Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to air traffic management. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management (ATM) over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN).

BACKGROUND
[0002] The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section is used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as an admission of the prior art.
[0003] The aviation industry heavily relies on communication systems to ensure safe and efficient management of air traffic. Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems are ground-based control systems and protocols intended to guide aircraft during take-off, establishing flight path and landing. Multiple ATCs and other entities such as aviation authorities, airlines, air navigation service providers, and other organizations involved in aviation exchange flight movement and updation messages, among others, over a predefined network. Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN) was a system established in the early 1950s as part of the Aeronautical Fixed Service (AFS) for the exchange of messages and/or data between aeronautical fixed stations having the same or compatible communications characteristics that allowed exchange of vital information for aircraft operations such as distress messages, urgency messages, flight safety messages, meteorological messages, flight regularity messages and aeronautical administrative messages.
[0004] With rapid economic growth around the world, use of aircrafts as mode of transportation has also increased rapidly, thereby increasing air traffic and need for solutions to manage the increased traffic. Existing Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems are being upgraded with newer technology to address the challenges associated with management of increased volumes of air traffic data today. Yet, many Air traffic Control (ATC) systems that form part of a network of ATMs, still run on legacy hardware that are either outdated, have proprietary interfaces, or use primitives or data formats that are not in vogue today. Further, because of diversity of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) employed for installing ATM nodes, there exists heterogeneity in hardware devices, and data exchange methods and protocols lack uniformity and standardization. Therefore, the integration of existing legacy ATM nodes, especially ATM nodes forming part of the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN), with new age ATM nodes has become a tedious, time-consuming and complex task. There currently do not exist any real-time configurable, scalable, automated mediation and processing system for mediating flight movement and updation (FMU) messages (as per ICAO) over AFTN.
[0005] Several solutions have been proposed to address some of these challenges. US9652904B2 proposed a system and a method for recording and analysing operational data of moving platforms. However, the cited reference provides the system and method in the context of unmanned air vehicles and does not provide solutions to interoperability challenges and compatible issues legacy systems installed in the moving platforms. US9858823B1 provides for an interactive flight plan record keeping system that receives aircraft data and environmental data when said aircraft passes over known waypoint locations. The cited reference, however, only discloses an I/O interface with lesser emphasis on issues related to heterogeneity and legacy interfaces that need to be addressed.
[0006] Therefore, there is a need for a method and a system for solving the shortcomings of the existing solutions.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are listed herein below.
[0008] A general object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network.
[0009] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and method for mediation of flight movement and updation messages between Air Traffic Management (ATM) nodes.
[0010] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method for allowing exchange of messages between legacy Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) terminal and new-age ATM nodes.
[0011] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method having a baselined standard/structure for information exchange between stakeholders.
[0012] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method that exchanges data using readable formats including JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and the like, which are easy to decode and understand.
[0013] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method that has multiple input/output interfaces deployed between AFTN and ATM systems.
[0014] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and method that receive the FMU messages in real-time and process it for syntax and semantics checks before saving the data to the database management system in a structured manner.
[0015] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method that automates exchange of FMU messages between nodes of the AFTN.
[0016] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method that receives, processes and encodes Data Distribution Services (DDS) based topics in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or RESTful formats from ATM systems.
[0017] Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system and a method for exchange of FMU messages compatible with ICAO 4444 doc standards.
[0018] The other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated for illustration of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.

SUMMARY
[0019] This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the present disclosure in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0020] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to air traffic management. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for mediation between Air Traffic Management (ATM) nodes.
[0021] In an aspect, a method for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management (ATM) over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) may include connecting, by a processor, to a local terminal associated with one or more ATM nodes based on the interface specifications of said one or more ATM nodes. The method may include receiving, by the processor, a first set of signals from a source ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes, the first set of signals having one or more FMU messages. Then, the method may include validating, by the processor, the one or more FMU messages based on a header, a start pattern and an end pattern in said one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals. The method also includes retrieving, by the processor, one or more relevance rules associated with the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals from a database. The method may further include processing, by the processor, the first set of signals by any one or more of parsing, extracting, cleaning and standardizing format of the one or more FMU messages therein to generate a second set of signals having said one or more FMU messages in a data structure compatible with a destination ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes. The method may also include transmitting, by the processor, the second set of signals to the destination ATM node.
[0022] In an embodiment, the one or more relevance rules may be indicative of data processing rules specified in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc 4444.
