Binh T Bui

57989834, Aug 25, 1998

May 22, 1997

8/861901

John Patrick Kuhn - Woodbridge VA
Binh C Bui - Burke VA
Gregory J Pieper - Arnold MD

H04B 1100

367135

A novel multi-lane traffic monitoring system is based on detecting the acoustic signals motor vehicles create and radiate during operation. The system comprises an array of electro-acoustic sensors for converting impinging acoustic wavefronts to analog electrical signals; a circuit to acquire, perform signal frequency component discrimination, and digitize the electrical signals at the electro-acoustic sensor array output; a circuit to perform effective spatial discrimination in the up/down road direction and in the cross-road direction in real time; a circuit to perform vehicle detection for individual lanes and to estimate or measure pertinent parameters associated with each vehicle detection from each traveled lane; and a circuit to compute for each lane, pertinent traffic flow parameters from vehicle parameters for the purpose of providing a transportation system interface. In accordance with another embodiment, a circuit is provided to automatically scan for acoustic sources in the cross-road direction and to automatically identify each highway lane direction relative to the physical electro-acoustic sensor array orientation. In accordance with still another embodiment, a circuit is provided via signal frequency component discrimination and signal processing to create, from a single physical sensor, two vehicle detection zones within each highway lane, wherein a smaller detection zone is located inside a larger detection zone.