System and method for detecting the passage of a person or an object through an entry-exit of delimited space

• US 6,966,491 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2004
• Issued: 11/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EM Microelectronic - Marin SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: EM Microelectronic - Marin SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Gyger, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): PAIK, STEVEN SANGYUL
• Application Number:
  US10/890,216
• Publication Number:
  US 20050001029A1
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• Field of Search: 235/382, 235/380, 235/487, 235/439, 235/383, 235/384, 340/572.1, 340/10.34, 705/13, 705/26
• US Class Current: 235/382
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00 Individual registration on entry or exit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence

Abstract

There are described a system and a method of detecting the passage of persons or objects through an entry-exit (4) of a delimited space (2). The direction of passage is detected on the basis of the reception, by a portable electronic unit (40) with which the person or the object is equipped, of first and second electromagnetic signals (a, b) respectively transmitted in respective spatially separate and partially overlapping first and second communication regions (A, B) each crossing an entry-exit zone (32) defined by the entry-exit.

The first and second electromagnetic signals are transmitted substantially in phase at the same frequency and each comprises an identical message portion (100), one of said first and second electromagnetic signals further comprising an additional message portion (150) identifying the corresponding communication region (A, B), transmission of the other of said first and second electromagnetic signals being interrupted during the transmission of said additional message portion.

Claims

1. A system for detecting the passage of a person or an object through an entry-exit of a delimited space, the system comprising:

a detection device associated with said delimited space and comprising transmission means for transmitting first and second electromagnetic signals in respective spatially separate and partially overlapping first and second communication regions each crossing an entry-exit zone defined by said entry-exit;

a portable electronic unit adapted to equip said person or object and comprising receiver means for receiving said first and second electromagnetic signals transmitted by said transmission means; and

means for detecting the direction of passage through said entry-exit of a person or an object equipped with a portable electronic unit as a function of the reception of said first and second electromagnetic signals,

wherein said first and second electromagnetic signals are transmitted substantially in phase at the same frequency and each comprises an identical message portion, one of said first and second electromagnetic signals further comprising an additional message portion identifying the corresponding communication region, transmission of the other of said first and second electromagnetic signals being interrupted during the transmission of said additional message portion.

2. The detection system according to claim 1, wherein said first and second communication regions are respectively toward the exterior and toward the interior of said delimited space and said first electromagnetic signal comprises said additional message portion identifying the first communication region.

3. The detection system according to claim 2, wherein the transmission of said additional message portion is interrupted after closure of said entry-exit.

4. The detection system according to claim 1, wherein said first and second communication regions are respectively toward the exterior and toward the interior of said delimited space and said second electromagnetic signal comprises said additional message portion identifying the second communication region.

5. The detection system according to claim 1, wherein said passage direction detection means comprise means in said detection device associated with the delimited space for processing said first and second electromagnetic signals.

6. The detection system according to claim 1, wherein said passage direction detection means comprise means in said portable electronic unit for processing said first and second electromagnetic signals.

7. A method of detecting the passage of a person or an object through an entry-exit of a delimited space, the method comprising:

transmitting first and second electromagnetic signals in respective spatially separate and partially overlapping first and second communication regions each crossing an entry-exit zone defined by said entry-exit;

receiving said first electromagnetic signal and/or said second electromagnetic signal by means of a portable electronic unit adapted to equip said person or object; and

detecting the direction of passage through said entry-exit of a person or an object equipped with the portable electronic unit as a function of the reception of said first and second electromagnetic signals,

wherein said first and second electromagnetic signals are transmitted substantially in phase at the same frequency and each comprises an identical message portion, one of said first and second electromagnetic signals further comprising an additional message portion identifying the corresponding communication region, transmission of the other of said first and second electromagnetic signals being interrupted during the transmission of said additional message portion.

8. The detection method according to claim 7, wherein detecting the direction of passage through the entry-exit comprises determining the corresponding communication region as a function of the reception of said additional message portion.

9. The detection method according to claim 8, wherein detecting the direction of passage through the entry-exit comprises transmitting from said portable electronic unit to a detection device associated with said delimited space information comprising at least an identification of the communication region corresponding to the first of the electromagnetic signals received and the communication region corresponding to the last of the electromagnetic signals received.

10. The detection method according to claim 9, wherein said transmission of information from the portable electronic unit to said detection device associated with the delimited space is effected directly after or at the end of a particular time interval following the exit of the portable electronic unit from said first or second communication region.

11. The detection method according to claim 9, wherein said information is transmitted from the portable electronic unit to said detection device associated with the delimited space at a relatively high frequency that is higher than the transmission frequency of said first and second electromagnetic signals.

12. The detection method according to claim 8, wherein detecting the direction of passage through the entry-exit comprises transmitting from said portable electronic unit to a detection device associated with said delimited space passage direction information determined by said portable electronic unit at least on the basis of an identification of the communication region corresponding to the first of the electromagnetic signals received and the communication region corresponding to the last of the electromagnetic signals received.

13. The detection method according to claim 7, wherein said first and second communication regions are respectively toward the exterior and toward the interior of said delimited space and said first electromagnetic signal comprises said additional message portion identifying the first communication region, the transmission of said additional message portion being interrupted after closure of said entry-exit.