Method and apparatus for proximity sensing

• US 9,998,870 B1
• Filed: 12/08/2016
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, Robert, Henry, Paul Shala, Gerszberg, Irwin, Barzegar, Farhad, Willis, III, Thomas M., Barnickel, Donald J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bilgrami, Asghar
• Application Number:
  US15/372,496
• Publication Number:
  US 20180167773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/23 Indication means, e.g. displays, alarms, audible means
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/27 for locating or positioning the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/145 Passive relay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving, by a receiver of a first device, electromagnetic waves that are generated by a transmitter of a second device at a physical interface of a transmission medium, where the electromagnetic waves propagate without requiring an electrical return path, and where the electromagnetic waves are guided by the transmission medium to the receiver of the first device. The first device can detect a physical object in proximity to the transmission medium according to a change in the parameter associated with the electromagnetic waves. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a receiver of a first device, electromagnetic waves that are generated by a transmitter at a physical interface of a transmission medium, wherein the electromagnetic waves propagate without requiring an electrical return path, and wherein the electromagnetic waves are guided by the transmission medium to the receiver of the first device;

monitoring, by the first device, a parameter associated with the electromagnetic waves; and

detecting, by the first device, a physical object in proximity to the transmission medium according to a change in the parameter associated with the electromagnetic waves.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter includes a received signal strength.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising analyzing, by the first device, the change in the parameter to determine a distance between the physical object and the transmission medium.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the analyzing includes comparing the parameter to an expected parameter for the electromagnetic waves.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting the physical object in proximity to the transmission medium is based on determining that the change in the parameter is greater than a threshold parameter change, wherein the transmitter is of a second device, and further comprising generating, by the first device, an alert message indicating that the physical object is in proximity to the transmission medium.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is of the first device, and wherein the electromagnetic waves are reflected waves.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first device, a change in the proximity of the physical object to the transmission medium according to another change in the parameter associated with the electromagnetic waves.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first device, that the physical object is in contact with the transmission medium according to the electromagnetic waves no longer being received by the receiver of the first device.

9. A first device, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

generating electromagnetic waves; and

providing the electromagnetic waves at a physical interface of a transmission medium, wherein the electromagnetic waves propagate without requiring an electrical return path, and wherein the electromagnetic waves are guided by the transmission medium to a receiver of a second device,

wherein the providing of the electromagnetic waves enables the second device to detect a physical object in proximity to the transmission medium according to a change in a parameter associated with the electromagnetic waves.

10. The first device of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating other electromagnetic waves; and

providing the other electromagnetic waves at the physical interface of the transmission medium, wherein the other electromagnetic waves propagate without requiring the electrical return path, and wherein the other electromagnetic waves are guided by the transmission medium to the receiver of the second device,

wherein the electromagnetic waves and the other electromagnetic waves have a different frequency or a different mode.

11. The first device of claim 9, wherein the parameter includes a received signal strength.

12. The first device of claim 9, wherein the providing of the electromagnetic waves enables the second device to determine a distance between the physical object and the transmission medium according to an analysis of the change in the parameter.

13. The first device of claim 12, wherein the analysis includes a comparison of the parameter to an expected value of the parameter for the electromagnetic waves.

14. The first device of claim 12, wherein the analysis of the change in the parameter is based on the change in the parameter being greater than a threshold parameter change.

15. A machine-readable storage device, comprising instructions, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, a processing system of a first device performs operations comprising:

receiving, via a receiver of the first device, electromagnetic waves that are generated by a transmitter of a second device at a physical interface of a transmission medium, wherein the electromagnetic waves propagate without requiring an electrical return path, and wherein the electromagnetic waves are guided by the transmission medium to the receiver of the first device;

monitoring for a disturbance in the electromagnetic waves; and

detecting a physical object in proximity to the transmission medium according to a determination of the disturbance in the electromagnetic waves.

16. The machine-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the monitoring for the disturbance in the electromagnetic waves comprises detecting a change in a parameter of the electromagnetic waves, and wherein the operations further comprise analyzing the change in the parameter to determine a distance between the physical object and the transmission medium.

17. The machine-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the parameter includes a received signal strength.

18. The machine-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the detecting the physical object in proximity to the transmission medium is based on determining that the change in the parameter is greater than a threshold parameter change.

19. The machine-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise determining a change in the proximity of the physical object to the transmission medium according to another change in the parameter associated with the electromagnetic waves.

20. The machine-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise generating an alert message indicating that the physical object is in proximity to the transmission medium.