated by said TCAS computer, said second display including a scale of climb and descent rates and a pointer, the information content of said sensory output data being indicated by the position of said pointer along said scale, said third means controlling said display panel to cause illumination of the backgrounds of different portions of said scale with light of contrasting colors in accordance with resolution advisories generated by said TCAS computer, wherein said first display is presented in PPI format and said second display is laid out about the outer periphery of said first display.

Claim 15

A method for presenting to a aircraft flight crew traffic advisories and resolution advisories for other aircraft within a selected horizontal range of the aircraft on a single electronic display face comprising the steps of: providing on the display face an indication of the aircraft; displaying on the display face symbols indicative of the altitude and bearing of other aircraft within the selected horizontal range; changing the symbols indicative of other aircraft within the selected range to highlight aircraft which constitute a collision threat; providing around the periphery of the display face a vertical speed scale illuminated with light of a first color; positioning an indicator with respect to the vertical speed scale to indicate the aircraft vertical speed; and, selectively illuminating a portion of the vertical speed scale, indicative of a range of vertical speeds which should be avoided, in a contrasting color to that of said first color, in response to a resolution advisory provided by a Traffic Advisory and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) computer aboard the aircraft.

Claim 16

A method for presenting to a aircraft flight crew traffic advisories and resolution advisories for other aircraft within a selected horizontal range of the aircraft on a single electronic display face comprising the steps of: providing on the display face an indication of the aircraft; displaying on the display face symbols indicative of the altitude and bearing of other aircraft within the selected horizontal range; changing the symbols indicative of other aircraft within the selected range to highlight aircraft which constitute a collision threat; providing around the periphery of the display face a vertical speed scale illuminated with light of a first color; positioning an indicator with respect to the vertical speed scale to indicate the aircraft vertical speed; and, selectively illuminating a portion of the vertical speed scale, indicative of a range of vertical speeds which should be avoided, in a contrasting color to that of said first color, in response to a resolution advisory provided by a Traffic Advisory and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) computer aboard the aircraft.