Abstract:
A system for converting an existing aircraft communication system to a wireless communication system has a wireless headset for transmitting and receiving communication signals. At least one aircraft transceiver having a connector to plug the transceiver to a headphone jack in the existing aircraft communication system is provided. The transceiver sends communication signals from the existing aircraft communication system and wirelessly transmits the communication signals to the transceiver and wirelessly receives communications signals from the wireless headset.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates generally to aircraft communication systems, and more particularly, to a wireless headset communication system for an aircraft. 
   2. Background Information 
   Communications between the various crewmembers aboard an aircraft is typically accomplished by means of interconnected electronic devices. The aircraft communication system is a vital part of the equipment required for safe, efficient and coordinated flight crew operations. Pilots communicate with air traffic control to assure mutual understanding of assigned and intended flight paths. Pilots and co-pilots communicate over the aircraft communication system on matters related to control and flight procedures, coordinating accomplishment of checklists, switch settings and the like. 
   All communication systems on aircraft are designed and operate in the following manner. Specifically there are several two-way communications systems (VHF and HF radios, Satellite radios, flight, cabin, and ground interphone systems) available to the flight crew. Each crew member can select what communication system or systems they want to listen to and which communication system they want to talk on. Each flight crew member is connected to the aircraft communications systems using a corded headset. Once connected, a crew member&#39;s headset hears any audio intelligence as selected by that crew member. Should the crewmember desire to communicate as well, he or she merely engages their microphone for the selected system by pressing their Push-to-Talk (PTT) switch. 
   While the current aircraft communication system does work, there are several problems associated with using corded headsets. First, the crew is restricted by the wired headset to a short distance of movement about the seated position in the aircraft. Second, the wire connecting the headset to the aircraft causes operational inconvenience and can cause flight crew distraction during critical flight phases. Wired headsets have been implicated as a contributing factor in several aircraft incidents. Also a wired headset design limits the flight crew&#39;s ability to communicate with each other when one crew member is out of their crew seat or not plugged into the aircraft. Most modern commercial jet transport aircraft only have two flight crew members. When one crew member leaves the flight deck to use the restroom they cannot communicate. A wireless headset system would greatly increase safety by enabling flight crew to stay in communication when one crew member is not in the flight deck. Furthermore, the cord between the aircraft and crew is susceptible to damage. However, using longer cords can adversely affect emergency egress and increase the probability of cord damage and cord entanglement. Further, longer cords may have issues with signal integrity as longer cords may have signal degradation issues. 
   Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that overcomes the problems associated with the prior art. The system and method will provide a wireless headset communication system for an aircraft. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A system for converting an existing aircraft communication system to a wireless communication system has a wireless headset for transmitting and receiving communication signals. At least one aircraft transceiver having a connector to plug the aircraft transceiver to a headphone jack in the existing aircraft communication system is provided. The aircraft transceiver wirelessly transmits and receives communication signals from the existing aircraft communication system as selected by each flight crew. The headset transceiver wirelessly transmits and receives communications signals from the aircraft transceiver. 
   The features, functions, and advantages can be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present inventions or may be combined in yet other embodiments. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a is a simplified diagram of an aircraft cockpit control panel; 
       FIG. 2  is a simplified block diagram of the wireless headset communication system of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a simplified block diagram of the wireless transceiver; and 
       FIG. 4  is a front view of the wireless headset used in the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a control panel  10  located within a cockpit of an aircraft is shown. The aircraft control panel  10  will have a communication board  12  located thereon. The communication board  12  is part of a communication system for the aircraft. The communication board  12  will allow communication between the pilot and co-pilot, or any flight personnel in the cockpit with another who may be coupled to the communication system on the aircraft. The communication board  12  will have one or more headset jacks  14 . The headset jacks  14  are used to plug in a wired headset to the communication system of the aircraft. Other headset jacks  14  may be located throughout the aircraft. 
   As stated above, the wired headset creates several issues. First, the crew is restricted by the wired headset to a short distance of movement about the aircraft. Second, the wire connecting the headset to the aircraft causes operational inconvenience and can cause flight crew distraction during critical flight phases. Wired headsets also limit the flight crew&#39;s ability to communicate with each other when one crew member is out of their crew seat or not plugged into the aircraft. Furthermore, the cord between the aircraft and crew is susceptible to damage when stretched to a maximum length. However, using longer cords can interfere with emergency egress and increase the probability of entanglement and may have issues with signal integrity as longer cords may have signal degradation issues. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a simplified block diagram of the wireless headset communication system  20  of the present invention is shown. The wireless headset communication system  20  will be coupled to the existing communication system on the aircraft. The wireless headset communication system  20  will allow wireless transmission of signals to and from a wireless headset transceiver  26 . The wireless headset communication system  20  will allow the flight crew to securely communicate with the existing aircraft communication system without the inconvenience of a wire connecting the headset to the airplane. In addition the wireless headset communication system  20  will allow flight crew communications when crew members are not sitting in flight deck seats or in the flight deck itself. Most modern commercial jet transport aircraft only have two flight crew members. When one crew member leaves the flight deck to use the restroom they cannot communicate. The wireless headset communication system  20  would greatly increase safety by enabling flight crew to stay in communication when one crew member is not in the flight deck. 
