Vehicle collision determination apparatus and method

Abstract

The invention provides a vehicle collision determination apparatus and method. The vehicle collision determination apparatus may include a communication interface unit, one or more processors, and a memory configured to store one or more programs executed by the one or more processors, when a collision signal indicating a collision accident of the vehicle is received from an airbag control circuit through a communication channel, the one or more processors are configured to execute the one or more programs. The processor determines that the collision accident is a first collision, and determines whether an additional collision occurs after the first collision based on at least one of a collision direction and an acceleration periodically received from the airbag control circuit.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0141123, filed on October 16, 2024, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to a vehicle collision determination device and method, and more specifically, to a vehicle collision determination device and method capable of detecting collision accidents occurring within a short time interval. Background Technology

[0003] Documents related to China's eCall system, issued by the committee responsible for establishing the Accident Emergency Call System (AECS) in China, stipulate that a minimum data set (MSD) should be recorded when a vehicle is involved in at least three consecutive collisions. Currently, Europe, as well as regions such as the Middle East and Russia that follow European regulations, do not require the detection and storage of the Nth collision (where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2). However, future regulations are likely to require the detection and storage of the Nth collision.

[0004] When a collision occurs, the airbag control unit (ACU) continuously outputs a collision signal of "1", and the collision signal remains "1" even if a second collision occurs. Therefore, this method has limitations in detecting multiple vehicle collisions. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure aims to provide a vehicle collision determination apparatus and method capable of detecting collisions occurring within a time period shorter than the repetition period of a pulse width modulation (PWM) waveform.

[0006] According to this disclosure, a vehicle device may include a communication interface associated with a communication channel, a processor, and a memory storing at least one instruction. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to acquire a collision signal from the vehicle's airbag control circuit via the communication channel, wherein the collision signal indicates that a collision has occurred; determine that the collision is the vehicle's first collision based on the collision signal; and output a signal indicating whether an additional collision has occurred after the first collision based on at least one of the vehicle's collision direction information and the vehicle's acceleration information, wherein the collision direction information and acceleration information are periodically received from the airbag control circuit.

[0007] The airbag control circuit can be configured to repeatedly transmit pulse width modulation (PWM) waveforms of different modes in a first cycle based on whether a collision has occurred, and to transmit collision direction information and acceleration information in a second cycle shorter than the first cycle. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the device to compare at least two collision directions received sequentially from the airbag control circuit to determine whether the at least two collision directions are different; and based on the determination that the at least two collision directions are different, to temporarily increase the number of vehicle collisions.

[0008] When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction may be configured to cause the device to determine the increased number of collisions as a final value based on a pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction may be configured to cause the device to compare at least two acceleration values ​​of the vehicle sequentially received from the airbag control circuit based on the determination that at least two collision directions are the same; and to temporarily increase the number of vehicle collisions based on the fact that the difference between the at least two acceleration values ​​is greater than a threshold.

[0009] When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the device to determine the increased number of collisions as a final value based on a pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the device to determine that the collision was a first collision when the communication channel is in an abnormal state and based on a PWM collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit, wherein the PWM collision waveform indicates that a collision occurred; and to determine whether an additional collision occurred after the first collision based on the pattern of the PWM waveform received from the airbag control circuit after the first collision of the vehicle. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the device to determine that an additional collision occurred after determining that the first collision of the vehicle occurred, based on the receipt of a normal PWM waveform for at least a predetermined time period, and the subsequent receipt of a PWM collision waveform for a predetermined time period.

[0010] According to this disclosure, a method performed by a vehicle device may include acquiring a collision signal from a vehicle's airbag control circuit via a vehicle's communication channel, wherein the collision signal indicates that a collision has occurred; determining, based on the collision signal, that the collision is the vehicle's first collision; and outputting a signal indicating whether an additional collision has occurred after the first collision, based on at least one of the vehicle's collision direction information and the vehicle's acceleration information, wherein the collision direction information and acceleration information are periodically received from the airbag control circuit.

[0011] According to this disclosure, a vehicle may include an airbag control circuit, a communication interface associated with a communication channel, a processor, and a memory storing at least one instruction. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the vehicle to acquire a collision signal and collision direction information from the airbag control circuit via the communication channel; determine that the vehicle has experienced a first collision based on the collision signal; compare at least two collision direction information received sequentially from the airbag control circuit; determine whether the vehicle's collision direction has changed based on the comparison of the at least two collision direction information; increase the number of collisions based on the determination that the collision direction has changed; increase the number of collisions based on the determination that the collision direction has not changed and based on the vehicle's acceleration change exceeding a threshold; set the increased number of collisions as the vehicle's final number of collisions based on a pulse width modulated collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit; and output a signal indicating the final number of collisions.

[0012] When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the vehicle to receive collision direction information at intervals shorter than the period of the repeatedly transmitted pulse width modulation collision waveform. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the vehicle to receive acceleration information from the airbag control circuit at intervals shorter than the period of the repeatedly transmitted pulse width modulation collision waveform; and determine, based on the acceleration information, that the vehicle's acceleration change exceeds a threshold. When the processor communicates with the memory and executes at least one instruction, the at least one instruction can be configured to cause the vehicle to generate a collision dataset including at least one of the number of collisions, the vehicle's collision direction, or the time associated with the airbag deployment signal; and send the collision dataset to an emergency call server.

