Granted Patent B2

US 10,871,571 · App. 16/672,417 · Granted Dec 22, 2020

Inventor: Tiejun Shan (Plano, TX)

Assignee: THE EUCLIDE 2012 INVESTMENT TRUST

G01S19/12H04W4/44H04W84/18

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. A method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method comprises the steps of:

(A) providing a plurality of cellular stations, wherein the plurality of cellular stations is distributed along at least one road and is communicably coupled to each other, and wherein a plurality of vehicle profiles and a plurality of road hazards are stored on each cellular station, and wherein at least one vehicle is driving along the road;

(B) receiving a pilot signal from the vehicle with an arbitrary station, wherein the arbitrary station is any station from the plurality of cellular stations;

(C) comparing the pilot signal to each vehicle profile with the arbitrary station in order to identify a matching profile from the plurality of vehicle profiles;

(D) receiving spatial positioning data for the vehicle with the arbitrary station;

(E) relaying the vehicle profile and the spatial positioning data from the arbitrary station to at least one proximal station from the plurality of cellular stations, wherein the proximal station is geospatially closer to the arbitrary station than remaining stations from the plurality of cellular stations;

(F) executing a plurality of iterations for step (B) through (E), wherein the proximal station for a previous iteration from the plurality of iterations is the arbitrary station for a current iteration from the plurality of iterations;

(G) compiling the spatial positioning data from each iteration into a predicted path for the vehicle with the cellular stations; and,

(H) sending a warning notification from the arbitrary station of the current iteration to the vehicle, when the predicted path is intersected by at least one hazard from the plurality of road hazards.

2. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each cellular station is a picocell station.

3. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each cellular station is a node within a cellular communication network.

4. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each cellular station is a node within a local communication network.

5. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 comprises the step of:

terminating each iteration after the vehicle moves from a detection range of the arbitrary station into a detection range of the proximal station during step (F).

6. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a detection range of each cellular station ranges from 100 meters to 500 meters.

7. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 comprises the steps of:

providing a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna for each cellular station;

outputting and receiving a signature beam with the MIMO antenna of the arbitrary station;

extracting a direction of arrival (DoA) estimation and a time-delay estimation from the signature beam with the arbitrary station; and,

deriving the spatial positioning data from a combination of the DoA estimation and the time-delay estimation with the arbitrary station during step (D).

8. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 7 comprises the step of:

tracking operational data with the MIMO antenna of the arbitrary station for each iteration;

comparing the operational data for each iteration among each other with the arbitrary station in order to identify at least one shared identifier amongst the operational data for each iteration; and,

configuring the signature beam of the arbitrary station in accordance to the shared identifier.

9. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 comprises the steps of:

providing the at least one vehicle as a first vehicle and a second vehicle;

executing the plurality of iterations with the first vehicle in order to compile the predicted path of the first vehicle;

executing the plurality of iterations with the second vehicle in order to compile the predicted path of the second vehicle; and,

sending a collision notification to the first vehicle and the second vehicle, if when the predicted path of the first vehicle and the predicted path of the second vehicle intersect each other.

10. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 comprises the steps of:

providing the road with a plurality of lane locations stored on each cellular station;

comparing the spatial positioning data to each lane location with the arbitrary station in order to identify a matching lane location for the vehicle, wherein the matching lane location is from the plurality of lane locations; and,

further relaying the matching lane location from the arbitrary station to the proximal station during step (E).

11. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 comprises the steps of:

deriving a speed of the vehicle from the spatial positioning data with the arbitrary station; and,

further relaying the speed of the vehicle from the arbitrary station to the proximal station during step (E).

12. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one specific station from the plurality of cellular stations is located adjacent to at least one specific hazard from the plurality of road hazards.

13. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 1 comprises the steps of:

providing the vehicle with a global positioning system (GPS) device;

tracking a geospatial location with the GPS device of the vehicle;

appending the geospatial location into the pilot signal of the vehicle; and,

comparing the geospatial location to the spatial positioning data with the arbitrary station in order to verify the spatial positioning data with the geospatial location.

14. The method of vehicle-tracking and localization with a distributed sensor network, the method as claimed in claim 13 comprises the steps of:

providing the at least one vehicle as a plurality of vehicles, wherein each vehicle includes a display;

broadcasting the geospatial location of each vehicle to the plurality of vehicles with the plurality of cellular stations; and,

graphically outputting a map with the geospatial location of each vehicle with the display of each vehicle.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (17)