IP Library Granted Patent US 11,208,916
Granted Patent B2
US 11,208,916 · App. 16/502,078 · Granted Dec 28, 2021

Self-healing remote dynamic data recording

Inventors: Paul Raymond Scheid (West Hartford, CT); Calvin K. Lin (San Marino, CA)
Assignee: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
F01D21/003B64D27/10B64D31/06B64D45/00B64F5/60F01D21/14F02C9/00B64D2045/0085F05D2270/20F05D2270/44F05D2270/54F05D2270/80
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,208,916
App. No.
16/502,078
Granted
Dec 28, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A communication adapter of a gas turbine engine of an aircraft includes a communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an offboard system and to communicate with an engine control of the gas turbine engine. The communication adapter also includes a memory system and processing circuitry configured to check for a change of an identifier associated with the engine control, check for a loss of a plurality of remote dynamic data recording parameters from the engine control, and pass a request to update the remote dynamic data recording parameters from the offboard system through the communication adapter to the engine control based on detecting the change of the identifier. The processing circuitry is further configured to reload an existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters at the engine control based on determining that the loss of the remote dynamic data recording parameters has occurred.

Claims (66)

1. A communication adapter of a gas turbine engine of an aircraft, the communication adapter comprising:

a communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with an offboard system and to communicate with an engine control of the gas turbine engine;

a memory system configured to store a record definition file, wherein the record definition file is configured to track which version of an identifier associated with the engine control was last loaded onto the engine control, and store a version history of previous updates to the engine control to enable reversion to a previously known configuration of the engine control; and

processing circuitry configured to:

check for a change of the identifier associated with the engine control;

check for a loss of a plurality of remote dynamic data recording parameters from the engine control, wherein the loss is detected by one or more of a request followed by a non-acknowledgement response, an invalidity, or an error;

pass a request to update the remote dynamic data recording parameters from the offboard system through the communication adapter to the engine control based on detecting the change of the identifier; and

reload, by the communication adapter, an existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters to the engine control based on determining that the loss of the remote dynamic data recording parameters has occurred.

2. The communication adapter of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive an engine control dynamic data recording request from the offboard system, wherein the engine control dynamic data recording request comprises a list of supplemental parameters to be recorded during operation of the gas turbine engine in addition to a default parameter recording list of the remote dynamic data recording parameters.

3. The communication adapter of claim 2 , wherein the engine control dynamic data recording request comprises at least one digital signature that is validated by the engine control prior to updating the remote dynamic data recording parameters of the engine control.

4. The communication adapter of claim 2 , further comprising an internal sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors within the communication adapter, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a plurality of time series data at the communication adapter from the engine control during operation of the gas turbine engine based on the engine control dynamic data recording request;

record a plurality of internal sensor data versus time in the memory system based on the internal sensor system until an end condition is met;

correlate the time series data with the internal sensor data based on an alignment in time to form an enhanced data set; and

transmit the enhanced data set from the communication adapter to the offboard system based on a transmit condition.

5. The communication adapter of claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

synthesize one or more aircraft parameters based on the internal sensor data as one or more synthesized aircraft parameters; and

combine the one or more synthesized aircraft parameters with a plurality of engine control parameters from the engine control in the enhanced data set.

6. The communication adapter of claim 1 , wherein a version of the existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters is selected based on determining whether the loss is associated with a change in the identifier or the identifier is unchanged.

7. The communication adapter of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

pass the identifier associated with the engine control to the offboard system;

pass a status message or available data associated with the remote dynamic data recording parameters to the offboard system; and

monitor for a response from the offboard system.

8. A method comprising:

checking for a change of an identifier associated with an engine control of a gas turbine engine of an aircraft;

checking for a loss of a plurality of remote dynamic data recording parameters from the engine control, wherein the loss is detected by one or more of a non-acknowledgement response to a request, an invalidity, or an error;

passing a request to update the remote dynamic data recording parameters from an offboard system through a communication adapter to the engine control based on detecting the change of the identifier, wherein the communication adapter comprises a communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with the offboard system and to communicate with the engine control and a memory system configured to store a record definition file, wherein the record definition file is configured to track which version of the identifier associated with the engine control was last loaded onto the engine control, and store a version history of previous updates to the engine control to enable reversion to a previously known configuration of the engine control; and

