Method for making emergency call

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for making an emergency call by a vehicle (10), in which method a region in which the vehicle (10) is currently in is determined, a first trajectory (S1) and a second trajectory (S2), which are different from each other, are set in the region to be determined starting from a current position (P) of the vehicle (10), according to the invention, using provided geographic data of boundaries (G12, G13, G23) which are associated with two directly adjacent regions in each case and which lie between the two regions, a check is made on which boundaries (G12, G13, G23) the first trajectory (S1) intersects starting from the current position (P) and which boundaries (G12, G13, G23) the second trajectory (S2) first intersects starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10), a new first trajectory (S1) and a new second trajectory (S2) are set starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10) when the two trajectories (S1, S2) intersect the same boundaries (G12, G13, G23), and wherein the region provided with the two boundaries (G12, G13, G23) is determined as the region in which the vehicle (10) is currently located when the boundaries (G12, G13, G23), which respectively first intersect the two trajectories (S1, S2) starting from the current position (P), differ from each other. An emergency call is made according to the determined area, territorial and / or waters, such as sea, ocean, lake and / or river setup and / or consideration, generally recognized by the country, Zhou, Federal, International Law.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a method for making an emergency call and a system for making an emergency call. Background Art

[0002] The published patent application DE 10 2016 204 823 A1 describes a GPS-based area detection in a vehicle.

[0003] A method for determining a local position relative to a boundary course is described in laid-open patent application DE 10 2020 211 392 A1.

[0004] Publication US2016 / 217151 A1 shows a technology for displaying geographic data using polygons.

[0005] As prior art are Regulation (EU) 2015 / 758 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Official Journal of the European Union (German version), line 123, pages 77-89, 2015) and references from The Handbook of Discrete and Computational Geometry (JE Goodmann, J. O'Rourke and CD J. Snoeyink, “Point Location” in IEEE Transactions on Computer Science (ed.), 3rd ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2017 (preliminary version (August 10, 2017)).

[0006] It is also known that the course materials of CS166 published by K. Schwarz et al. in 2021, Lecture 11 on Plane Point Positioning, and the course materials of CS164 and CS266 published by M. Goodrich in 2020, Computational Geometry, Week 6: Point Positioning, Reading Material: Chapter 6.1. Summary of the invention

[0007] In this context, an object of the present invention is to make emergency calls based on location.

[0008] This object is achieved by a method and a system having the features of the independent claims. Embodiments of the method and the system are apparent from the dependent claims and the description.

[0009] The method according to the invention is provided for making an emergency call from a vehicle, for example from a motor vehicle. In this case, it is first ascertained and / or determined in which geographical area the vehicle is currently located or is located. In this case, starting from the current position of the vehicle, a first trajectory and a second trajectory are set in the area to be determined, the two trajectories are usually straight lines, the two trajectories differ from each other in their direction starting from the current position and are usually randomly selected. In this case, using the provided and / or determined geographical data respectively assigned to two directly adjacent areas and located at the boundary between these adjacent areas, it is checked: starting from the current position of the vehicle, which boundary the first trajectory first intersects, and starting from the current position of the vehicle, which boundary the second trajectory first intersects. In this case, in the case where the two trajectories each intersect the same boundary extending between the same areas, a new first trajectory and a new second trajectory are set starting from the current position of the vehicle. In addition, for the alternative situation that commonly occurs, namely, in which the boundaries that first intersect two trajectories starting from the current position of the vehicle are different from each other, the area provided with these two boundaries (e.g., area boundaries) is determined as the area in which the vehicle is currently located, wherein, based on the determined geographical area, an emergency call is automatically made by the vehicle, for example by a communication module of this vehicle.

[0010] In the design, if both trajectories set for the first time intersect with the same boundary, that is, intersect with the boundary between the same directly adjacent areas, the trajectory set for the first time is discarded. In addition, starting from the corresponding current position of the vehicle, a new first trajectory and a new second trajectory are set so frequently until the two trajectories intersect with the boundary between two different directly adjacent areas. If the vehicle is stationary and at least briefly in the same position, the trajectory to be set first and the trajectory to be reset if necessary are set starting from the same position. If the vehicle is driving and moving, the vehicle changes its position. At this time, the trajectory to be set first is set starting from the first position of the vehicle, and the trajectory to be reset if necessary is set starting from the second position of the vehicle.

[0011] Typically, the corresponding boundaries are located between two areas that directly border each other, and in the design, the two areas form a pair of directly adjacent areas that are separated by a common boundary assigned to the two areas. Here, the first straight line trajectory intersects the first boundary between the first pair of areas, and the second straight line trajectory intersects the second boundary between the second pair of areas. If both pairs include the same two areas, then according to the first case, a new trajectory is set starting from the corresponding current position. If the first boundary is between the first pair of areas and the second boundary is between the second pair of areas, then in the second case, the area where the vehicle is located or is staying is determined on this basis. Here, the first pair of areas includes the first area and the second area, and the second pair of areas also includes the first area and includes another third area, wherein the two pairs include a total of three different areas, wherein the area where the vehicle is located belongs to both pairs of areas. The areas taken into account at this time include the area to be determined or determined where the vehicle is located and two different adjacent areas that directly border this area.

