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Apparatus and method for asynchronously analyzing data to detect radioactive materialApparatus and method for asynchronously analyzing data to detect radioactive material description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070040673, Apparatus and method for asynchronously analyzing data to detect radioactive material. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/801,357 filed Mar. 16, 2004, entitled "Apparatus and Method for Asynchronously Analyzing Data to Detect Radioactive Material," which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/458,923 filed Jun. 10, 2003, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Detection of Radioactive Material," the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. [0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications No. 60/460,202 filed on Apr. 3, 2003; 60/456,754 filed on Mar. 21, 2003; 60/445,408 filed Feb. 6, 2003; 60/407,148 filed Aug. 28, 2002; and 60/388,512 filed Jun. 12, 2002, all entitled "Method and Apparatus for Detection of Radioactive Material," the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for asynchronously analyzing data to detect nuclear weapons and/or radioactive material and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for asynchronously analyzing data to detect nuclear weapons and/or radioactive material within a vessel or container during shipment from one location to another. [0004] There is a growing concern that terrorists or others may at some time in the near future attempt to import into the United States or some other country radioactive or nuclear material which may then be used for the construction of a nuclear weapon for carrying out terrorist objectives. One way of shipping such radioactive or nuclear material is to hide the material among or within seemingly innocuous cargo. For example, such nuclear material could be placed within a standard, sealed cargo container of the type typically employed for shipping cargo by sea, rail, air or by truck. The nuclear material could be positioned within such a sealed cargo container along with other innocuous goods with the container being positioned, for example, within the hold of a large container ship which may be transporting a thousand or more such containers from one location to another. Typically, existing cargo inspection systems are employed either at the port of debarkation or the port of entry for such container ships. Because of the large number of containers which are typically transported by a single large container ship, it is difficult, if not impossible, using the presently available inspection equipment and personnel to thoroughly check each and every container for the presence of any type of contraband, including radioactive or nuclear material. A more typical scenario presently is to provide spot-checks of a certain number of containers in a given shipment using, for example, active scanning technology such as X-ray, gamma ray or even neutron interrogation of the selected containers which is done on a small sub-set of the overall number of containers. An active scan is anytime an outside energy source is introduced to interrogate or stimulate materials within an object such as a container. Active scans may include neutrons, Gamma rays, magnetic resonance, electromagnetic waves such as infrared, radiofrequency, X-ray, conceivably even ultrasonic, and the like. Generally, active scanning systems include a neutron detector of some sort for detecting neutrons emitted from excited materials within the object or container. [0005] Other types of scanning technologies, which are not fully commercially developed, but which may also be considered to be active scanning inspection systems include nuclear fluorescence and thermal nuclear analysis (TNA). A nuclear fluorescence system irradiates an object to be tested with a particular radiant spectrum and if there is nuclear material within the object a different energy is emitted back out from the object. For example using neutrons from a deuterium-deuterium reaction, such neutrons have sufficient energy to activate Uranium-235 or Plutonium, among others, which causes a fission reaction in that material (e.g., input 4-5 MeV and get 6+ MeV out due to the fission reaction). Detecting a higher energy output from the object is an indication that there is an "amplifier" inside the object. Thermal neutrons used in TNA have a very low velocity. If a neutron is produced in a fission reaction activated by a thermal neutron, it usually emitted at high energy nominally 2 MeV where 1 eV is equivalent to about 10K degrees with one degree of freedom. The presense of fissionable material is revealed by detection of such a high energy emission. Presently, active scanning inspection equipment do not operate and get analyzed quickly enough to provide real-time scanning for every container. One proposed solution is to scan the containers as they are received at the port of loading and then put the containers in storage pending on-loading. The analysis time of such scanned images slows that process because it requires expertise (similar to radiology and X-ray interpretation). When the data has been analyzed, a particular container may then be flagged for a more thorough or detailed inspection which not only causes delays in the transport of the containers, as well as potential huge back ups in the loading and unloading of the container ships, but is too late in detecting the presence of nuclear material or suspected shielded containers. [0006] Another way to analyze containers for potential threats is by analyzing manifest information or container source/destination data. A problem with detecting nuclear and fissile materials shielded in containers using only container manifest information or container source/destination data are potential transshipment diversionary tactics. Terrorists wishing to conceal the nuclear material and/or shielding may make modifications to the container or the container contents in an attempt to veil nuclear material and/or shielding. Alternatively, such terrorists may ship the containers to a number of intermediate destinations which would not be recognized as high risk sources themselves directly. Likewise, a terrorist organization may bribe, coerce, convince or dupe a shipper, such as a "less than container load" (LCL) shipper, into adding an illicit crate into a consolidated shipment. In an extreme case, a terrorist organization may acquire a company that already has an established shipping record for innocuous materials and ship an entire container loaded with nuclear material under the name of the acquired company. The likelihood of detecting such a container by spot check active scanning and limited manifest information or container source/destination data is very low. [0007] It is desirable to have an apparatus and method for asynchronously analyzing data to detect radioactive material within a sealed container which is within a vessel while the container is in transit from one location to another. In this manner, it is possible to more accurately identify potential threats while in transit using data from multiple sources to permit appropriate action to be taken long before the radioactive or nuclear material enters the territorial limits of a country. