Monitoring non-stationary object distance using ultrasonic signals
US11921187B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 16, 2021 |
| Grant date | Mar 5, 2024 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 26, 2042 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S15/104
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Techniques for monitoring devices to use ultrasonic signals to detect and track the locations of moving objects in an environment. To determine distance information, the monitoring devices emit a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal at an ultrasound frequency range. Reflections of the FMCW ultrasonic signal are used to generate time-of-arrival (TOA) profiles that indicate distances between the monitoring device and objects in the environment. The reflections can be processed to suppress undesirable interferences, such as reflections off non-mobile objects in the environment (e.g., walls, furniture, etc.), vibrations off the floorings or the ceilings, etc. After processing the reflections, a heatmap can be used to plot the intensity of the reflections for the different TOAs of the reflections, and depict the movement of the user over time. Finally, a Kalman filter is used to smooth the peaks in the intensity values on the plot, and determine the trajectory of the human.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.