US5966090A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Differential pulse radar motion sensor
Assignee: MCEWAN TECHNOLOGIES (A NEVADA CORPORATION) LLC
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Filing: 1998-03-16
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Granted: 1999-10-12
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Expires: 2018-03-16
Abstract
Abstract A pulse Doppler radar motion sensor system and method for sensing target motion within a gated region is provided with approximately constant response versus target distance. The sensor includes a transmitter for transmitting a sequence of RF bursts comprised of a number of cycles at the transmitter frequency. The transmitted burst width alternates at a pattern frequency to provide a pattern of varying burst widths. The sensor includes a receiver responsive to the transmitted bursts and burst echoes from moving targets within its sensing field. The receiver produces a pattern frequency with a signal amplitude representative of the difference in moving target response for two different range gated regions defined by the transmitted burst widths. This difference is detected to provide a range invariant target motion response in a sharply defined region. Another mode provides a quadrature receive channel for target direction determination. Yet another mode time sequences the transmitted bursts to provide multiple range cell operation.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas E. McEwan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 11:52
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/05; A61B5/0507; G; G01; G01S; G01S13/00; G01S13/02; G01S13/0209; G01S13/50; G01S13/52; G01S13/56; G01S13/06; G01S13/08; G01S13/10; G01S13/18
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 59
Claim 1
Independent Claim
83 words
A sensor comprising: a transmitter which transmits a sequence of transmitted bursts of electromagnetic energy to produce a sensor field, the transmitted bursts having burst widths which vary according to a pattern; a receiver which receives a combination of the transmitted bursts and reflections of the transmitted bursts and produces a combined output; and signal processing resources responsive the combined output which generate a sensor output signal indicating variations in differences in the combined output due to the pattern of varying burst widths.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
83 words
A sensor comprising: a transmitter which transmits a sequence of transmitted bursts of electromagnetic energy to produce a sensor field, the transmitted bursts having burst widths which vary according to a pattern; a receiver which receives a combination of the transmitted bursts and reflections of the transmitted bursts and produces a combined output; and signal processing resources responsive the combined output which generate a sensor output signal indicating variations in differences in the combined output due to the pattern of varying burst widths.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter includes: a burst width control circuit which controls the pattern of varying burst widths, by switching the burst widths of the transmitted bursts in the sequence of transmitted bursts between a first burst width and a second burst width at a pattern frequency.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
49 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter includes: a burst width control circuit which controls the pattern of varying burst widths, by switching the burst widths of the transmitted bursts in the sequence of transmitted bursts between or among a plurality of burst widths according to the pattern.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
The sensor of claim 1, including a circuit coupled to the transmitter by which to adjust the burst width.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
44 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter transmits the sequence of transmitted bursts at a transmitter frequency with a burst repetition rate, and the transmitter frequency is on the order of gigaHertz and the burst repetition rate is on the order of megaHertz.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter includes a transmit antenna and the receiver includes a receive antenna, and the transmit and receive antennas are mounted such that the transmitted bursts are proximity coupled to the receive antenna.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
60 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter includes: a radio frequency oscillator responsive to burst width control signals to produce the transmitted bursts, and a burst width control circuit, coupled to the oscillator, which generates the burst width control signals to vary the burst widths of the transmitted bursts in the sequence of transmitted bursts according to the pattern.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
The sensor of claim 7, wherein the pattern comprises switching between a first burst width and a second burst width at a pattern frequency.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The sensor of claim 7, wherein the pattern comprises varying the pulse width in response to a substantially continuously varying control signal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The sensor of claim 9, wherein the substantially continuously varying control signal comprises a sine wave at a pattern frequency.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
20 words
The sensor of claim 9, wherein the substantially continuously varying control signal comprises a triangle wave at a pattern frequency.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
The sensor of claim 9, wherein the substantially continuously varying control signal comprises a ramp signal at a pattern frequency.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
The sensor of claim 9, wherein the substantially continuously varying control signal comprises a noise modulated signal at a pattern frequency.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
62 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter comprises an oscillator including a transistor having a source, a gate and a drain, and a burst width control circuit coupled to the source and drain, which starts a burst by lowering a voltage on the source of the transistor, and a ends a burst by decreasing voltage on the drain of the transistor.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
16 words
The sensor of claim 14, including a damping resistor coupled to the drain of the transistor.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
16 words
The sensor of claim 14, including a damping resistor coupled to the source of the transistor.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
