Systems and methods for noninvasive detection of impermissible objects using personal equipment
A system comprises a personal device such as one used by law enforcement, and a housing containing a portable radar system with both a ranging resolution and lateral resolution sufficient to detect an object concealed on a person (e.g., one that operates in the THz range), where the housing is configured to be mounted in contact with the personal device such that when mounted, the combined handheld device and housing have a form factor that allows it to retain its characteristic as a personal device, and where the portable radar system is configured to, when in operation, emit a radar beam and to receive a reflection of the emitted radar beam.
1 . A system comprising:
a housing containing a portable radar system configured to detect, when in use, the existence of an object concealed by clothing, the portable radar system including a coherent radar on a single chip, the coherent radar comprising a transmitter, the transmitter including:
a ramp generator electrically coupled to, and configured to provide a voltage signal to, a wide band voltage controlled oscillator;
a directional coupler electrically coupled to the wide band voltage controlled oscillator; and
a phased-array antenna electrically coupled to the directional coupler and configured to transmit high-frequency signals in a range of operation between 0.1 and 1 terahertz with a center frequency exceeding approximately 200GHz;
the portable radar system configured to, when in operation, emit a radar beam and to receive a reflection of the emitted radar beam.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a personal device that is at least one of a handheld device or a worn device, wherein the housing is configured to be mounted in contact with the personal device.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the housing further contains circuitry to determine whether the object is an impermissible object; and
circuitry to place the system in standby mode.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the personal device comprises one of a firearm, a two-way radio, clothing, or a body worn camera.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the portable radar system includes processing components configured to process instructions to perform at least one of the following set of functions: alert a user to the detection of an object, alert the user to the result of a match between a detected object and an object stored in a database, render an image, display an image, initiate a scan, or process the results of the scan.
6 . The system of claim 5 , further comprising a display panel in communication with the circuitry and configured to display at least one of text or image representing the results of the scan.
7 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the personal device includes a firearm, and the housing includes a radar coupling portion configured to couple to a firearm mount such that the radar system is oriented to scan a person in the direction that the firearm barrel is pointed.
8 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the circuitry is a first circuitry, and further comprising a second circuitry to facilitate communication between the personal device and the portable radar system.
9 . A system comprising:
a housing containing a portable radar system on a chip, the portable radar system on a chip configured to detect, when in use, the existence of a device concealed by clothing, and further configured to provide, when in use, sub millimeter lateral resolution, the portable radar system on a chip comprising a transmitter, the transmitter including:
a ramp generator electrically coupled to, and configured to provide a voltage signal to, a wide band voltage controlled oscillator;
a directional coupler electrically coupled to the wide band voltage controlled oscillator; and
a phased-array antenna electrically coupled to the directional coupler and configured to transmit high-frequency signals in a range of operation between approximately 0.1 terahertz and 1 terahertz;
the housing configured to be mounted in contact with a personal device.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the personal device includes one of a firearm, a two-way radio, clothing, or a body worn camera.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the portable radar system -on a chip includes processing components configured to process instructions to perform at least one of the following set of functions: alert a user to the detection of an object, alert the user to the result of a match between a detected object and an object stored in a database, render an image, display an image, initiate a scan, or process the results of the scan.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the housing includes within it the portable radar system and also the personal device.
13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the personal device is contained in a first housing, and the portable radar system is contained within a second housing that is not the first housing, and that is configured to be rigidly connected to the first housing.
14 . The system of claim 13 , where the second housing is configured to be detachable from the first housing.
15 . The system of claim 11 , where the portable radar system is configured to be operated as a standalone device independent of the personal device.
16 . The system of claim 11 , where the personal device and the portable radar system include circuitry to communicate with each other.
17 . A system comprising:
a housing containing a portable radar system on a chip, the portable radar system on a chip configured to detect, when in use, the existence of a device concealed by clothing, the portable radar system on a chip comprising a transmitter, the transmitter including:
a ramp generator electrically coupled to, and configured to provide a voltage signal to, a wide band voltage controlled oscillator;
a directional coupler electrically coupled to the wide band voltage controlled oscillator; and
a phased-array antenna electrically coupled to the directional coupler and configured to transmit high-frequency signals in a range of operation between approximately. 1 terahertz and 1 terahertz;
the housing including circuitry to determine, based on the results of the scan, if an impermissible object is present on the person;
the circuitry further configured to alert a user when an impermissible object is present on the person, wherein
the housing is configured to be mounted via firearm mount.
18 . The system of claim 17 , further comprising a control panel to control the use of the portable radar system on a chip.