Claims:WE CLAIM
1. A method of tracking and managing regulatory certificates of an aircraft component during a lifecycle of the aircraft component, the method comprising:
registering, by a regulatory certificate tracking and management system, a plurality of entities involved in a plurality of stages of the lifecycle of the aircraft component;
creating, by the regulatory certificate tracking and management system, a plurality of records for at least a set of the plurality of entities corresponding to a regulatory certificate, wherein the regulatory certificate is obtained from a regulatory body upon request by an entity from among the plurality of entities involved in a stage from among the plurality of stages, and wherein each of the plurality of records comprises a plurality of regulatory parameters; and
updating, by the regulatory certificate tracking and management system, a record from among the plurality of records upon a transaction with a subsequent entity from among the plurality of entities involved in a subsequent stage from among the plurality of stages.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of entities comprises at least one of a component manufacturer, a sub-assembly manufacturer, an engine manufacturer, a structure manufacturer, an aircraft manufacturer, an airline, and a maintenance and repair service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the regulatory certificate comprises at least one of an airworthiness certificate, and a shipment certificate.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein registering the plurality of entities comprises:
creating a blockchain network comprising a plurality of nodes, and a single shared ledger for the plurality of nodes for storing the plurality of records; and
registering the plurality of entities as the plurality of nodes in the blockchain network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the blockchain network is a permissioned blockchain network, wherein a permission to access the blockchain network is managed by at least one of the plurality of entities, and wherein the transaction among two or more of the plurality of entities is authorized based on a consensus.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein updating the record from among the plurality of records comprises:
creating a verifiable immutable transaction block corresponding to the transaction; and
updating the record based on the verifiable immutable transaction block.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein creating each of the plurality of records comprises creating a form along with the regulatory certificate, and wherein updating the record comprises creating a fresh form with references and links to one or more prior forms.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of regulatory parameters comprises at least one of a component number, a serial number, a record tracking number, a date, an authorization number, an approved quantity, and a shipped quantity.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
validating the plurality of records for compliance to a regulatory guideline provided by the regulatory body.

10. A system for tracking and managing regulatory certificates of an aircraft component during a lifecycle of the aircraft component, the system comprising:
at least one processor; and
a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
registering a plurality of entities involved in a plurality of stages of the lifecycle of the aircraft component;
creating a plurality of records for at least a set of the plurality of entities corresponding to a regulatory certificate, wherein the regulatory certificate is obtained from a regulatory body upon request by an entity from among the plurality of entities involved in a stage from among the plurality of stages, and wherein each of the plurality of records comprises a plurality of regulatory parameters; and
updating a record from among the plurality of records upon a transaction with a subsequent entity from among the plurality of entities involved in a subsequent stage from among the plurality of stages.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein registering the plurality of entities comprises:
creating a blockchain network comprising a plurality of nodes, and a single shared ledger for the plurality of nodes for storing the plurality of records; and
registering the plurality of entities as the plurality of nodes in the blockchain network.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the blockchain network is a permissioned blockchain network, wherein a permission to access the blockchain network is managed by at least one of the plurality of entities, and wherein the transaction among two or more of the plurality of entities is authorized based on a consensus.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein updating the record from among the plurality of records comprises:
creating a verifiable immutable transaction block corresponding to the transaction; and
updating the record based on the verifiable immutable transaction block.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein creating each of the plurality of records comprises creating a form along with the regulatory certificate, and wherein updating the record comprises creating a fresh form with references and links to one or more prior forms.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:
validating the plurality of records for compliance to a regulatory guideline provided by the regulatory body.

Dated this 29th day of May, 2017

R Ramya Rao
Of K&S Partners
Agent for the Applicant
IN/PA-1607
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
This disclosure relates generally to aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, and more particularly to a method and system for tracking and managing regulatory certificates of aircraft components.