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] Briefly stated, the present invention comprises a radioactive material detection system including a cargo container monitoring system and a control center. The cargo container monitoring system includes a plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses each having a wireless transmitter, a radiation sensor configured to detect radiation over a predetermined or commanded period of time, a detection controller configured to send sensed radiation to the wireless transmitter for transmission and an identification tag electrically coupled to one of the controller and the wireless transmitter and configured to provide identification data or location data to the information being transmitted by the wireless transmitter. The cargo container monitoring system also includes a master unit/master module having a receiver configured to receive the wirelessly transmitted information from each of the wireless transmitters of the plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses, a transceiver and a master controller coupled to the receiver and configured to send the information received from the radioactive material detection apparatuses through the transceiver. The control center is in communication with the transceiver of the master unit/master module. The control center is configured to receive data from at least one additional source other than the master unit/master module and to asynchronously analyze the data from the at least one additional source and the information from the radioactive material detection apparatuses so as to detect radioactive material in a particular container. [0009] In yet another aspect, the present invention comprises a method of detecting radioactive material within a plurality of containers using a radioactive material detection system. The radioactive material detection system includes a cargo container monitoring system and a control center. The cargo container monitoring system includes a plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses and a master unit/master module. The plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses each have a wireless transmitter, a radiation sensor, a detection controller and an identification tag. The master unit/master module has a receiver configured to receive the wirelessly transmitted information from each of the wireless transmitters, a transceiver and a master controller. The control center is in communication with the transceiver of the master unit/master module. The control center is configured to receive data from at least one additional source other than the master unit/master module and to asynchronously analyze the data from the at least one additional source and the information from the radioactive material detection apparatuses so as to detect radioactive material in a particular container. The method includes using the master unit/master module and the plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses to sense at least one of gamma radiation and neutrons at each radioactive material detection apparatus and transmit the initially sensed signal to the master unit/master module; establishing a background radiation space for the plurality of containers based upon the initially sensed signals; storing the background radiation space in the master unit/master module or the control center; sensing at least one of gamma radiation and neutrons over the predetermined or commanded period of time at each radioactive material detection apparatus and transmitting the currently sensed signal to the master unit/master module; establishing a current radiation space for the plurality of containers based upon the currently sensed signals; comparing the current radiation space as currently sensed by the radioactive material detection apparatuses to the background radiation space as initially sensed by the radioactive material detection apparatuses in order to identify an anomaly amongst the plurality of containers; asynchronously analyzing the data from the at least one additional source and the compared information so as to identify an anomaly amongst the plurality of containers, to reduce false positives, to reduce false negatives and/or to increase a sensitivity reading. [0010] In yet another aspect, the present invention comprises a method of detecting radioactive material within a plurality of containers using a radioactive material detection system. The radioactive material detection system includes a cargo container monitoring system and a control center. The cargo container monitoring system includes a master unit/master module and a plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses. Each radioactive material detection apparatus has a transmitter, a detection controller and a radiation sensor configured to detect radiation over a predetermined or commanded period of time. The control center is in communication with the master unit/master module and is configured to receive data from at least one additional source other than the master unit/master module. The method includes: sensing radiation at each radioactive material detection apparatus; receiving sensed information from each radioactive material detection apparatus at the master unit/master module, over the predetermined or commanded period of time; adjusting for background or cosmic radiation to create adjusted sensor information and to facilitate the identification of an anomaly or unusual data which is likely to indicate the presence of nuclear radioactive material; and asynchronously analyzing the data from the at least one additional source and the adjusted sensor information so as to identify an anomaly amongst the plurality of containers, to reduce false positives, to reduce false negatives and/or to increase a sensitivity reading. [0011] In yet another aspect, the present invention comprises a method of detecting radioactive material within a plurality of containers using a radioactive material detection system. The radioactive material detection system includes a cargo container monitoring system and a control center. The cargo container monitoring system includes a master unit/master module and a plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses. Each apparatus has a transmitter, a detection controller and a radiation sensor configured to detect radiation over a predetermined or commanded period of time. The control center is in communication with the master unit/master module and is configured to receive data from at least one additional source other than the master unit/master module. The method includes: mounting the plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses to the plurality of cargo containers, the total set of detection apparatuses comprising an array of detector and cargo container locations; sensing at least one of gamma radiation and neutrons in totality and/or by spectral distribution over the predetermined or commanded period of time at each radioactive material detection apparatus and transmitting signals representing measured radiation to the master unit/master module; calculating an average measured radiation level at each radioactive material detection apparatus location throughout the entire array of radioactive material detection apparatuses by averaging the radiation sensed at radioactive material detection apparatuses proximate to each radioactive material detection apparatus, the set of average values for the plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses forming a varying set of calculated estimates of background radiation space for the plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses and corresponding cargo containers; and comparing the measured radiation at each radioactive material detection apparatus location to the calculated estimate of background radiation at each location in order to create compared sensor information; and asynchronously analyzing the data from the at least one additional source and the compared sensor information so as to identify an anomaly amongst the plurality of containers, to reduce false positives, to reduce false negatives and/or to increase a sensitivity reading. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] The following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. [0013] In the drawings: [0014] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a cargo container monitoring system having a plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses arranged on a plurality of objects to be tested which are arranged in a three-dimensional matrix in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention; [0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of a radioactive material detection apparatus in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention; [0016] FIG. 3 is a schematic functional block diagram of a master unit/master module or receiver station in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention; [0017] FIGS. 4-5 are a flow diagram demonstrating a transit path of a container from a source to a destination; [0018] FIG. 6 is a functional diagram demonstrating custodial transfer points during transit for a container; [0019] FIG. 7 is a schematic functional block diagram of a radioactive material detection system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and [0020] FIG. 8 is a graphic demonstrating a general asynchronous analysis in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention as compared with the time for inspection, analysis and queue of an active scanning system functioning alone. 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