PASS-Tracker: apparatus and method for identifying and locating distressed firefighters

摘要

According to one aspect of the invention, the PASS-Tracker is a hand-held device that improves the ability of a rescuer to quickly locate a distressed firefighter by two processes: (1) detecting and recognizing the acoustic alarm sound from a PASS device in Alarm Mode, and (2) providing an indication to rescue personnel of the shortest path to the victim. The invention does not require a pre-installed infrastructure in a particular building; rather the device can be used in an ad hoc fashion at any fire scene. The PASS-Tracker utilizes a plurality of small microphones to detect the acoustic signal from the PASS device. Internal electronics in the PASS-Tracker measure the time-of-arrival (TOA) of the leading edge of the acoustic wave at each microphone and calculate and display the angle-of-arrival (AOA) of the wave.

主权项

1. An apparatus for detecting a presence of a sound of an acoustic device, the apparatus comprising:
a. at least one sensor, capable of receiving the sound of the acoustic device and converting the sound to an electrical signal; b. a signal processor capable of identifying the particular sound pattern of the acoustic device; and c. an indicium of the detection of the acoustic device; wherein the signal processor performs the mathematical function of cross-correlation between two inputs, the first input being the electrical signal from the sensor, and the second input being a pre-determined reference pattern of the particular sound pattern of the acoustic device; and wherein the sound pattern of the acoustic device is based on a swept-frequency technique selected from the group consisting of: a linear frequency modulation chirp, a non-linear frequency modulation chirp, a linear period modulation chirp, a discrete linear period modulation chirp, and a nonlinear period modulation chirp.