[0023] In an embodiment, when the source ATM node may be a legacy node in an AFTN and the destination ATM node may be a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals from the source ATM node may be received from the local terminal, processing the first set of signals may include parsing, by the processor, the first set of signals based on the retrieved one or more rules to extract details in the one or more FMU messages, and standardizing, by the processor, the one or more FMU messages into a standard data structure compatible with the destination ATM node to generate the second set of signals, the standardized data structure being any one or more of text file, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file and RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) format.
[0024] In an embodiment, transmitting the second set of signals may include, transmitting the second set of signals as one or more data distribution service (DDS) topics to the destination ATM nodes in a DDS-compliant network. In an embodiment, transmitting the second set of signals may include transmitting said second set of signals in any one or more of JSON or RESTful API formats to the destination ATM nodes in non-DDS-compliant networks.
[0025] In an embodiment, when the destination ATM node may be a legacy node in an AFTN and the source node ATM node may be a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals may be received via a DDS-compliant network and the second set of signals may be transmitted to the destination ATM node via the local terminal, processing the first set of signals may include parsing, by the processor, the first set of signals to extract the one or more FMU messages therein, and converting, by the processor, the extracted the one or more FMU messages into a data structure compatible with the legacy ATM node by adding the header, the start pattern and the end pattern to said one or more FMU messages to generate the second set of signals.
[0026] In an embodiment, the method may include, generating, by the processor, an error message if the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals may be invalid, and storing, by the processor, the error message in the database coupled to the processor.
[0027] In an aspect, a system for integration of FMU with ATM and AFTN may include a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory may include processor-executable instructions, which on execution, causes the processor to: connect to a local terminal associated with one or more ATM nodes based on the interface specifications of said from the one or more ATM nodes and receive a first set of signals from a source ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes, the first set of signals having one or more FMU messages. The processor may validate the one or more FMU messages based on a header, a start pattern and an end pattern in said one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals. The processor may also retrieve one or more relevance rules associated with the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals from a database. The processor may then process the first set of signals by any one or more of parsing, extracting, cleaning and standardizing format of the one or more FMU messages therein to generate a second set of signals having the one or more FMU messages in a data structure compatible with a destination ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes, and transmit the second set of signals to the destination ATM node.
[0028] In an embodiment, the one or more relevance rules may be indicative of data processing rules specified in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc 4444.
[0029] In an embodiment, when the source ATM node may be a legacy node in an AFTN and the destination ATM node may be a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals from the source ATM node may be received from the local terminal, the processor may be configured to parse the first set of signals based on the retrieved one or more rules to extract details in the one or more FMU messages, and standardize the one or more FMU messages into a standard data structure compatible with the destination ATM node to generate the second set of signals, the standardized data structure being any one or more of text file, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file and RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) format.
[0030] In an embodiment, to transmit the second set of signals, the processor may be configured to, transmit the second set of signals as one or more data distribution service (DDS) topics to the destination ATM nodes in a DDS-compliant network, and transmit the second set of signals in any one or more of JSON or RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) formats to the destination ATM nodes in non-DDS compliant networks.
[0031] In an embodiment, when the destination ATM node may be a legacy node in an AFTN and the source node ATM node may be a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals may be received via a DDS compliant network and the second set of signals may be transmitted to the destination ATM node via the local terminal, the processor may be configured to, parse the first set of signals to extract the one or more FMU messages therein, and convert the extracted one or more FMU into a data structure compatible with the legacy ATM node by adding the header, the start pattern and the end pattern to said one or more FMU messages to generate the second set of signals.
[0032] In an embodiment, the processor may be configured to, generate an error message if the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals may be invalid, and store the error message in the database coupled to the processor.
[0033] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0034] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture representation of the proposed system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of the proposed system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram representation of a method for mediating flight movement and update (FMU) messages between legacy ATM nodes to new-age ATM nodes, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0038] FIGs. 4A-4B illustrates an exemplary representation of a header format of the FMU messages, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0039] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary flowchart representation of a method for mediating FMU messages from legacy ATMs to new-age ATMs, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0040] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flowchart representation of a method for mediating FMU messages from new age ATM node to legacy ATM node, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0041] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0042] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address all of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.
[0043] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth.
[0044] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0045] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
[0046] The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive—in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word—without precluding any additional or other elements.