[0013] The features described above in the brief overview of this disclosure are merely examples of the detailed description of this disclosure that will follow, and do not limit the scope of this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0014] The above and other objects, features and advantages of this disclosure will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description of embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 An example vehicle is shown that determines the Nth collision (N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1) for the eCall service; Figure 2 An example of an airbag control unit (ACU) is shown; Figure 3 The X, Y, and Z axes of the vehicle are shown; Figure 4 An example of the pattern of the pulse width modulation (PWM) waveform generated when the first processor detects a collision is shown; Figure 5 An example is shown that includes a message containing acceleration collected over a period of 10 ms from 0 ms to 250 ms; Figure 6 An example of an eCall electronic device is shown; Figure 7 This illustrates an example of a method in a vehicle collision determination process where the ACU generates and sends the information needed to determine the Nth collision. Figure 8 This illustrates an example of how an eCall electronic device determines the Nth collision in a vehicle collision determination method; and Figure 9 An example of a computing system is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0015] In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable those skilled in the art to readily practice the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0016] Furthermore, in describing embodiments of this disclosure, well-known functions or structures will not be described in detail, as they may unnecessarily obscure the understanding of this disclosure. In the accompanying drawings, portions unrelated to the description of this disclosure are omitted, and similar reference numerals are attached to similar portions.

[0017] In this disclosure, when a component is referred to as being “connected,” “joined,” or “engaged” with another component, this may include not only a direct connection relationship but also an indirect connection relationship where another component exists between them. Additionally, when a component “comprises” or “has” another component, unless otherwise stated, it means that the component may also include other components, without excluding the inclusion of other components.

[0018] In this disclosure, terms such as "first" and "second" are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, and do not limit the order, importance, etc., of the components unless otherwise stated. Therefore, within the scope of this disclosure, a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment, and similarly, a second component in one embodiment may be referred to as a first component in another embodiment.

[0019] In this disclosure, the components distinguished from each other are intended to clearly explain the various features and do not imply that these components must be separate. That is, multiple components may be integrated to form a single hardware or software unit, or a single component may be distributed to form multiple hardware or software units. Therefore, such integrated or distributed implementations are included within the scope of this disclosure, even if not described separately.

[0020] In this disclosure, the components described in the various embodiments are not necessarily essential components, and some components may be optional. Therefore, embodiments consisting of a subset of the components described in one embodiment are also included within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, embodiments that include other components in addition to those described in the various embodiments are also included within the scope of this disclosure.

[0021] For the purposes of this application and claims, the exemplary phrases “at least one: A; B; or C” or “at least one A, B, or C” are used, which means “at least one A, or at least one B, or at least one C, or any combination of at least one A, at least one B, and at least one C.” Furthermore, as the exemplary phrases used herein, such as “A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” etc., may mean each of the listed items or all possible combinations of the listed items. For example, “at least one of A or B” may refer to (1) at least one A; (2) at least one B; or (3) at least one A and at least one B.

[0022] The various advantages and features of this disclosure, as well as methods for implementing them, will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in a variety of different forms. These embodiments are provided only to make this disclosure complete and to enable those skilled in the art to fully appreciate the scope of this disclosure.

[0023] As used in this specification, the terms "module" or "unit" refer to software and / or hardware components, and a "module" or "unit" performs a specific operation / function / role. However, a "module" or "unit" is not limited to software or hardware. A "module" or "unit" may be configured to reside in addressable storage media or execute on one or more processors. Thus, by way of example, a "module" or "unit" may include at least one component, such as a software component, an object-oriented software component, a class component and a task component, a process, a function, an attribute, a procedure, a subroutine, a program code segment, a driver, firmware, microcode, a circuit, data, a database, a data structure, a table, an array, or a variable. The functionality provided in a component, "module," or "unit" may be combined into fewer components, "modules," or "units," or further divided into additional components, "modules," or "units."

[0024] In this disclosure, a “module” or “unit” may be implemented as a processor and a memory. “Processor” should be broadly interpreted to include general-purpose processors, central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), microcontrollers, state machines, etc. In some contexts, “processor” may refer to application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). For example, “processor” may refer to a combination of processing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors with a DSP core, or any other such combination. Furthermore, “memory” should be broadly interpreted to include any electronic component capable of storing electronic information. “Memory” may refer to various types of processor-readable media, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage devices, and registers. Memory may be in a state of electronic communication with the processor when the processor is able to read information from the memory and / or record information in the memory. The memory integrated into the processor is in electronic communication with the processor.

[0025] One or more features described herein can be provided as a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium for execution on a computer. The medium may continuously store a computer-executable program or temporarily store a program for execution or download. Furthermore, the medium can be a variety of recording or storage devices in the form of a single hardware device or multiple combined hardware devices, and is not limited to media directly connected to a computer system, but may also be distributed over a network. Embodiments of such media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes; optical recording media such as CD-ROMs or DVDs; magneto-optical media such as floppy disks; and ROMs, RAMs, or flash memory configured to store program instructions. Additional embodiments of such media include media or storage media managed by application stores that distribute applications or various other sites or servers that provide or distribute software.

