Patent ID: 7669270

Claim:
A method of initiating wireless communication between an aircraft and a controller of a passenger boarding bridge, a parking space being defined adjacent to the passenger boarding bridge within which parking space the aircraft is parked during a current alignment operation, the method comprising: parking the aircraft within the parking space; using an imager disposed aboard the aircraft, scanning a target that is located proximate the parking space, the target including machine-readable bar code information that is uniquely associated with the passenger boarding bridge; extracting data relating to the machine-readable bar code information of the target; encoding a signal with the extracted data for transmission to the passenger boarding bridge via a communication module of the aircraft; and, transmitting the encoded signal from the communication module of the aircraft to a receiver that is in communication with the passenger boarding bridge, wherein the encoded signal is accepted as a valid signal for the current alignment operation when it is determined that the encoded signal is encoded using the extracted data.