IDENTIFICATION AND LOCATION SYSTEM FOR PERSONNEL AND VEHICLES

• US 20040222917A1
• Filed: 05/06/2003
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flir Surveillance, Inc. (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Sensor Technologies & Systems, Incorporated (Citizens Financial Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Butler, Walker
• Granted Patent: US 6,816,106 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/45
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/04 Systems determining presence of a target based on relative movement of target G01S13/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/767 Responders; Transponders teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying using reflecting targets or active targets F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/781 Secondary Surveillance Radar [SSR] in general
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile

Abstract

An identification interrogator is provided for surveillance of objects within an area. The identification interrogator transmits interrogation signals to all objects within the surveillance area, the reflections of which are received back by the interrogator to determine the locations of the objects, and communicates the determined locations to a processing facility to determine their authorized locations. Upon receipt of interrogation signals, some of the objects within the surveillance area broadcast their position and identification to processing facility for correlation with the locations determined by the reflection signals. The locations of other objects are found by correlating the location determined by the reflection signal with a predetermined list of objects and their location within the surveillance area. These may be objects with no means or method to transmit position and identification information, such as rock formations or buildings. If no broadcast information is received from an object and the location of that object determined by the reflection signal cannot be correlated with a predetermined list, than the object has no proper authorization to be within the surveillance area.

Claims

1. A surveillance system, comprising:

at least one surveillance unit;

at least one Identification-Friend or Foe (IFF) unit located on at least one object; and

at least one processing facility;

said at least one surveillance unit transmits surveillance signals to all objects within a surveillance area, and upon receipt of a reflection of said transmitted signals determines locations of said objects and communicates said determined locations to said at least one processing facility;

said surveillance signals that impinge on said at least one IFF unit on at least one object cause said IFF unit to broadcast messages containing identification and position information of said object having said IFF unit to said at least one processing facility;

said processing facility compares said broadcast messages from said IFF units and the communications from said at least one surveillance unit to determine all properly authorized locations of all objects within a surveillance area and to provide appropriate notice.

2. A surveillance system as set forth in claim 1, where

said processing facility compares said communication locations of said objects with a stored list of objects to determine said object'"'"'s properly authorized location within a surveillance area and to provide appropriate notice.

3. AR A surveillance system as set forth in claim 1 where said Identification-Friend or Foe (IFF) unit comprises:

a radar signal detector;

a GPS receiver; and

a data communication transmitter

said IFF unit tracks its location with said GPS receiver, and upon receiving an output from said radar signal detector triggers said data communication transmitter to broadcast a message containing identification information and position obtained from said GPS receiver.

4. A surveillance system as set forth in claim 3, where said data communication transmitter function is provided by a bidirectional communication device.

5. A surveillance system as set forth in claim 3, where the GPS receiver location function is provided for in a bi-directional communication device.

6. A surveillance system as set forth in claim 1, where said Identification-Friend or Foe (IFF) unit comprises:

a radar signal detector;

a GPS receiver; and

a data communication transmitter contained within a bidirectional communication device;

where said IFF unit tracks its location with the GPS receiver and upon receiving a command over said bidirectional communication device causes the bi-directional transmitter to broadcast a message containing identification and position.

7. A method for identification interrogation, comprising th acts of:

a) transmitting at least one surveillance signal;

b) Determining location of at least one object based on a reflection of said transmitted surveillance signal from said object;

c) Broadcasting at least one message containing identification and position information from said at least one object; and

d) Correlating said location information from said reflection signal with said broadcast information from said object to determine properly authorized location of said object within a surveillance area.

8. A method for identification interrogation as set forth in claim 7, comprising the act of:

Correlating said location information with a list of object locations to determine properly authorized location of said object within a surveillance area.

9. A method for identification interrogation as set forth in claim 7, comprising the act of:

transmitting location information with a pre-programmed identification information upon receiving an interrogation signal from said surveillance signal requesting identification.