Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090072957 | RADIO FREQUENCY PROXIMITY SENSOR AND SENSOR SYSTEM - A proximity sensor may be used as part of a vehicle blind spot detection system. The sensor is configured to transmit multiple radio frequency (RF) signals of different frequencies, receive reflected RF signals, and supply intermediate frequency (IF) signals. Each IF signal is representative of one of the reflected RF signals, and each reflected RF signal corresponds to a transmitted RF signal that was reflected by an object within the sensor detection region. The sensor uses the IF signals to determine whether an object is within its detection region and its movement direction. | 03-19-2009 |
20090079564 | MICROWAVE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL DETECTOR BY PARALLEL SAMPLING - A microwave direction of travel detector and method of detecting the direction of an intruder in a protected region. The microwave direction of travel detector transmits and receives, by a microwave transceiver a microwave signal directed toward a protected area. The microwave return signal is modulated by a moving target to produce a Doppler signal. The received Doppler signal is amplified by a chain of amplifiers having two or more amplifiers coupled to the microwave transceiver. A controller monitors the output of each chain of the amplifiers. The microwave sensor is configured for parallel sampling an amplified Doppler signal output from each amplifiers having a low signal output and each successive chain of the amplifiers a successively higher signal output. The controller determines if there is a direction of travel motion from the intruder and sends an alarm. | 03-26-2009 |
20090079615 | DIRECTION OF TRAVEL MOTION DETECTOR WITH AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL - Disclosed is a microwave direction of travel detector and method of doing the same. The microwave direction of travel detector comprising, a microwave transceiver for transmitting and receiving a microwave signal directed toward a protected area for outputting a Doppler signal when a moving target is detected, an amplifier chain including one or more amplifiers coupled to the microwave transceiver for receiving and amplifying the Doppler signal from the microwave transceiver, wherein at least one amplifier having variable gain and; a controller for sampling an output gain of each variable gain amplifier and for controlling each variable gain amplifier by adjusting a gain of each variable gain amplifier to keep the Doppler signal level constant and to avoid saturation of each said variable gain amplifier. If the output gains of each variable gain amplifier is increasing or decreasing the controller indicates a direction of travel. | 03-26-2009 |
20090121870 | METHOD FOR CALIBRATING A MICROWAVE MOTION DETECTOR AND A MICROWAVE MOTION DETECTOR - A method of automatically calibrating a motion detector and a motion detector adapted for calibration using the method. The method comprises setting the motion detector to a calibration mode, waiting a preset period of time for the installer to walk to the furthest distance, receiving a Doppler signal generated by motion at the furthest distance from the microwave motion detector within the protected area, measuring an amplitude of the Doppler signal and storing a motion detection threshold for the microwave motion detector. The motion detection threshold is a proportional to the measured amplitude. | 05-14-2009 |
20090121958 | MICROWAVE MOTION SENSOR WITH A REFLECTOR - A microwave motion sensor including a patch antenna having a plurality of microwave radiating elements for transmitting and receiving a microwave signal where each microwave radiating element is of the antenna in an array configuration. A reflector is disposed above the antenna for downward shaping the radiating signal, where the microwave radiating elements together with the reflector provide a radiation pattern where a main beam is transmitted in a direction orthogonal to a surface of said antenna and a sided lobe transmitted downward in amplitude below the microwave motion sensor. | 05-14-2009 |
20090160697 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING INTERFERENCE IN MICROWAVE MOTION SENSORS - A microwave sensor comprises an oscillator configured to generate a microwave signal at a pre-determined frequency, and an antenna configured to transmit the microwave signal and/or to receive reflected signals. The antenna is linear polarized at 45 degrees and the transmitted microwave signal has an electric field at 45 degrees to the plane of the horizontal. The microwave sensor further includes a signal processor coupled to the antenna and configured to process the reflected signals to determine a presence of a moving object. | 06-25-2009 |
20090160698 | ANTI-INTERFERENCE MICROWAVE MOTION SENSOR - A microwave motion sensor for protecting an area comprises an oscillator configured to generate a plurality of microwave signals, a random pulse generator configured to set a random pulse period for each transmitted microwave signal, an antenna configured to transmit the microwave signals and to receive reflected signals, and a signal processor coupled to the antenna through other circuitry, said signal processor is configured to process the reflected signals to determine a presence of a moving object in the protected area. | 06-25-2009 |
20090303101 | MICROWAVE DIRECTION SENSING PLANAR SENSOR - A microwave transceiver used in a microwave motion detector for detecting the direction of movement of a moving object in a detection area. The microwave transceiver has a multilayered design with an oscillator/mixer card and an antenna card bonded together, with a ground plane sandwiched between the cards. The oscillator/mixer card and the antenna card both have surface mounted elements. The oscillator circuit of the oscillator/mixer card has a surface mounted transistor chip wire bonded in the oscillator circuit, and a pair of signal mixer circuits each having a surface mounted chip wire bonded in the circuits for generating Doppler signals. The oscillator/mixer card further has a signal phase shifter circuit for shifting the phase of a reflected signal inputted to one of the signal mixers. The Doppler signals generated by the mixers are utilized to determine a direction of movement of the moving object. | 12-10-2009 |
