US 12,293,677 B2
Aircraft cockpit training simulator and associated method
Brian L. Collen, Arlington, TX (US); Jimmie M. Davis, Jr., Arlington, TX (US); Michael A. Gardner, Arlington, TX (US); William L. Hunter, Jr., Arlington, TX (US); and Christopher A. Johnson, Arlington, TX (US)
Assigned to CAE USA INC., Tampa, FL (US)
Filed by CAE USA INC., Tampa, FL (US)
Filed on Sep. 21, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/448,212.
Prior Publication US 2023/0088372 A1, Mar. 23, 2023
Int. Cl. G09B 9/16 (2006.01)
CPC G09B 9/16 (2013.01) 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft cockpit training simulator comprising:
a plurality of aircraft cockpit simulation panels and power over Ethernet (POE) cabling extending therebetween;
each aircraft cockpit simulation panel comprising
at least one simulator user interface device,
at least one of an input circuit and an output circuit coupled to the at least one simulator user interface device,
a POE interface circuit, and
a distributed controller coupled to the at least one of an input circuit and an output circuit and the POE interface circuit configured to asynchronously communicate with other distributed controllers using a publish/subscribe protocol; and
a host controller coupled to the plurality of distributed controllers via the POE cabling and configured to operate the plurality of aircraft cockpit simulation panels in accordance with a host computer model;
wherein each aircraft cockpit simulation panel comprises at least one connector; and
wherein the POE interface circuit, the distributed controller, and the at least one of an input circuit and output circuit are in a form of a line replaceable unit (LRU) coupled to the at least one connector, each aircraft cockpit simulation panel being capable of operating independently of all the other cockpit simulation panels and the host computer model run by the host controller and being configured to facilitate development and testing of the respective aircraft cockpit simulation panel without reference to the other aircraft cockpit simulation panels and the host controller and host computer model.
 
10. An aircraft cockpit training simulator comprising:
a plurality of aircraft cockpit simulation panels and power over Ethernet (POE) cabling extending therebetween;
each aircraft cockpit simulation panel comprising
at least one simulator user interface device and at least one connector coupled thereto, and
a line replaceable unit (LRU) coupled to the at least one connector comprising
at least one of an input circuit and an output circuit coupled to the at least one simulator user interface device,
a POE interface circuit, and
a distributed controller coupled to the at least one of an input circuit and an output circuit and POE interface circuit configured to asynchronously communicate with other distributed controllers using a publish/subscribe Data Distribution Service (DDS) protocol; and
a host controller coupled to the plurality of distributed controllers via the POE cabling and configured to operate the plurality of aircraft cockpit simulation panels in accordance with a host computer model;
each aircraft cockpit simulation panel being capable of operating independently of all other aircraft cockpit simulation panels and the host computer model run by the host controller and being configured to facilitate development and testing of the respective aircraft cockpit simulation panel without reference to the other aircraft cockpit simulation panels and the host controller and host computer model.
 
19. A method of making an aircraft cockpit training simulator comprising:
coupling power over Ethernet (POE) cabling among a plurality of aircraft cockpit simulation panels, each aircraft cockpit simulation panel comprising
at least one simulator user interface device,
at least one of an input circuit and an output circuit coupled to the at least one simulator user interface device,
a POE interface circuit, and
a distributed controller coupled to the at least one of an input circuit and an output circuit and the POE interface device configured to asynchronously communicate with other controllers using a publish/subscribe protocol; and
coupling a host controller to the plurality of distributed controllers via the POE cabling and configured to operate the plurality of aircraft cockpit simulation panels in accordance with a host computer model;
wherein each aircraft cockpit simulation panel comprises at least one connector; and
wherein the POE interface circuit, the distributed controller, and the at least one of an input circuit and output circuit are in a form of a line replaceable unit (LRU) coupled to the at least one connector, each aircraft cockpit simulation panel being capable of operating independently of all other aircraft cockpit simulation panels and the host computer model run by the host controller and being configured to facilitate development and testing of the respective aircraft cockpit simulation panel without reference to the other aircraft cockpit simulation panels and the host controller and host computer model.