[0026] In a hardware implementation, the processing unit for performing these techniques may be implemented within one or more ASICs, DSPs, digital signal processing devices, programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays, processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, or computers or combinations thereof designed to perform the functions described in this disclosure.

[0027] In this disclosure, "first collision time" can refer to the time when the collision sensor 100 first detects a collision but the airbag does not deploy, or it can refer to the time when the airbag deployment signal is received from the airbag sensor 200. The airbag deployment signal is a signal indicating that the airbag has deployed.

[0028] In this disclosure, the “pulse width modulation (PWM) normal waveform” is a waveform that indicates that the vehicle is driving normally and no collision has occurred, and can be generated by the airbag control unit (ACU).

[0029] In this disclosure, the “PWM collision waveform” is a waveform that indicates a collision incident and can be generated by the ACU 300.

[0030] According to this disclosure, a vehicle collision determination device and method can accurately detect multiple collisions occurring rapidly in succession. Other systems typically output continuous collision signals after the initial impact, making it difficult to distinguish subsequent impacts. The method described in this disclosure utilizes collision direction data, acceleration data, and pulse width modulation (PWM) waveforms transmitted from the airbag control circuitry. By analyzing changes in collision direction and acceleration over short time intervals, the device can detect additional collisions and confirm them upon receiving a corresponding PWM signal. This enables the detection of collisions occurring within the PWM cycle interval and supports the generation of detailed accident information, including the number, direction, and time of collisions, which can be sent to the emergency call (eCall) service to improve accident assessment and rescue response.

[0031] Figure 1 An exemplary vehicle 10 is shown, according to an example of the present disclosure, for the eCall service to determine the Nth collision (N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1).

[0032] refer to Figure 1 According to the examples of this disclosure, a vehicle 10 for determining the Nth collision for eCall service may include multiple collision sensors 100, multiple airbag sensors 200, an ACU 300, and a vehicle collision determination device 400. In the description of this disclosure, the multiple collision sensors 100 and multiple airbag sensors 200 are shown as separate from the ACU 300; however, the multiple collision sensors 100 and multiple airbag sensors 200 may be included within the ACU 300. The vehicle collision determination device 400 may be an electronic control device with eCall functionality (e.g., a telematics control unit, a connected vehicle service controller, or a separate collision detection ECU, etc.).

[0033] Multiple collision sensors 100 may be distributed and installed on the exterior of the vehicle 10 to detect collision information in the event of a collision and transmit the detected collision information to the ACU 300. The collision information may include the intensity or direction of the collision and identification information of the collision sensors that detected the collision. The multiple collision sensors 100 may be installed at locations such as the front bumper, rear bumper, side doors, or roof pillars (e.g., A-pillar, B-pillar, or C-pillar). The collision information may also include time information indicating when the collision was detected; if time information is not included, the time when the ACU 300 receives the collision information may be determined as the time when the collision was detected.

[0034] Multiple airbag sensors 200 can be installed in the vehicle 10 at the locations where airbag modules are installed to detect whether airbags have deployed, and when the airbags in the airbag module deploy, they can send an airbag deployment signal to the ACU 300. An airbag module is a module that includes airbags and can be installed on the steering wheel, dashboard, seats, doors, or side curtain areas (e.g., roof rails, side panels, or knee pads). When N airbag modules are installed in the vehicle 10, at least N airbag sensors 200 are also installed, and when some of the N airbags deploy, some of the corresponding airbag sensors can send an airbag deployment signal.

[0035] The ACU 300 may be an electronic control unit (ECU) that monitors the collision situation of the vehicle 10 and determines whether to deploy airbags (e.g., front airbags, side airbags, curtain airbags, or knee airbags). The ACU 300 may receive collision information from at least one of a plurality of collision sensors 100, determine whether to deploy airbags, and send an airbag deployment command to the airbag module. In addition, when the ACU 300 receives an airbag deployment signal from the airbag sensor 200, the ACU 300 may send the airbag deployment signal, the collision direction (e.g., frontal impact, rear-end collision, side impact, etc.), acceleration (e.g., acceleration change, longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, or vertical acceleration, etc.), and PWM waveform (e.g., normal waveform, collision waveform, or diagnostic waveform, etc.) to the vehicle collision determination device 400.

[0036] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of an ACU 300 according to this disclosure.

[0037] refer to Figure 2 According to an example of this disclosure, the ACU 300 may include a first communication interface unit 310, an acceleration sensor 320, a first memory 330, and a first processor 340.

[0038] The first communication interface unit 310 can be configured to communicate with a plurality of collision sensors 100, a plurality of airbag sensors 200 and a vehicle collision determination device 400.

[0039] The first communication interface unit 310 can use a communication channel to send and receive CAN signals with the ECU, the Controller Area Network (CAN) installed on the vehicle 10, and the vehicle collision determination device 400. The CAN communication channel can be a communication bus using the CAN protocol (e.g., CAN-FD, LIN bus, FlexRay, or Ethernet).

