Sensor fusion apparatus and method
US5850625A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 13, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 15, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 13, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S13/723
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invented apparatus fuses two or more sensor signals to generate a fused signal with an improved confidence of target existence and position. The invented apparatus includes gain, control and fusion units, and can also include an integration unit. The integration unit receives signals generated by two or more sensors, and generates integrated signals based on the sensor signals. The integration unit performs temporal and weighted spatial integration of the sensor signals, to generate respective sets of integrated signals supplied to the gain control and fusion units. The gain control unit uses a preprogrammed function to map the integrated signals to an output signal that is scaled to generate a gain signal supplied to the fusion unit. The fusion unit uses a preprogrammed function to map its received integrated signals and the gain signal, to a fused signal that is the output of the invented apparatus. The weighted spatial integration increases the fused signal's sensitivity to near detections and suppresses response to detections relatively distant in space and time, from a detection of interest. The gain control and fusion functions likewise suppress the fused signal's respons…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.