Patent ID: 8855902

Claim:
A wireless vehicle detection system comprising: one or more spaced-apart sensor pods positioned in or below, and yet in close proximity to, a plane of a surface of a road, adapted to detect received communication signal strength, and operationally adapted to adjust transmitting power based upon said communication signal strength to thereby conserve power usage, each sensor pod including (1) a vehicle detector controller adapted to determine presence of one or more vehicles, (2) a communication controller connected to the vehicle detector and adapted to communicate data relating to the presence of one or more vehicles, the vehicle detector controller and the communication controller each having separate clock cycles and separately controlled sleep cycles for drawing power, (3) a battery, (4) a hybrid layer capacitor connected in parallel electrically to the battery to protect the battery from degradation at transmit power levels and extend the life of the battery; and (5) a low profile antenna positioned in a substantially horizontal orientation when positioned within an enclosure of the sensor pod and adjacent a top end of the enclosure when the sensor pod is positioned in or below the surface of the road, the antenna adapted to allow for and support one or more communication frequencies in the 902-928 MHz ISM radio frequency band, the low profile antenna also having an antenna housing having a substantially hollow interior portion to allow communication circuitry components to be mounted at least partially within the antenna housing thereby decreasing vertical space requirements within the enclosure of the sensor pod; a base station adapted to provide data processing and storage for the wireless vehicle detection system; and an access point adapted to communicate with the base station wirelessly at a communication frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz or via one or more wires, and further adapted to communicate with the one or more sensor pods at one or more communication frequencies in the range of 902-928 Mhz.