[0040] The first communication interface unit 310 can receive airbag deployment signals from the airbag sensor 200 and collision information from the collision sensor 100 through the communication channel, and send the airbag deployment signals, collision information and acceleration to the vehicle collision determination device 400.

[0041] In addition, the first communication interface unit 310 can repeatedly send PWM normal waveforms or PWM collision waveforms to the vehicle collision determination device 400 through digital signal lines at a certain period (e.g., every 1 second, every 500 ms, or every 100 ms).

[0042] Accelerometer 320 can periodically detect the X-axis acceleration and Y-axis acceleration of vehicle 10. For example, acceleration sensor 320 can detect acceleration in periods of 10 ms (e.g., 5 ms, 20 ms, or 50 ms). Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the X, Y, and Z axes of vehicle 10.

[0043] The first memory 330 stores at least one program (e.g., operating system, application software, firmware, middleware, or diagnostic software), various data, and at least one command to implement or provide operations or functions provided by the ACU 300, and to load programs, read or record data, or perform operations corresponding to commands upon request from the first processor 340.

[0044] The program stored in the first memory 330 may include an information processing program that collects information required to determine the Nth (N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1) collision of the vehicle 10 and sends the collected information to the vehicle collision determination device 400. The information processing program may include generating a collision message using collision information (e.g., sensor ID, impact direction, or impact size) received from at least one of a plurality of collision sensors 100, generating an acceleration message using acceleration (e.g., X-axis acceleration value, Y-axis acceleration value, or Z-axis acceleration value, etc.) received from an acceleration sensor 320, and a command to generate a PWM waveform (e.g., normal waveform, collision waveform, etc.) by analyzing at least one of the collision information and acceleration.

[0045] The first memory 330 may include at least one of a primary storage device and an auxiliary storage device. The primary storage device may be implemented using semiconductor storage media, such as read-only memory (ROM) and / or random access memory (RAM), and the auxiliary storage device may be implemented based on a device capable of permanently or semi-permanently storing data, such as flash memory devices (e.g., solid-state drives (SSDs), secure digital cards (SD) cards, or embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), secure digital cards (SD cards), hard disk drives (HDDs), optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), or laser discs.

[0046] The first processor 340 controls the overall operation of the ACU 300 by executing one or more operating systems or programs stored in the first memory 330. The first processor 340 may include, for example, a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), an application processor (AP), or at least one electronic device capable of performing various operations and control processes. These devices may be implemented, for example, individually or in combination, using one or more semiconductor chips, circuits, or related components. Furthermore, the first processor 340 may load commands or data received from other components (e.g., accelerometer 320 or first communication interface unit 310, or gyroscope sensor, etc.) into volatile memory, process the commands or data stored in volatile memory, and store the processing results in non-volatile memory.

[0047] In the example of this disclosure, the first processor 340 may execute an information processing program to collect information required to determine the Nth collision, and process the collected information to send it to the vehicle collision determination device 400. The information required to determine the Nth collision may include an airbag deployment signal, a PWM waveform, the collision direction, and acceleration, and the PWM waveform may include a normal PWM waveform and a collision PWM waveform (e.g., sent at alternating 1-second intervals, shorter intervals, or longer intervals, etc.).

[0048] Specifically, the first processor 340 can analyze values ​​detected by at least one of the collision sensor 100, the accelerometer 320, and the gyroscope sensor (not shown) to generate a PWM waveform (i.e., a normal PWM waveform or a collision PWM waveform) (e.g., a square wave, a pulse sequence, or a varying duty cycle pattern, etc.), and send the generated PWM waveform to the vehicle collision determination device 400. Alternatively, the first processor 340 may not send the normal PWM waveform, but only the collision PWM waveform to the vehicle collision determination device 400. The first processor 340 may generate the normal PWM waveform before receiving the airbag deployment signal and generate the collision PWM waveform upon receiving the airbag deployment signal. The first processor 340 may repeatedly send different patterns of PWM waveforms at a certain period depending on whether a collision has occurred in the vehicle 10.

[0049] Figure 4 An example of the pattern of the PWM waveform generated when the first processor 340 detects a collision is shown.

[0050] refer to Figure 4 The first processor 340 repeatedly transmits the normal PWM waveform at a certain period. The first processor 340 may, for example, repeatedly transmit the normal PWM waveform at a period of 1 second, and when a collision occurs, transmit a 1-second PWM collision waveform, and then repeatedly transmit the normal PWM waveform for 1 second or longer. Subsequently, when a second collision occurs, the first processor 340 may again transmit a 1-second PWM collision waveform, and then repeatedly transmit the normal PWM waveform for 1 second or longer. Here, 1 second can be increased or decreased, for example (e.g., 0.5 seconds, 2 seconds, or 5 seconds, etc.).

[0051] refer to Figure 4 Because the first processor 340 should send at least 2 seconds of PWM waveform whenever a collision is detected (i.e., 1 second of PWM collision waveform and 1 second of PWM normal waveform), the vehicle collision determination device 400 may have difficulty detecting consecutive collisions within 2 seconds of their occurrence. Therefore, the first processor 340 can reduce the period of repeatedly sending PWM waveforms ( Figure 4 The collision direction and acceleration are sent at shorter intervals (e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, or 20 ms) than 1 second.