[0047] As used herein, “connect,” “configure,” “couple,” and its cognate terms, such as “connects,” “connected,” “configured,” and “coupled” may include a physical connection (such as a wired/wireless connection), a logical connection (such as through logical gates of semiconducting device), other suitable connections, or a combination of such connections, as may be obvious to a skilled person.
[0048] As used herein, “send,” “transfer,” “transmit,” and their cognate terms like “sending,” “sent,” “transferring,” “transmitting,” “transferred,” “transmitted,” etc. include sending or transporting data or information from one unit or component to another unit or component, wherein the content may or may not be modified before or after sending, transferring, transmitting.
[0049] Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an instance” or “one instance” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0050] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed products.
[0051] Embodiments explained herein relate generally to air traffic management. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management (ATM) over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN).
[0052] In an aspect, a method for integration of FMU messages with ATM over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN)may include connecting, by a processor, to a local terminal associated with one or more ATM nodes based on the interface specifications of said one or more ATM nodes. The method may include receiving, by the processor, a first set of signals from a source ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes, the first set of signals having one or more FMU messages. Then, the method may include validating, by the processor, the one or more FMU messages based on a header, a start pattern and an end pattern in said one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals. The method also includes retrieving, by the processor, one or more relevance rules associated with the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals from a database. The method further includes processing, by the processor, the first set of signals by any one or more of parsing, extracting, cleaning and standardizing format of the one or more FMU messages therein to generate a second set of signals having the one or more FMU messages in a data structure compatible with a destination ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes. In an embodiment, the method may be implemented on a system having a processor coupled to a memory, the memory having processor-executable instructions to execute the above method.
[0053] Other like benefits and advantages are provided by the disclosed solution, which will be discussed in detail throughout the disclosure. The various embodiments throughout the disclosure will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGs. 1-6.
[0054] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture 100 representation of the proposed system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the network architecture 100 may include one or more legacy ATM nodes 400B in an Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) 601, a local AFTN terminal 602 and a system 607 configured to one or more ATM nodes 400 via a network of ATM 104. The network architecture 100 may allow exchange on FMU messages between one or more legacy ATM nodes 400B in the AFTN 601 and the one or more ATM nodes 400 indicative of new age ATM nodes 400A. In an embodiment, the one or more ATM nodes 400 may include an automated rule-based FMU analyzer 406, FMU storage and referral system 407 and an Air Traffic Controller (ATC) 408. In an embodiment, the network architecture 100 may also include a media converter 402 configured between the local AFTN terminal 602 and the system 607 to convert the one or more FMU messages between a legacy format and a new/modern format. In an embodiment, the architecture 100 may include a switch 403 to controllably allow interface of the system 607 with the local AFTN terminal 602.
[0055] In an embodiment, the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be implemented on a computing device indicative of any one of an electrical, an electronic, and an electromechanical computing device. In an embodiment, the computing devices may be including, but not be limited to, a mobile device, a smart-phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a phablet computer, a wearable computing device, a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) device, a laptop, a desktop, a server, and the like. In an embodiment, each of the computing devices implementing the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be automated or operated manually by a human. In an embodiment, the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be configured to transmit one or more signals carrying one or more FMU messages. In an embodiment, the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be communicatively coupled to form a network of nodes. In an exemplary embodiment, the one or more ATM nodes 400 can be a plurality of computing devices that form a system such as air space control authority system and/or any other system. In an embodiment, each of the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be indicative of one or more computing devices operated by entities including, but not limited to, pilots, air traffic controllers, air space control authority, air navigation service providers, air traffic management system operators, aircraft maintenance personnel, and the like.
[0056] In an embodiment, the AFTN 601 may be a network of one or more ATM nodes indicative of legacy ATM nodes 400B. In an embodiment, legacy ATM nodes may be computing devices that were configured to exchange FMU messages. In an embodiment, the AFTN 601 may be a global Air Traffic Service (ATS) telecommunication network of aeronautical fixed circuits for the exchange of messages and/or digital data between aeronautical fixed stations having the same or compatible communications characteristics. In an embodiment, the one or more legacy ATM nodes in the AFTN 601 may use traditional communication infrastructure including, but not limited to, serial communication protocols including, but not limited to, X.25 or RS232, UDP/TCP-IP, or ethernet network connections.
