Patents Assigned to Rockwell Collins, Inc.
  • Patent number: 11910864
    Abstract: A helmet assembly for a spacesuit or other protective suit is disclosed. In embodiments, the helmet assembly includes an external face shield attachable to the spacesuit and providing the spacesuit user with a forward field of view. The helmet assembly includes suit status displays hard-mounted to the external face shield at a periphery or edge of the forward field of view (e.g., upper, lower, left, right). Each suit status display includes a linear or one-dimensional array of individual light emitting diodes (LED) in communication with a suit controller of the spacesuit. Each LED array receives from the suit controller suit status data (e.g., consumables levels, suit performance, position data) communicated to the user by illuminating one or more of the individual LED units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Christopher A. Keith
  • Patent number: 11908329
    Abstract: A system and related methods for providing unusual attitude symbology for recovering from an unusual attitude condition. By the unusual attitude symbology, a pilot may visually determine corrective actions needed to recover from the unusual attitude condition with a minimal recovery time and similarly with a minimal cognitive workload. The pilot may thus establish stable flight, even under a high-stress situation. The unusual attitude symbology includes pitch direction indicators, roll direction indicators, a roll recovery arc, an unusual attitude warning indicator, and a roll entry chevron. Path based symbology may also be used to provide unusual attitude recovery while maintaining spatial orientation of the aircraft to the outside scene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Lenard E Noice
  • Patent number: 11903124
    Abstract: A through connector device is disclosed. The device may include a coaxial cable receiver portion defined by one or more surfaces, the coaxial cable receiver portion configured to couple to a center conductor portion of a coaxial cable, the center conductor portion of the coaxial cable protruding above a dielectric material of the coaxial cable. The device may include a beam lead positioned adjacent to the coaxial cable receiver portion. The device may include a planar transmission line contact pad configured to make electrical contact with a planar transmission line of a printed circuit board. The device may include a step configured to electrically and mechanically couple the beam lead to the planar transmission line contact pad, the step configured to create a gap between a bottom surface of the beam lead and a top surface of an outer conductor portion of the coaxial cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Daniel S. Shaw
  • Patent number: 11889399
    Abstract: A communication system is disclosed. The communication system includes a first core network that is mobile, and a radio access network, which includes a first central unit and one or more distributed units. The first central unit includes a first router containing a multi-level security guard configured to route user plane data and control plane data to the first core network. The first central unit further includes a transceiver, a control plane interface coupled to the core network, and a second router configured to communicate user plane data and control plane data to one or more first distributed units. The central unit configures at least one network function of radio resource control (RRC). The one or more distributed units configures at least one network function of packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical link (PHY) network functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: John V. Thommana, James A. Stevens
  • Patent number: 11887222
    Abstract: A method and system for converting a filled shape to a run length encoded RLE vector is disclosed. The method includes creating a virtual pixel array of pixel cells corresponding to a graphical array of pixels comprising the filled shape. The method includes determining a border on the virtual pixel array corresponding to the filled shape, storing a pixel-type value within each pixel cell that corresponds to a border line element within the pixel, and creating a shape RLE group corresponding to a line of pixels aligned along a first axis of the virtual pixel array. Once created, the position and length of the shape RLE group is stored as an RLE vector. The method for clipping filled shapes is also disclosed, which includes converting a clipping region to a clip RLE group, then comparing the clip RLE group to the shape RLE group, forming a clipped image RLE vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeff M. Henry
  • Patent number: 11884417
    Abstract: A system and method for emergency manual flight direction to a non-pilot enables the non-pilot an ability to safely land an aircraft after an event causing a single pilot of the aircraft to become unable to perform pilot tasks. The emergency flight director (EFD) receives inputs from a plurality of sources and displays information, maneuver, configuration and communication commands to the non-pilot on a flight deck display. Inputs to the system include aircraft state data as well as airport and current weather information associated with each available airport. The EFD determines an appropriate emergency landing runway and presents simplified commands coupled with animated aircraft specific graphics to the non-pilot to manually fly the aircraft to a safe landing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Daniel B. Goldman
  • Patent number: 11887486
    Abstract: A context driven alerting system and method is described in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The alerting system and method may consider a pilot's physiological, psychological, and behavioral state during a given mission context. The system may include biometric information which is fused with a context of the flight. The context may be based on one or more of a mission profile data or an aircraft state data. The fused data may be time synchronized and provided to an alerting algorithm. The alerting algorithm may then provide an alert to the pilot which includes a priority, intensity, frequency, or modality determined based on the fused information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Arjun Harsha Rao, Peggy Wu, Christopher L George, Timothy J. Wittkop, Michael P. Matessa, Wade T. Johnson
