Patent ID: 7487014

Claim:
A protocol converter for use on board an aircraft comprising: a digital computer having an interface board, a data input and a plurality of serial communications ports, said data input of said digital computer receiving ARINC-429 input data from an inertial navigation unit on board said aircraft, wherein said ARINC-429 input data is provided to said interface board within said digital computer; said digital computer having a computer software program for operating said digital computer, said digital computer, responsive to said computer software program, reading said ARINC-429 input data from said interface board and then converting said ARINC-429 input data to NMEA-0183 navigation data; a display connected to said digital computer to monitor and display said ARINC-429 input data and a status for said ARINC-329 input data, and a configuration and a status for said serial communications ports which output said NMEA-0183 navigation data; said digital computer providing said NMEA-0183 navigation data in a sentence format comprising a plurality of NMEA-0183 sentences, wherein an operator selects at least one of said plurality of NMEA-0183 sentences for output via the serial communications ports of said digital computer; said computer software program constructing each of the plurality of NMEA-0183 sentences selected by said operator for output via the serial communications ports of said digital computer; said display displaying check marks to indicate the NMEA-0183 sentences selected by said operator for output via the serial communications ports of said digital computer; and said display displaying said ARINC-429 input data for viewing by said operator wherein said ARINC-429 input data includes latitude, longitude, altitude, speed and heading for said aircraft.