[0057] In an embodiment, the one or more FMU messages may include, but not be limited to, the FMU messages are indicative of the any one or more of flight plan (FPL), delay (DLA), departure (DEP), Arrival (ARR) modification or change (CHG) and flight cancellation (CNL) messages as per ICAO 4444 document. In an embodiment, the one or more FMU message1may provide specified information to Air-Traffic Service (ATS) units. In an embodiment, the information may be about the type of aircraft used and some of its characteristics, an intended flight or portion of a flight of an aircraft and its flight rules, and equipment according to the operation the crew is going to conduct flight operation.
[0058] In an embodiment, the system 607 may include one or more processor(s) 702. The one or more processor(s) 702 can be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more processor(s) 702 may be configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory 608 of the system 607. The memory 608 can store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines, which can be fetched and executed to create or share the data units over a network service. The memory 608 can include any non-transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory such as RAM, or non-volatile memory such as EPROM, flash memory, and the like.
[0059] In an aspect, the system 607 may be configured for mediating FMU messages between ATM nodes 400. In an embodiment, the system 607 may be configured to connect to a local AFTN terminal 602 associated with one or more ATM nodes 400 based on the interface specifications of said from the one or more ATM nodes 400. In an embodiment, the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be indicative of the one or more legacy nodes 400B. In other embodiments, the one or more ATM nodes 400 may be indicative of one or more new-age ATM nodes 400A. In an embodiment, the interface specifications may include, but not be limited to, hardware specifications such as communication interface type and communication protocol, and/or software specifications such as data format and message types. In an embodiment, the interface specifications may be provided to the system 607 through a configuration file indicative of including, but not limited to, a text file, or a standard XML or JSON file which is editable via user intervention. In such embodiments, user defined legacy AFTN specification in the configuration file may add scalability to the system 607 as said system 607 may be suitably adapted for different and multiple AFTN terminals with diverse interface specifications so as to be easily interfaced based on the configuration file. In an embodiment, the reconfigurability of interfaces may allow for handling of the heterogeneity of interfaces by embedding a plurality of legacy I/O interfaces within the system 607
[0060] In an embodiment, the system 607 may receive a first set of signals from a source ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes 400. In an embodiment, the first set of signals may have one or more FMU messages. In an embodiment, the one or more FMU messages may be received as including, but not limited to, electrical or digital signals, data packets, packet-switched communications, or a combination thereof.
[0061] In an embodiment, the system 607 may validate the one or more FMU messages based on a header, a start pattern and an end pattern in said one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals. In an embodiment, the system 607 may generate an error message if the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals is invalid, and store the error message in a database 511 (shown in FIG. 3) coupled to the processor 702.
[0062] In an embodiment, the system 607 may retrieve one or more relevance rules associated with the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals from the database. In an embodiment, the database may be a relevance rules database 505 (shown in FIG. 3). In an embodiment, the one or more relevance rules may be indicative of data processing rules specified in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc 4444. In an embodiment, the one or more relevance rules may be implemented as including, but not limited to, logic circuits, processor-executable instructions, or the like, implemented for parsing, extracting, processing, and handling the information contained in the one or more FMU messages.
[0063] In an embodiment, the system 607 may process the first set of signals by including, but not limited to, parsing, extracting, cleaning and standardizing format of the one or more FMU messages. In an embodiment, the system 607 may generate a second set of signals having the one or more FMU messages in a data structure compatible with a destination ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes 400.
[0064] In an embodiment, the system 607 may transmit the second set of signals to the destination ATM node. In an embodiment, the second set of signals may be transmitted as including, but not limited to, electrical or digital signals, data packets packet-switched communications, or a combination thereof.
[0065] In an embodiment, the system 607 may allow exchange of the one or more FMU messages from a legacy ATM node 400B to a new-age ATM node 400A, and vice versa, thereby allowing for interoperability between legacy ATM nodes 400B and new-age ATM networks 400A. In an embodiment, the legacy ATM nodes 400B may be indicative of nodes or computing devices used in the AFTN 601, and the new-age ATM nodes 400A may be indicative of nodes or computing devices used in air traffic control service networks established after AFTN 601. In an embodiment, the system 607 may act as bridge between the new-age ATM nodes 400A and the legacy ATM nodes 400B in the AFTN 601 where the local terminals associated with each the nodes or entities in the AFTN 601 may use traditional communication infrastructure including, but not limited to, serial communication protocols such as X.25 or RS232, UDP/TCP-IP, over ethernet network connections.