[0052] Therefore, when collision information is received from at least one of the plurality of collision sensors 100, the first processor 340 may store the received collision information in the first memory 330.

[0053] In addition, the first processor 340 stores the X-axis acceleration and Y-axis acceleration periodically detected by the accelerometer 320 in the first memory 330.

[0054] When an airbag deployment signal is received from the airbag sensor 200, the first processor 340 can generate a collision message using the first collision information detected at the time the airbag deployment signal is received. For example, when the first processor 340 analyzes the received collision information, acceleration, and gyroscope sensing values ​​(e.g., yaw rate, roll rate, or pitch rate), and determines that the airbag needs to be deployed, the first processor 340 can send a command to the airbag module to deploy the airbag within tens of milliseconds after receiving the collision information. Therefore, when the time of receiving the airbag deployment signal and the time of detecting the first collision information are within a preset error range (e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, or 20 ms, etc.), it can be determined that the first collision information was detected at the time the airbag deployment signal was received.

[0055] The first processor 340 can generate collision messages at certain intervals (e.g., 10 ms, 20 ms, or 50 ms) and send the generated collision messages to the vehicle collision determination device 400. 10 ms is an example and can be increased or decreased by the administrator.

[0056] [Table 1] shows an example of a collision message generated by the first processor 340 using collision information received from the collision sensor 100.

[0057] [Table 1] In [Table 1], a message is the name of a collision message generated by the first processor 340, which may include information about the time when the collision was detected (e.g., 0 ms, 10 ms, or 20 ms, etc.).

[0058] ACU_CrshTyp@ACU_02_00ms is an example of a collision message. When the time of detecting the first collision is set to 0 ms, ACU_02_00ms is the message name that includes the collision information detected at 0 ms. For example, the first processor 340 can write a message including collision information at 10 ms intervals, and the name of the message generated 10 ms after the collision occurred could be ACU_02_10ms (e.g., ACU_02_20ms, ACU_02_30ms, or ACU_02_40ms, etc.). This signal indicates that the message being sent is a collision message and may include a collision code from a numerical table.

[0059] The numerical value is a code indicating the direction of the collision. The basic code for no collision has the form xxxx xxxxB, while when a collision is detected in the corresponding direction, the 8-bit number corresponding to the collision direction becomes 1. Therefore, the collision direction can be determined from the collision code. For example, when the collision sensor located on the driver's seat side detects a collision, ACU_CrashTyp may include the collision code xxxx x1xxB (e.g., indicating a left-side impact, a driver-side T-collision, or a similar event). If no collision information is received from the collision sensor 100 after 10 ms, the first processor 340 may generate a collision message including xxxx xxxxB to indicate that the collision direction has not changed (e.g., no frontal, side, or rear-end collision).

[0060] Furthermore, when an airbag deployment signal is received from the airbag sensor 200, the first processor 340 can generate an acceleration message using the acceleration corresponding to the time the airbag deployment signal is received. For example, the first processor 340 can generate an acceleration message using acceleration detected at the same time as or closest to the time the airbag deployment signal is received. The closest time can be one of a value detected after the airbag deployment signal is received and a value detected before the airbag deployment signal is received (e.g., ±10 ms, ±20 ms, or ±30 ms, etc.).

[0061] [Table 2] shows an example of an acceleration message generated by the first processor 340.

[0062] [Table 2] In [Table 2], acceleration messages may include the time at which acceleration is detected. ACU_DVx_250ms@ACU_DVx_01_00ms is an example of an X-axis acceleration message, and ACU_DVy_7_250ms@ACU_DVy_01_00ms is an example of a Y-axis acceleration message. DVx is the X-axis acceleration of vehicle 10, and DVy is the Y-axis acceleration of vehicle 10 (e.g., DVx for forward / backward motion, DVy for lateral motion, etc.). In the case of ACU_DVx_01_00_ms, when the time for introducing the airbag deployment signal is set to 0 ms, it means that the message includes X-axis acceleration detected at 0 ms. ACU_DVx_250ms is X-axis acceleration detected 250 ms from 0 ms (e.g., at 250 ms, 500 ms, or 750 ms, etc.).

[0063] For example, upon detecting an initial collision or receiving an airbag deployment signal, the first processor 340 may collect acceleration data for 250 ms to generate an acceleration message, then send the collected acceleration data to the vehicle collision determination device 400, and subsequently send the collected acceleration data at 500 ms intervals (e.g., at 500 ms, 1000 ms, or 1500 ms, etc.). This message may include acceleration detected from 0 ms to 250 ms at 10 ms intervals (e.g., at 10 ms, 20 ms, or 30 ms, etc.). That is, the first processor 340 may collect acceleration data for 250 ms at 10 ms intervals after detecting the first collision at 0 ms, then send the collected acceleration data at 250 ms, and subsequently send acceleration data every 500 ms. 10 ms, 250 ms, and 500 ms are examples and are not limited to; furthermore, the intervals may be increased or decreased (e.g., 20 ms, 300 ms, or 600 ms, etc.).