  • Patent number: 11880503
    Abstract: A system and method for predicting an estimated head pose solution of a head worn display (HWD) at a future time selects or determines, for each HWD rotational axis, a relative angular rate of a head reference frame relative to a body reference frame. By sampling the relative angular rate, a relative angular acceleration is determined. Based on a projection time associated with estimated display latency, angular increment vectors for each rotational axis are determined for relative angular rate and relative angular acceleration. The current head pose solution is adjusted with respect to one or more axes based on the angular increment vectors to project the head pose estimate ahead based on the projection time, the resulting projected head pose solution corresponding to a predicted orientation of the head frame relative to the body frame at the future time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Gavin P. Haentjens, Christopher M. Boggs, Troy D. Driscoll, William T. Kirchner, Brandon E. Wilson
  • Patent number: 11880034
    Abstract: A high-assurance headtracking system for a head worn display (HWD) incorporating ground-truth fiducials is disclosed. In embodiments, the headtracking system includes a camera fixed to a mobile platform (e.g., an aircraft cockpit) and oriented toward a pilot wearing the HWD. Images captured by the camera detect fiducial markers attached to the HWD (and fixed in a device reference frame) and static fiducial markers fixed to the mobile platform, each static fiducial marker including a constellation of individual markers having a known position and orientation in the platform reference frame. The headtracking system include control processors for analyzing the images and identifying therein the device-frame and static fiducial markers. The headtracking system determines a device pose of the HWD relative to the platform reference frame and monitors the device pose for drift or error based on the known positions of the identified static fiducial markers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Carlo L. Tiana, Brandon E. Wilson, Alexander D. Reid, David I. Han
  • Publication number: 20240019640
    Abstract: An optical waveguide comprises at least two TIR surface and contains a grating. Input TIR light with a first angular range along a first propagation direction undergoes at least two diffractions at the grating. Each diffraction directs light into a unique TIR angular range along a second propagation direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2023
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Applicants: DigiLens Inc., Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan David Waldern, Alastair John Grant, Milan Momcilo Popovich, James H. Stanley, Robert D. Brown
  • Publication number: 20240019053
    Abstract: An assembly includes a first tube including a first flange at one end, wherein the first flange includes a first knife-edge ring defined in an axial face thereof. A second tube includes a second flange at one end, wherein the second flange includes a second knife-edge ring defined in an axial face thereof. A gasket is seated between the first and second flanges. The gasket is in a deformed state conforming to the first and second knife-edge rings to seal a space inside the first and second tubes from an external environment. A nut is included radially outward from the first and second flanges, wherein the nut includes internal threads engaged to compress the first and second flanges toward one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2023
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Applicant: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark A. Schoelen, Conan S. St. John, David Lewis
  • Patent number: 11874477
    Abstract: A transparent wearable data display having a source of collimated light, a deflector for deflecting the collimated light into a scanned beam, and a first of switchable grating elements sandwiched between first and second parallel transparent substrates, which together functioning as a first light guide. A first coupling is provided for directing the scanned beam into a first total internal reflection (TIR) light path of the first light guide along the first array column. The grating elements having diffracting and non-diffracting states, in their diffracting state deflecting light out of said light guide. The grating elements arc switchable into their diffracting states one group of elements at a time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignees: Digilens Inc., Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Milan Momcilo Popovich, Jonathan David Waldern
  • Patent number: 11874320
    Abstract: A system and method for performing time-dependent reliability prediction of a printed circuit board (PCB) embedded in a sensor that monitors the health (viz., performance) of operating equipment subject to different environmental stressors. The method includes developing a digital twin (DT) of the physical PCB, generating sensor data, transmitting the sensor data, and receiving sensor data and historical conditional data by the twinning module, wherein the historical condition data includes known failure data of one or more electronic components of the circuit board based on an internal condition or and external condition. The method further includes embedded physics-based reliability models informed by inputs from the sensor data and the historical conditional data, generating a real-time failure prediction signal based on the physics-based reliability models, and reporting the real-time failure prediction signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Yehia F. Khalil
  • Patent number: 11877389
    Abstract: An apparatus with an anti-tamper architecture includes a substrate and a layer of a pyrotechnic composite arranged on a surface of the substrate. The pyrotechnic composite includes a metal and a metal oxide, and the layer has a thickness of about 1 micrometer to about 10 millimeters. A reaction of the pyrotechnic composite is an exothermic reaction and at least partially fractures the substrate after the reaction is initiated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC.
