US 11,988,771 B2
Method and system for detecting cargo inside a container
Yu Gao, Waterloo (CA); Mahendra Fuleshwar Prasad, Waterloo (CA); Alexander Karl Levato, Toronto (CA); and Scott Leonard Dill, Paris (CA)
Assigned to BlackBerry Limited, Waterloo (CA)
Filed by BlackBerry Limited, Waterloo (CA)
Filed on Jan. 13, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/574,601.
Prior Publication US 2023/0221409 A1, Jul. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. G01S 7/41 (2006.01); G06Q 10/0833 (2023.01); G06Q 10/087 (2023.01)
CPC G01S 7/412 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/0833 (2013.01); G06Q 10/087 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computing system for determining a presence of cargo within a container, the computer system comprising:
a communications module;
a processor coupled to the communications module; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing processor-executable instructions which, when executed, configure the processor to:
determine a set of integrated base magnitude values when the container is empty and storing the set of integrated base magnitude values in memory, wherein determining the set of integrated base magnitude values comprises the steps of:
transmitting, by a radar device, an initial electromagnetic signal within the container;
receiving, at the radar device, an initial reflected electromagnetic signal corresponding to the initial electromagnetic signal;
converting the initial reflected electromagnetic signal into a set of base magnitude values corresponding to the set of bin values; and
integrating, using a moving window, the base magnitude values over the successive subranges of bin values to determine a set of integrated base magnitude values; and
determine the presence of cargo in the container, wherein determining the presence of cargo in the container comprises the steps of:
transmitting, by the radar device, a first electromagnetic signal within the container;
receiving, at the radar device, a first reflected electromagnetic signal corresponding to the first electromagnetic signal;
converting the first reflected electromagnetic signal into a set of first magnitude values corresponding to a set of bin values, each bin value representing a respective distance from the radar device;
integrating, using a moving window, the first magnitude values over successive subranges of bin values to produce a set of integrated magnitude values;
subtracting the set of integrated base magnitude values from the set of integrated magnitude values to produce a set of normalized integrated magnitude values; and
comparing each of the normalized integrated magnitude values with corresponding threshold values.