PCMCIA card for transferring flight data

1. A PCMCIA card for remotely downloading flight data via a wireless network to a ground station, the PCMCIA card being configured to be connected to an ACMS system of an aircraft, the ACMS system recording said flight data and generating an ACMS report after at least one predefined condition has been satisfied, the ACMS report comprising several pieces of information said PCMCIA card comprising

a communication unit configured to transfer said flight data to the ground station, the communication unit comprising a transmitter;

a storage unit connected to the communication unit, the storage unit being configured to store said flight data and said ACMS report;

wherein

the storage unit stores a set of configuration data of a flight data transfer;

a communication control unit which operates to inhibit the transmitter of the communication unit under predetermined conditions;

the communication unit comprises a processor configured to;

i) detect whether said ACMS report has been generated,

ii) compare the information of the ACMS report to said set of configuration data; and

iii) depending on a result of the comparison, automatically trigger the flight data transfer,

according to the configuration data,

from said communication unit to the ground station; and

the communication unit receives, via the wireless network,

a request to trigger the flight data transfer if said ACMS report has been generated and wherein the flight data is deleted from the storage unit after the automatic transfer of said flight data.

2. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , wherein the communication unit automatically triggers the flight data transfer as soon as at least one information of the ACMS report is identical to a configuration data of the set of configuration data.

3. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , wherein the communication unit automatically triggers the flight data transfer as soon as an inclusive or exclusive combination of information of said ACMS report is identical to a combination of configuration data.

4. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , further comprising a unit for managing access to the storage unit of the PCMCIA card by the processor of the communication unit and the ACMS system.

5. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , wherein the configuration data are: a list of possible wireless networks and/or a list of possible airports and/or a list of flight data to be transferred and/or a compression rate to be applied to the flight data and/or an encryption type to be applied to the flight data and/or a roaming activation.

6. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless network is a cellular network or a dedicated architecture mobile network of the IEEE 802.11 or IEEE 802.16.

7. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless network is a cellular network and wherein as an alternative to the automatic transfer at the end of the flight, the transfer is triggered by the receipt of a SMS message.

8. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , wherein a communication control unit is configured to receive from the ACMS system at least one flight datum in order to determine whether the transmitter of the communication unit has to be inhibited.

9. The PCMCIA card according to claim 1 , comprising an interface configured to connect said PCMCIA card to an ACMS system of an aircraft, the interface being a PCMCIA, USB, PCI, PCI express interface.