Passive microwave fire and intrusion detection system
First Claim
1. A method for detecting an intruder of predetermined size using passive reception of electromagnetic radiation, comprising:
- passively receiving a first electromagnetic radiation signal at a first receiver, said first receiver including a first directional antenna at a first location, a signal value at a first frequency of said first passively received electromagnetic radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of a source of said first electromagnetic radiation signal;
passively receiving a second electromagnetic radiation signal at a second receiver, said second receiver including a second directional antenna at a second location different from the first location, a signal value at a second frequency of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of a source of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal, wherein said first frequency of said first passively received electromagnetic radiation signal and said second frequency of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal are within and are not outside a range of frequencies protected from active electromagnetic radiation signal transmission in a geographic area encompassing said first and second antenna locations; and
comparing the signal value of said first frequency with the signal value of said second frequency using a signal processor to determine a distance of the intruder of the predetermined size from one of said first antenna and said second antenna.
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Abstract
A passive microwave receiver array, operating in the one meter to sub-millimeter wavelengths range and including an internationally protected range of frequencies of varying bandwidth, may be used for fire and intrusion detection. One or more receiver array can be used to provide a plurality of frequency ranges that can be detected. In an interior installation, one or more receiver array can be placed inside a wall. In other embodiments, the receiver and array can be in the form of a hand-held or wearable device. This method and apparatus achieves high performance by exploiting conventional low noise amplification block conversion circuits and provides the detection of thermal signals through clear, smoky, misty, or environmentally untenable conditions as well as the detection of fire and intrusion events through a non-metallic wall.
40 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for detecting an intruder of predetermined size using passive reception of electromagnetic radiation, comprising:
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passively receiving a first electromagnetic radiation signal at a first receiver, said first receiver including a first directional antenna at a first location, a signal value at a first frequency of said first passively received electromagnetic radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of a source of said first electromagnetic radiation signal; passively receiving a second electromagnetic radiation signal at a second receiver, said second receiver including a second directional antenna at a second location different from the first location, a signal value at a second frequency of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of a source of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal, wherein said first frequency of said first passively received electromagnetic radiation signal and said second frequency of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal are within and are not outside a range of frequencies protected from active electromagnetic radiation signal transmission in a geographic area encompassing said first and second antenna locations; and comparing the signal value of said first frequency with the signal value of said second frequency using a signal processor to determine a distance of the intruder of the predetermined size from one of said first antenna and said second antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for passive electromagnetic radiation signal detection of at least one of a fire and an intruder, comprising:
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a first receiver configured to passively receive a first electromagnetic radiation signal from a first source, a first frequency of said first passively received electromagnetic radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of said first source; at least one second receiver configured to passively receive a second electromagnetic radiation signal from a second source, a second frequency of said second electromagnetic radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of a source of said second electromagnetic radiation, wherein said first frequency of said first passively received electromagnetic radiation signal and said second frequency of said second passively received electromagnetic radiation signal are within and not outside a range of frequencies protected from active electromagnetic radiation transmission in a geographic area encompassing a location of said first and second receivers; a signal processor, said signal processor being configured to receive said first and second electromagnetic radiation signals from said first and second receivers and being further configured to convert said first and second electromagnetic radiation signals to first and second voltages, respectively, said signal processor further being configured to subtract said second voltage signal from said first voltage signal to obtain a resulting voltage signal; wherein a presence of one of a fire and a living being can be determined depending on a polarity of said resulting voltage signal. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for detecting an intruder of predetermined size using passive reception of microwave radiation, comprising:
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passively receiving a microwave radiation signal at a receiver, said receiver including at least a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna at different locations, a frequency of said passively received microwave radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of a source of said microwave radiation, wherein said frequency of said passively received microwave radiation signal is within and not outside a range of frequencies protected from active microwave radiation transmission in a geographic area encompassing a location of said receiver; and detecting the distance of the intruder from one of the first antenna location and the second antenna location by triangulation using a signal processor, wherein said source of said microwave radiation is the intruder. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus for passive microwave detection of an intruder of predetermined size, comprising:
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a receiver configured to passively receive a microwave radiation signal from a first source, a frequency of said passively received microwave radiation signal being indicative of a temperature of said first source, said frequency of said passively received microwave radiation signal being within and not outside a range of frequencies protected from active microwave transmission in a geographic area encompassing a location of said receiver; a directional antenna configured to passively receive the microwave radiation signal from a predetermined source, the apparatus compensating for changes in temperature of the predetermined source; and a signal processor configured to compare said passively received microwave signal to said microwave signal from said predetermined source to provide a resulting voltage signal; wherein a presence of the intruder of predetermined size and at different distances from said directional antenna is determined from a polarity and magnitude of said resulting voltage signal. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification