Systems, Methods, and Devices for Utilizing Radar with Smart Devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017328997-A1
Application number	US-201715590976-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 9, 2017
Priority date	May 13, 2016
Publication date	Nov 16, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

The various implementations described herein include methods, devices, and systems for utilizing radar in smart devices. In one aspect, an electronic device includes: (1) circuit boards; (2) a housing encasing the circuit boards; (3) a communications module coupled to the circuit boards, including one or more antennas and configured for communicating with remote devices; (4) a radar module coupled to the circuit boards, configured for generating radar data for a home environment and including: (a) low power radar transmitters; and (b) radar receivers; (5) one or more processors mounted to one of the circuit boards, the processors configured to: (a) govern operation of the communications module and the radar module; (b) determine location and/or movement of detected objects in the home environment; and (c) detect anomalies associated with the detected objects; and (6) a power source coupled to the processors, the communications module, and the radar module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device, comprising:
one or more circuit boards; a housing encasing the one or more circuit boards; a communications module coupled to the one or more circuit boards, the communications module including one or more antennas and configured for communicating with one or more remote devices; a radar module coupled to the one or more circuit boards, the radar module configured for generating radar data for a home environment and including:
one or more low power radar transmitters; and
one or more radar receivers;
one or more processors mounted to one of the one or more circuit boards, the one or more processors configured to:
govern operation of the communications module and the radar module;
determine location and/or movement of detected objects in the home environment by analyzing the radar data; and
detect anomalies associated with the detected objects based at least in part on the determined location and/or movement of the detected objects; and
a power source coupled to the one or more processors, the communications module, and the radar module.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the radar module is positioned so as to have a field of view through a front surface of the housing.

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more low power radar transmitters are configured to transmit a radio chirp;
wherein the one or more radar receivers are configured to receive radar waves corresponding to the radio chirp; and wherein analyzing the radar data comprises analyzing the received radar waves.

4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the radar module is configured to operate with a constrained detection range, less than the full detection range of the radar module.

5 . The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the constrained detection range corresponds to a perimeter of the home environment.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communications module is configured to communicate wirelessly with one or more remote devices.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more low power radar transmitters and the one or more radar receivers are mounted on one of the one or more circuit boards.

8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate a notification in response to detecting an anomaly.

9 . The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein generating a notification comprises sending an alert to a personal device of an occupant of the home environment.

10 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine occupancy of at least a portion of the home environment based at least in part on the radar data.

11 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to recognize occupants of the home environment based at least in part on the radar data.

12 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communications module is further configured to receive radar data from one or more remote device; and
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to detect anomalies in the home environment based on the generated radar data and the received radar data.

13 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device includes one or more environmental sensors, the one or more environmental sensors configured to generate environmental data for the home environment; and
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to detect anomalies in the home environment based on the generated radar data and the generated environmental data.

14 . The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more environmental sensors includes one or more of:
an ambient light sensor; a humidity sensor; a temperature sensor; a motion sensor; an optical sensor; an audio sensor; and a smoke detector.

15 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is further configured to track a location and/or movement of one or more electronic tags within the home environment.

16 . The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the electronic device is further configured to adjust one or more smart home settings at a smart home controller based on the location and/or movement of the one or more electronic tags.

17 . The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the electronic device is further configured to generate a notification based on the location and/or movement of the one or more electronic tags.

18 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein detecting anomalies associated with the detected objects includes determining that a detected object has one or more of: an unexpected velocity, an unexpected acceleration, and an unexpected location.

19 . The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the electronic device is further configured to obtain expected location and movement information for objects the home environment, wherein the expected location and movement information is based on historical data for the home environment.

20 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device comprises a smart home device selected from a group consisting of:
a smart thermostat; a smart camera; a hub device; a smart hazard detector; a smart irrigation device; a smart media playback device; a smart entryway interface device; a smart appliance; and a smart security device.

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Silverstein Brian
• Marschalkowski Eric
• Sherry Eden
• Goldenson Andrew

Classifications

• G01S13/06

  Systems determining position data of a target · CPC title

• H04L12/2803

  Home automation networks · CPC title

• G01S13/52

  Discriminating between fixed and moving objects or between objects moving at different speeds · CPC title

• G01S13/88

  Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications (electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00) · CPC title

• G01S13/886 Primary

  for alarm systems (alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22) · CPC title