SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FORMING OPTIMIZED PERIMETER SURVEILLANCE
First Claim
1. A method for forming a virtual tripwire through a subregion of an area of interest, the method comprising:
- using a geographic information system to perform a geometric analysis of terrain in said subregion, said geometric analysis determining a location for each one of a pre-designated plurality of candidate sensors that may potentially be used in forming said virtual tripwire, and a viewshed for each said candidate sensor, each said viewshed representing a coverage region for its associated said candidate sensor;
defining a geometric beginning point and a geometric end point within the subregion for said virtual tripwire; and
analyzing said viewsheds to determine a number of said candidate sensors required to form a path for said virtual tripwire from said beginning point to said end point.
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Abstract
A method for forming a virtual tripwire through a subregion of an area of interest. The method may involve performing a geometric analysis of terrain in the subregion, the geometric analysis determining a location for each one of a pre-designated plurality of candidate sensors that may potentially be used in forming the virtual tripwire. A viewshed for each candidate sensor is determined. Each viewshed represents a coverage region for its associated candidate sensor. A geometric beginning point and a geometric end point within the subregion are each defined for the virtual tripwire. The viewsheds are analyzed to determine a number of the candidate sensors required to form a path for the virtual tripwire from the beginning point to the end point.
123 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for forming a virtual tripwire through a subregion of an area of interest, the method comprising:
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using a geographic information system to perform a geometric analysis of terrain in said subregion, said geometric analysis determining a location for each one of a pre-designated plurality of candidate sensors that may potentially be used in forming said virtual tripwire, and a viewshed for each said candidate sensor, each said viewshed representing a coverage region for its associated said candidate sensor; defining a geometric beginning point and a geometric end point within the subregion for said virtual tripwire; and analyzing said viewsheds to determine a number of said candidate sensors required to form a path for said virtual tripwire from said beginning point to said end point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for determining placements of a plurality of sensors that are used to monitor a geographic area of interest, the method comprising:
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obtaining a digital elevation model that includes as a portion thereof said area of interest; selecting an initial number of candidate sensors to be used in monitoring said area of interest; using a geographic information system to perform a geometric analysis of terrain in said area of interest using said digital elevation model, and said initial number of candidate sensors, to determine a viewshed for each said candidate sensor, said viewshed of each of said candidate sensors representing a region made up of a collection of subregions, where each said subregion has a line-of-sight to its associated said candidate sensor; and analyzing all of said viewsheds to determine a minimum subset of said candidate sensors that have viewsheds that form at least a substantially continuous path through said area of interest from a designated beginning point to a designated ending point. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of determining placements for a plurality of sensors that ensures formation of an optimized virtual tripwire through a geographic region, and that maximizes an area covered by the sensors, comprising:
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obtaining a digital elevation model of said geographic region that includes as a portion thereof an area of interest; using a geographic information system to perform a geometric analysis of terrain in the area of interest using the digital elevation model; providing an initial number of candidate sensors that may be used to form said virtual tripwire; determining a viewshed for each said candidate sensor, the viewshed of each said candidate sensor representing a region made up of a collection of subregions, where each said subregion has a line-of-sight to its associated sensor; and analyzing all the viewsheds and using the geometric analysis of the terrain of the area of interest to determine placements for each one of the candidate sensors within the area of interest such that portions of adjacent viewsheds generate a continuous, uninterrupted path that forms the virtual tripwire, and further such that a region covered by said sensors is maximized.
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20. A system for forming a virtual tripwire in a vicinity of a designated boundary line within an area of interest, the system comprising:
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a geographic information system for performing a geographic analysis of terrain in said vicinity of said boundary line, said geographic information system adapted to determine a location for each one of a pre-designated plurality of candidate sensors that may potentially be used in forming said virtual tripwire, and a viewshed for each said candidate sensor, with each said viewshed representing a coverage region for its associated said candidate sensor, and further such that certain ones of said candidate sensors have viewsheds that at least partially overlap with one another; and an optimization system responsive to information generated by said geometric information system for analyzing said viewsheds to determine a minimum number of ones of said candidate sensors required to form a path from a designated beginning point to a designated ending point, the path representing the virtual tripwire.
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Specification