[0064] Figure 5 An example is shown that includes a message containing acceleration collected in 10 ms cycles over a period of 0 ms to 250 ms.

[0065] refer to Figure 5 The first processor 340 can generate a message including 26 X-axis accelerations detected from 0 ms to 250 ms, and send the generated message to the vehicle collision determination device 400 (e.g., samples at 0 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms... up to 250 ms, etc.).

[0066] When CAN communication is normal, the first processor 340, upon receiving the airbag deployment signal, sends the initially generated collision message and acceleration message, and transmits the airbag deployment signal to the vehicle collision determination device 400 via the communication channel. Subsequently, the first processor 340 can generate collision messages and acceleration messages at set intervals and send them to the vehicle collision determination device 400. The transmission intervals for the collision and acceleration messages can be the same or different (e.g., both 500 ms, or 250 ms for collision and 500 ms for acceleration, etc.).

[0067] In addition, when CAN communication is abnormal (e.g., a 1-2 second collision waveform followed by a 2-3 second normal waveform), the first processor 340 can send a 1-second PWM collision waveform and a 1-second or longer PWM normal waveform.

[0068] Figure 6 This is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle collision determination device 400 according to an example of this disclosure.

[0069] refer to Figure 6 The vehicle collision determination device 400 according to the example of this disclosure may include a second communication interface unit 410, a second memory 420, and a second processor 430.

[0070] The second communication interface unit 410 can be configured to communicate with the ACU 300 and the eCall server 20 via wired or wireless communication. The eCall server 20 can be a connected car service (CCS) server or an emergency rescue center (e.g., an OnStar system, a government-operated 911 dispatch center, or a private emergency response provider). Furthermore, the second communication interface unit 410 can communicate with the ECU and ACU 300 installed on the vehicle 10.

[0071] The second communication interface unit 410 can receive airbag deployment signals, collision messages including the collision direction, and acceleration messages including acceleration from the ACU 300 via the communication channel. In the following text, for ease of explanation, the collision message will be referred to as the collision direction, and the acceleration message will be referred to as acceleration.

[0072] The second communication interface unit 410 can receive signals from the ACU 300 via a digital signal line, such as... Figure 4 The PWM waveform (e.g., square wave, triangle wave, or sawtooth wave).

[0073] The second communication interface unit 410 can generate a minimum dataset (MSD) to the eCall server 20 to send the Nth collision information.

[0074] Furthermore, when vehicle 10 is a vehicle that has subscribed to CCS, the second communication interface unit 410 can communicate with the CCS server (not shown) via a network (not shown) through wired or wireless means. The eCall server 20 can be a CCS server. The second communication interface unit 410 can communicate based on Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G communication networks, WiFi, WAVE (Wave Access in Vehicle Environment) communication, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Short Range Communication, Bluetooth, or satellite-based vehicle telematics communication (e.g., Iridium, Starlink, or Inmarsat).

[0075] The second memory 420 stores at least one program, various data, and at least one command to implement or provide the operations or functions provided by the vehicle collision determination device 400. The configuration of the second memory 420 is similar to or the same as that of the first memory 330, and therefore its detailed description will be omitted.

[0076] The program stored in the second memory 420 may include a collision program for determining the Nth collision of the vehicle 10. The collision program may include a command to determine the Nth collision using at least one of the airbag deployment signal, collision direction, acceleration, and PWM waveform (e.g., only collision direction and acceleration, or only PWM waveform when CAN is abnormal, etc.).

[0077] The second processor 430 executes a program stored in the second memory 420 to control the overall operation of the vehicle collision determination device 400. Because the second processor 430 is similar to or identical to the first processor 340, its detailed description will be omitted.

[0078] In the example disclosed herein, the second processor 430 may execute a collision procedure to distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions of CAN communication and determine the Nth collision.

[0079] First, the configuration of the second processor 430 for determining the Nth collision when CAN communication is normal will be described.

[0080] When CAN communication is normal, when a collision signal indicating a collision accident has occurred in vehicle 10 is received from ACU 300 via the communication channel, the second processor 430 can determine that a first collision has occurred (N=1). The collision signal is an airbag deployment signal sent from ACU 300 when the airbags deploy, and may have a collision output = 1 format (e.g., a 5V or 3.3V digital high-level signal indicating an airbag deployment event).

[0081] After the first collision, the second processor 430 can determine whether an additional collision has occurred based on at least one of the collision direction and acceleration periodically received from the ACU 300. In this case, the period for receiving the collision direction or acceleration can be shorter than the period of the repeating PWM waveform (e.g., the collision direction can be updated every 10 ms, the acceleration can be updated every 250–500 ms, and the PWM waveform repeats at approximately 1 second). For example, the collision direction can be received once every 10 ms, the acceleration can initially be received once every 250 ms, and then once every 500 ms, and the PWM waveform can be received for a length of 1 second (e.g., a period of 1 Hz, or a longer period such as 2 Hz or a shorter period such as 0.5 Hz, etc.).

