Abstract:
A cabin telecommunications unit that provides combined telephone and entertainment/information services onboard an aircraft. The includes a central data bus for exchanging data between components of the cabin telecommunication unit; a first processor connected to said central data bus for processing a communication received by the cabin telecommunication unit and directing the communication to a destination point within the cabin; and a second processor connected to said central data bus for processing and responding to requests for data stored within said cabin telecommunications unit.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a cabin telecommunications unit for an aircraft, and, more specifically, a cabin telecommunications unit with the capability of functioning as a file server. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Today&#39;s commercial airline carriers typically provide a variety of services to enhance the comfort of and provide convenience to their passengers. One such service is access to a telephone, often provided right at the passenger&#39;s seat. This allows passengers to not only communicate with other passengers without having to get out of their seat, but also provides the ability for a passenger to initiate and receive telephone calls to virtually anywhere in the world. Telephone access also provides the passenger with means to connect their laptop or portable computer to a service provider and the Internet, thereby allowing them to perform functions such as checking their email and dispatching faxes. 
         [0003]    Many commercial airlines are also equipping their aircraft to provide onboard entertainment and information services that a passenger can access either at their seat or at designated areas within the plane. Access to these services are either through a dedicated computing device provided by the airline, or alternatively, by the passenger&#39;s own laptop or portable computer. 
         [0004]    To provide the above services typically requires two or more separate devices located within the aircraft. A cabin telecommunications unit (CTU) is the device responsible for receiving telephony information from a cabin-based telephone system, and relaying that information to either other parts of the aircraft, or to the aircraft&#39;s transmitter/receiver, thereby allowing telephone calls to or from the aircraft to connect with the ground-based telephone network. The communications protocol to which the CTU and cabin-based telephone system are often designed to comply with is the Aeronautical Radio, Inc, protocol 746 (AR1NC 746). 
         [0005]    Similarly, a file server (FS) device is required to provide computerized services such as onboard entertainment and information services. Typical file servers are stand alone devices that incorporate a microprocessor with short term and long term memory, along with various interfaces and switching means for directing and processing digital signals. Standard file server devices designed for use in aircraft are often designed to comply with AMC 763 protocol. 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a simplified depiction of a CTU and a PS provided onboard an aircraft. As illustrated, contained within the cabin  100  of an aircraft is a plurality of seats  110  for the passengers. A CTU  200  and a FS  300  are also contained within the cabin  100  (depicted) or, alternatively, in another area of the aircraft (not depicted). Wiring  210  is laid throughout the cabin to connect the CTU  200  to a plurality of telephone handsets  220  distributed throughout the cabin  100 , typically at each of the passenger seats  110 . Similarly, wire  310  is also laid to connect FS  300  to a plurality of dedicated access devices (not shown) or to a plurality of access points  320  for interfacing with a portable computing device such as a laptop computer  330 . 
         [0007]    One disadvantage with the traditional system, such as that presented in  FIG. 1 , is the need to have both the CTU and a FS in order to provide the above passenger services. Both devices take up space within and add to the overall weight of the aircraft, thereby utilizing valuable resources of an aircraft to which airlines would rather allocate to other profit generating purposes. Furthermore, separate power sources are often needed for each of the devices, leading to increased costs and greater loss of space upon the aircraft. Additionally, the presence of two separate devices typically requires the aircraft to be wired for both, thereby further increasing the labor and costs involved in providing telephone and onboard entertainment and information services. 
         [0008]    Therefore, the inventors hereof have recognized the need for a new apparatus for providing both telephone and entertainment/information services onboard an aircraft. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention relates to a cabin telecommunications unit that provides combined telephone and entertainment/information services onboard an aircraft. The inventive apparatus includes a central data bus for exchanging data between components of the cabin telecommunication unit; a first processor connected to said central data bus for processing a communication received by the cabin telecommunication unit and directing the communication to a destination point within the cabin; and a second processor connected to said central data bus for processing and responding to requests for data stored within said cabin telecommunications unit. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a simplified depiction of a typical aircraft cabin that includes a cabin telecommunications unit and a file server, with their respective wiring to each of the passenger seats. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a simplified depiction of the basic components that comprise a cabin telecommunications unit according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a simplified depiction of one possible form of a cabin telecommunications unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates a cabin telecommunications unit (CTU)  400 , and some of the components it is comprised of, according to one embodiment of the present invention. All components of the CTU  400  connect either directly or indirectly to a central or backplane bus  410 , which allows the various components to communicate with one another. 
         [0014]    One or more multichannel digital telephone interface modules (CEPT Modules)  500  connect the CTU  400  to one or more main communication lines. According to this embodiment, the main communications lines are El high speed data lines, the European equivalent to North American T1 communication lines but based on a digital transmission format from the Conference of European Postal and Telecommunication Administration (CEPT). The CEPT modules  500  link the CTU  400  to the E1 line or lines, which are distributed throughout the cabin, connecting the passenger telephone handsets  220  and access points  320  to the CTU  400 . If an alternative type of communication line is used in place of an E1 line, CEPT module  500  can simply be replaced with a similar functioning interface module designed to work the different type of line. 
         [0015]    A switch processor  510  serves as the “brains” of the CTU  400 , directing data entering the CTU  400  to the appropriate components at the appropriate time and coordinating the operation of the various components making up the CTU  400 . 
         [0016]    An aircraft interface module (AIM)  520  monitors different aspects and states of the aircraft and relays that data to the CTU  400 . For example, one monitoring function of AIM  520  can be a “weight on wheels” assessment which aides in the determination of whether the aircraft is currently airborne or on the ground. Based on this and other such assessments, CTU  400  can appropriately determine the conditions that exist throughout the aircraft and tailor its actions accordingly. For instance, through AIM  520 , it is determined that the aircraft has landed and passenger details allowing incoming calls to be directed to specific seats are cleared in readiness for the next flight carrying new passengers. 
