FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure is generally related to a perimeter intrusion detection system, and more particularly related to a method for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
[0003] Currently, various other conventional, traditional and unintelligent PIDS solutions for protecting the international borders, fragile perimeters, and strategic locations are generic and not tailored based on perimeters to be secured. Such solutions do not allow easy modification of sensors or software, based on the perimeters. Further, using such solutions, when an intrusion is detected, all that end users receive are intrusion alarms. However, the end users do not get to know any information related to the alarms, such as whether the alarm is actually triggered or caused due to a system malfunction, location corresponding to the alarm, whether the intruder is an animal or a human, number of intruders, or a future course of action.
[0004] Further, no single type of sensor is enough to detect intrusion in hostile conditions. In one case, different types of sensors are prone to different noises created by different types of sources which degrade the performance. Further, all sensors have associated internal thermal or Johnson noise which degrade the performance. Further, various sensors are affected by ambient light, High Voltage electric lines, volume metallic movement, fog, mist, wind, rain, or snow, etc which degrade performance of the sensors. Further, ambient conditions at fragile perimeters are very harsh for various sensors. The sensors fail to detect intrusion in various conditions such as undulating terrain that causes degradation of detection capabilities near the ground, and harsh weather conditions that causes the sensors to degrade in detection capabilities as well as raise false alarms.
[0005] Currently, various cameras such as trip wired cameras and/or High Speed Thermal Imaging (HSTI) surveillance cameras may be used. However, such cameras suffer from various drawbacks. In an example, the trip wired cameras fail in harsh weather and terrains. In another example, the HSTI surveillance cameras are needed to be moved around continuously by an operator to observe breaches. Further, physical metal fence can be easily compromised by an intruder.
[0006] Therefore, there is a need for an improved system for identifying intrusion over international borders, fragile perimeters, and strategic locations. Also, the system should be efficient, customizable, flexible, cost effective, robust, and reliable.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is an objective of the invention to provide a method for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors.
[0008] It is another objective of the invention to provide a system for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors, during harsh weather conditions such as rain, fog, wind, mist, and dust and in harsh terrains like deserts, riverine areas, snow clapped areas, etc
[0009] It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a system for verification of intrusion activity.
[0010] It is yet another objective of the invention to reduce false alarms while detecting intrusion of a perimeter with a high detection ratio.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems, methods, and embodiments of various other aspects of the disclosure. Any person with ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g. boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. It may be that in some examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as an internal component of one element may be implemented as an external component in another, and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. Non-limiting and non-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to the following drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram 100 of a system for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors, according to an embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a bistatic-arrangement of sister IR sensors 116 having a combination of transmitters and receivers present on each pole, according to an embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates three lobes created between bistatic microwave sensors 104, according to an embodiment.
[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart 400 showing a method for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors, according to an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.
[0017] It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the preferred, systems and methods are now described.
[0018] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and in which example embodiments are shown. Embodiments of the claims may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The examples set forth herein are non-limiting examples and are merely examples among other possible examples.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates ablock diagram 100 of a system for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors. In one case, intrusion information may correspond to a virtual area entry or an exit of an individual body, an object missing from a normal surveillance, and a newly moved object into a scrutiny area. The plurality of sensors may include a pair of active Infrared (IR) sensors 102, bistatic microwave sensors104, passive IR and Doppler sensors 106, seismic sensors 108, and at least one taut wire sensor 110 connected to a processing unit 114. Further, cameras 112 may also be connected to the processing unit 114. The cameras 112 may have day
and night capability, ability to work as thermal cameras, and may be present in both Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) and bullet architecture.
[0020] At first, the pair of active IR sensors 102may collect a first information. It should be noted that the pair of active IR sensors 102 may be integrated with the sister IR sensors 116. The sister IR sensors 116 may be used for reducing noise affecting the active IR sensors 102. The sister IR sensors116 may include a transmitter and a receiver.