[0066] In an embodiment, when the source ATM node may be a legacy ATM node 400B in an AFTN and the destination ATM node may be a new age ATM node 400A such that the first set of signals from the source ATM node is received via the local terminal, the system 607 may be configured to parse the first set of signals based on the retrieved one or more rules to extract details in the one or more FMU messages. In an embodiment, the system 607 may standardize the one or more FMU messages into a standard data structure compatible with the destination ATM node to generate the second set of signals. In an embodiment, the standardized data structure may be in including, but not limited to, a text file, a JSON file, an XML file and a RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) format.
[0067] In an embodiment, to transmit the second set of signals, the system 607 may be configured to transmit the second set of signals as one or more data distribution service (DDS) topics to the destination ATM nodes in a DDS-compliant network. In other embodiments, the system 607 may transmit the second set of signals in any one or more of JSON or RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) formats to the destination ATM nodes in non-DDS compliant networks. In an embodiment, non-DDS compliant networks may be indicative of networks other than networks that are DDS compliant. In an embodiment, the DDS compliant networks may include, but not be limited to, networks where the ATM nodes 400 are connected via one or more communication protocols that are compliant with the Object Management Group (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard.
[0068] In other embodiments, when the destination ATM node may be a legacy node 400B in an AFTN 601 and the source node ATM node may be a new age ATM node 400A such that the first set of signals is received via a DDS compliant network and the second set of signals is transmitted to the destination ATM node via the local terminal, the system 607 may be configured to parse the first set of signals to extract the one or more FMU messages therein. In such embodiments, the system 607 may then convert the extracted one or more FMU messages into a data structure compatible with the legacy ATM node by adding 400B the header, the start pattern and the end pattern to said one or more FMU messages to generate the second set of signals.
[0069] In an embodiment, the system 607 may be an integrated system of sub-systems where each sub-system represents an independent task that perform including, but not limited to, error handling and notification, restrictions on faulty transactions for reliable, robust and secure exchange of standardized data via DDS topics in DDS compliant network and other standard formats like JSON/RESTful in non-DDS compliant network respectively.
[0070] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of the proposed system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the AFTN 601 may be configured to exchange the one or more FMU messages with the system 607 via the local AFTN terminal 602 of the one or more ATM nodes in the AFTN 601 communicatively coupled to a network interface unit 603 of the system 607. In an embodiment, the network interface unit 603 may be interconnected with an input/output (I/O) controller 604, an FMU message data router 605, a FMU distribution unit 610, a system memory 608 and the system 607, via a data bus 606. In an embodiment, the system memory 608 may include a random access memory 801 and a read-only memory 802.
[0071] In an embodiment, the system 607 may be implemented on a hardware platform. In an embodiment, computing machines such as but not limited to internal/external server clusters, quantum computers, desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and wearables which may be used to execute the system 607 or may include the structure of the hardware platform. As illustrated, the hardware platform may include additional components not shown, and that some of the components described may be removed and/or modified. For example, a computer system with multiple Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) may be located on external-cloud platforms or internal corporate cloud computing clusters, or organizational computing resources, and the like. In an embodiment, the computer system may execute, by the processor 702 (e.g., a single or multiple processors) or other hardware processing circuit, the methods, functions, and other processes described herein. These methods, functions, and other processes may be embodied as machine-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, which may be non-transitory, such as hardware storage devices (including random access memory (RAM) 801, read-only memory (ROM) 802, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable, programmable ROM (EEPROM), hard drives, and flash memory).
[0072] The computer system may include the processor 702 which executes software instructions or code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium to perform methods of the present disclosure. The software code includes, for example, instructions to gather data and documents and analyze documents. In an example, modules may include an operating system module 701, an FMU acquisition module 704, an FMU validator module 704, an FMU & Error logger module 706, ICAO rule module 707, FMU processing module 708, a protocol convertor module 709, a structure module 710, a system settings module 711, and a publisher-subscriber module 712 may be software codes or components performing these steps. As used herein, the term modules may refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
[0073] In an embodiment, the system 607 may be connected to the one or more ATM nodes in the AFTN 601 through the local AFTN terminal 602. In an embodiment, the network interface unit 603 may allow the system 607 to allow the one or more FMU messages to be exchanged to and from the one or more ATM nodes 400 in the AFTN 601. In an embodiment, the network interface unit 603 may allow the FMU messages to be exchanged through including, but not limited to, electronic or digital signals, data packets, data packets packet-switched communications, or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the system 607 may be controlled by the input/output (I/O) controllers 604, with the system memory 608 working as a storage element. In an embodiment, the FMU data router 605 may route the incoming and outgoing FMU messages and FMU distribution unit 610 may distribute the processed and structured FMUs to other stakeholders/entities such as the one or more ATM nodes 400.