[0012] Starting from this position, a first trajectory and a second trajectory are set in different directions, wherein the angle between the two trajectories is greater than 0° and less than 360°, wherein a possible angle between the trajectories is, for example, 90° or 180°, wherein in the latter case the two trajectories are oriented and / or positioned opposite to each other.

[0013] As regions, countries, states, federations, territories generally recognized by international law and / or waters (e.g. seas, oceans, lakes and / or rivers) are provided and / or considered. It is thus possible that one region of a pair of regions is a country or a continent, while the second region is a water body directly bordering the one region, wherein the border between a country and a water body can also be referred to as a water body border, e.g. a maritime border.

[0014] The system according to the invention is designed for making an emergency call from a vehicle, wherein the system has a computing unit and a communication module, which are usually also vehicle components. In this case, the computing unit is designed to first find out and / or determine in which area the vehicle is currently located, wherein the computing unit is designed to: in order to find out the area to be determined, in the area to be determined, set a first trajectory and a second trajectory starting from the current position of the vehicle, wherein the two trajectories are different from each other; and using the provided and / or found geographical data of the boundaries between two directly adjacent areas, respectively assigned to these adjacent areas, to check: starting from the current position, which boundary the first trajectory first intersects, and starting from the current position, which boundary the second trajectory first intersects. The computing unit is designed to set a new first trajectory and a new second trajectory starting from the respective current position in the case that the two trajectories intersect the same boundary. The computing unit is designed to determine the area assigned to the two boundaries as the area in which the vehicle is currently located in the case that the boundaries that the two trajectories first intersect from the position are different from each other. The communication module is designed to automatically make an emergency call from the vehicle to an emergency call center in the determined area according to the determined area, and to transmit the emergency call to the emergency call center.

[0015] It is possible to carry out an embodiment of the proposed method with an embodiment of the proposed system. By means of the method, an efficient algorithm is provided for determining the country in which the vehicle is currently located, wherein an emergency call or eCall (emergency call) is triggered taking into account the country, wherein it is possible to send the emergency call to a call number specific to the respective country and / or to make the emergency call taking into account the language of the respective country.

[0016] In one embodiment, the computing unit is designed to project the boundaries and / or the trajectories onto a coordinate system in which these regions are drawn.

[0017] In one embodiment, the system has a geographic data module, which is designed to provide geographic data to the computing unit directly or indirectly via a communication module. The geographic data module is arranged in the vehicle (for example as part of a navigation system) or is designed as part of a server that is external to the vehicle and / or fixed in position.

[0018] In the design, starting from the current position, two randomly selected but differently directed trajectories are set, the angle between the trajectories being greater than 0° and less than 360°. For these two trajectories, it is tracked when the trajectories first touch a border (e.g., a national border). Here, the first border intersecting the first trajectory is between region (e.g., country) A and region (e.g., country) B. Correspondingly, the second border intersecting the second trajectory is between region (e.g., country) C and region (e.g., country) D. If these two borders are known, it is checked whether two of the four regions face the same region along the corresponding trajectory in the direction of the current position, wherein this region is the stop country where the vehicle is located. Alternatively or additionally, this also applies if three of the four regions are different, wherein the region where the vehicle is located appears twice in the four regions. Otherwise, if, for example, only two of the four regions or all four regions are different, the algorithm is repeated with two new trajectories that are newly selected and also have random directions.

[0019] In the proposed algorithm, it is provided that, starting from a given position, the closest two different national borders with a common country are found. In the first example, along the first trajectory, country A is France and country B is Germany. Along the second trajectory, country C is Germany and country D is the Czech Republic. It is concluded that the vehicle's stop country is Germany. In the second example, along the first trajectory, country A is France, country B is Germany, and along the second trajectory, country C is France and country D is Germany. In this case, the algorithm is repeated using two new trajectories with random orientations. In the third example, country A is France and country B is Germany. In addition, along the second trajectory, country C is France and country D is Switzerland, where it is concluded that the vehicle's stop country is France. In the design solution, the method can also be performed for countries that have only one neighboring country and border the ocean in other directions. In this case, within the scope of the method, the neighboring country is considered as the first area and the ocean is considered as the second area. For example, this situation applies to Portugal, which borders Spain on the one hand and the Atlantic Ocean on the other hand.

