Patent ID: 8660783

Claim:
A method performed by a processing device located on a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a taxiway clearance; retrieving taxiway intersection inhibit zones based on the taxiway clearance; receiving vehicle position and heading information; and generating a nonadherence-to-taxiway clearance alert based on the at least one position and heading information, if the vehicle is determined to not be located within one of the inhibit zones; wherein retrieving taxiway intersection inhibit zones comprises: retrieving taxiway centerline, and heading information for two taxiways identified in the taxiway clearance as being intersecting; calculating an intersection point of the centerlines of the two taxiways based on the retrieved information; a) calculating an angle between the centerlines; b) calculating a centerline radius of turn based on the calculated angle and the predefined recommended turn radius; c) calculating points on the centerlines in which the centerlines are tangent to a circle having the calculated centerline radius of turn; d) if the calculated angle is at least less than or equal to 90 degrees, calculating offset coordinates for a center of the inhibit zone based on the tangent points and the intersection point, and calculating a radius for the inhibit zone based on calculated offset coordinates and one of the tangent points; e) if the calculated angle is greater than 90 degrees, calculating center coordinates for the inhibit zone as being a point located at an intersection between a line connecting the tangent points and a line having equal angular values to the centerlines, calculating radius for the inhibit zone based on the calculated center coordinates and one of the tangent points; and f) repeating a) through e) for all intersecting taxiways in the taxiway clearance.