         [0017]    In addition to its communication abilities, CTU  400  also contains several components that provide it with the ability to function as a file server (FS), allowing additional services to be provided to the passengers and airline personnel. Some of these components include a file server processor  600 , memory  610 , and one or more digital signal interface units  620 . 
         [0018]    FS processor  600  can be any type of computer microprocessor, such as, for example, an Intel Pentium or other compatible personal computer processor, capable of running an operating system such as Linux or Microsoft Windows 2000. Included with FS processor  600  is a sufficient amount of temporary memory, such as random access memory (RAM), for FS processor  600  to function appropriately. Program and data storage is accomplished by one or more hard disk drives  610  that are accessible by FS processor  600 . Communication between the hard disk drive(s)  610  and FS processor  600  is carried out using standard IDE connections. If two or more hard disk drives are present, the individual drives can be arranged into a redundant RAID array, thereby assuring the existence of at least one backup copy of the data. 
         [0019]    One or more digital signal interface units  620 , such as, for example, a bank of modulator/demodulaters (modems), is provided to process and convert into the appropriate format those signals that pass through the CEPT module  500  and are designated to continue on to the FS processor  600 . 
         [0020]    An uninterruptible power supply (UPS)  630  assures that FS processor  600  and the other components of CTU  400  are powered by the aircraft with the appropriate voltage, which is obtained by the use of one or more voltage converters. UPS  630  also incorporates one or more rechargeable batteries that will continue to power CTU  400  for a set period of time if the main power supply is interrupted. 
         [0021]    One or more 10/100 BaseT Ethernet interfaces  700 , and/or one or more universal serial bus (USB) interfaces  710  can be incorporated into CTU  400  to provide additional means of communicating data to and from CTU  400 , The USB interface  710  allows for a quick connection to be made to the CTU  400  without having to go through the E1 or main communication lines. The 10/100 BaseT Ethernet interface  700  provides for a high speed connection to CTU  400  when a greater amount of bandwidth compared to that provided by the E1 or main communication lines is desired. 
         [0022]    The CTU  400  can also optionally incorporate a wireless access interface  720  that allows the passengers or the crew of the aircraft to access all or certain features of the CTU  400  through a wireless-equipped computing device; such as a handheld or laptop computer. For example, the flight crew could use a wireless handheld device, in conjunction with a database maintained within the CTU  400 , to efficiently verify and update passenger seating assignments. Similarly, passengers could readily access a variety of information services, hosted by CTU  400 , through their wireless-equipped laptop computer without concerns such as having to physically connect their laptop to the aircraft&#39;s network or cable compatibility. Any one of a variety of wireless data transfer standards, such as the widely popular 802.11b wireless communication standard, can be utilized. 
         [0023]    In order for switch processor  510  to be able to direct data to the various components discussed above, each of the components must be capable of communicating with the switch processor  510 , which requires that each of the components possess an identification code or address. Switch processor  510  can then appropriately direct data to the proper component by labeling blocks of data with the identification code or address of the appropriate component. 
         [0024]    How the cabin telecommunications unit  400  works will now be described with reference to some general examples. In a first example, if a first passenger onboard an aircraft in flight wanted to talk to a second passenger sitting in another portion of the aircraft, the first passenger can pick up the telephone handset located at his or seat and enter the appropriate information to indicate the desired destination of the call. The data representing the call travels through the main communication line, which in this example, is an El line, toward the cabin telecommunication unit  400 . The CEPT module  500  retrieves the data from the El line and forwards it to switch processor  510 . The switch processor  510  analyzes the data, determines that it is a passenger phone call directed to another passenger, and reroutes the data back out through the CEPT module  500  to the appropriate telephone handset associated with the seat of the second passenger. 
         [0025]    Similarly, if the first passenger wished to make a telephone call to a landline telephone number located on the public switched telephone network, the data would again enter the cabin telecommunication unit  400  by means of CEPT module  500 . The data is then delivered to the switch processor  510 , which determines through the aircraft interface module  520  that the aircraft is currently airborne. Accordingly, the switch processor  510  redirects the data back out of the cabin telecommunication unit  400  to the aircraft&#39;s external communication system, which can include, for example, a transceiver and an antenna that directs the call to a satellite or ground-based communication system. 
         [0026]    According to another example, a passenger connects his or her laptop computer to the telephone handset located at their seat, and wishes to access an onboard entertainment and information system provided by the airline. Data representing the call is picked up off the El line by the CEPT module  500 , where it is then directed to switch processor  510 . Upon determining that the data represents a request to access the onboard entertainment and information system, switch processor  510  directs the data to digital signal interface  620 , which performs some preliminary processing of the data and then forwards it to FS processor  600 . FS processor  600  analyzes the data, determines what information the data is requesting, retrieves the appropriate information from hard disk  610 , and then forwards the information to switch processor  510 . Upon determining that the data represents an answer to a previous request, switch processor  510  directs the data through CEPT module  500 , down an El line to the passenger who originated the requesting call. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a simplified depiction of a cabin telecommunications unit  400  according to another embodiment of the present invention. The cabin telecommunications unit  400  is comprised in part of two or more modules  420 . Each of these modules possess a communication interface (not shown) that inserts or plugs into a receptacle provided within the cabin telecommunication unit  400 . The central bus  410  connects each of the receptacles with one another and to other components of the unit. According to the present embodiment, file serving capabilities can then be easily added and modified by inserting one or more modules  420  that are comprised of the necessary components. For example, one module  420  can be comprised of a digital signal interface, computer processor and random access memory while a second module contains one or more hard disks for long term data storage. 
         [0028]    While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation, and the scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.