Acoustic fence
First Claim
1. A sonar sensor system for determining if a potential underwater intruder passes within a protective boundary, the sonar system comprising:
- a first sonar sensor module comprising;
a first sonar array that has a first sonar radiation pattern, wherein the first sonar radiation pattern is essentially omni-directional in a first underwater region; and
a first data collection module that collects first sonar data of a target from the first sonar array;
a second sonar sensor module comprising;
a second sonar array that has a second sonar radiation pattern, wherein the second sonar radiation pattern is essentially omni-directional in a second underwater region; and
a second data collection module that collects second sonar data of the target from the second sonar array; and
a processor that obtains the first sonar data and that obtains the second sonar data, wherein the processor processes the first sonar data and the second sonar data in order to determine whether the target is deemed to be a threatening underwater intruder.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus determine if an underwater intruder passes under a protective boundary. A sonar sensor system comprises a plurality of sonar sensor modules that are spaced on a protective boundary. A sonar sensor module comprises a sonar transducer (sonar array) that is characterized by an omni-directional radiation pattern that may overlap an omni-directional radiation pattern of an adjacent sonar sensor module transducer. The sonar sensor module collects sonar data such as range information of the target in relation to time. A central processor obtains the sonar data from each sonar module through a telemetry link. The central processor processes the sonar data from the plurality of sonar sensor modules in order to determine an estimated path of the target and may determine if the target should be considered as a threatening underwater intruder from a calculated threat level estimate based on this data.
27 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A sonar sensor system for determining if a potential underwater intruder passes within a protective boundary, the sonar system comprising:
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a first sonar sensor module comprising; a first sonar array that has a first sonar radiation pattern, wherein the first sonar radiation pattern is essentially omni-directional in a first underwater region; and a first data collection module that collects first sonar data of a target from the first sonar array; a second sonar sensor module comprising; a second sonar array that has a second sonar radiation pattern, wherein the second sonar radiation pattern is essentially omni-directional in a second underwater region; and a second data collection module that collects second sonar data of the target from the second sonar array; and a processor that obtains the first sonar data and that obtains the second sonar data, wherein the processor processes the first sonar data and the second sonar data in order to determine whether the target is deemed to be a threatening underwater intruder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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25. A method for determining if a target passes within a protective boundary, the method comprising:
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(a) obtaining first sonar data about the target from a first sonar sensor module and second sonar data about the target from a second sonar sensor module, wherein the first sonar sensor module utilizes a first omni-directional pattern in a first underwater region about the first sonar module and the second sonar sensor module utilizes a second omni-directional radiation pattern in a second underwater region about the sonar second sonar module, and wherein the first sonar data comprises first tracking data and the second sonar data comprises second tracking data; (b) estimating, from the first tracking data and the second tracking data, at least one characteristic that is associated with a path of the target; and (c) calculating an estimated path of the target, wherein a portion of the estimated path is under the protective boundary. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A sonar sensor system for determining if an underwater intruder passes under a protective boundary by a ship, the sonar system comprising:
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a first sonar sensor module comprising; a first sonar array that has a first sonar radiation pattern that covers a vertical direction from a water bottom to a water surface, wherein the first sonar radiation pattern is essentially omni-directional; a first data collection module that collects first sonar data of a target from the first sonar array; and a first communications interface that obtains the first sonar data from the data collection module; a second sonar sensor module comprising; a second sonar array that has a second sonar radiation pattern that covers a vertical direction from the water bottom to the water surface, wherein the second sonar radiation pattern is essentially omni-directional; a second data collection module that collects second sonar data of the target from the second sonar array; and a second communications interface that obtains the second sonar data from the data collection module; a telemetry link that interfaces with the first and second communications interfaces; and a processor that communicates with the first communications interface in order to obtain the first sonar data and that communicates with the second communications interface in order to obtain the second sonar data through the telemetry link, wherein the processor processes the first sonar data and the second sonar data in order to determine whether the target is the underwater intruder, and wherein the processor is configured to; obtain a first tracking data of the target from the first sonar sensor module and a second tracking data of the target from the second sonar sensor module, wherein each tracking data comprises a set of range information about the target, and wherein each set of range information is a function of time; fetch a simulated set of tracking data; compare the simulated set of tracking data with the first tracking data and the second tracking data; and if the simulated set of tracking data sufficiently matches the first tracking data and the second tracking data, approximate a path of the target with a corresponding simulated path of the target.
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Specification