Appeal No. 97-2476 Page 2
Application No. 07/696,079
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to air traffic control. An air
traffic controller sends flight instructions to an aircraft
via an intermediary computer. When the controller enters
flight instructions into the computer, the computer prescreens
the instructions for consistency with conditions in the air
and on the ground. It forwards consistent instructions to the
aircraft. Inconsistent instructions are returned to the
controller. (Appeal Br. at 2.)
Claim 8, which is representative for our purposes,
follows:
8. A method of controlling air traffic at an airport
comprising
a) making an opinion determination as to instructions to
be supplied to an aircraft,
b) providing such instructions to a computer,
c) permitting the computer to compare such instructions
with known conditions on the ground and in the air for
possible contradiction therebetween, and
d) i) if no contradiction, passing said instructions on
to the aircraft, or
ii) if contradictory, not passing said instructions
on and alerting an operator.
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