   The wireless headset communication system  20  has two main components: a wireless aircraft transceiver  22  and a wireless headset transceiver  26 . The wireless aircraft transceiver  22  will have a transmitter/receiver circuit  24 . The aircraft transmitter/receiver circuit  24  is used to transmit and receive signals to and from a wireless headset transceiver  26 . The circuitry of the transmitter/receiver circuit  24  may use any type of wireless technology. For example, the transmitter/receiver circuit  24  may use IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, proprietary protocols, and the like. The listing of the above wireless technologies is given as an example and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. In order to have secure communications, an encryption/decryption circuit  28  may be coupled to the transmitter/receiver circuit  24 . The encryption/decryption circuit  28  will ensure that unauthorized parties can not hear/receive the signals being transmitted to and from wireless aircraft transceiver  22  and the wireless headset transceiver  26 . 
   The wireless aircraft transceiver  22  will have a plug  30  coupled to the transmitter/receiver circuit  24 . The plug  30  allows the wireless transceiver  22  to be placed into an existing headset jack  14  on the communication board  12  or other headset jacks  14  located throughout the aircraft. Each existing headset jack  14  located on the aircraft generally is coupled to a power supply in order to power the prior art wired headsets. Thus, the power supplied to each headset jack  14  is used to power the wireless aircraft transceiver  22 . 
   Each wireless aircraft transceiver  22  will have a jack  32 . The jack  32  is used to plug one end of a wire  34  into the wireless transceiver  22 . The other end of the wire  34  is coupled to the wireless headset transceiver  26 . The wire  34  is used to charge the wireless headset transceiver  26  via the wireless aircraft transceiver  22  either in flight or on while the aircraft is on the ground. The wire  34  is also used to allow the crew to physically connect the wireless headset transceiver  26  to the aircraft bypassing the wireless aircraft transceiver  22  while bypassing the transmitter/receiver circuit  24 . Alternatively, the wire  34  may be directly coupled to the aircraft via the existing headset jack  14  in the event the wireless transceiver  22  is physically damaged or not working. 
   The wireless aircraft transceiver  22  will have a back-up power supply  38 . The back-up power supply  38  is used to power the wireless aircraft transceiver  22  should there be an interruption of power to the wireless aircraft transceiver  22  from the aircraft. The back-up power supply  38  could also be used to charge the wireless headset transceiver  26  via the wireless aircraft transceiver  22 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the wireless headset communication system  20  has a wireless headset transceiver  26 . The wireless headset transceiver  26  will transmit and receive signals to and from the wireless aircraft transceiver  22 . The wireless headset transceiver  26  has a power supply  27 . The power supply  27  is used power the different components of the wireless headset  26 . 
   A wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40  is coupled to the power supply  27 . The wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40  is used to transmit and receive signals to and from the wireless aircraft transceiver  22 . The circuitry of the wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40  may use any type of wireless technology. For example, the wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40  may use IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, proprietary protocols, and the like. The listing of the above wireless technologies is given as an example and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. In order to have secure communications, a wireless headset encryption/decryption circuit  42  may be coupled to the transmitter/receiver circuit  40 . The wireless headset encryption/decryption circuit  42  will ensure that unauthorized parties can not hear/receive or transmit/talk signals being transmitted to and from wireless aircraft transceiver  22  and the wireless headset  26 . 
   The wireless headset  24  will have one or more earphones  44  coupled to the wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40 . The earphones  44  will allow crew members to hear the signals being transmitted from the wireless transceiver  22 . A microphone  46  is also coupled to the wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40 . The microphone  46  will convert the sound waves into an electrical signal to be transmitted by the wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40 . 
   The wireless headset  24  will have a jack  48 . The jack  48  is used to plug one end of the wire  34  into the wireless headset  24 . The other end of the wire  34  is coupled to the wireless transceiver  22 . The jack  48  will allow one to charge the wireless headset  26  via the wireless transceiver  22  either in flight or on while the aircraft is on the ground. The jack  48  will further allow the crew to physically connect the wireless headset  26  to the aircraft via the wireless transceiver  22  while bypassing the transmitter/receiver circuit  24 . Alternatively, the jack  48  will allow the wire  34  to be directly coupled to the aircraft via the existing headset jack  14  in the event the wireless transceiver  22  is not working. 
   The wireless headset  26  will have a loss of signal indicator circuit  50  coupled to the wireless headset transmitter/receiver circuit  40 . The loss of signal indicator circuit  50  will alert the crew that the wireless headset  26  is not communicating with the wireless transceiver  22  so action can be taken to correct the problem. The signal indicator circuit  50  may provide a visual warning, an audible warning, or both. Thus, the signal indicator circuit  48  may have a flashing light  51  to indicate a loss of signal, an audible warning may be heard in the earphones  44  to indicate a loss of signal, or the like. It should be noted that other means may be used to indicate a loss of signal without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
   The wireless headset  24  has a low battery indicator  52 . The low battery indicator  52  will indicate when the power supply  27  in the wireless headset  24  is running low so crew action can be taken in a timely manner. The low battery indicator  52  may provide a visual warning, an audible warning, or both. Thus, the low battery indicator  50  may have a flashing light  54  to indicate low power, an audible warning may be heard in the earphones  44  to indicate low power, or the like. It should be noted that other means may be used to indicate low power without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
   The wireless headset communication system  20  enables flight crew to communicate with one another even though crew members may not be seat. Thus, the crew is not restricted to a short distance of movement about the aircraft by the prior art wired headsets. This increases safety and security of crew communications and aircraft operations. The wireless headset communication system  20  has the ability to communicate directly with other wireless headsets  24  thus enabling crew-to-crew communication in the event the wireless aircraft transceiver  22  was not working or the interphone selection was deselected bypassing the aircraft audio system selections. 
   This disclosure provides exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited by these exemplary embodiments. Numerous variations, whether explicitly provided for by the specification or implied by the specification, such as variations in structure, dimension, type of material and manufacturing process may be implemented by one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.