Vehicle surveillance and communication system
AssigneeDatachassi DC AB
InventorsTorbjörn Birging, Werner Hilliges
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle surveillance system has a plurality of side-light units mounted on opposite sides of a truck, bus, train or a similar long vehicle. The side-light units form an RF communication network on the vehicle. Each side-light unit comprises a day-running light source, a sensor for defining a surveillance zone on the side of said vehicle, said the sensor being arranged to detect an object or a movement of an object within the surveillance zone, and an RF transmitter which is controlled by said sensor and arranged to transmit an RF detection signal from said side-light unit. Existing day-running side-light units of a vehicle may be replaced with the inventive vehicle day-running side-light units.
Claims37
A vehicle day-running side-light unit for use in a vehicle surveillance system comprising a plurality of vehicle day-running side-light units mounted on opposite sides of a vehicle, the side-light unit comprising:
- a day-running light source;
- a sensor configured to define a surveillance zone on a side of the vehicle, the sensor further configured to detect an object or a movement of an object within the surveillance zone;
- a radio frequency (RF) transmitter controlled by the sensor and configured to transmit an RF detection signal from the side-light unit:
- and
- an RF receiver configured to receive an incoming RF signal from a second side-light unit in the system, wherein the RF transmitter is further configured to transmit an RF signal in response to the received incoming RF signal.
A vehicle surveillance system comprising a plurality of side-light units mounted on opposite sides of a vehicle, wherein each side-light unit comprises:
- a day-running light source;
- a sensor configured to define a surveillance zone on a side of the vehicle, the sensor further configured to detect an object or a movement of an object within the surveillance zone;
- and
- an RF transmitter controlled by the sensor and arranged configured to transmit an RF detection signal from the side-light unit;
- wherein at least one of the side-light units in the system further comprises an RF receiver configured to receive an incoming RF signal from a second side-light unit in the system and wherein the RF transmitter is further configured to transmit an RF signal in response to the received incoming RF signal;
- and
- wherein the plurality of side-light units form an RF communication network on the vehicle.
A wireless communication system comprising a plurality of vehicle day-running side-light units mounted on opposite sides of a vehicle, wherein each side-light unit comprises:
- a day-running light source;
- an RF transmitter configured to transmit RF signals;
- and
- an RF receiver configured to receive RF signals;
- wherein at least one of the side-light units is configured to transmit an RF signal in response to receiving an incoming RF signal from another side-light unit in the system;
- and
- wherein the plurality of side-light units form a wireless RF communication network on the vehicle.
A method of using vehicle day-running side-light units for providing a wireless communication network on a vehicle, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of day-running side-light units on opposite sides of the vehicle, each side-light unit comprising:
- a light source;
- an RF receiver configured to receive an incoming RF signal from a second side-light unit in the network;
- and
- an RF transmitter configured to transmit an RF signal in response to a received incoming RF signal from the second side-light unit in the network.
A method of providing a vehicle having a plurality of existing day-running side-lights with a surveillance system, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of surveillance day-running side-light units, each surveillance day-running side-light unit comprising:
- a day-running light source;
- a sensor configured to define a surveillance zone on a side of the vehicle, the sensor further configured to detect an object or a movement of an object within the surveillance zone;
- and
- an RF transmitter controlled by the sensor and configured to transmit an RF detection signal from the surveillance side-light unit;
- and
- replacing the plurality of existing day-running side-light units of the vehicle with the plurality of surveillance day-running side-light units.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.