[0074] In an embodiment, the I/O unit 703 may be indicative of including, but not limited to, serial interfaces, ethernet interfaces, and the like, that are compatible to communicates with the external world with different communication protocols including, but not limited to, RS232/485/422/USB and UDP/TCP-IP. In an embodiment, the I/O unit may allow for providing inputs to and receiving outputs from the computer system implementing the system 607.
[0075] In an embodiment, the data bus 606 may communicatively couple the processor 702 of the system 607 with the other memory, storage, and communication blocks. The data bus 606 may be including, but not limited to, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) / PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), USB or the like, for connecting expansion cards, drives and other subsystems as well as other buses, such a front side bus (FSB).
[0076] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram representation of a method for mediating FMU messages between legacy ATM nodes 400B and new-age ATM nodes 400A, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0077] In an embodiment, the system 607 may be configured to the local AFTN terminal 602 to transmit and receive the one or more FMU messages. In an embodiment, the system 607 may be configured to an interface setting 507. In an embodiment, the system 607 may prepare for interface for initial connection establishment with or without media convertor. The system 607, on establishment of the connection, may receive inbound FMUs 503 from the legacy ATM nodes in the AFTN 601 via the local terminal 603. In an embodiment, the system 607 may receive the FMU messages 504 as raw flight plans and validate them. In an embodiment, if the one or more FMU messages are invalid, the system 607 may automatically generate error notifications/message and stores both the errors and valid FMUs in the centralized DB 511. In an embodiment, the system 607 may receive the one or more FMU messages from the AFTN 601 in real-time. Thereon, the system 607 may retrieve and read the one or more relevance rules from a relevance rule DB 505, and process the FMU messages 504 using based on the retrieved one or more relevance rules. In an embodiment, the one or more relevance rules may be indicative of data processing rules specified in the ICAO 4444 doc. In an embodiment, both the centralized DB 511 and relevance rule DB 505 may be part of the central storage of the ATM node 400, which can be any form including, but not limited to storage area network (SAN), cloud server, a data center, a cloud, a server, a mainframe or any other suitable form of storage. In an embodiment, the interface settings 507 may be configured to either manually or automatically generated by the ATM node operator, the interface setting 507 information being available in including, but not limited to XML or JSON formats.
[0078] According to an embodiment, message patterns in the one or more FMU messages may be as per the ICAO format as shown in FIG. 4A, which may include a start and an end pattern with the header and payload information. In an embodiment, the one or more FMU message may also include a header pattern as shown in FIG. 4B.
[0079] In an embodiment, the processor 702 may be configured to process the one or more FMU messages having including, but not limited to, flight plan (FPL), delay (DLA), departure (DEP), Arrival (ARR) modification or change (CHG) and flight cancellation (CNL) messages as per ICAO 4444 document. In an embodiment, the processor 702 may perform necessary processing for each message independent to each other using the information extraction rules as stored in the relevance rule database. In an embodiment, each message may be formed by various items like FPL have item3 (ARR (arrival), FPL (Flight Plan), DEP (Departure), DLA (Delay), etc.), item7 (aircraft identification), item8 (Flight Rules and Type of Flight), item9 (Number and type of Aircraft and wake turbulence category), item10, item13, item15, item16 and item18 and ARR have item3, item7, item13 and item17.
[0080] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary flowchart representation of a method 800 for mediating FMU messages from legacy ATMs 400B to new-age ATMs 400A, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0081] In an embodiment, processor 702 may be configured to the local terminal associated with the legacy ATM node 400A in the AFTN 601. In an embodiment, the one or more FMU messages in the data pattern as shown in FIG. 4A-4B may be received through the FMU data acquisition module 704. In an embodiment, the FMU validator 705 may validate the one or more FMU messages based on the header, the start and the end pattern. In an embodiment, the error logger module 706 may generate an error message whenever FMU validator 705 declares the pattern in the FMU message as invalid.