[0020] The basis is the geographical data of the national borders and the projection of the geographical data in and / or on the coordinate system used. In the vehicle, for example in the computing unit, the coordinate system is preset by a GNSS receiver, for example in a communication module. Compared with traditional map data for navigation (whose storage size is mostly in the range of 10GB to 20GB), the regional boundaries of the world (such as national borders) can be described by a file size of less than 100kB. If the national borders are known, it is now necessary to determine by an algorithm which country the current position corresponds to. In this case, in particular, the use of grid division (Kachel) can be omitted, because this leads to inaccuracy and loss of storage efficiency. The method proposed here can be implemented efficiently in the vehicle. This means that the method has high storage efficiency and only requires and / or occupies a small amount of permanent memory and working memory memory. In addition, the method is efficient in terms of computing power. The method is particularly suitable for border areas, where the position is near the border between two neighboring countries.

[0021] In the event of an emergency in a vehicle, a digital data and voice connection is established with an emergency call center and / or a rescue control center via an emergency call or a corresponding function for this purpose. The emergency call and / or the function can be triggered in two ways, namely: manually by a user of the vehicle (e.g. the driver), for example in the event of a medical emergency, and automatically by the vehicle (e.g. a computing unit of the vehicle), wherein the accident is reported to the control center. In both cases, important information such as the position of the vehicle, the number of passengers and the driving mode of the vehicle are transmitted to the rescue control center. The vehicle can be designed as an internal combustion engine vehicle, a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle. In order to automatically trigger the function for the emergency call, for example, the airbag control unit detects an accident, transmits a message about the event and, if necessary, also other messages to a connection unit, on which the function for making an emergency call is run. Two embodiments are proposed for the function for the emergency call. In the case of a private emergency call, a call center operated by the vehicle manufacturer itself for this purpose is called. Alternatively, the rescue control center is called directly. Independently of the respectively proposed embodiment, the current country of stay of the vehicle can be taken into account before making the corresponding emergency call, and the emergency call can be automatically made based on this.

[0022] By means of the method, it is possible to determine the country in which the vehicle is currently located. By means of the geographic module, a GNSS position for determining the current position of the vehicle and geographic map data about regions and borders extending between regions can be provided to the computing unit, wherein the GNSS position can be compared with the map data. In addition, the identifier of the mobile radio provider of the country determined by the method can be retrieved by means of the communication module. The identifier comprises a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (NMC), wherein the identifier is used for making an emergency call. There is the possibility that the mobile communication modem of the communication module reports the current mobile communication provider with the identifier 262-03 for "o2-de". Here, the country code MCC 262 indicates that the vehicle is located in the border region of Germany or one of the neighboring countries or states of Germany. The method can also be carried out for vehicles without a navigation system and therefore without map data. According to currently known measures, the mobile country code (MCC) and the mobile network code (NMC) can usually only be retrieved by the mobile communication modem if the mobile communication modem actively monitors the mobile communication network, so that the mobile communication modem should be activated accordingly. However, a mobile communication modem is usually not required to implement the method. It should also be taken into account that if no other services besides emergency calls are active and the mobile communication modem is in dormant mode (dormant mode), regulations require that the mobile communication modem be deactivated when an emergency call (eCall) is made in order to relieve the load on the mobile communication network.

[0023] It goes without saying that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respectively stated combination but also in other combinations or alone without departing from the scope of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The invention is schematically illustrated with the aid of embodiments in the drawings and is described schematically and in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0025] Figure 1a , 1b An embodiment of the method according to the invention is shown schematically.

[0026] Figure 2 A schematic diagram shows an embodiment of a vehicle and of a system according to the present invention, with which an embodiment of the method according to the present invention is carried out. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The drawings are described in a continuous and comprehensive manner. The same components are assigned the same reference numerals.

[0028] As a geographical area, Figure 1a and Figure 1b A first country 1 , a second country 2 , and a third country 3 are shown, wherein a first border G12 exists between the first country 1 and the second country 2 , a second border G13 exists between the first country 1 and the third country 3 , and a third border G23 exists between the second country 2 and the third country 3 .

[0029] right Figure 2 The vehicle 10 in the embodiment of the method according to the invention carries out an embodiment of the method according to the invention, the vehicle having a computing unit 12 and a communication module 14 which are also designed as components of an embodiment of the system according to the invention, the system having as further components a geographical data module 16 which is fixed at this location, for example with the assistance of a server, and an emergency call center 18 or a rescue control center.

[0030] It is stipulated that the vehicle 10 is located at Figure 1a and Figure 1b , however, it is not known in which country 1, 2, 3 as a possible region the position P is located. In the embodiment of the method proposed here, the region and thus the country 1, 2, 3 are determined. In this case, in the region to be determined, starting from the current position P of the vehicle 10, a first trajectory S1 and a second trajectory S2 are set, which are designed as straight lines and differ from each other in the direction of the trajectory. In addition, using geographical data of two directly adjacent countries 1, 2, 3 and the boundaries G12, G13, G23 between the countries 1, 2, 3 assigned to these countries, it is checked: starting from the current position P, the first trajectory S1 first intersects with which boundary G12, G13, G23, and starting from the current position P of the vehicle 10, which geographical data are provided by the geographical data module 16 to the communication module 14 and thus to the computing unit 12.