[0082] The second processor 430 can compare at least two collision directions received sequentially and periodically from the ACU 300 to determine whether the collision direction has changed, and when it is determined that the collision direction has changed, the number of collisions of vehicle 10 can be temporarily increased (Ntemp=2).

[0083] On the other hand, when it is determined, as a result of comparing at least two collision directions, that the collision direction has not changed, the second processor 430 compares at least two accelerations received sequentially and periodically from the ACU 300. When the change in acceleration is greater than a predetermined acceleration threshold, the second processor 430 may temporarily increase the number of collisions for the vehicle 10 (Ntemp=2). When at least one of the changes in X-axis acceleration or Y-axis acceleration is greater than the acceleration threshold, the second processor 430 may temporarily increase the number of collisions.

[0084] For example, both the X-axis and Y-axis acceleration thresholds can be 30 kph, and these can be increased or decreased. The maximum acceleration that can occur during normal driving is approximately 20 kph, so obviously the acceleration threshold can be set to 30 kph (for example, the threshold could also be 25 kph, 35 kph, or a dynamic threshold calculated based on the previous driving mode, etc.), but is not limited to this.

[0085] When a PWM collision waveform is received from the ACU 300 after the number of collisions in vehicle 10 is temporarily increased (Ntemp=2), the second processor 430 can determine the temporarily increased number of collisions (Ntemp=2) as the actual number of collisions (N=2). In this case, the received PWM collision waveform is a waveform generated by an additional collision that occurs within 2 seconds after the first collision is detected, and can be used to confirm that an additional collision has occurred (e.g., a secondary rear-end collision after a frontal impact, or a side impact after a rollover, etc.).

[0086] Next, the configuration of the second processor 430 for determining the Nth collision when CAN communication is abnormal will be described.

[0087] When CAN communication malfunctions, the second processor 430 can determine that a first collision (N=1) has occurred when a PWM collision waveform is received from the ACU 300 via the signal line. After determining that the collision is the first collision, if a normal PWM waveform is received for a predetermined time period (e.g., 1 second) or longer, and then a PWM collision waveform is received again for a predetermined time period (e.g., 1 second) (e.g., a 2-second normal waveform followed by a 1-second collision waveform, or a 1.5-second normal waveform followed by a 1-second collision waveform, etc.), the second processor 430 can determine that an additional collision (N=2) has occurred.

[0088] The second processor 430 can create a collision-related MSD for the vehicle 10 and store the created MSD in the second memory 420. The MSD may include information related to the vehicle collision, such as the number of collisions, the direction of the collision, and the time when the airbag deployment signal is generated (e.g., N=3, rear-end collision, 120 ms after airbag deployment, etc.).

[0089] In the following text, reference will be made to Figure 7 and Figure 8 Describes a vehicle collision determination method based on examples of this disclosure.

[0090] Figure 7 The present invention illustrates an implementation of a vehicle collision determination method according to an example of the present disclosure, in which the ACU 300 generates and transmits information required to determine the Nth collision.

[0091] refer to Figure 7 When the ACU 300 receives an airbag deployment signal from the airbag sensor 200 (S710), the ACU 300 can generate a collision message based on collision information received from at least one of the plurality of collision sensors 100, and generate an acceleration message based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 320 (S720).

[0092] In operation S720, since multiple collision sensors 100 send collision information whenever a collision is detected, the ACU 300 can periodically (e.g., every 10 ms) generate collision messages regardless of whether collision information is received. Furthermore, since the acceleration sensor 320 periodically (e.g., every 10 ms) detects the acceleration of the vehicle 10, the ACU 300 can collect acceleration input from the acceleration sensor 320 every 10 ms over a certain time period (e.g., 250 ms after the initial collision, followed by 500 ms thereafter) and then generate acceleration messages. For example, when an airbag deployment signal is received, the ACU 300 can initially generate acceleration messages using acceleration collected every 10 ms over 250 ms, and then generate further acceleration messages using acceleration collected every 10 ms over 500 ms. The acceleration messages are based on a short collection (250 ms) immediately after deployment and a subsequent long collection (500 ms).

[0093] When CAN communication is normal (S730 - Yes), ACU 300 can send a collision output = 1 to the vehicle collision determination device 400 (S740). The collision output is a CAN signal sent from ACU 300 when the airbag deploys (e.g., a CAN signal indicating an airbag deployment event).

[0094] Along with the airbag deployment signal, the ACU 300 can send at least one of the collision message and acceleration message to the vehicle collision determination device 400 (S750). The ACU 300 can also perform operations S740 and S750 simultaneously (e.g., sending acceleration data or collision direction data while sending collision output = 1).

[0095] On the other hand, when CAN communication malfunctions (S730 - No), the ACU 300 can generate a PWM collision waveform with a length of 1 second and a PWM normal waveform with a length of 1 second or longer, and send the generated PWM collision waveform and PWM normal waveform to the vehicle collision determination device 400 (S760 and S770). For example, the PWM collision waveform can be generated at 1-second intervals, while the PWM normal waveform can last for 2 seconds, 3 seconds or longer depending on the system settings.