[0082] In an embodiment, the FMU processing module 708 may process the one or more incoming FMU messages and its components (items) as per the ICAO 4444 document driven rules that are retrieved by FMU Rule module 707. In an embodiment, the FMU processing module 708 may perform protocol conversion via the protocol convertor module 709.
[0083] In an embodiment, the converted information may be stored in a structured/standardized data structure including, but not limited to, a JSON, RESTful API format, or the like, which are easy to understand and compliant with FMU message standards followed by the new age ATM nodes 400A. In an embodiment, the standardized data structure may be transmitted to the one or more ATM nodes 400 as the second set of signals. In an embodiment, the second set of signals may be published in form of DDS topics on the DDS compliant network by publisher/subscriber module 712. In other embodiments, the second set of signals may be transmitted as any one or more of JSON or RESTful Application programming interface (APIs) format over non-DDS compliant network. An example of FMU message received, its meaning and decoded JSON format is depicted in Table-1.
 
Receive Message DEP-CSA4311-EGPD1923-ENZV-0
Meaning Departure message — aircraft identification CSA4311 — departed from Aberdeen at 1923 UTC — destination Stavanger – no other information
Decoded JSON Format {“message_type” : “DEP”, “aircraft_id” : ”CSA4311”, “ssr_code” : ””, “departure_aerodrome” : ”EGPD”, “departure_time” : ”1923 UTC”, “destination_aerodrome” : ”ENZV” “destination_time”:””, “other_info”:”” }
Table 1: Example of FMU message and its standardization in JSON format
[0084] In an embodiment, the system setting module 711 may perform the DDS-related settings including, but not limited to, setting up the quality of service (QoS) and the like, or any other settings required by other formats. In an embodiment, the interface setting module may establish connection with external systems over to the one or more ATM nodes in the AFTN 601 based on the interface settings. In an embodiment, the operating system module 701 may provide basic functionality and services that the other modules need to perform their tasks.
[0085] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary flowchart representation of a method 900 for integration of FMU messages with ATM over AFTN. FMU messages from new age ATM node 400A to legacy ATM node 400B, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0086] In an embodiment, the system 607 may receive the first set of signals from the new-age ATM node 400A. In an embodiment, the system 607 may subscribe the incoming commands/request messages via the publisher/subscriber module 712. In an embodiment, the processor 702 of the system 607 may receive and process the first set of signal in standardized format and extract the details from the one or more FMU messages therein. In an embodiment, the FMU processing module 708 may transform the one or more FMU messages may be converted into a format compatible with the legacy ATM node 400B based on the one or more relevance rules retrieved by the FMU rule module 506 by including the header, the start pattern and the end pattern to the one or more FMU message, and generate the second set of signals. In an embodiment, the FMU data acquisition module 704 may route the second set of signals to the legacy ATM node 400B in the AFTN 601 via the local terminal.
[0087] The order in which methods 800 and 900 are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks may be combined or otherwise performed in any order to implement the methods 800 and 900 or alternate methods. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods 800 and 900 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure described herein. Furthermore, the methods 800 and 900 may be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof that exists in the related art or that is later developed. The methods 800 and 900 describe, without limitation, the implementation of the system 110. A person of skill in the art will understand that methods 800 and 900 may be modified appropriately for implementation in various manners without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
[0088] The present disclosure, therefore, solves the need for a method and a system that overcomes the shortcomings of existing solutions.
[0089] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the disclosure is determined by the claims that follow. The disclosure is not limited to the described embodiments, versions, or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the disclosure when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[0090] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN).
[0091] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for mediation of flight movement and updation messages between Air Traffic Management (ATM) nodes.
[0092] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for allowing exchange of messages between legacy AFTN nodes and new-age ATM nodes.
[0093] The present disclosure provides a system and a method having a baselined standard/structure for information exchange between stakeholders.
[0094] The present disclosure provides a system and a method that exchanges data using readable formats including JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and the like, which are easy to decode and understand.
[0095] The present disclosure provides a system and a method that has multiple input/output interfaces deployed between AFTN and ATM systems.
[0096] The present disclosure provides a system and method that receive the FMU messages in real-time and process it for syntax and semantics checks before saving the data to the database management system in a structured manner.
[0097] The present disclosure provides a system and a method that automates exchange of FMU messages between nodes of the AFTN.
[0098] The present disclosure provides a system and a method that receives, processes and encodes Data Distribution Services (DDS) based topics in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or RESTful formats from ATM systems.