61 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter comprises an oscillator including a transistor having an emitter, a base and a collector, and a burst width control circuit coupled to the source and drain, which starts a burst by lowering a voltage on the emitter of the transistor, and ends a burst by decreasing voltage on the collector of the transistor.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
16 words
The sensor of claim 17, including a damping resistor coupled to the collector of the transistor.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
16 words
The sensor of claim 17, including a damping resistor coupled to the emitter of the transistor.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter comprises: a radio frequency oscillator having a transmit frequency between 900 megaHertz and 24 gigaHertz.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the transmitter comprises: a radio frequency oscillator having a transmit frequency between 5 and 6 gigaHertz.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
41 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the burst widths fall within a range from about 2 to 100 nanoseconds, and the burst widths vary between about 1 and 10 nanoseconds of a maximum burst width for the sequence of transmitted bursts.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
41 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the burst widths fall within a range from about 2 to 20 nanoseconds, and the burst widths vary between about 1 and 10 nanoseconds of a maximum burst width for the sequence of transmitted bursts.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
29 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the burst widths vary between about 10 percent and about 50 percent of a maximum burst width for the sequence of transmitted bursts.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
45 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the pattern is characterized by a pattern frequency and receiver includes: a mixer which mixes a transmitted burst with reflections of the transmitted burst, and a pattern frequency filter, coupled to the mixer, to produce a pattern frequency signal.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
45 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the receiver includes: a peak detector which detects a peak of a combination of a transmitted burst with reflections of the transmitted burst, and a pattern frequency filter, coupled to the peak detector, to produce a pattern frequency signal.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
36 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the signal processing resources comprise: an output filter adapted to detect differences in the combined output of the receiver according to the pattern which indicate motion in the sensor field.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
15 words
The sensor of claim 27, wherein the output filter blocks frequencies below about 0.5 Hertz.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
34 words
The sensor of claim 27, wherein the signal processing resources comprise: an output filter adapted to detect differences in the pattern frequency signal according to the pattern which indicate vibration in the sensor field.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
15 words
The sensor of claim 29, wherein the output filter blocks frequencies below about 20 Hertz.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
17 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the receiver includes an in-phase channel and a quadrature phase channel.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
19 words
The sensor of claim 31, including a transmit antenna, an in-phase receive antenna and a quadrature phase receive antenna.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
62 words
The sensor of claim 32, wherein the transmitted bursts have a transmit frequency above about 1 gigaHertz, and including an antenna horn having a focal point, and wherein the in-phase receive antenna and the quadrature phase receive antenna comprise antenna elements mounted at respective locations inside the horn, within about lambda/8 at the transmit frequency of the focal point of the horn.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
34 words
The sensor of claim 1, wherein the pattern establishes a plurality of range cells, and the signal processing resources demultiplex the combined output to provide sensor output signals for the plurality of range cells.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
156 words
A sensor comprising: a transmitter which transmits a sequence of transmitted bursts of electromagnetic energy to produce a sensor field, the transmitter including a radio frequency oscillator responsive to burst width control signals to produce the transmitted bursts having a transmitter frequency between about 900 megaHertz and 24 gigaHertz, and a burst width control circuit, coupled to the oscillator, which generates the burst width control signals to vary the burst widths of the transmitted bursts in the sequence of transmitted bursts according to a pattern, the transmitted bursts having burst widths in a range of about 2 to 100 nanoseconds; a receiver which receives a combination of the transmitted bursts and reflections of the transmitted bursts and produces a combined output; and signal processing resources responsive the combined output which generate a sensor output signal indicating motion in the sensor field indicated by differences in the combined output due to the pattern of varying burst widths.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
156 words
A sensor comprising: a transmitter which transmits a sequence of transmitted bursts of electromagnetic energy to produce a sensor field, the transmitter including a radio frequency oscillator responsive to burst width control signals to produce the transmitted bursts having a transmitter frequency between about 900 megaHertz and 24 gigaHertz, and a burst width control circuit, coupled to the oscillator, which generates the burst width control signals to vary the burst widths of the transmitted bursts in the sequence of transmitted bursts according to a pattern, the transmitted bursts having burst widths in a range of about 2 to 100 nanoseconds; a receiver which receives a combination of the transmitted bursts and reflections of the transmitted bursts and produces a combined output; and signal processing resources responsive the combined output which generate a sensor output signal indicating motion in the sensor field indicated by differences in the combined output due to the pattern of varying burst widths.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
24 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the pattern comprises switching between a first burst width and a second burst width at a pattern frequency.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
