Access control system with curtain antenna system
Directional antenna capabilities are leveraged to set up “invisible walls” or borders within buildings, for example. This can be used to protect any delineated area or zone in a building or other regions. The individuals carry beacon devices such as dedicated fobs or personal mobile computing devices. The access control system using directional antennas can then determine when they cross a border, such as move into (or out of) the area of interest. When that breach is detected, security policies can be followed or some other action can take place. In other examples, the approach can be used for “people counting” within a designated area or track the movements of people. Image analysis capabilities can be further added. For example, image data can be captured by surveillance cameras of the border or regions around the border or area within the building. Then, when the border or invisible wall is breached, image analysis can also be used to determine when individuals are not carrying beacon devices and when those individuals breach or cross the borders.
1. A security method, comprising:
tracking individuals using an omnidirectional antenna by detecting emissions from beacon devices carried by individuals;
detecting the emissions from the beacon devices carried by the individuals for a region with a directional antenna, the region being divided into zones, wherein the directional antenna comprises a series of antenna elements in a ceiling and extending in the direction of a border with an aperture of the antenna being directed toward a floor and defining a curtain running along the border and dividing the zones, each antenna element detecting Bluetooth low energy radio frequency emissions over a segment of the border;
analyzing image data of the region and identifying individuals from the analysis of the image data using facial recognition and determining whether individuals are carrying beacon devices;
confirming whether the individuals are authorized to cross the border by reference to a verification database, wherein facial recognition information determined from the image data is used by an access controller to confirm that the individuals possessing the beacon devices are proper users and whether the users are holding beacon devices; and
the access controller further comparing information from the analysis of the image data to determine compliance with business rules and security policies and creating security events.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising tracking occupants within the secured area and creating the security events when individuals enter an area around the border.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising tracking occupants within the secured area by analyzing image from the secured area and creating security events when individuals enter an area around the border.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the directional antenna comprises patch antennas having conductive strips mounted above a ground plan, the strips running in a direction of the border.