Patent ID: 7203688

Claim:
A method of analysing data link messages, the method comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a plurality of data link messages, each of the data link messages being formatted digital data sequences transmitted between units, and include a message type field and at least one message content field whose meaning is determined by the message type; (b) storing the plurality of data link messages in a database; (c) assigning each data link message to one of a plurality of message groups according to the message type field so that each group contains data link messages of a specific message type; (d) within each of the message groups, (i) tabulating the messages so as to align corresponding message content fields; (ii) displaying the tabulated messages so that the corresponding message content fields are aligned; (iii) filtering selected message content fields to remove repeated incidences of the same content; and (iv) displaying a list of the field contents for each message content field.