Vehicular traffic sensor

An above-ground traffic sensor for detecting vehicles traveling on a roadway, the traffic sensor comprising:

• a radio frequency circuit board including:
• a transmit portion that includes:
• a digitally generated modulated signal generator that digitally generates a signal that is transmitted by a transmitter towards vehicles traveling on a roadway;
• and
• a receiver portion that detects a reflected signal from the vehicles traveling on the roadway and that generates a data signal that represents traffic data from the reflected signal.

A radar-based vehicular traffic sensor, comprising:

• a digital signal generator that digitally generates a modulated electromagnetic signal;
• transmitter electronic components for transmitting the modulated electromagnetic signal at a vehicle on a roadway;
• receiver electronic components for receiving the modulated electromagnetic signal reflected from the vehicle on the roadway;
• and
• at least one planar loop series-fed array antenna for transmission and/or reception of said modulated electromagnetic signal, wherein each at least one planar loop series-fed array antenna includes a plurality of loops, each loop having a height that is different from other loops in the plurality of loops.

A sensor for monitoring vehicles on a roadway, the sensor comprising:

• a transmit portion comprising:
• a digital signal generator that digitally generates a modulated signal;
• and
• a transmit antenna for transmitting the modulated signal towards vehicles on a roadway;
• a received portion comprising:
• a receive antenna for receiving reflections of the modulated signal from vehicles on the roadway, wherein the reflections of the modulated signal are processed to produce traffic data representing the vehicles on the roadway.

An above-ground traffic sensor for detecting vehicles traveling on a roadway, the traffic sensor comprising:

• a radio frequency circuit board comprising:
• a transmit portion that includes:
• a digitally generated modulated signal generator that digitally generates and digitally modulates a signal that is transmitted by a transmitter towards vehicles traveling on a roadway;
• a single receive portion that detects reflections of the signal from the vehicles traveling on the roadway and that generates, with a digital circuit that is integrated within the single receive portion, a data signal that represents traffic data from the reflected signal;
• and
• wherein the traffic data is generated by the digital circuit that processes the reflections of the signal detected by the single receive portion to generate the traffic data about substantially all vehicles on the roadway on a lane-by-lane basis with respect to at least two different lanes on a fixed portion of the roadway and wherein the traffic data is used in traffic control at a controlled signalized intersection.

An above-ground traffic sensor for monitoring vehicles on a roadway, the sensor comprising:

• a transmit portion comprising:
• a digital signal generator that digitally generates a modulated signal;
• and
• a transmit antenna for transmitting the modulated signal towards vehicles on a roadway;
• a receive portion comprising:
• a receive antenna for receiving reflections of the modulated signal from the vehicles on the roadway, wherein the reflections of the modulated signal are processed to produce traffic data representing the vehicles on the roadway;
• and
• wherein a digital circuit processes the reflections of the modulated signal to generate the traffic data such that the traffic data includes information separately identifying at least two vehicles that are traveling in adjacent lanes.

An above-ground traffic sensor for detecting vehicles traveling on a fixed portion of a roadway, the traffic sensor comprising:

• a radio frequency circuit board comprising:
• a transmit portion that includes:
• a digitally generated modulated signal generator that digitally generates a signal that is transmitted by a transmitter towards vehicles traveling on the fixed portion of the roadway;
• a receive portion that detects reflections of the signal from the vehicles traveling on the fixed portion of the roadway and a digital circuit that processes the reflected signals and generates a data signal that represents traffic data from the reflected signal,
• wherein the traffic data represents information about vehicles on a lane-by-lane basis with respect to at least two different, dynamically-defined lanes on the fixed portion of the roadway.