Methods and apparatus for detecting threats in different areas
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating detection of a threat, the method comprising:
- i) operating a transmitter to transmit signals in the direction of a plurality of cells to pan a scene corresponding to said plurality of cells, at least some cells corresponding to different ranges relative to the transmitter;
ii) operating a detector to detect reflected signals during an analysis period received from said plurality of cells; and
iii) determining a threat reference threshold for the analysis period as a function of the reflected signals detected during the analysis period, said step of determining a threat threshold including;
measuring detected reflected signals corresponding to at least some of said plurality of said cells to generate a measured signal value for each particular one of said at least some cells;
modifying the measured signal values corresponding to some particular ones of said at least some cells by a distance factor corresponding to the distance the particular one of the cells is from the transmitter to generate a modified measured signal value for each of said some particular ones of said cells; and
generating the threat reference threshold as a function of at least some of the modified measured signal values.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for early detection and identification of a threat such as individuals carrying hidden explosive materials, land mines on roads, etc. are disclosed. Methods comprise transmitting radar signals in the direction of a potential threat, measuring the energy in reflected signals, dynamically generating a threat threshold value from signals received from multiple areas and comparing the energy in the reflected signals corresponding to different areas to the generated threat threshold value. The threat threshold value may be generated by averaging the weighted reflected energy measured from different areas during a single scan of a region including the different areas. The contribution to the threshold from different areas is weighted in some embodiments as a function of the distance from the transmitter and/or receiver to the particular area. Analysis of areas and treating different areas as segments facilitates accurate analysis and display of threat information.
61 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating detection of a threat, the method comprising:
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i) operating a transmitter to transmit signals in the direction of a plurality of cells to pan a scene corresponding to said plurality of cells, at least some cells corresponding to different ranges relative to the transmitter;
ii) operating a detector to detect reflected signals during an analysis period received from said plurality of cells; and
iii) determining a threat reference threshold for the analysis period as a function of the reflected signals detected during the analysis period, said step of determining a threat threshold including;
measuring detected reflected signals corresponding to at least some of said plurality of said cells to generate a measured signal value for each particular one of said at least some cells;
modifying the measured signal values corresponding to some particular ones of said at least some cells by a distance factor corresponding to the distance the particular one of the cells is from the transmitter to generate a modified measured signal value for each of said some particular ones of said cells; and
generating the threat reference threshold as a function of at least some of the modified measured signal values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for detecting a threat located in one of a plurality of areas corresponding to different locations, the system comprising:
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a transmitter that transmits radar signals in the direction of said plurality of areas;
a detector which detects a reflected portion of the signals, the detector measuring the energy in the detected reflected portion of the signals corresponding to each area, to generate a detected energy measurement for each particular one of said areas;
means for modifying the detected energy measurements corresponding to some areas by a distance factor corresponding to the distance the area is from the transmitter to generate a modified measured detected energy value for each of said some areas;
means for generating a threat reference threshold as a function of at least some of the modified measured detected energy values; and
a comparator for comparing at least some of the modified detected energy measurements to said threat reference threshold to identify areas of possible threats indicated by the modified detected energy measurement of an area exceeding said threat reference threshold. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23)
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19. A method for facilitating detection of a threat, the method comprising:
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i) operating a transmitter to transmit signals in the direction of a plurality of cells to pan a scene corresponding to said plurality of cells;
ii) operating a receiver to detect reflected signals during an analysis period received from said plurality of cells, at least some of said cells being at different distances from the receiver; and
iii) determining a threat reference threshold for the analysis period as a function of the reflected signals detected during the analysis period, said step of determining a threat threshold including;
measuring detected reflected signals corresponding to at least some of said plurality of said cells to generate a measured signal value for each particular one of said at least some cells;
modifying the measured signal values corresponding to some particular ones of said at least some cells by a distance factor corresponding to the distance the particular one of the cells is from the receiver to generate a modified measured signal value for each of said some particular ones of said cells; and
generating the threat reference threshold as a function of at least some of the modified measured signal values. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification