Granted Patent B2

US 12,745,191 · App. 18/614,413 · Granted Sep 22, 2026

Inventors: Matthew Anthony Schipani (Vienna, VA); Thomas Walter Ferguson (Mechanicsburg, PA); Dipesh Ghanshyam Patel (Warrington, PA); Steven Baier-Anderson (Lothian, MD)

Assignee: Waterford Consultants, LLC

H04W52/30G08B21/02H04N7/188H04N23/611

Abstract

Claims (65)

1 . A method for mitigating RF radiation exposure in an area of concern proximate to an RF radiation source, the method comprising:

operatively connecting one or more sensors to a processor of a control unit;

operatively connecting the processor to a relay disposed on an electrical path between an electrical input and an electrical output of a relay unit disposed remotely from the control unit, the relay unit comprising a communication interface operatively connected to the relay, the relay configured to selectively connect or disconnect the electrical input and the electrical output through the electrical path under control of the processor;

operatively connecting the communication interface of the relay unit to a communication interface of the control unit;

operatively connecting the electrical input to a power supply for the RF radiation source;

operatively connecting the processor to an RF monitoring system configured to monitor a power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or RF radiation exposure to an object within the area of concern;

operatively connecting the electrical output to the RF radiation source;

detecting, via the one or more sensors, that an object has entered the area of concern;

in response to detecting that the object has entered the area of concern, monitoring, via the RF monitoring system, the power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern;

determining, via the processor, that the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeds a predetermined threshold;

in response to the determining, transmitting a command from the control unit to the relay unit via the communication interfaces to open the relay, thereby physically disconnecting the electrical path between the power supply and the RF radiation source to temporarily interrupt power to the RF radiation source; and

closing the relay, via the processor, to restore the power to the RF radiation source at least in response to the one or more sensors detecting that the object has exited the area of concern.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting that the object has entered the area of concern comprises detecting that the object has entered a region proximate to the RF radiation source where a power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeds a predetermined threshold when the RF radiation source is in operation.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting that the object has entered the area of concern includes determining by an artificial intelligence (AI) camera that the object is a human.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting that the object has entered the area of concern includes:

capturing one or more images via a camera;

transmitting the one or more images captured by the camera via a network to a machine learning system configured to distinguish humans from other types of objects; and

receiving an indication from the machine learning system whether the object is a human.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein transmitting the one or more images captured by the camera via the network to the machine learning system includes transmitting the one or more images to a trained neural network.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting that the object has entered the area of concern includes that the object has entered the area of concern using at least one of a proximity sensor, a motion detector, a barrier tip/lift sensor, or a photoelectric beam sensor.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface of the control unit and the communication interface of the relay unit are wireless interfaces.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the RF monitoring system is configured to monitor the RF radiation exposure to the object based, at least in part, on an amount of time that the object is within the area of concern, and wherein opening the relay to temporarily interrupt the power to the RF radiation source includes opening the relay at least in response to the RF radiation exposure to the object exceeding the predetermined threshold.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing, in a memory, a log of each detected entry of each object into the area of concern.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein storing the log of each detected entry of each object into the area of concern comprises storing, in the log, at least one of a date of entry, a time of entry, a date of exit, a time of exit, and the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern as determined by the RF monitoring system.

11 . The method of claim 9 , the method further comprising:

capturing an image or video of the object; and

storing the image or the video in the log.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying a warning sign at least in response to the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeding the predetermined threshold when the one or more sensors detect that the object has entered the area of concern.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein displaying the warning sign includes displaying the warning sign using a sign projector configured for projecting the warning sign onto a surface in or proximate to the area of concern.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein projecting the warning sign includes projecting an indication of a time remaining to maximum permissible exposure (MPE) for the object.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising emitting an audible warning at least in response to the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeding the predetermined threshold when the one or more sensors detect that the object has entered the area of concern.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying a color-coded RF alert light at least in response to the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeding the predetermined threshold.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending an electronic alert at least in response to the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeding the predetermined threshold when the one or more sensors detect that the object has entered the area of concern.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein sending the electronic alert includes sending one or more of an email, a text message, or a push notification.

19 . A method for mitigating RF radiation exposure in an area of concern proximate to an RF radiation source, the method comprising:

operatively connecting one or more sensors to a processor of a control unit;

operatively connecting the processor to a relay disposed on an electrical path between an electrical input and an electrical output of a relay unit disposed remotely from the control unit, the relay unit comprising a communication interface operatively connected to the relay, the relay configured to selectively connect or disconnect the electrical input and the electrical output through the electrical path under control of the processor;

operatively connecting the communication interface of the relay unit to a communication interface of the control unit;

operatively connecting the electrical input to a power supply for the RF radiation source;

operatively connecting the electrical output to the RF radiation source;

operatively connecting the processor to an RF monitoring system configured to monitor a power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or RF radiation exposure to an object within the area of concern;

detecting, by the one or more sensors, that an object has entered or exited the area of concern proximate to the RF radiation source;

in response to detecting that the object has entered the area of concern, monitoring, via the RF monitoring system, the power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern;

determining, via the processor, that the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeds a predetermined threshold;

in response to the determining, transmitting a command from the control unit to the relay unit via the communication interfaces to open the relay, thereby physically disconnecting the electrical path between the power supply and the RF radiation source to temporarily interrupt power to the RF radiation source;

logging, within a memory, one or both of the object entering or exiting the area of concern; and

generating at least one of an audible warning or a visual warning to the object that has entered the area of concern.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising sending an electronic alert to a remote server that the object has exited or entered the area of concern.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the electronic alert includes one or more of an email, a text message, or a push notification.

22 . The method of claim 19 , wherein logging comprises logging at least one of a date of entry, a time of entry, a date of exit, and a time of exit.

23 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

capturing an image or a video of the object; and

logging the image or the video within the memory.

24 . The method of claim 19 , wherein generating the visual warning includes projecting a warning sign by a sign projector onto a surface in or proximate to the area of concern.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein projecting the warning sign comprises projecting an indication of a time remaining to a maximum permissible exposure (MPE) for the object.

26 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for mitigating RF radiation exposure in an area of concern proximate to an RF radiation source, wherein one or more sensors are operatively connected to a processor of a control unit, wherein the one or more processors are operatively connected to to a relay disposed on an electrical path between an electrical input and an electrical output of a relay unit disposed remotely from the control unit, wherein the relay unit includes a communication interface operatively connected to the relay, wherein the relay is configured to selectively connect or disconnect the electrical input and the electrical output through the electrical path under control of the processor, wherein the communication interface of the relay unit is operatively connected to a communication interface of the control unit, wherein the electrical input is operatively connected to a power supply for the RF radiation source, wherein the electrical output is operatively connected to the RF radiation source, and wherein the one or more processors are operative connected to an RF monitoring system configured to monitor a power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or RF radiation exposure to an object within the area of concern, the method comprising:

detecting, by one or more sensors, that an object has entered or exited the area of concern proximate to the RF radiation source;

in response to detecting that the object has entered the area of concern, monitoring, via the RF monitoring system, the power density of RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern;

determining, via the processor, that the power density of the RF radiation within the area of concern or the RF radiation exposure to the object within the area of concern exceeds a predetermined threshold;

in response to the determining, transmitting a command from the control unit to the relay unit via the communication interfaces to open the relay, thereby physically disconnecting the electrical path between the power supply and the RF radiation source to temporarily interrupt power to the RF radiation source; and

closing the relay, via the processor, to restore the power to the RF radiation source at least in response to the one or more sensors detecting that the object has exited the area of concern.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (48)