Beacon signal receiving system

• US 5,657,026 A
• Filed: 01/26/1996
• Issued: 08/12/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: USA Mobility Wireless, Inc. (Spok Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Tracking Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Culpepper, Jerry W., Markus, John D., Smith, Lawrence M., Chen, Zhaoliang
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAN, DAO LINDA
• Application Number:
  US08/592,809
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 342/101, 342/374, 342/385, 342/386, 342/45, 342/418
• US Class Current: 342/374
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/3275 mounted on a horizontal surface of the vehicle, e.g. on roof, hood, trunk
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/24 varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching

Abstract

A method and apparatus for locating and tracking a portable transmitter that may be deposited with currency or other items desired to be tracked, comprising a doppler antenna array, analog antenna switching, radio frequency and intermediate frequency circuitry and a digital signal processor, exhibiting increasing sensitivity, accuracy, and range.

Claims

1. A portable receiver for identifying and tracking a portable transmitter that emits a radio frequency signal, said receiver comprising:

a plurality of antennas for receiving said radio frequency signals;

switching circuitry coupled to said antennas for switching between said antennas, said switching circuitry having an output signal;

radio frequency circuitry coupled to said switching circuitry for processing said output signal, said radio frequency circuitry producing a radio frequency signal;

intermediate frequency circuitry coupled to said radio frequency circuitry for converting said radio frequency signal into an intermediate frequency signal;

an analog-to-digital converter for converting said intermediate frequency signal into a digital signal;

a digital signal processor for processing said digital signal to determine the relative location of said receiver with respect to said transmitter, said digital signal processor comprising identifying circuitry for identifying whether said digital signal corresponds to said transmitter, locking circuitry communicating with said identifying circuitry for tuning said receiver in response to said digital signal, and detector circuitry for determining the direction to said transmitter from said receiver.

2. The receiver of claim 1 wherein said plurality of antennas are Doppler antennas.

3. The receiver of claim 1 wherein said plurality of antennas are at least three in number and are configured such that one of each of said plurality of antennas is located on the vertex of an equilateral triangle.

4. The receiver of claim 1 wherein said switching circuitry is responsive to an analog waveform.

5. The receiver of claim 4 wherein said analog waveform is Gaussian shaped.

6. The receiver of claim 1 wherein said digital signal processor includes an instantaneous hard-limiting AM/FM receiver.

7. The receiver of claim 1 wherein said identifying circuitry includes a coherent AM detector.

8. The receiver of claim 7 wherein said digital signal processor includes a summer for summing the output of said coherent AM detector with a received signal strength indicator signal to extend the dynamic range of said receiver.

9. The receiver of claim 8 wherein said receiver does not use automatic gain control during normal operation.

10. A system for transmitting, identifying and tracking a radio frequency signal, said system comprising:

a portable transmitter for transmitting said radio frequency signal;

a receiver for receiving and processing said radio frequency signal including

a plurality of antennas for receiving said radio frequency signal;

switching circuitry coupled to said plurality of antennas for switching between said antennas, said switching circuitry having an output signal;

radio frequency circuitry coupled to said switching circuitry for processing said output signal, said radio frequency circuitry producing a processed radio frequency signal;

intermediate frequency circuitry coupled to said radio frequency circuitry for converting said processed radio frequency signal into an intermediate frequency signal;

an analog-to-digital converter for converting said intermediate frequency signal into a digital signal; and

a digital signal processor for processing said digital signal, said digital signal processor containing identifying circuitry for identifying whether said digital signal corresponds to said portable transmitter, locking circuitry communicating with said identifying circuitry for tuning said receiver in response to said digital signal, and detector circuitry for determining the direction to said transmitter from said receiver; and

display circuitry coupled to said receiver for displaying said direction to said transmitter from said receiver.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said plurality of antennas are Doppler antennas.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein said plurality of antennas are at least three in number and are configured such that one of each of said plurality of antennas is located on the vertex of an equilateral triangle.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein said switching circuitry is responsive to an analog waveform.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said analog waveform is Gaussian shaped.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein said digital signal processor includes an instantaneous hard-limiting AM/FM receiver.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein said identifying circuitry includes a coherent AM detector.

17. The receiver of claim 16 wherein said digital signal processor includes a summer for summing the output of said coherent AM detector with a received signal strength indicator signal to extend the dynamic range of said receiver.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said receiver does not use automatic gain control during normal operation.

19. A method for identifying and tracking a portable transmitter that emits a radio frequency signal, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving said radio frequency signals with a receiver having a plurality of antennas;

switching between said antennas with switching circuitry, said switching circuitry having an output signal;

processing said output signal so as to produce a processed radio frequency signal;

converting said processed radio frequency signal into an intermediate frequency signal;

converting said intermediate frequency signal into a digital signal; and

processing said digital signal, including identifying whether said digital signal corresponds to the portable transmitter, tuning said receiver in response to said digital signal, and determining the direction to the portable transmitter from said receiver.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said plurality of antennas are Doppler antennas.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein said plurality of antennas are at least three in number and are configured such that one of each of said plurality of antennas is located on the vertex of an equilateral triangle.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of switching between said antennas is achieved with an analog waveform.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said analog waveform is Gaussian shaped.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of identifying whether said digital signal corresponds to the portable transmitter is achieved with a coherent AM detector.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of processing said digital signal includes the step of summing the output of said coherent AM detector with a received signal strength indicator signal to extend the dynamic range of said receiver.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said step of processing said digital signal does not include the use of automatic gain control during normal operation.