System and method for person or object position location utilizing impulse radio

• US 7,545,281 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2007
• Issued: 06/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Humatics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Time Domain Corporation (Humatics Corporation)
• Inventors: Payment, Timothy T., Richards, James L., Fullerton, Larry W., Welch, William D. Jr., Tucker, William J., Kelly, Donald A., Finn, James S., Meigs, David C.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRIEU, VAN THANH
• Application Number:
  US11/907,507
• Publication Number:
  US 20080036599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 606 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.1, 340/539.11, 340/539.13, 340/539.15, 340/572.1, 340/573.1, 340/573.3, 340/573.4, 340/686.1, 340/10.1, 340/10.2, 340/572.4, 342/33, 342/36
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/20 using a comparison of transit time of synchronised signals transmitted from non-directional antennas or antenna systems spaced apart, i.e. path-difference systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S13/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/76 wherein pulse-type signals are transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7163 using impulse radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7183 Synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/6908 using time hopping

Abstract

A System and Method for Person or Object Position Location Utilizing Impulse Radio, comprising a plurality of reference impulse radios; an object or person to be tracked having a mobile impulse radio associated therewith; an architecture with an associated positioning algorithm associated with said plurality of impulse radio reference radios and said mobile impulse radio; and display means for displaying the position of the person or object whose position is to be determined.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring an area comprising:

a plurality of fixed reference radios having known locations that define a coordinate system relative to said area, at least one of said fixed reference radios receiving at least one reflected signal off of an object;

said at least one reflected signal being used to determine said object'"'"'s location within said coordinate system; and

a processor that determines whether said object'"'"'s location corresponds to a location of a mobile radio that is relative to said coordinate system, wherein the location of said mobile radio is determined based upon a communication between said mobile radio and at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said mobile radio transmits an identity information corresponding to an object associated with said mobile radio, and wherein said identity information and the determined location of said mobile radio are used to determine whether the object location determined using the reflected signal is related to the location of the object associated with said mobile radio.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said identity information relates to the identity of a person or thing.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said communication between said mobile radio and at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios comprises a reception by said at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios of a signal transmitted by said mobile radio.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said communication between said mobile radio and one of said plurality of fixed reference radios comprises a reception by said mobile radio of a transmission by said at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said reflected signal corresponds to a forward scattered radar signal.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said reflected signal corresponds to a back scattered radar signal.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said mobile radio transmits a sensor information associated with a sensed parameter.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said sensor information relates to ambient temperature information or medical information.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said mobile radio or said plurality of fixed reference radios comprises an ultra wideband (UWB) radio.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said UWB radio comprises one of a transmit-only device, a receive-only device or a transceiver device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein said UWB radio communicates low duty cycle pulses, wherein each of said low duty cycle pulses approaches one cycle per pulse.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein said UWB radio communicates low duty cycle pulses, wherein each of said low duty cycle pulses comprises a burst of cycles.

14. A method for monitoring an area comprising:

defining a coordinate system relative to said area based on known locations of a plurality of fixed reference radios;

receiving at least one reflected signal off of an object by at least one of said fixed reference radios;

using said at least one reflected signal to determine said object'"'"'s location within said coordinate system;

establishing a communication between at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios and a mobile radio;

using said communication to determine a location of the mobile radio relative to said coordinate system; and

determining whether said object'"'"'s location corresponds to the location of the mobile radio.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said mobile radio transmits an identity information corresponding to an object associated with said mobile radio, and wherein said identity information and the determined location of said mobile radio are used to determine whether the object location determined using the reflected signal corresponds to the location of the object associated with said mobile radio.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said communication between said mobile radio and said at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios comprises a reception by said at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radio of a signal transmitted by the mobile radio.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein said communication between said mobile radio and at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios comprises a reception by said mobile radio of a signal transmitted by said at least one of said plurality of fixed reference radios.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the location of the object relative to said coordinate system is determined using a bi-static radar technique.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the location of the object relative to said coordinate system is determined using a mono-static radar technique.

20. The method of claim 14 further comprising transmitting at least one sensor information by said mobile radio, said sensor information being associated with a sensed parameter.