[0031] Here, according to Figure 1a Describe the first case and / or first attempt to identify countries 1, 2, 3, Figure 1a It is shown that the two trajectories S1 , S2 extend from a first country 1 to a second country 2 and each intersect the same or identical first boundary G12 between the two countries 1 , 2 .

[0032] In the design of the method, since the results of the first attempt are not convincing, in the second case and / or the second attempt, a new first trajectory S1 and a new second trajectory S2 are set starting from the current position P, which is based on Figure 1b Shown.

[0033] Here, the new first trajectory S1 extends from the first country 1 to the second country 2 and intersects the first boundary G12. In contrast, the new second trajectory S2 extends from the first country 1 to the third country 3 and intersects the second boundary G13, wherein the two boundaries G12, G13 are different from each other. Here, the first country 1 is determined as the area in which the vehicle 10 is currently located and which is provided with two different boundaries G12, G13. Here, an emergency call is automatically made by the communication module 14 of the vehicle 10 according to the determined country 1 and the emergency call is sent to the emergency call center 18 located in the determined first country 1.

[0034] List of reference numerals:

[0035] 1, 2, 3 countries

[0036] G12, G13, G23 boundaries

[0037] P Position

[0038] S1, S2 tracks

[0039] 10 Vehicles

[0040] 12 Computational Units

[0041] 14 Communication Module

[0042] 16 Geographic Data Module

[0043] 18 Emergency Call Center

Claims

1. A method for making an emergency call from a vehicle (10), in which method it is determined in which zone the vehicle (10) is currently located, wherein: In an area to be determined, starting from a current position (P) of a vehicle (10), a first trajectory (S1) and a second trajectory (S2) different from each other are set, wherein, using provided geographical data of boundaries (G12, G13, G23) between two directly adjacent areas, respectively assigned to the areas, it is checked which boundary (G12, G13, G23) the first trajectory (S1) intersects with first, and which boundary (G12, G13, G23) the second trajectory (S2) intersects with first, starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10), wherein for In the case where two trajectories (S1, S2) intersect with the same border (G12, G13, G23), a new first trajectory (S1) and a new second trajectory (S2) are set starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10), wherein, in the case where the borders (G12, G13, G23) that first intersect with the two trajectories (S1, S2) starting from the current position (P) are different from each other, the area provided with these two borders (G12, G13, G23) is determined as the area where the vehicle (10) is currently located, wherein territories and / or waters generally recognized by national, state, federal, and international law are set and / or considered as areas.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In the case where both of the two trajectories (S1, S2) set for the first time intersect with the same boundary (G12, G13, G23) between the same directly adjacent areas, the trajectories (S1, S2) set for the first time are discarded, wherein, starting from the position (P), a new first trajectory (S1) and a new second trajectory (S2) are set repeatedly until the boundaries intersecting the two trajectories (S1, S2) are different from each other.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A first trajectory (S1) and a second trajectory (S2) are set along different directions starting from a position (P).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that The country (1, 2, 3) is considered as at least one first region.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that A body of water is considered as at least one second region.

6. A system for making an emergency call from a vehicle (10), wherein: The system comprises a computing unit (12) and a communication module (14), wherein the computing unit (12) is designed to determine in which area the vehicle (10) is located, wherein the computing unit (12) is designed to ascertain the area, to set a first trajectory (S1) and a second trajectory (S2) different from each other in the area to be determined starting from a current position (P) of the vehicle (10); and to check which boundary (G12, G13, G23) the first trajectory (S1) first intersects starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10) and which boundary (G12, G13, G23) the second trajectory (S2) first intersects starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10). 12, G13, G23), wherein, for the case where the two trajectories (S1, S2) intersect with the same boundary (G12, G13, G23), the computing unit (12) is designed to set a new first trajectory (S1) and a new second trajectory (S2) starting from the current position (P), wherein, for the case where the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) that first intersect with the two trajectories (S1, S2) starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10) are different from each other, the area provided with the two boundaries (G12, G13, G23) is determined as the area where the vehicle (10) is currently located, wherein the communication module (14) is designed to make an emergency call based on the determined area, wherein territories and / or waters generally recognized by national, state, federal, and international law are set and / or considered as areas.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that The calculation unit (12) is designed to project the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) onto a coordinate system.

8. The system according to claim 6 or 7, comprising a geographic data module (16) which is designed to provide geographic data to the computing unit (12).

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