Patent ID: 8478752

Claim:
A method of accessing a navigation database using an onboard computer, the navigation database being integrated into a navigation system for an aircraft comprising said onboard computer, the navigation database comprising: a first set of elements comprising representations of airports, beacons and waypoints; geographical coordinates of said first set of elements; a second set of elements comprising procedures, each of the procedures being defined by a succession of transitions, the transitions comprising a set of maneuvers of the aircraft, the maneuvers being instructions predefined in the navigation system; and a third set of elements comprising representations of routes formed by a succession of the first set of elements, the method comprising: creating a first alphanumeric index comprising: the elements of the first, second and third set; attributes of each element, the attributes comprising an identifier, a type, and a functional identifier of each element; a first list of pointers, each pointer being associated with an element, and designating a memory address where the elements are stored in the navigation database, and the first alphanumeric index being ordered according to at least one type of attribute; and creating an alphanumeric pre-index comprising: a list of codes, each code being unique and corresponding to a first character of each of the data of the at least one type of attribute of each element of the navigation database; and a second list of pointers, each pointer being associated with a code and pointing at the identifier, in the first alphanumeric index, of each element associated with the code.