Wireless vehicle detection system and associated methods having enhanced response time

• US 9,412,270 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2015
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Trafficware Group Incorporated
• Inventors: Hawkins, Mark, Neel, Clyde, Beyer, Darren, Fiebrich, Timothy, Green, Michael, MacLeod, Kenneth W, Vadlamani, Srikar
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kim T
• Application Number:
  US14/662,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20150194056A1
• Time in Patent Office: 509 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0116 from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/042 using inductive or magnetic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention include a wireless vehicle detection systems and associated methods with extended range and battery life. The wireless vehicle detection system can include a plurality of sensor pods in communication with an access point without repeaters. Embodiments of the sensor pod can include a vehicle detector controller adapted to determine the presence of vehicles and a communication controller connected to the vehicle detector and adapted to transmit data 300 feet or more to an access point, which in turns communicates with the base station. To extend the battery life of the sensor pod, the sensor pod can be adapted to detect received communication signal strength and adjust transmitting power based upon the strength to thereby conserve power. Embodiments of the sensor pod can also include a battery connected in parallel to an HLC capacitor to further extend the life of the battery.

Claims

1. A wireless vehicle detection system comprising:

one or more spaced-apart sensor pods positioned in close proximity to a plane of a surface of a road and to detect received communication signal strength, and operated to adjust transmitting power based upon the communication signal strength to thereby conserve power usage, each sensor pod including;

(1) one or more vehicle detector controllers adapted to determine presence of one or more vehicles, (2) one or more communication controllers in communication with the vehicle detector controllers and adapted to communicate data relating to the presence of one or more vehicles, the one or more vehicle detector controllers and the one or more communication controllers each collectively having separate clock cycles and separately controlled sleep cycles for drawing power, (3) one or more batteries, (4) one or more circuits electrically connected to the one or more batteries to enhance protection of the one or more batteries from degradation at transmit power levels and enhance the life extension of the one or more batteries; and

(5) one or more low profile antennas positioned within an enclosure of the sensor pod and adjacent an end portion of the enclosure, the one or more antennas being positioned to support one or more communication frequencies within a preselected radio frequency band; and

a base station in communication with the one or more sensor pods to provide data processing and storage for the wireless vehicle detection system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle detector controllers is adapted to communicate with the communication controller, the one or more vehicle detector controllers further comprising:

a plurality of magnetic sensors to sense the presence of one or more vehicles, and to output sensed data corresponding to the presence of one or more vehicles;

a calibration module to adjust for sensor offset, or to set or reset the plurality of magnetic sensors; and

a sensor controller to determine the presence of the one or more vehicles responsive to one or more of the plurality of magnetic sensors outputting the sensed data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more communication controllers communicate with the one or more vehicle detector controllers via a serial link, the one or more communication controllers further comprising:

a radio transceiver to communicate in the 902-928 Mhz ISM band; and

a communication controller to generate a packet suitable to be wirelessly transmitted via the antenna to an access point.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more vehicle detector controllers communicate with the one or more communication controllers, the one or more vehicle detector controllers further comprising:

a plurality of magnetic sensors to sense the presence of one or more vehicles, and to output sensed data corresponding to the presence of one or more vehicles;

a calibration module to adjust for sensor offset, or to set or reset the plurality of magnetic sensors; and

a sensor controller to determine the presence of the one or more vehicles responsive to one or more of the plurality of magnetic sensors outputting the sensed data;

wherein the one or more communication controllers further comprises;

a radio transceiver to communicate in the 902-928 Mhz ISM band; and

a communication controller to generate a packet suitable to be wirelessly transmitted via the antenna to the access point.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an access point in communication with the one or more sensor pods and the base station, and wherein the access point further comprises a plurality of antennas, one or more first antennas of the plurality of antennas to communicate with the base station at a communication frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz and one or more second antennas of the plurality of antennas to communicate with the one or more sensor pods at a communication frequency in the range of approximately 902-928 Mhz.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the access point comprises an access point housing and an omnidirectional antenna positioned remote from the access point housing, the omnidirectional antenna to communicate wirelessly with the one or more sensor pods and to communicate with an antenna associated with the access point housing.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more vehicle detector controllers comprises a plurality of magnetic sensors to sense the presence of one or more vehicles, and to output sensed data corresponding to the presence of one or more vehicles.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of magnetic sensors include at least one of an x-axis sensor, a y-axis sensor, and a z-axis sensor;

and the system further comprising an access point adapted to communicate with the base station wirelessly at a communication frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz or via one or more wires, and further to communicate with the one or more sensor pods at one or more communication frequencies in the range of 902-928 Mhz.

