Granted Patent B2

US 12,682,507 · App. 18/408,795 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Inventor: Michael McElligott (Cork, IE)

Assignee: GOODRICH LIGHTING SYSTEMS, INC.

G06T11/00G01C21/20

Abstract

Claims (18)

1 . An extended reality system for generating real-time synthetic imagery during a flight of an aircraft; wherein the system is connectable to a local terrain database via a data network while the aircraft is on the ground, the system comprising:

a terrain subset database configured to store a subset of terrain data from the local terrain database;

a position database configured to receive a real-time position and orientation of the aircraft during flight;

an image generator configured to generate a plurality of real-time synthetic images of one or more view points from or of the aircraft based on the subset of terrain data and the real-time position and orientation of the aircraft;

an encoder configured to convert the plurality of real-time synthetic images into a plurality of media streams, wherein the plurality of media streams are configured to be transmitted to one or more display devices via a wireless network; and

a flight path predictor configured to receive the real-time position and orientation of the aircraft at each time step and predict positions and orientation of the aircraft for one or more future time steps;

wherein the predicted position and orientation of the aircraft for one or more future time steps is based on the position and orientation of the aircraft for current and previous time steps and a predetermined flight path of the aircraft;

wherein the image generator is configured to generate one or more sets of future synthetic images of one or more view points from or of the aircraft based on the subset of terrain data and the predicted position and orientation of the aircraft for the one or more future time steps.

2 . The extended reality system of claim 1 , wherein the local terrain database comprises global or regional terrain data, and wherein the system is configured to receive an updated subset of terrain data from the local terrain database when the aircraft is on the ground.

3 . The extended reality system of claim 2 , wherein the terrain subset database comprises terrain data sufficient for an upcoming flight path or region in which the aircraft operates.

4 . The extended reality system of claim 3 , wherein the system is configured to receive supplementary data for the upcoming flight, wherein the supplementary data includes one or more of: predicted weather conditions; position of nearby aircraft; classification of nearby aircraft; and points of interest along flight path from a supplementary data feed via the data network while the aircraft is on the ground.

5 . The extended reality system of claim 4 , wherein the image generator is configured to generate the plurality of real-time synthetic images based on the supplementary data for the upcoming flight.

6 . The extended reality system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a cache configured to store the synthetic images generated by the image generator.

7 . The extended reality system of claim 6 , wherein the encoder is configured to receive the synthetic images from the cache and/or the image generator directly.

8 . The extended reality system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more viewpoints comprise: a pilot view, a seat view, and an escort view, wherein each view comprises a plurality of different weather conditions or times of day.

9 . The extended reality system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless network comprises a plurality of separate channels each configured to transmit the plurality of media streams to the one or more display devices.

10 . The extended reality system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more display devices are connectable to a single channel of the one or more separate channels.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (24)