Patent ID: 8731811
Filing Date: 2014-05-20
Classification: G08G

Abstract:
1. A method of displaying a taxi clearance for an aircraft, the method comprising: receiving an input taxi clearance including a first taxi path of a plurality of taxi paths at an airport and a second taxi path of the plurality of taxi paths, the second taxi path succeeding the first taxi path in the input taxi clearance, a discontinuity existing between the first taxi path and the second taxi path; constructing an oriented graph data structure based on the plurality of taxi paths at the airport; determining the discontinuity exists in the input taxi clearance between the first taxi path and the second taxi path; identifying one or more starting nodes of the oriented graph data structure based on the first taxi path, the one or more starting nodes representing one or more locations along the first taxi path where the aircraft may exit the first taxi path by excluding, from the one or more starting nodes, a first node of the oriented graph data structure that corresponds to a location where the aircraft will enter the first taxi path; identifying one or more destination nodes of the oriented graph data structure based on the second taxi path, the one or more destination nodes being associated with the second taxi path, wherein a second node of the oriented graph data structure that corresponds to an intersection of the second taxi path and a next succeeding taxi path of the input taxi clearance is excluded from the one or more destination nodes; determining, by a processing system, a plurality of possible taxi routes between the first taxi path and the second taxi path using the oriented graph data structure, wherein each possible taxi route of the plurality of possible taxi routes comprises a route between a starting node of the one or more starting nodes and a destination node of the one or more destination nodes; identifying an optimal taxi route from among the plurality of possible taxi routes; and graphically indicating, on a display device associated with the aircraft, that the taxi clearance for the aircraft includes the optimal taxi route between the first taxi path and the second taxi path.