Method and system for regional traffic monitoring
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring civilian vehicular land traffic at a plurality of selectable roadway sections, said method comprising:
- a. directing and transmitting beams of electromagnetic energy from at least one fixed elevated site towards selected roadway sections;
for each said roadway section using a selected carrier frequency and a selected modulation;
b. receiving at said at least one fixed elevated site signals of electromagnetic energy comprising vehicle echoes and other object echoes; and
c. processing said signals to separate said vehicle echoes from said other object echoes and to produce measurements of range and Doppler velocity of vehicles in said selected roadway sections.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system is disclosed for remote all-weather monitoring of civilian road traffic over large portions of a metropolitan region, using one or more microwave radar systems situated at elevated locations, such as high towers or pilotless aircraft. Pulse-Doppler waveforms provide, for each position of the radar beam, range-velocity maps of traffic over a number of selectable roadway sections, which maps are used to estimate the speed, density, and volume of traffic flow and to identify discontinuities in the flow which may be indicative of accidents or obstructions. In addition, a high-resolution wideband waveform can be included to provide detailed examinations of selected portions of the monitored roadway sections.
135 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring civilian vehicular land traffic at a plurality of selectable roadway sections, said method comprising:
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a. directing and transmitting beams of electromagnetic energy from at least one fixed elevated site towards selected roadway sections;
for each said roadway section using a selected carrier frequency and a selected modulation;b. receiving at said at least one fixed elevated site signals of electromagnetic energy comprising vehicle echoes and other object echoes; and c. processing said signals to separate said vehicle echoes from said other object echoes and to produce measurements of range and Doppler velocity of vehicles in said selected roadway sections. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for monitoring civilian vehicular land traffic at a plurality of selectable roadway sections, said method comprising:
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a. using a solid-state radar, directing and transmitting beams of electromagnetic energy from at least one fixed elevated site towards selected roadway sections;
for each said roadway section using a selected carrier frequency and a selected modulation;
wherein said beam is formed by an electronically-steered phased-array antenna;b. receiving at said at least one fixed elevated site signals of electromagnetic energy comprising vehicle echoes and other object echoes; and c. processing said signals to separate said vehicle echoes from said other object echoes and to produce measurements of range and Doppler velocity of vehicles in said selected roadway sections. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for monitoring civilian vehicular land traffic at a plurality of selectable roadway sections, said system comprising:
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a. a solid-state radar including an electronically-steered phased-array antenna for directing and transmitting beams of electromagnetic energy from at least one fixed elevated site towards selected roadway sections, using for each said roadway section a selected carrier frequency and a selected modulation; b. means for receiving at said at least one fixed elevated site signals of electromagnetic energy comprising vehicle echoes and other object echoes; and c. means for processing said signals to separate said vehicle echoes from said other object echoes and to produce measurements of range and Doppler velocity of vehicles in said selected roadway sections. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for monitoring civilian vehicular land traffic at a plurality of selectable roadway sections, said method comprising:
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a. using a solid-state radar, directing and transmitting beams of electromagnetic energy from at least one pilotless aircraft towards selected roadway sections using a selected carrier frequency and a selected modulation, wherein said beams are formed by an electronically-steered phased-array antenna; b. receiving at said at least one pilotless aircraft signals of electromagnetic energy comprising vehicle echoes and other object echoes; c. determining and substantially controlling the position and motion of said at least one pilotless aircraft; and d. processing said signals to separate said vehicle echoes from said other object echoes and to produce measurements of range and Doppler velocity of vehicles in said selected roadway sections, wherein said processing includes any necessary correction for the position and motion of said at least one pilotless aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification