Motion detection apparatus and method

Abstract

According to various illustrative embodiments, a motion-monitoring system comprises at least one antenna fixed within a barrier, the at least one antenna transmitting at least one first radio-frequency signal through the barrier to at least one volume outside the barrier, the at least one first radio-frequency signal reflecting from at least one object in the at least one volume to produce a plurality of second radio-frequency signals, which are received by the at least one antenna, at least one sensing circuit sensing the plurality of second radio-frequency signals and generating a plurality of time-domain output signals, and at least one processor receiving the plurality of time-domain output signals and comparing at least one successive time-domain output signal to at least one previous time-domain output signal to estimate at least one characteristic of the at least one object, including a motion of the at least one object.

1 . A motion-monitoring apparatus comprising:
 a transmitter circuit configured to transmit a radio-frequency signal through a barrier into a volume;   a sensing circuit configured to receive signals reflected from an object in the volume;   a processor configured to process output signals received from the sensing circuit to estimate at least one characteristic of the object, including a motion of the object; and   a monitor device configured to monitor the at least one characteristic.   
   
   
       2 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the sensing circuit includes an ultra-wideband sensing circuit. 
   
   
       3 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuit is configured to generate output signals using a sample-down process. 
   
   
       4 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a single antenna and a controllable switch configured to switch the single antenna between the transmitter circuit and the sensing circuit. 
   
   
       5 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a first antenna operating in a transmitting mode and a second antenna operating in a sensing mode. 
   
   
       6 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one sensing circuit is collocated with the second antenna within the barrier. 
   
   
       7 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the barrier comprises at least one building member. 
   
   
       8 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one building member comprises at least one of a wall, a floor, and a roof. 
   
   
       9 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the barrier comprises at least one in-ground barrier. 
   
   
       10 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one in-ground barrier includes at least one of a natural earth ground material, asphalt, concrete, wood, water, drywall, and brick. 
   
   
       11 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a plurality of characteristics, the plurality of characteristics further including at least one of a size of the object, a type of the object, a speed of the object, a location of the object, and a direction of movement of the object. 
   
   
       12 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a visual display device configured to provide at least one visual output representative of the at least one characteristic.   
   
   
       13 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a visual display device configured to provide at least one visual output representative of the at least one characteristic.   
   
   
       14 . The motion-monitoring apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising at least three spaced-apart antenna sets, the transmitted radio-frequency signal comprises a plurality of radio-frequency signals, and each of the at least three antenna sets transmitting one of the plurality of radio-frequency signals into the volume and receiving a respective reflected radio-frequency signal to provide at least one triangulation for estimating the at least one characteristic. 
   
   
       15 . A motion-monitoring system comprising:
 at least one sensor set including:
 an antenna configured to transmit a plurality of radio-frequency signals through a barrier into a volume and receive a plurality of signals reflected from an object in the volume, 
 a sensing circuit configured to sense the plurality of reflected signals; 
   a processor configured to receive output signals from the sensing circuit, compare a successive output signal to a previous output signal to at least one of:
 estimate at least one characteristic of the object, and distinguish at least one characteristic of the object, the at least one characteristic including a motion of the object; 
   a monitoring station configured to monitor the at least one characteristic; and   a visual display device configured to provide a visual output representative of the at least one characteristic.   
   
   
       16 . The motion-monitoring system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one sensor set comprises a plurality of sensor sets, the at least one volume is a plurality of volumes separated from each other, each of the plurality of volumes including one of the plurality of sensor sets, the motion-monitoring system further comprising:
 a plurality of communication links, each of the plurality of communication links associated with a sensing circuit and configured to transmit the output signals;   a hub configured to receive the output signals; and   a central communication link configured to transmit the output signals from the hub to the monitoring station.   
   
   
       17 . The motion-monitoring system of  claim 15 , wherein the barrier comprises at least one roadway, the object comprises a plurality of objects, and the at least one characteristic comprises at least one traffic pattern. 
   
   
       18 . The motion-monitoring system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of objects includes at least one of a plurality of vehicles and a plurality of pedestrians. 
   
   
       19 . A method of monitoring motion, comprising:
 transmitting at least one radio-frequency signal through a barrier into a volume;   receiving at least one radio-frequency signals resulting from a reflection of the transmitted signal from an object in the volume;   generating output signals related to the plurality of reflected signals;   comparing a successive output signal to a previous output signal to estimate at least one characteristic of the object, the at least one characteristic including a motion of the object; and   monitoring the at least one characteristic.   
   
   
       20 . The method of monitoring motion of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 transmitting the at least one radio-frequency signal into the volume from at least three antenna sets; and   receiving the at least one reflected signals at the at least three antenna sets to provide a triangulation for estimating the at least one characteristic.