[0021] In one embodiment, the sister IR sensors 116 may have a height of 300mm and 1060mm from a ground base plate. Further, each IR beam may be modulated using a dual modulation technique. The dual modulation technique may utilize a unique signature known to the sister IR sensors 116.During such a scenario, the processing unit 114 may get to know which IR beam is obstructed by an intruder. In one case, a probabilistic size of the intruding object may be determined by the processing unit 114. Further, due to dual modulation, active IR receivers may sense IR beam transmitted by corresponding IR transmitters. In such an arrangement, received IR beam of one IR receiver may not be affected by raw power of other IR transmitters. In one case, IR receivers may use a high frequency pass band filter for eliminating noise from wider or narrower pulses of electricity and external light source. It should be noted that in harsh weather conditions, major fluctuations in received raw power may not affect performance of the plurality of sensors or raise false alarms.
[0022] In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, a bistatic-arrangement of the sister IR sensors 116 having a combination of transmitters and receivers present on each pole is explained. All the transmitters are preferably not installed on one of the pole (i.e. 200) and all the receivers are not installed on the other pole (i.e. 202). Instead, the pair of active IR sensors 102 and the sister IR sensors 116 may be present on the poles, such that four IR transmitters and four IR receivers are present on each pole. Such arrangement of the active IR sensors 102 and the sister IR sensors 116
would create 8 unique coded beams. In this manner, randomness of the sensor arrangement gets increased and hence the system further becomes more immune to random noise generated by various sources.
[0023] Noise may be created due to electrical interference, external light, or Johnson noise. Since, noise is a random variable and hence it cannot affect the plurality of sensors at same time. It should be noted that noise cannot affect all the sensors at the same time i.e. transfer function of noise for all the sensors can never be same. Therefore, the sister IR sensors 116 may add redundancy while intrusion is confirmed by the processing unit 114. The bistatic-arrangement of IR sensors makes the sister IR beams immune to external light noise, electrical noise, and thermal noise.
[0024] In one embodiment, the IR receivers may keep a constant record of raw power received from the IR transmitters. In one case, the raw power may correspond to a combination of the power received from the IR transmitter and other noise sources. The IR receivers may keep on demodulating data received from sister IR beams. Post receiving, the IR receivers may compare received data with data supposed to be received from corresponding IR transmitter. Further, the IR receivers may calculate power (i.e. signal strength) that is received on the demodulated data from the complete raw power. In one case, the signal strength may correspond to power received on modulated high frequencies transmitted by the IR transmitter.
[0025] In one embodiment, intrusion information may be generated based on a Block Error Rate (BLER) received by the IR receivers. The IR receivers may calculate the BLER in signals received from the IR transmitters for determining signal quality. It should be noted that higher the BLER, lower will be the signal quality. Further, when both the signal strength and the signal quality fall below a predefined threshold, intrusion detection may be confirmed for a particular time window.
[0026] In one embodiment, an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) loop in the IR receivers may continuously provide a feedback to the IR receivers on the received Signal Strength and the BLER. The AGC loop may provide a feedback and report the increase or decrease in the signal strength and signal quality. As a result of the feedback, the IR receivers may be able to estimate channel i.e. environmental conditions, and hence take decisions on the intrusion detections accordingly. In one case, the channel estimation may keep a track of environmental conditions based on the signal strength and the signal quality received at the IR receivers. For an instance, in heavy fog, both the signal strength and the signal quality drop massively. During such a scenario, a feedback by the AGC loop gives an indication that the channel has very poor performance. In such a case, when intrusion is reported by sensors, it also reports the channel estimation, indicating that the intrusion sensing needs to be verified against a different sensor in the system. Hence, this reduces false alarms triggered due to harsh weather conditions.
[0027] In one embodiment, an alarm may be triggered when an AGC controlled beam power dips below a Channel Estimation level. In one case, the Channel Estimation level may correspond to -13dB less than the AGC controlled beam reception level. The alarm level may be set around -24dB. If the AGC controlled Beam Power dips below the Channel Estimation level, the alarm may be triggered.