    Inventors: Mark Andrew Schoelen, Thomas Michael Deppert, Reginald Bean
  • Patent number: 11874394
    Abstract: A system may include a processor configured to: receive ambient data from an environment; calculate an average amplitude of the ambient data as a measure of a noise floor; receive a signal of interest found by the signal exceeding a noise riding threshold, the noise riding floor being an upward offset from the noise floor; calculate a running average for amplitude and frequency of the signal of interest; calculate a running variance for the amplitude and the frequency of the signal of interest; use the running average and the running variance to provide an adjustment to limits for modulation detection; use an offset from the noise riding threshold to provide a signal qualification minimum amplitude; and qualify the signal of interest based at least on the signal qualification minimum amplitude.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony Szymanski, Clint W. McLaughlin
  • Patent number: 11852745
    Abstract: A system may include a display and a processor. The processor may be configured to: break down two-dimensional weather radar reflectivity data into cells, each cell of the cells having a maximum rainfall rate location and a geometric area; prioritize the cells based at least on each cell's proximity to the aircraft, each cell's intensity, each cell's growth rate, each cell's storm top altitude relative to the aircraft altitude, and/or a threat convective level of the cell to select a highest priority cell; and output, to the display, a highest priority azimuth slice vertical radar image of the two-dimensional weather radar reflectivity data as graphical data, the highest priority azimuth slice vertical radar image corresponding to an azimuth slice of the two-dimensional weather radar reflectivity data for the highest priority cell. The display may be configured to display the highest priority azimuth slice vertical radar image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Divesh Lakhi, Mark Fersdahl, Venkata A. Sishtla
  • Patent number: 11854110
    Abstract: A system may include a processor configured to: obtain an image of an airport terminal chart; based on a latitudinal set of characters, determine a latitude for each line of latitude; based on the latitude for each line of latitude and a first image distance between the lines of latitude, determine a first ratio of latitudinal degrees between the lines of latitude to the first image distance; based on a longitudinal set of characters, determine a longitude for each line of longitude; based on the longitude for each line of longitude and a second image distance between the lines of longitude, determine a second ratio of longitudinal degrees between the lines of longitude to the second image distance; and output information associated with the first ratio, the second ratio, the determined latitude for each line of latitude, and the determined longitude for each line of longitude.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeff M. Henry, Srinath A. Nandakumar
  • Patent number: 11853418
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting and preventing cyberintrusion of a protected system incorporates neural networks having a training mode and a host-accessible (e.g., non-training) mode. When in training mode, the neural networks observe data exchanges with a protected system via interfaces (based on test inputs) and generate system templates corresponding to observed normal behaviors of the interfaces (including “gold standard” behavior indicative of optimal performance behaviors and/or minimal threat of cyberintrusion). When in host-accessible mode, the neural networks observe operating behaviors of the interfaces for each exchange via the interfaces and apply stored system templates to the system data to most closely approximate the optimal behavior set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Reginald D. Bean, Gregory W. Rice
  • Patent number: 11855610
    Abstract: A broadband switch includes multi-stage electromechanical ganged stage relays. The ganged stage relays provide at least 65 dB of electrical isolation from active broadband input or active broadband output to all non-active broadband inputs. In a further aspect, the ganged stage relays provide at least 100 dB of electrical isolation from 1 kHz to 100 MHz from broadband inputs and broadband output to power inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiren Sampat, Ian P. Difranco, Todd Edwards
  • Publication number: 20230406518
    Abstract: An ejection handle separation system is disclosed herein. The ejection handle separation system includes an ejection seat handle, a rotatable component, a cable connected to the handle and coupled to the rotatable component, wherein the rotatable component rotates in response to pulling the ejection seat handle, and an anchor inserted into the rotatable component and configured to releasably connect the cable to the rotatable component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2022
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Applicant: ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC.
    Inventors: STEVE A. HOLSTINE, MAYUR K. VADHWANA