Patents Assigned to Naztec, Inc.
  • Publication number: 20140244145
    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 said 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: NAZTEC, INC.
    Inventors: Clyde Neel, Darren Beyer, Timothy Fiebrich, Michael Green, Kenneth W. MacLeod, Srikar Vadlamani, Mark Hawkins
  • Publication number: 20140240146
    Abstract: Embodiments of systems and methods of the present invention include efficient, reliable aggregation and transfer of one or more sensor pods detect status to the base station and then the traffic controller. An embodiment of an access point maintains a sensor state array, which is the current status of the sensor pods in communication with the access point. The access point can maintain the sensor state array in its memory and relay the sensor state array to the base station. An embodiment of a base station can use the sensor state array information to generate and update a vehicle detector array, which is the current status of all the sensor pods in the wireless vehicle detector network. An embodiment of the base station emulates one or more bus interface units and uses the vehicle detector array to relay detector information to the traffic controller periodically or when polled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: NAZTEC, INC.
    Inventors: Clyde Neel, Darren Beyer, Timothy Fiebrich, Michael Green, Kenneth W. MacLeod, Srikar Vadlamani, Mark Hawkins
  • Patent number: 5387909
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining the presence of a burned out lamp of a traffic signal is disclosed. The current applied to one or more banks of traffic signals and the voltage applied across such traffic signal banks are measured simultaneously. An electrical characteristic, such as impedance, of such traffic signal banks, is measured for each pattern of switch settings which control lamp illumination for signalling as they occur. Such characteristic is stored for each of the unique patterns which are repeated over and over again to control traffic. Such previously stored characteristic provides a baseline characteristic for each successive pattern of illumination of the lamps. With each pattern change, such characteristic is measured and compared with the previous baseline characteristic for the pattern to determine if a lamp has burned out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 7, 1995
    Assignee: Naztec, Inc.
    Inventors: Clyde J. Neel, Henry T. Beyer