[0028] In one embodiment, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may collect a second information. The bistatic microwave sensors 104 may create three independent lobes between a transmitter and a receiver, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Further, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may comprise a transmitter mounted on a first pole 300 and a receiver mounted on a second pole 302. In one case, the three independent lobes may correspond to a high lobe, a mid lobe, and a low lobe. The three independent lobes may detect movement of objects. The three vertical lobes may form a virtual wall of microwave detection between the transmitter and the receiver. It should be noted
each of the three vertical lobes may have a different frequency. During such a scenario, the receiver may identify exactly which lobe was disturbed in case of intrusion.
[0029] In one embodiment, the receiver may detect fluctuations in fields of the three vertical lobes. In one case, the three vertical lobes may detect intrusion because of movement of box volume at a particular speed across the three vertical lobes. In one case, due to detection of the movement of box volume, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may not be affected by movement of rodents which have smaller box volume. Further, the three vertical lobes when coupled with the sister IR beams may improve the process of intrusion detection. During such a scenario, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may act as a primary information generator and the active IR sensors 102may act as a secondary information generator.
[0030] In one embodiment, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may be able to detect stealth near ground movements in undulating terrains. This is because of the fact that field of the microwave lobes penetrate a bit into the ground and also fill in the undulations. In one case, in undulating terrains the microwave sensors could easily detect near ground movements for a crest to trough maximum distance of 30cm. During such a scenario, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may be helpful in catching stealth crawling near ground human intrusion attempts. In one case, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may not be affected by wind movement of shrubs in fields of the three vertical lobes. Moreover, even if new small scale flora grows in fields of the three vertical lobes, the field adjusts and calibrates itself based on the new flora to reduce false alarms.
[0031] Further, the three independent lobes may detect block volume or sensitivity as per speed of detection calibrated during intrusion scenario. The three independent lobes may detect near ground intrusions in a very undulating terrain. Further, the three independent lobes may remain unaffected by flora and bumps in the ground as the three independent lobes may be calibrated based on ambient conditions.
[0032] In one embodiment, multiple addressable channels may be defined with large number of definable microwave frequencies to overcome any signal interference. Further, the bistatic microwave sensors 104 may be capable of programmable distance setting to prevent blind spots due to generation of fixed distance lobes.
[0033] In one embodiment, the passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may collect a third information. In one case, the passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may correspond to reflective type IR and microwave sensors. The passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may be used for a near field detection from a pole housing the plurality of sensors. Further, the passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may be used for filling holes and dead zones along a detection line.
[0034] The passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may prevent false alarms by selectively discarding low volumetric motion of bodies such as rodents and small animals. Further, the passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may have high luminosity and tolerance for reflected sunlight, incident sunlight, and other sources of light during a night period.In one case, the passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may correspond to mono static sensors for near field detection due to the movement of box volume near the poles housing the plurality of sensors. In another case, the passive IR and Doppler sensors 106 may be used to fill near field dead or blind spots for the active IR sensors 102 and the bistatic microwave sensors 104 created very near to poles housing the plurality of sensors.
[0035] In one embodiment, the seismic sensors 108 may collect a fourth information based on vibrations through solid earth surface, being recorded in a seismic unit. The seismic sensors 108 may correspond to underground seismic sensors. In one case, the seismic sensors 108 may be present in a rhombic grid designed to cover a direction of motion of an object. The rhombic grid of seismic sensor array may be built with a central communication and processing hub. Further, the rhombic grid of seismic sensor array may be used for covering the direction of motion.
Further, the rhombic grid of seismic sensor array may depend on incoming vibrations for identifying an imprint generated by body volume. It should be noted that sensitivity of the seismic sensors 108 may be adjusted to suit situational and site requirements.
