Patent ID: 8159464

Claim:
An enhanced flight display system for an aircraft, comprising: a) primary display controls for providing a primary capability for performing defined display functions; b) a flight display including a touchscreen input device being partitioned into a plurality of fixed touch regions that are responsive to touch so as to provide a secondary capability for performing defined flight display functions; and, c) processing means operatively associated with said primary display controls and said flight display for implementing said defined flight display functions in response to utilization of said primary display controls or the touch of one of said touch regions, wherein operation of said fixed touch regions is configured to be independent of said primary display controls; and, wherein said processing means comprises: a) a first processing element operatively connected to said primary display controls for processing output signals from said primary display controls to provide a first set of potential display action functions; b) a second processing element for processing output signals from said touchscreen input device to provide a second set of potential display action functions; and, c) a prioritizer for receiving said first set of potential display action functions and said second set of potential display action functions, said prioritizer for applying a set of priority driven rules for determining the display action.