20100013636 | MICROWAVE RANGING SENSOR - A method for detecting an intruder in a protected space that uses a microwave frequency sensor to determine an accurate distance measurement to the intruder. The accurate distance measurement reduces the false alarms typically associated with microwave frequency sensors due to motion outside the protected space and vibration within the protected space. The motion detector transmits three microwave frequency signals of different frequencies in order to eliminate an ambiguity problem when determining the accurate distance measurement. The accuracy of the intruder distance measurement may be determined with greater resolution by reiteratively transmitting and evaluating microwave frequency signals of different frequencies. The motion detector of the present invention may include a PIR sensor. The accurate distance measurement allows the motion detector to precisely set signal threshold levels for the microwave frequency detector and the passive infrared detector to reliably detect an intruder while discriminating against an animal or other moving object. | 01-21-2010 |
20100052902 | RELIABLE SECURITY SYSTEM BY TRIANGULATION - The present invention is a security system and a method for reliably detecting an intruder without false alarms. The security system includes at least three motion detectors and processor circuitry adapted to collect a plurality of location samples and analyze them to determine if a target has transitioned from a first region to a second region, and when the target has transitioned from a first region to a second region, initiating a predetermined action. Each location sample is determined by: detecting motion from a target with each of the three motion detectors, determining the distance to the target for each of the three motion detectors, and triangulating the three determined distances to produce a two-dimensional location. The security system determines if a target has transitioned from a first region to a second protected region by comparing the plurality of location samples to perimeter location data stored in memory. Different modes of operation cause the security system to take different actions before and after the transition, such as generating an alarm or a warning signal. The security system may also include a display to show the location of one or more targets, which may be the intruder or the occupants of the premises. | 03-04-2010 |
20100073165 | MICROWAVE MOTION DETECTOR WITH TARGET ANGLE DETECTION - The present invention is an alarm system that includes a dual technology motion sensor. The dual technology sensor includes a PIR sensor with a PIR detection pattern and a Doppler microwave frequency motion detector with a detection pattern wider than that of the PIR sensor. The microwave detector's processing circuitry distinguishes motion beyond the PIR detection pattern, and limits the microwave detector's field of view to match the PIR detector's detection pattern. The microwave detector has a transmitting antenna, two receiving antennas, and processing circuitry for processing received signals. The microwave detector's processing circuitry uses phase information from the two receiving antennas to distinguish motion beyond the PIR detection pattern. | 03-25-2010 |
20100103020 | MICROWAVE MOTION DETECTORS UTILIZING MULTI-FREQUENCY RANGING AND TARGET ANGLE DETECTION - A method of detecting a moving target within a predefined protected region with a microwave motion detector, by transmitting microwave frequency signals and receiving the microwave frequency signals reflected by a target. A target distance is then determined from the received microwave frequency signals, and a target angle is determined from the received microwave frequency signals. Then, a target location is determined from the target distance and the target angle, and an alarm condition is set if the target location is within the predefined protected region. | 04-29-2010 |
20100201518 | MICROWAVE CURTAIN SENSOR - A method and apparatus are provided for detecting an intruder. The method includes the steps of receiving an echo from opposing sides of a curtain line extending through the secure area, determining a difference between the received echoes, determining a phase difference of the signal and generating an alarm when the determined phase changes sign between successively received echoes. | 08-12-2010 |
20100283660 | ANTI-MASK MOTION SENSOR - A motion sensing method and apparatus includes a housing enclosing a microwave motion sensor including an antenna, and a security system. The antenna may be a patch antenna which includes microwave radiating elements for transmitting and receiving a microwave signal for sensing motion. A reflector is attached to the housing and positioned above the antenna for downward shaping of the microwave signal. The microwave radiating elements together with the reflector provide a radiation pattern where a main beam is transmitted in a direction orthogonal to a surface of the antenna and a sided lobe is transmitted downward in amplitude below the microwave motion sensor. An alarm circuit indicates when the microwave sensor detects motion in armed mode, and a masking circuit indicates when the microwave sensor detects motion in a mask zone when the security system is unarmed. A second sensor may be positioned beneath the microwave motion sensor. | 11-11-2010 |
20100302090 | ADAPTIVE MICROWAVE SECURITY SENSOR - A method and apparatus are provided for operating a microwave detector for detecting intruders within a secured area. The method includes the steps of selecting a noise floor based upon a setting of a range setting potentiometer, detecting a magnitude of a signal reflected from a test subject within the secured area that exceeds the selected noise floor and establishing a threshold value for detecting an intruder based upon the magnitude of the detected signal and sensor mounting height. | 12-02-2010 |