Importance

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Abstract

In a collision avoidance communication system and method, equipped aircraft (12) and ground control stations (18) which represent nodes of an RF communication network (22). A radar system (16) determines locations of equipped aircraft (12) and unequipped aircraft (14) within an airspace (10). The ground control station (18) couples to the radar system (16) and the network (22) to receive location data for the aircraft (12, 14). These location data are merged in an object list (142). The ground control station (18) displays objects from the object list (142), broadcasts surrogate location data (84) for unequipped aircraft (14) over the network (22), and broadcasts control data (100, 116) describing weather conditions, geographic features, and the like, over the network (22). Equipped aircraft 12 receive aircraft location data (84) and control data (100, 116) from the network (22). Each equipped aircraft (12) determines its own location. The equipped aircraft (12) include a display (62) which shows the locations and orientations of nearby aircraft (12, 14) and of geographic features, and the equipped aircraft (12) broadcast their own locations over the network (22).

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First Claim