reloading, by the communication adapter, an existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters to the engine control based on determining that the loss of the remote dynamic data recording parameters has occurred.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving an engine control dynamic data recording request from the offboard system, wherein the engine control dynamic data recording request comprises a list of supplemental parameters to be recorded during operation of the gas turbine engine in addition to a default parameter recording list of the remote dynamic data recording parameters.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the engine control dynamic data recording request comprises at least one digital signature that is validated by the engine control prior to updating the remote dynamic data recording parameters of the engine control.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the communication adapter comprises an internal sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors within the communication adapter, and the method further comprises:

receiving a plurality of time series data at the communication adapter from the engine control during operation of the gas turbine engine based on the engine control dynamic data recording request;

recording a plurality of internal sensor data versus time in the memory system based on the internal sensor system until an end condition is met;

correlating the time series data with the internal sensor data based on an alignment in time to form an enhanced data set; and

transmitting the enhanced data set from the communication adapter to the offboard system based on a transmit condition.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

synthesizing one or more aircraft parameters based on the internal sensor data as one or more synthesized aircraft parameters; and

combining the one or more synthesized aircraft parameters with a plurality of engine control parameters from the engine control in the enhanced data set.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein a version of the existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters is selected based on determining whether the loss is associated with a change in the identifier or the identifier is unchanged.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

passing the identifier associated with the engine control to the offboard system;

passing a status message or available data associated with the remote dynamic data recording parameters to the offboard system; and

monitoring, by the communication adapter, for a response from the offboard system.

15. A gas turbine engine of an aircraft, the gas turbine engine comprising:

a fan section comprising a fan case;

an engine control configured to monitor and control operation of the gas turbine engine in real-time; and

a communication adapter comprising:

processing circuitry configured to check for a change of an identifier associated with the engine control, check for a loss of a plurality of remote dynamic data recording parameters from the engine control, pass a request to update the remote dynamic data recording parameters from an offboard system through the communication adapter to the engine control based on detecting the change of the identifier, and reload an existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters at the engine control based on determining that the loss of the remote dynamic data recording parameters has occurred, wherein the loss is detected by one or more of a request followed by a non-acknowledgement response, an invalidity, or an error; and

a memory system configured to store a record definition file, wherein the record definition file is configured to track which version of the identifier associated with the engine control was last loaded onto the engine control, and store a version history of previous updates to the engine control to enable reversion to a previously known configuration of the engine control.

16. The gas turbine engine of claim 15 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive an engine control dynamic data recording request from the offboard system, wherein the engine control dynamic data recording request comprises a list of supplemental parameters to be recorded during operation of the gas turbine engine in addition to a default parameter recording list of the remote dynamic data recording parameters.

17. The gas turbine engine of claim 16 , further comprising an internal sensor system comprising a plurality of sensors within the communication adapter, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a plurality of time series data at the communication adapter from the engine control during operation of the gas turbine engine based on the engine control dynamic data recording request;

record a plurality of internal sensor data versus time in the memory system based on the internal sensor system until an end condition is met;

correlate the time series data with the internal sensor data based on an alignment in time to form an enhanced data set; and

transmit the enhanced data set from the communication adapter to the offboard system based on a transmit condition.

18. The gas turbine engine of claim 17 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

synthesize one or more aircraft parameters based on the internal sensor data as one or more synthesized aircraft parameters; and

combine the one or more synthesized aircraft parameters with a plurality of engine control parameters from the engine control in the enhanced data set.

19. The gas turbine engine of claim 15 , wherein a version of the existing configuration of the remote dynamic data recording parameters is selected based on determining whether the loss is associated with a change in the identifier or the identifier is unchanged.

20. The gas turbine engine of claim 15 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

pass the identifier associated with the engine control to the offboard system;

pass a status message or available data associated with the remote dynamic data recording parameters to the offboard system; and

monitor for a response from the offboard system.

Assignments (4)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jul 27, 2023
From: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
To: RTX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 064714/0001 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE SPELLING ON THE ADDRESS 10 FARM SPRINGD ROAD FARMINGTONCONNECTICUT 06032 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 057190 FRAME 0719. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE CORRECT SPELLING OF THE ADDRESS 10 FARM SPRINGS ROAD FARMINGTON CONNECTICUT 06032. Recorded Aug 19, 2021
From: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
To: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 057226/0390 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Aug 16, 2021
From: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
To: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 057190/0719 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 3, 2019
From: SCHEID, PAUL RAYMOND; LIN, CALVIN K.
To: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 049660/0134 →