9. A wireless sensor pod to be positioned in close proximity to a plane of a surface of a road, the sensor pod comprising:

(1) a vehicle detector controller to determine presence of one or more vehicles;

(2) a communication controller to detect received communication signal strength and to adjust transmitting power based upon the communication signal strength to thereby conserve power;

(3) a battery;

(4) a capacitor circuit connected in parallel electrically to the battery to enhance protection of the battery from degradation at transmit power levels and extend the life of the battery; and

(5) an antenna positioned in within the sensor pod to support a preselected radio frequency band.

10. The sensor pod of claim 9, the communication controller further comprising a radio transceiver to communicate in the 902-928 Mhz ISM band;

the antenna;

the preselected radio frequency band including a 902-928 MHz ISM radio frequency band; and

the communication controller further being positioned to generate a packet suitable to be wirelessly transmitted via the antenna to an access point.

11. The sensor pod of claim 10, wherein the vehicle detector controller further comprises:

a plurality of magnetic sensors to sense the presence of one or more vehicles, and to output sensed data corresponding to the presence of one or more vehicles;

a calibration module to adjust for sensor offset, or to set or reset the plurality of magnetic sensors; and

a sensor controller to determine the presence of the one or more vehicles responsive to one or more of the plurality of magnetic sensors outputting the sensed data;

wherein the communication controller further comprises a radio transceiver to communicate in the 902-928 Mhz ISM band, and wherein the communication controller further being positioned to generate a packet suitable to be wirelessly transmitted via the antenna to the access point.

12. A sensor pod of claim 9, further comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having an executable program stored thereon, and one of the vehicle detection controller or the communication controller to execute the executable program to wake up the sensor pod from sleep mode to execute a function and to queue a next function to be subsequently executed.

13. A method for detecting one or more vehicles, the method comprising:

installing a sensor pod in close proximity to a plane of a surface of a road to detect and receive communication signal strength and adjust transmitting power responsive to said communication signal strength to thereby conserve power, the sensor pod including (1) a vehicle detection controller to determine presence of one or more vehicles, (2) a communication controller to communicate data relating to the presence of one or more vehicles, the one or more vehicle detector controllers and the one or more communication controllers each collectively having separate clock cycles and separately controlled sleep cycles for drawing power, (3) a battery, (4) a circuit connected electrically to the battery to enhance protection of the battery from degradation at transmit power levels, and (5) an antenna positioned at least partially in the sensor pod to support one or more communication radio frequencies;

transmitting data relating to the presence of one or more vehicles from the sensor pod to an access point positioned remote the sensor pod; and

providing data processing to a traffic controller by a base station positioned remote from the access point and the sensor pod, the data processing being responsive to the base station receiving data from the access point.

14. A method of claim 13, wherein the access control comprises:

one or more first antennas to communicate with the sensor pod at a communication frequency in a range of approximately 902-928 MHz; and

one or more second antennas to communicate with the base station of the wireless vehicle detection system at a frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz.

15. A method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle detector controller comprises a plurality of magnetic sensors adapted to sense the presence of one or more vehicles, and to output sensed data corresponding to the presence of one or more vehicles.

16. A method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle detector controller further comprises:

a plurality of magnetic sensors to sense the presence of one or more vehicles, and to output sensed data corresponding to the presence of one or more vehicles;

a calibration module to adjust for sensor offset, or to set or reset the plurality of magnetic sensors; and

a sensor controller to determining the presence of the one or more vehicles responsive to one or more of the plurality of magnetic sensors outputting the sensed data.

17. A method of claim 13, wherein the communication controller further comprises:

a radio transceiver adapted to communicate in the 902-928 Mhz ISM band; and

wherein the communication controller further being positioned to generate a packet suitable to be wirelessly transmitted via the antenna to the access point.