45 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the pattern is characterized by a pattern frequency and receiver includes: a mixer which mixes a transmitted burst with reflections of the transmitted burst, and a pattern frequency filter, coupled to the mixer, to produce a pattern frequency signal.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
45 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the receiver includes: a peak detector which detects a peak of a combination of a transmitted burst with reflections of the transmitted burst, and a pattern frequency filter, coupled to the peak detector, to produce a pattern frequency signal.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
34 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the signal processing resources comprise: an output filter adapted to detect differences in the pattern frequency signal according to the pattern which indicate motion in the sensor field.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
15 words
The sensor of claim 39, wherein the output filter blocks frequencies below about 0.5 Hertz.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
34 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the signal processing resources comprise: an output filter adapted to detect differences in the pattern frequency signal according to the pattern which indicate vibration in the sensor field.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
15 words
The sensor of claim 41, wherein the output filter blocks frequencies below about 20 Hertz.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
17 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the receiver includes an in-phase channel and a quadrature phase channel.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
19 words
The sensor of claim 43, including a transmit antenna, an in-phase receive antenna and a quadrature phase receive antenna.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
62 words
The sensor of claim 44, wherein the transmitted bursts have a transmit frequency above about 1 gigaHertz, and including an antenna horn having a focal point, and wherein the in-phase receive antenna and the quadrature phase receive antenna comprise antenna elements mounted at respective locations inside the horn, within about λ/8 at the transmit frequency of the focal point of the horn.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
34 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the pattern establishes a plurality of range cells, and the signal processing resources demultiplex the combined output to provide sensor output signals for the plurality of range cells.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
61 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the radio frequency oscillator includes a transistor having a source, a gate and a drain, and a burst width control circuit coupled to the source and drain, which starts a burst by lowering a voltage on the source of the transistor, and a ends a burst by decreasing voltage on the drain of the transistor.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
27 words
The sensor of claim 47, including a damping resistor coupled to the drain of the transistor, and a damping resistor coupled to the source of the transistor.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
60 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the radio frequency oscillator includes a transistor having an emitter, a base and a collector, and a burst width control circuit coupled to the source and drain, which starts a burst by lowering a voltage on the emitter of the transistor, and ends a burst by decreasing voltage on the collector of the transistor.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
27 words
The sensor of claim 49, including a damping resistor coupled to the collector of the transistor, and a damping resistor coupled to the emitter of the transistor.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
17 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the receiver includes an in-phase channel and a quadrature phase channel.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
19 words
The sensor of claim 51, including a transmit antenna, an in-phase receive antenna and a quadrature phase receive antenna.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
49 words
The sensor of claim 52, including an antenna horn having a focal point, and wherein the in-phase receive antenna and the quadrature phase receive antenna comprise antenna elements mounted at respective locations inside the horn, within about λ/8 at the transmitter frequency of the focal point of the horn.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
34 words
The sensor of claim 35, wherein the pattern establishes a plurality of range cells, and the signal processing resources demultiplex the combined output to provide sensor output signals for the plurality of range cells.
Claim 57
Independent Claim
81 words
A method for detecting disturbance in a sensor field, comprising: transmitting a sequence of transmitted bursts of electromagnetic energy to produce a sensor field, the transmitted bursts having burst widths which vary according to a pattern; receiving a combination of the transmitted bursts and reflections of the transmitted bursts and producing a combined output; and processing the combined output to generate a sensor output signal indicating variations in differences in the combined output due to the pattern of varying burst widths.
Claim 58
Independent Claim
81 words
A method for detecting disturbance in a sensor field, comprising: transmitting a sequence of transmitted bursts of electromagnetic energy to produce a sensor field, the transmitted bursts having burst widths which vary according to a pattern; receiving a combination of the transmitted bursts and reflections of the transmitted bursts and producing a combined output; and processing the combined output to generate a sensor output signal indicating variations in differences in the combined output due to the pattern of varying burst widths.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
74 words
The method of claim 55, wherein the transmitted bursts have a frequency between about 900 megaHertz and 24 gigaHertz, and including: varying the burst widths of the transmitted bursts in the sequence of transmitted bursts so that the transmitted bursts have burst widths in a range of about 2 to 100 nanoseconds which between about 1 and 10 nanoseconds of a maximum burst width for the sequence of transmitted bursts according to the pattern.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-10-11 | 2003-04-12 | 2003-10-12 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-10-11 | 2007-04-12 | 2007-10-12 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-10-11 | 2011-04-12 | 2011-10-12 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |