Patents Examined by Marcus Windrich
  • Patent number: 9720077
    Abstract: A method and system for adjusting a gain from a receiver antenna. The method may include accessing a radio altimeter data structure for antenna gain data. The antenna gain data may be associated with one or more antennas including a receiver antenna. Additionally, the method may include receiving aircraft maneuver data from a reference system. Furthermore, the method may include adjusting a gain from the receiver antenna based at least on the aircraft maneuver data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Madjid N. Sarpoolaki
  • Patent number: 9720082
    Abstract: The hazard warning system that included processing system for detecting a high altitude ice crystal (HAIC) condition. The aircraft warning system can use at least two types of radar returns to detect the HAIC condition. Warnings of high altitude ice crystal conditions can allow an aircraft to avoid threats posed by HAIC conditions including damage to aircraft equipment and engines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Roger A. Dana, James B. West, Kevin M. Kronfeld, Gregory J. Koenigs, Jeffery A. Finley, Daniel L. Woodell
  • Patent number: 9720073
    Abstract: A radar sensing system for a vehicle includes transmit and receive pipelines. The transmit pipeline includes transmitters able to transmit radio signals. The receive pipeline includes receivers able to receive signals. The received signals are transmitted signals that are reflected from an object. The transmit pipeline phase modulates the signals before transmission, as defined by a first binary sequence. The receive pipeline comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) for sampling the received signals. The transmit pipeline includes a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) generator for outputting a second binary sequence of bits with an equal probability of 1 and 0. The first binary sequence is defined by least significant bit (LSB) outputs from the ADC and the second binary sequence of bits. The first binary sequence comprises a truly random unbiased sequence of bits with an equal probability of 1 and 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: UHNDER, INC.
    Inventors: Curtis Davis, Manju Hegde, Wayne E. Stark, John Lovberg
  • Patent number: 9720074
    Abstract: A circuitry for and a method of generating a frequency modulated radar transmitter signal are provided. The circuitry comprises a modulation signal generator for generating a modulation signal having a waveform describing a required frequency modulation of the frequency modulated radar transmitter signal and comprises a PLL circuitry for generating the frequency modulated radar transmitter signal in dependence of the modulation signal. In the PLL circuitry a controllable frequency divider controls the output frequency of the PLL circuitry in dependence of the modulation signal. The PLL circuitry further comprises a phase detector, a controllable oscillator and possibly a low pass filter. The PLL circuitry further comprises a calibration circuitry being configured to control a parameter of at least one of the phase detector and the controllable oscillator to maintain a loop gain of PLL circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Didier Salle, Olivier Doare, Christophe Landez
  • Patent number: 9720078
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for providing wide-area surveillance with a radar and/or other sensors from a stratospheric balloon launched from a land or ship platform for detection, tracking, and classification of maritime, land, and air objects such as ships, people/vehicles, or aircraft are described generally herein. In one or more embodiments, an apparatus is battery operated and includes a stratospheric balloon filled that is filled with helium when it is launched and a gondola with a radar system and communication equipment suspended therefrom. When launched, the apparatus can travel with the wind until it reaches an altitude of approximately 68,500 ft., then it can move substantially horizontally with the stratospheric winds until it returns to earth via a parachute. Multiple apparatus launches at periodic intervals can help provide continuous coverage of the surveillance area. The apparatus can be recovered and re-used or can be considered expendable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Raven Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Phillip A. Fox, Michael Scott Smith, George W. Moe, Joseph W. Maresca, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9715010
    Abstract: A detection device for detecting an OUD (Object Under Detection) includes a transceiver, a first antenna element, and a second antenna element. The transceiver has a transmitter port and a receiver port. The first antenna element is coupled to the transmitter port of the transceiver. The second antenna element is coupled to the receiver port of the transceiver. The transceiver transmits an electromagnetic signal through the first antenna element to the OUD, and then receives a reflective signal through the second antenna element from the OUD. The electromagnetic signal has a first polarization direction, and the reflective signal has a second polarization direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: HTC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ta-Chun Pu, Chun-Yih Wu, Yen-Liang Kuo
  • Patent number: 9714797
    Abstract: System (1) for characterizing motion of at least one individual forming a target, comprising a radar emitting electromagnetic signals towards the target and receiving echoed signals, output as radar data, preprocessing means (11) receiving radar data as input and outputting a spectrogram representing time variations of the Doppler spectrum of the radar data, characterizing means (13) configured for outputting a probability density estimation of the state of a target, state means a vector of properties from a target, referred to as state vector, the system being characterized in that said state vector comprises at least one discrete target gait classification variable determining one target gait model among a set of determined target gait models, and a set of discrete and/or continuous motion parameters, the characterizing means comprising estimation means estimating the probability density of said state vector from said spectrogram.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: THALES NEDERLAND B.V.
