Methods and apparatus for detecting threats in different areas

A system for detecting a threat located in one of a plurality of areas corresponding to different locations, the system comprising:

• a transmitter that transmits radar signals in the direction of said plurality of areas;
• a detector which detects a reflected portion of the signals, the detector measuring the energy in the detected reflected portion of the signals corresponding to each area, to generate a detected energy measurement for each particular one of said areas;
• means for modifying the detected energy measurements corresponding to some areas by a distance factor corresponding to the distance the area is from the transmitter to generate a modified measured detected energy value for each of said some areas;
• means for generating a threat reference threshold as a function of at least some of the modified measured detected energy values;
• and
• a comparator for comparing at least some of the modified detected energy measurements to said threat reference threshold to identify areas of possible threats indicated by the modified detected energy measurement of an area exceeding said threat reference threshold.

A method for facilitating detection of a threat, the method comprising:

• i) operating a transmitter to transmit signals in the direction of a plurality of cells to pan a scene corresponding to said plurality of cells;
• ii) operating a receiver to detect reflected signals during an analysis period received from said plurality of cells, at least some of said cells being at different distances from the receiver;
• and
• iii) determining a threat reference threshold for the analysis period as a function of the reflected signals detected during the analysis period, said step of determining a threat threshold including:
• measuring detected reflected signals corresponding to at least some of said plurality of said cells to generate a measured signal value for each particular one of said at least some cells;
• modifying the measured signal values corresponding to some particular ones of said at least some cells by a distance factor corresponding to the distance the particular one of the cells is from the receiver to generate a modified measured signal value for each of said some particular ones of said cells;
• and
• generating the threat reference threshold as a function of at least some of the modified measured signal values.