[0036] In one embodiment, the at least one taut wire sensor 110may collect a fifth information. It should be noted that the at least one taut wire sensor 110 may work upon measurement principle of piezoelectric vibration. That at least one taut wire sensor 110 may include a high tensile steel wire fitted with vibration sensors to measure any physical contact with an available fencing. Further, the high tensile steel wire may be fixed with tension maintaining contraption having support to prevent slacking at intermediate distances. Further, the at least one taut wire sensor 110 may record unnatural attempts to touch a manmade barricade and report data to a processing station.
[0037] In one embodiment, the camera 112 may be used to collect images around the perimeter. In one case, the camera 112 may be a day and night IR camera and/or a thermal imaging camera.It should be noted that the camera 112 may perform dual functionality by acting as a sensor for the intrusion detection and providing a means of visual verification to an end user, when an intrusion is alarmed by the system. The camera 112maybe used for visual confirmation and validation of all intrusion activities occurred before and after the intrusion.
[0038] The camera 112 may have high compression ratio with least loss of information for effective video capturing. Further, the camera 112 may include varifocal lenses that provide optical zoom and inbuilt algorithms. The optical zoom and inbuilt algorithms may allow the camera 112 to judge and raise alarms for proximity, virtual area entry or exit, object missing from a normal surveillance, and/or a newly moved object into a secure area. Further, the camera 112 may involve three axis camera movement that allow tracking, selective movement locking, and/or selective movement and zoom features.
[0039] The camera 112 may acts as an information generator by detecting intrusion through movement detection, object detection, change in terrain detection, and the like. Further, once the intrusion is confirmed by the processing unit 114, the camera 112 may capture data such as videos and images of the intruder or intruding object. In one case, the camera 112 may provide a means to the end user to visually verify the cause of intrusion. During such a scenario, image processing may be augmented by algorithms giving object detection and tracking. Further, the captured data may be archived in database of the system before and after the intrusion and can be used by the end user as logs for analysis on a later stage.
[0040] In one embodiment, the first information, the second information, the third information, the forth information, the fifth information, and the images, may be transmitted to the processing unit 114. The processing unit 114 may process all the information to detect intrusion of the perimeter. It should be noted that the processing unit 114 may execute an algorithm for processing and validating the intrusion information. Thereafter, the processing unit 114 may trigger an alarm to alert about the intrusion activity.
[0041] It should be noted that precedence and priority may be given to the plurality of sensors based on different scenarios.In an example, a sensor among the plurality of sensors may retrieve poor information due to environmental conditions, external disturbances, or change in terrain. Then, information from other sensors may be retrieved to reduce false alarms. Further, the plurality of sensors determining physical contact may be used to add a physical barrier.Further, such system may possess highest detection probability and a lowest false alarm rate. Further, a plurality of components could be integrated with the plurality of sensors. The plurality of components may include, but not limited to, intelligent power management system, redundant power supply, and isolated power sources.
[0042] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart 400 of a method for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors, according to an embodiment. The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows the method steps executed according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the drawings. For example, two blocks shown in succession in FIG. 4 may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. Any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations are included within the scope of the example embodiments in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved. In addition, the process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood as representing decisions made by a hardware structure such as a state machine. The flowchart 400 starts at the step 402 and proceeds to step 414.
[0043] At step 402, a first information may be collected using a pair of active Infrared (IR) sensors 102 integrated with sister IR sensors 116. In one case, the sister IR sensors 116 may be used for reducing noise affecting the active IR sensors 102.
[0044] At step 404, a second information may be collecting using bistatic microwave sensors 104. The bistatic microwave sensors 104 may create three independent lobes. In one case, the three independent lobes may include a high lobe, a mid lobe, and a low lobe.
[0045] At step 406, a third information may be collected using passive IR sensors and Doppler sensors 106.
