US 2019/0162812 A1Published application

System and method for determining the source location of a firearm discharge

AssigneeMesa Engineering, Inc.

InventorDavid Gregory SLOAN

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Abstract

A system for determining a source location of a firearm discharge includes a plurality of monitoring stations and a central processing system. Each of the monitoring stations determines a time value of identification of a firearm discharge signature and transmits the time value. The central processing system 1) receives the time value from each of the monitoring stations; 2) determines, based on the time values, a geographic area that includes the source location of the firearm discharge; 3) determines a time of acoustic propagation from each of a plurality of randomly selected locations within the geographic area to each of the monitoring stations; 4) identifies the source location of the firearm discharge as the selected location for which difference in the time of acoustic propagation to each of the monitoring stations is closest to difference in the time values received from each of the monitoring stations.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system for determining a source location of a firearm discharge, comprising:

a plurality of monitoring stations, each of the monitoring stations comprising:
a plurality of acoustic sensors;
processing circuitry coupled to the acoustic sensors, the processing circuitry configured to:
monitor output signal of the acoustic sensors;
and
identify in the output signal of each of the acoustic signals a signature indicative of a firearm discharge;
timing circuitry configured to:
generate a clock signal that is synchronized to an external timing reference;
and
apply the clock signal to determine a time value of identification of the signature indicative of the firearm discharge for each of the acoustic sensors;
and
communication circuitry configured to transmit the time value for each of the acoustic sensors;
a central processing system communicatively coupled to the monitoring stations, the central processing system comprising:
communication circuitry configured to receive the time value for each of the acoustic sensors of each of the monitoring stations;
and
processing circuitry configured to:
determine, based on the time values of the acoustic sensors of the monitoring stations, a geographic area that includes the source location of the firearm discharge;
determine a time of acoustic propagation from each of a plurality of randomly selected locations within the geographic area to each of the monitoring stations;
and
identify the source location of the firearm discharge as one of the selected locations within the geographic area for which a difference in time of acoustic propagation to each of the monitoring stations is closest to a difference of the time values received from the monitoring stations.

17 more elements

A method for determining a source location of a firearm discharge, comprising:

identifying, by each of a plurality of remote monitoring stations, a signature indicative of the firearm discharge in an output signal of each of a plurality of acoustic sensors;
determining, by each of the plurality of remote monitoring stations, a time value of a reference timing system at which identification of the signature indicative of the firearm discharge occurred for each of the acoustic sensors;
communicating, by each of the plurality of remote monitoring stations, the time values to a central processor;
determining, by the central processor, based on the time value of each of the acoustic sensors of the monitoring stations, a geographic area that includes the source location of the firearm discharge;
determining, by the central processor, a time of acoustic propagation from each of a plurality of randomly selected locations within the geographic area to each of the monitoring stations;
and
identifying, by the central processor, the source location of the firearm discharge as one of the selected locations within the geographic area for which a difference in the time of acoustic propagation to each of the monitoring stations is closest to a difference in the time values received from the monitoring stations.

4 more elements

A processing system for determining a source location of a firearm discharge, comprising:

communication circuitry configured to:
communicate with a plurality of monitoring stations, wherein each of the monitoring stations comprises a plurality of acoustic sensors;
and
receive a time value for each of the acoustic sensors of each of the monitoring stations, wherein the time value represents a time at which a firearm discharge is detected via the acoustic sensor;
and
processing circuitry configured to:
determine, for each of the monitoring stations, based on the time value of each of the acoustic sensors of monitoring station, a direction from the monitoring station to a potential source location of the firearm discharge;
and
select a geographic area that includes the source location of the firearm discharge based on the direction from the monitoring station to the potential source location of the firearm discharge;
determine a time of acoustic propagation from each of a plurality of randomly selected locations within the geographic area to each of the monitoring stations;
determine for each of the randomly selected locations a composite difference value representing a difference of:
a difference in the time values received from each of the monitoring stations and a difference in the time of acoustic propagation to each of the monitoring stations;
and
identify the source location of the firearm discharge as a smallest of the composite difference values.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/827,769Filed 30 Nov 2017
Published: 30 May 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

G01S 3/8083
Using transducers spaced apart and measuring phase or time difference between signals therefrom, i.e. path-difference systems: determining…
G01S 5/18
Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance…:…
G01S 5/22
Using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves: position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by…
G08B 13/1672
Using passive vibration detection systems: using sonic detecting means, e.g. a microphone operating in the audio frequency range