    Inventors: Stephan Groot, Ronny Harmanny, Hans Driessen
  • Patent number: 9715008
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an augmented reality application generates an augmented reality view that displays three-dimensional (3-D) ground penetrating radar (GPR) data on boundary surfaces of a virtual excavation. The augmented reality application calculates an intersection of the one or more boundary surfaces of the virtual excavation and the 3-D GPR data, and extracts data items of the 3-D GPR data that intersect the one or more boundary surfaces of the virtual excavation. The augmented reality application then projects two-dimensional (2-D) images based on the extracted data items onto the one or more boundary surfaces of the virtual excavation to show subsurface features in the augmented reality view that can be manipulated (e.g., moved, rotated, scaled, have its depth changed, etc) by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: Bentley Systems, Incorporated
    Inventors: Stéphane Cõté, Renaud Gervais
  • Patent number: 9702971
    Abstract: A system and method for high-availability inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR). In one embodiment a set of quadratic phase vectors, each corresponding to a different acceleration, is multiplied, one at a time, in a Hadamard product, with a 3-dimensional data cube, and a fast Fourier transform (FFT) is taken of the result, to form a 2-dimensional array. The two-dimensional array is made sparse by setting to zero elements that fall below a threshold based on a coherency metric, and the sparse arrays are stacked to form a sparse 3-dimensional image. Projections of the sparse 3-dimensional image are formed for presentation to an operator or an image exploitation system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Assignee: RAYTHEON COMPANY
    Inventors: Benjamin Mitchell, Andrew J. Patterson, Raymond Samaniego
  • Patent number: 9696422
    Abstract: Low cost, generally broad bandwidth synthetic aperture radar systems are detailed. The systems may be bistatic and include analog to digital converters in ground based receivers while transmitters and analogoue repeaters may be space-borne or airborne. Methods of producing synthetic aperture radar images also are detailed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: The Secretary of State for Defence
    Inventor: Darren George Muff
  • Patent number: 9691255
    Abstract: To improve the accuracy of the determination on whether or not a moving object is present in a predetermined region, a control device for use in a system configured to conduct presence-or-absence determination on whether or not a moving object is present on the basis of detection by a first sensor provided in a predetermined compartment region, the control device comprising: a mode control section configured to control switching of an operation mode for the detection by the first sensor or the presence-or-absence determination; and an acquisition section configured to acquire a determination result of whether or not a moving object is present in an adjacent region adjacent to the predetermined compartment region and not including the predetermined compartment region; wherein the mode control section controls the switching of the operation mode in response to the determination result acquired by the acquisition section, is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Michiyo Matsui, Kurato Maeno, Takashi Hashimoto, Motoko Kagaya
  • Patent number: 9689979
    Abstract: A radar apparatus using a pulse pair method to quickly measure a relative speed of an object. The radar apparatus includes: A data acquirer that acquires data relating to a pulse width, a repetition frequency, and a highest staggered ratio; A staggered pattern output unit that outputs a specific staggered pattern in which a total of phase changes within a sweep range of the target of the pulse pairing can be approximated to zero, wherein each phase change is caused by the pulse pairing on a target object at a constant speed due to a difference between an average transmission interval and a transmission interval between transmissions within the sweep range; And a setter that sets the transmission interval of a pulse signal by using the pulse width, the repetition frequency, the highest staggered ratio, and the specific staggered pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Furuno Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Dai, Akira Okunishi
  • Patent number: 9685960
    Abstract: An automotive radar apparatus includes a bit stream modulation circuit configured to generate a bit stream signal at an output thereof and a driver circuit having an input coupled to the output of said bit stream modulation circuit and configured to generate a corresponding driver bit stream signal having a reduced output swing at the driver circuit output. Also included is a filter circuit having an input coupled to the output of said driver circuit and configured to generate a filtered bit stream signal at the filter circuit output. Additionally included is a VCO having an input coupled to the output of said filter circuit and configured to generate an RF output signal at the VCO output. A corresponding method is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: Valeo Radar Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeffrey Millar
  • Patent number: 9678205
    Abstract: A method to automatically and continuously provide surveillance based on central and/or distributed surveillance of presence, positions, movements and movement pattern of one or more vessels in narrow waters, a sailing lane or where danger of collision with other vessels or other fixed or floating objects may occur. A vessel emits a sweeping signal that repeatedly hits one or more detectors, which detect the character of the sweeping signal and the time intervals between the signal hits on the respective detector. The exact position of the vessel and/or movements is calculated at least on the basis of trigonometric principles, and the vessel identity is produced by using signal analysis to extract the characteristic signal sequences from the received detection signals, which are related to the transmitted radar signal(s) from the vessel(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Inventor: Bjørn Hope
