System and method for position determination of objects

• US 7,535,796 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Issued: 05/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonitor Technologies AS
• Original Assignee: Sonitor Technologies AS
• Inventors: Holm, Sverre, Holm, Rune, Hovind, Ole
• Primary Examiner(s): PIHULIC, DANIEL T
• Application Number:
  US11/841,360
• Publication Number:
  US 20080049555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 638 Days
• Field of Search: 367/99, 367/100
• US Class Current: 367/100
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/102 using transmission of pulses having some particular characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/74 Systems using reradiation of acoustic waves, e.g. IFF, i.e. identification of friend or foe
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations

Abstract

A method and a system for detection and position determination of chips, which transmit ultrasound signals in a room. The system comprises electronic identification chips, which are attached to objects that have to be monitored. Each chip is equipped with a transmitter and a receiver. The signals are received by a plurality of detector units, which are connected to a detector base unit that registers and interprets the signals transmitted form the identification chips. Detector base units located in different rooms are interconnected in a network and transmit processed information to one or more central units for further interpretation and sorting. The special feature of the invention is that line interference is substantially removed, and it is possible to determine position even though the identification chips are in motion.

Claims

1. A method comprising the steps of:

transmitting from a transmitter unit an FSK-encoded acoustic signal comprising an identification code;

receiving the signal in a receiver unit; and

performing a pattern comparison of the received signal to determine a signature that is characterizing for time and Doppler shift.

2. A method as in claim 1 further comprising steps of:

categorizing the received signal into a plurality of frequency blocks to produce a categorized signal.

3. A method as in claim 2 further comprising the step of:

calculating the magnitude of the Doppler shift of the received signal.

4. A method as in claim 3 comprising:

identifying one of said plurality of frequency blocks as having the strongest signal; and

calculating said magnitude of the Doppler shift for said identified one of the frequency blocks.

5. A method as in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

using a line detector to detect a single-frequency noise source; and

correcting for said detected noise source when processing the received signal.

6. A method as in claim 1 wherein the FSK-encoded signal is a chirp FSK signal.

7. A method as in claim 6 further comprising the step of:

applying a fractional Fourier transform to the received signal.

8. A method as in claim 1 wherein the least interval between adjacent tones of said FSK-encoded signal is greater than the range of possible Doppler shifts due to relative movement between said transmitter unit and said receiver unit up to a predetermined maximum speed.

9. A method as in claim 1 comprising determining the position of said transmitter unit.

10. A system comprising:

a transmitter unit arranged to transmit an FSK-encoded acoustic signal comprising an identification code; and

a receiver unit arranged to perform a pattern comparison of a received signal to determine a signature that is characterizing for time and Doppler shift.

11. A system as in claim 10 wherein the receiver unit comprises logic adapted to:

categorize the received signal into a plurality of frequency blocks to produce a categorized signal.

12. A system as in claim 11 wherein the receiver unit comprises logic adapted to:

calculate the magnitude of the Doppler shift of the received signal.

13. A system as in claim 12 wherein the received unit comprises logic adapted to:

identify one of said plurality of frequency blocks as having the strongest signal; and

calculate said magnitude of the Doppler shift for said identified one of the frequency blocks.

14. A system as in claim 10 further comprising a line detector adapted to detect a single-frequency noise source, wherein the receiver unit comprises logic adapted to correct for said detected noise source when processing the received signal.

15. A system as in claim 10 wherein the FSK-encoded signal is a chirp FSK signal.

16. A system as in claim 15 wherein the receiver unit comprises logic adapted to:

apply a fractional Fourier transform to the received signal.

17. A system as in claim 10 wherein the least interval between adjacent tones of said FSK-encoded signal is greater than the difference between the maximum positive and negative Doppler shifts possible due to relative movement of the transmitter unit towards and away from, respectively, said receiver unit at a predetermined maximum speed.

18. A system as in claim 10 comprising logic adapted to determine the position of said transmitter unit.

19. A receiver comprising logic adapted to perform a pattern comparison of a received FSK-encoded acoustic signal to determine a signature that is characterizing for time and Doppler shift.

20. A receiver as in claim 19 comprising logic adapted to:

categorize the received signal into a plurality of frequency blocks to produce a categorized signal; and

process the categorized signal using a Fourier transform.

21. A receiver as in claim 20 comprising logic adapted to:

calculate the magnitude of the Doppler shift of the received signal.

22. A receiver as in claim 21 comprising logic adapted to:

identify one of said plurality of frequency blocks as having the strongest signal; and

calculate said magnitude of the Doppler shift for said identified one of the frequency block.

23. A receiver as in claim 19 comprising logic adapted to correct for a single-frequency noise source.

24. A receiver as in claim 19 wherein the FSK-encoded signal is a chirp FSK signal.

25. A receiver as in claim 24 comprising logic adapted to:

apply a fractional Fourier transform to the received signal.

26. A receiver as in claim 19 comprising logic adapted to determine the position of a transmitter unit from which said received signal was transmitted.

27. A method of determining the position of a transmitter unit in a room comprising the step of:

transmitting from the transmitter unit an FSK-encoded acoustic signal comprising at least one chirped tone.

28. A method as in claim 27 wherein the chirp is a linear chirp.

29. A method as in claim 27 wherein the acoustic signal comprises only chirped tones.

30. A method as in claim 27 wherein the frequency range of the broadest chirp is not greater than the least interval between adjacent tones of the FSK encoding scheme.

31. A method as in claim 27 wherein the frequency range of the chirp is greater than the largest Doppler shift possible due to a predetermined maximum relative speed of movement between the transmitter unit and a receiver unit.

32. A method as in claim 27 wherein the frequency range of the chirp is greater than the difference between the maximum positive and negative Doppler shifts caused by a relative speed of movement of 6 km/hr of the transmitter unit towards and away from, respectively, a receiver unit.

33. A method as in claim 27 comprising the further steps of:

receiving said signal in a receive unit; and

de-chirping the received signal.

34. A method as in claim 33 wherein said de-chirping step comprises applying a fractional Fourier transform to the received signal.

35. A method as in claim 33 wherein said de-chirping step comprises the steps of:

splitting the received signal into frequency blocks;

multiplying each block by a respective complex de-chirp signal; and

applying a fast Fourier transform to the de-chirped blocks.

36. A method as in claim 35 wherein the de-chirp signal has a phase value of zero at the centre frequency of each block.

37. A method as in claim 27 wherein the signal comprises an ID unique to the transmitter unit.

38. A method as in claim 27 wherein the acoustic signal is an ultrasound signal.