[0099] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for exchange of FMU messages compatible with ICAO 4444 doc standards.
 
, Claims:1. A method for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management (ATM) over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN), comprising:
connecting, by a processor, to a local terminal associated with one or more ATM nodes based on the interface specifications of said one or more ATM nodes;
receiving, by the processor, a first set of signals from a source ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes, the first set of signals having one or more FMU messages;
validating, by the processor, the one or more FMU messages based on a header, a start pattern and an end pattern in said one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals;
retrieving, by the processor, one or more relevance rules associated with the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals from a database;
processing, by the processor, the first set of signals by any one or more of parsing, extracting, cleaning and standardizing format of the one or more FMU messages therein to generate a second set of signals having the one or more FMU messages in a data structure compatible with a destination ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes; and
transmitting, by the processor, the second set of signals to the destination ATM node.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more relevance rules are indicative of data processing rules specified in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc 4444.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the source ATM node is a legacy node in an AFTN and the destination ATM node is a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals from the source ATM node is received from the local terminal, processing the first set of signals comprises:
parsing, by the processor, the first set of signals based on the retrieved one or more rules to extract details in the one or more FMU messages; and
standardizing, by the processor, the one or more FMU messages into a standard data structure compatible with the destination ATM node to generate the second set of signals, the standardized data structure being any one or more of text file, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file and RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) format.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein transmitting the second set of signals comprises:
transmitting the second set of signals as one or more data distribution service (DDS) topics to the destination ATM nodes in a DDS-compliant network; and
transmitting the second set of signals in any one or more of JSON or RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) formats to the destination ATM nodes in non-DDS compliant networks.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the destination ATM node is a legacy node in an AFTN and the source node ATM node is a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals are received via a DDS compliant network and the second set of signals are transmitted to the destination ATM node via the local terminal, processing the first set of signals comprises:
parsing, by the processor, the first set of signals to extract FMU messages therein; and
converting, by the processor, the extracted the one or more FMU messages into a data structure compatible with the legacy ATM node by adding the header, the start pattern and the end pattern to said one or more FMU to generate the second set of signals.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method comprises:
generating, by the processor, an error message if the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals are invalid; and
storing, by the processor, the error message in the database coupled to the processor.

7. A system for integration of flight movement updation messages (FMU) with Air Traffic Management (ATM) over Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN), the system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, causes the processor to:
connect to a local terminal associated with one or more ATM nodes ATM node based on the interface specifications of said from the one or more ATM node;
receive a first set of signals from a source ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes, the first set of signals having one or more FMU messages;
validate the one or more FMU messages based on a header, a start pattern and an end pattern in said one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals;
retrieve one or more relevance rules associated with the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals from a database;
process the first set of signals by any one or more of parsing, extracting, cleaning and standardizing format of the one or more FMU messages therein to generate a second set of signals having the one or more FMU messages in a data structure compatible with a destination ATM node from the one or more ATM nodes; and
transmit the second set of signals to the destination ATM node.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the one or more relevance rules are indicative of data processing rules specified in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc 4444.

9. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein when the source ATM node is a legacy node in an AFTN and the destination ATM node is a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals from the source ATM node is received from the local terminal, the processor is configured to:
parse the first set of signals based on the retrieved one or more rules to extract details in the one or more FMU messages; and
standardize the one or more FMU messages into a standard data structure compatible with the destination ATM node to generate the second set of signals, the standardized data structure being any one or more of text file, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file and RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) format.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein to transmit the second set of signals, the processor is configured to:
transmit the second set of signals as one or more data distribution service (DDS) topics to the destination ATM nodes in a DDS-compliant network; and
transmit the second set of signals in any one or more of JSON or RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) formats to the destination ATM nodes in non-DDS compliant networks.

11. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein when the destination ATM node is a legacy node in an AFTN and the source node ATM node is a new age ATM node such that the first set of signals are received via a DDS compliant network and the second set of signals are transmitted to the destination ATM node via the local terminal, the processor is configured to:
parse the first set of signals to extract the one or more FMU messages therein; and
convert the extracted the one or more FMU messages into a data structure compatible with the legacy ATM node by adding the header, the start pattern and the end pattern to said one or more FMU messages to generate the second set of signals.

12. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to:
generate an error message if the one or more FMU messages in the first set of signals are invalid; and
store the error message in the database coupled to the processor.