[0046] At step 408, a fourth information may be collected using seismic sensors 108 positioned beneath earth’s surface. In one case, the seismic sensors 108 may be present in a rhombic grid designed to cover direction of motion of an individual.
[0047] At step 410, a fifth information may be collected using at least one taut wire sensor 110. The at least one taut wire sensor 110 may comprise a high tensile wire used for fencing the perimeter connected with a vibration sensor, to determine a physical contact with the fencing.
[0048] At step 412, images of area around the perimeter may be collected using a camera 112. In one case, the camera 112 may be a day and night capability camera or thermal camera or both.
[0049] At step 414, the first information, the second information, the third information, the fourth information, the fifth information, and the images may be processed using a processing unit 414, to detect intrusion of the perimeter.
[0050] It has thus been seen that the method for detecting intrusion of a perimeter according to the present invention achieves the purposes highlighted earlier. The method in any case could undergo numerous modifications and variants, all of which are covered by the same innovative concept; moreover, all of the details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements. In practice, the sensors used, as well as the numbers, shapes, and sizes of the sensors can be whatever according to the technical requirements. The scope of protection of the invention is therefore defined by the attached claims.

CLAIMS
What is claimed is:
1. A method for detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising:
collecting a first information using a pair of active Infrared (IR) sensors (102) integrated with sister IR sensors (116), wherein the sister IR sensors (116) are used for reducing noise affecting the active IR sensors (102);
collecting a second information using bistatic microwave sensors (104) with three independent lobes;
collecting a third information using passive IR and Doppler sensors (106); and
processing, using a processing unit (114), the first information, the second information, and the third information to detect intrusion of the perimeter.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting a fourth information using seismic sensors (108) positioned beneath earth’s surface.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the seismic sensors (108) are present in a rhombic grid designed to cover direction of motion of an object.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting a fifth information using at least one taut wire sensor (110).
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one taut wire sensor (110) comprises a high tensile wire used for fencing the perimeter and a vibration sensor connected with the high tensile wire to determine a physical contact with the fencing.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting, using a camera (112), images around the perimeter.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising modulating each IR beam with a dual modulation having a unique signature known to the sister IR sensors (116).
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing channel estimation indications because of Environmental Conditions calculated with an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) loop.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the pair of active Infrared (IR) sensors (102) integrated with the sister IR sensors (116) is configured to determine Signal Strength and Signal Quality as Block Error Rate (BLER) from a received signal.
10. A system of detecting intrusion of a perimeter using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising:
a pair of active Infrared (IR) sensors (102) integrated with sister IR sensors (116) for collecting a first information, wherein the sister IR sensors (116) are used for reducing noise affecting the active IR sensors (102);
bistatic microwave sensors (104) for collecting a second information, wherein the bistatic microwave sensors(104) create three independent lobes;
passive IR and Doppler sensors (106) for collecting a third information; and
a processing unit (114) for processing the first information, the second information, and the third information to detect intrusion of the perimeter.
11. The system of claim 10, further comprising seismic sensors (108) for collecting a fourth information, wherein the seismic sensors (108) are positioned beneath earth’s surface.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the seismic sensors (108) are present in a rhombic grid designed to cover direction of motion of an object.
13. The system of claim 10, further comprising at least one taut wire sensor (110) for collecting a fifth information.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one taut wire sensor (110) comprises a high tensile wire used for fencing the perimeter and a vibration sensor connected with the high tensile wire to determine a physical contact with the fencing.
15. The system of claim 10, further comprising a camera (112) for collecting images around the perimeter.
16. The system of claim 10, wherein each IR beam is modulated with a dual modulation having a unique signature known to the sister IR sensors (116).
17. The system of claim 10, wherein an alarm is triggered when an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) controlled beam power dips below the Channel Estimation level.
18. The system of claim 10, wherein the pair of active Infrared (IR) sensors integrated with the sister IR sensors (116) is configured to determine Signal Strength, Signal Quality - Block Error Rate (BLER) from a received signal.