  • Patent number: 9678212
    Abstract: A method of implementing a real-time screening process for amplitude scintillation is presented. The method includes detecting an amplitude scintillation event during a sample time period at an amplitude scintillation monitor; excluding associated satellite measurement data from further use based on the detection of the amplitude scintillation event at the amplitude scintillation monitor; detecting an end to the amplitude scintillation event at the amplitude scintillation monitor; and readmitting associated satellite measurement data collected after the end of the amplitude scintillation event as determined by the amplitude scintillation monitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph E. Scheitlin, Mats Anders Brenner, Kim A. Class, Randy J. Reuter, Bruce G. Johnson, John M. Howard
  • Patent number: 9671488
    Abstract: A method for providing narrow-band interference unaffected measurement of a distance to a surface of a product kept in a tank, comprising mixing a return signal with a transmit signal to provide an intermediate frequency signal, and determining the distance, based on the intermediate frequency signal. The step of determining the distance further comprises dividing the intermediate frequency signal into a plurality of frequency portions, wherein each frequency portion corresponds to a frequency interval of the transmit signal, identifying disturbed frequency portions as frequency portions affected by narrow-band interference, and determining the distance based on frequency portions being unaffected by narrow-band interference. By dividing the IF-signal into frequency portions corresponding to frequency intervals of the transmit signal, frequency intervals where narrow-band interferences are present may be detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: Rosemount Tank Radar AB
    Inventors: Lars Ove Larsson, Mikael Kleman
  • Patent number: 9664778
    Abstract: A radar and method for making a radar undetectable, comprising comprises: on a transmit antenna consisting of N individual subarrays that are non-directional in at least one plane in transmission, each being linked to a waveform generator, generating, for each of the individual subarrays, a waveform so as to make each of the individual subarrays transmit continuous or quasi-continuous signals according to a temporal and periodic pattern by using transmission patterns made up of N different subarrays and which are deduced from one another by an individual delay, on the receive antenna comprising M individual subarrays adapted to pick up the reflected signals obtained from the transmission of the N individual subarrays of the transmit antenna, performing a compression of the received signal in space and in time of the received signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Pascal Cornic, Stephane Kemkemian, Jean-Paul Artis
  • Patent number: 9658327
    Abstract: A radar device according to an embodiment includes a transmission unit, a reception unit, a processing unit, a first determination unit, and a second determination unit. The transmission unit emits transmission signals. The reception unit receives reception signals acquired by reflecting the transmission signals on an object. The processing unit detects object data corresponding to the object from the reception signals. The first determination unit determines object data included in a predicted range based on past object data detected in the past as past correspondence data having time continuity with respect to the past object data. In a case where parameters of new data that has not been detected in the past and the past correspondence data have predetermined relation, the second determination unit determines that the new data and the past correspondence data correspond to the same object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: FUJITSU TEN LIMITED
    Inventors: Seiji Kawabe, Hisateru Asanuma
  • Patent number: 9658319
    Abstract: Detecting continuous wave police radar includes receiving an input signal from a first antenna, the input signal comprising a continuous wave emission within at least one radar band; sweeping a composite local oscillator signal through a range of frequencies from a first frequency to a second frequency in a predetermined time period so that the composite local oscillator signal has a first chirp rate with a first chirp rate magnitude of between 0.15 MHz/?s and 3.5 MHz/?s or even higher; and mixing the input signal from the first antenna with the sweeping composite local oscillator signal to produce an output signal having an intermediate frequency. A next step can include determining that the input signal from the first antenna includes a police radar signal based on the output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Valentine Research, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael D. Valentine, Stephen R. Scholl, Richard L. Dickerson, Marwan E. Nusair
  • Patent number: 9651661
    Abstract: A method for processing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The method includes the step of receiving SAR data that has been collected to provide a representation of a target scene, and dividing the data into a plurality of sub-blocks each having a plurality of pixels, each of the plurality of pixels having a coordinate and an amplitude. A transformation performed on each of the sub-blocks includes the steps of: (i) computing a mean coordinate; (ii) subtracting the mean coordinate from the pixel's actual coordinate to arrive at a modified coordinate; (iii) multiplying the modified coordinate by the amplitude to arrive at an amplitude-modified coordinate; (iv) creating a covariance matrix using the amplitude-modified coordinates; (v) performing a singular value decomposition on the covariance matrix to arrive at a vector; and (vi) associating an angle with the calculated vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: SRC, INC.
    Inventors: James Gonnella, Michael Robinson