Siren detector

• US 5,710,555 A
• Filed: 05/17/1996
• Issued: 01/20/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Traffic Systems LLC
• Original Assignee: Unity Wireless Corp.
• Inventors: McConnell, Peter Robert Henderson, Kavanagh, Patricia Fern
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pope, Daryl C.
• Application Number:
  US08/649,179
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: 340/902, 340/916, 340/906, 340/933, 340/944, 340/904, 340/943, 340/917, 340/942, 340/935
• US Class Current: 340/916
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle

Abstract

A improved siren detector for detecting siren sounds which precess at known warble rates, such as yelp, wail, and high-low, within a selected frequency band. A transducer detects the siren sounds and produces a corresponding electrical output signal. This electrical output signal is filtered to reject signals outside of the selected siren frequency band. The signal is processed to determine the amplitude of the electrical signal, and hence the sound level of the siren sound at the transducer input. This signal is also processed by an amplitude limiter and frequency discriminator to determine the instantaneous frequency of the siren sound. This discriminator is followed by a non-linear filter to remove the FM clicks characteristic of siren sounds having a low signal to noise ratio. Selection filters are used to analyze the precession rates, maximum frequency, minimum frequency, and shape of the precession characteristic to classify the siren as to its type, such as yelp, wail, and high-low. A sound which meets the selection criteria and has a sound level above a predetermined threshold causes the siren detector to trigger signal which drives a preempt output. This preempt output signal is input to a traffic light control system. This alerts the traffic light control system to control the Pedestrian Walk/Don'"'"'t Walk and traffic lights to cause pedestrians to clear the intersection and to provide a preemptive traffic control signal to a vehicle equipped with the appropriate siren.

Claims

1. A siren detector for detecting siren sounds which precess at known rates within a selected frequency band to facilitate preemptable control of traffic light signals to enable an emergency vehicle to pass through a traffic intersection on a priority basis, said detector comprising transducer means for detecting said sounds and for producing an electrical sound output signal representative thereof, first filter means for filtering said sound output signal to produce an antialiased output signal to prevent aliasing in a subsequent analog to digital conversion process, and second filter means for producing a band-limited signal by filtering said antialiased output signal to reject signals outside said selected frequency band;

and limiter-discriminator means for producing an indication of the frequency of said band-limited signal.

2. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, said detector further comprising a non-linear click filter responsive to said discriminator output signal for removing under low signal to noise conditions and for producing a filtered discriminator output signal.

3. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, said detector further comprising a sound level detection means responsive to said band-limited signal for producing a sound level signal indicating that a sound level within said selected frequency band at the input transducer means exceeds a selected sound intensity level.

4. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, said detector further comprising a squelch detection means responsive to said discriminator output signal for indicating that a signal to noise level within said selected frequency band at the input transducer means exceeds a selected signal to noise level.

5. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, said detector further comprising siren detection means responsive to said filtered discriminator output signal for measuring a period of the siren sound and for providing an indication that said period is within a selectable range.

6. A siren detector as defined in claim 2, said detector further comprising siren detection means to measure the period of the siren signal and provide an indication that said period is within a selectable range.

7. The siren detector as defined in claim 5, wherein said siren detection means further comprises means responsive to said filtered discriminator output signal for measuring a frequency of the siren sound and for providing an indication that the frequency of said siren sound is within a selectable range.

8. The siren detector as defined in claim 6, said detector further comprising siren detection means responsive to said filtered discriminator output signal for measuring a frequency of the siren sound and providing an indication that the frequency of said siren sound is within a selectable range.

9. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, said detector further comprising siren detection means responsive to said filtered discriminator output signal for measuring a rate of change of frequency of the siren sound and for providing an indication that said rate of change of frequency is within a selectable range.

10. The siren detector as defined in claim 2, said detector further comprising siren detection means responsive to said filtered discriminator output signal for measuring a rate of change of frequency of the siren sound and for providing an indication that said rate of change of frequency is within a selectable range.

11. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, said detector further comprising a means for determining a correlation coefficient providing a measure of correlation between the precession rate of the siren sound and a straight line and for producing an indication that the correlation coefficient exceeds a selectable value.

12. The siren detector as defined in claim 2, said detector further comprising a means for determining a correlation coefficient providing a measure of correlation between the precession rate of the siren sound and a straight line and for producing an indication that the correlation coefficient exceeds a selectable value.

13. The siren detector as defined in claim 3, said detector further comprising a squelch detection means responsive to said discriminator output signal for producing a squelch detector signal indicating that a signal to noise level within said selected frequency band at the input transducer means exceeds a selected signal to noise level.

14. The siren detector as defined in claim 13, further comprising preempt control means for producing a preempt output signal for activating said traffic controller in response to said squelch detector, sound level detector, and siren detector signals.

15. A siren detector as defined in claim 7, said detector further comprising a means for producing a preempt output signal to the traffic light controller when the siren sound increases in level above a selectable threshold and for deactivating the preempt output signal when the siren sound decreases in level below a selectable threshold.

16. A siren detector as defined in claim 8, said detector further comprising a means for producing a preempt output signal to the traffic light controller when the siren sound increases in level above a selectable threshold and for deactivating the preempt output signal when the siren sound decreases in level below a selectable threshold, and holding the preempt output signal in an enabled state for a selectable period of time.

17. The siren detector as defined in claim 1, in which the siren detector is implemented in a programmable signal processor operated according to a computer program, the programmable signal processor having a communications port allowing the computer program to be externally loaded from an external programming source.

18. The siren detector as defined in claim 17, wherein the external programming source is remotely located.

19. The siren detector as defined in claim 2, wherein said non-linear click filter is a median filter.

20. The siren detector as defined in claim 13, said detector further comprising siren detection means responsive to said filtered discriminator output signal for measuring a period of the siren sound and for producing a siren detector signal indicating that said period is within a selectable range.

21. The siren detector of claim 1 wherein said limited-discriminator means is further for mapping said band-limited signal onto the complex plane for computing a quantity proportional to the derivative of a phase portion of said band-limited signal, and for normalizing the resulting quantity to produce said indication of the frequency of said band-limited signal.