[0096] When an additional collision occurs at least 2 seconds after the initial collision (S780 - Yes), the ACU 300 can perform the operation S760 of generating and sending a PWM collision waveform (e.g., a second impact to the rear of the vehicle that occurs 2–3 seconds after the initial frontal impact).

[0097] On the other hand, when no additional collision occurs after at least 2 seconds (S780 - No), the ACU 300 can perform the operation S770 of generating and sending a normal PWM waveform (e.g., continuing to output a stable PWM signal for 2, 4 or 5 seconds in the absence of further collisions).

[0098] Figure 8 An example of a method by which a vehicle collision determination device 400 determines the Nth collision is shown in a vehicle collision determination method according to an example of the present disclosure.

[0099] refer to Figure 8 When CAN communication is normal (S805), and when the vehicle collision determination device 400 receives an airbag deployment signal through the communication channel (e.g., collision output = 1) (S810-Y), it is determined that an initial collision has occurred, N = 1 and Ntemp = 1 (S815). N is the number of confirmed collisions, and Ntemp is the number of temporary collisions.

[0100] After the first collision, the vehicle collision determination device 400 stores the collision direction or acceleration received periodically from the ACU 300 (S820). The collision direction or acceleration may be received together with the airbag deployment signal in operation S810 (e.g., acceleration data collected every 10 ms or collision direction data indicating frontal, side or rear-end collision).

[0101] The vehicle collision determination device 400 compares the stored collision direction with the pre-stored collision direction, and when the collision direction changes (S825-Y), the vehicle collision determination device 400 can temporarily increase the number of collisions for the vehicle 10 (Ntemp=2) (S830). For example, the collision direction may change from front to side, from side to rear, or from left to right, indicating a multi-directional collision. In the case of receiving the collision direction for the first time (S825-N), there is no comparison target, so operation S855 can be performed.

[0102] After the number of collisions of vehicle 10 is temporarily increased (Ntemp=2), when a PWM collision waveform is received from ACU 300 (S835-Y), the vehicle collision determination device 400 can set the number of collisions temporarily increased in operation S830 (Ntemp=2) to the actual number of collisions (N=2) (S840). In this case, the received PWM collision waveform is a waveform generated by an additional collision that occurs within 2 seconds after the first collision is detected, and can be used to reconfirm that an additional collision has occurred (e.g., a rear-end collision within 2 seconds after the initial frontal impact, or a side collision that occurs immediately after the first collision).

[0103] When it is determined in operation S840 that a second collision has occurred, the vehicle collision determination device 400 determines that a preset time has elapsed after receiving the airbag deployment signal. No further collisions will occur after ΔT (S850) (e.g., ΔT can be set to 2 seconds, 5 seconds or 10 seconds according to system requirements).

[0104] On the other hand, when no PWM collision waveform is received in operation S835 (S835-N), the vehicle collision determination device 400 performs operation S820.

[0105] When it is determined in operation S825 that the collision direction has not changed (S825-N) or at the time set in operation S845 ( Before T) has passed, the vehicle collision determination device 400 compares at least two accelerations received and stored sequentially from the ACU 300 (S855).

[0106] In operation S855, when at least one of Ax (the absolute value of the change in X-axis acceleration) or Ay (the absolute value of the change in Y-axis acceleration) is greater than the acceleration threshold (S855-Y), device 400 may temporarily increase the number of collisions (Ntemp=2) (S830). The acceleration threshold is 30, but the acceleration threshold may also be other values ​​(e.g., adjusted to 20, 40, or 50 depending on the vehicle type, crash test data, or safety standards).

[0107] Then, the device 400 performs operations S835 to S850.

[0108] Furthermore, when a CAN communication malfunctions during operation S805 (S805-N), and the vehicle collision determination device 400 receives a PWM collision waveform from the ACU 300 via a signal line (S860-Y), it can be determined that a first collision has occurred (N=1) (S865). After operation S860, the vehicle collision determination device 400 can receive a normal PWM waveform for 1 second or longer (e.g., 1.5 seconds, 2 seconds, or 3 seconds, etc.).

[0109] When it is determined that the vehicle collision is the first collision, and a PWM collision waveform is received after at least m seconds (e.g., m is 2) (S870-Y), the vehicle collision determination device 400 can determine that an additional collision (N=2) has occurred (S875). For example, after receiving a 1-second PWM collision waveform in operation S860, if a normal PWM waveform for more than 1 second (e.g., 1.5 seconds or 2 seconds) is received, and then another PWM collision waveform is received, the vehicle collision determination device 400 can determine that an additional collision has occurred (e.g., a second rear-end collision after an initial frontal collision, or a side impact after a rollover).

[0110] Figure 9 An example computing system (e.g., a vehicle's computing device or any other device) is illustrated. One or more controllers, processors, etc., described herein, such as one or more components of vehicle 100, and any other components and devices disclosed herein, may be provided by, for example... Figure 9 The computing system 1000 is shown in the figure. The computing system 1000 may include at least one processor 1100, memory 1300, user interface input device 1400, user interface output device 1500, storage device 1600 and network interface 1700, which are connected to each other via bus 1200.

[0111] Processor 1100 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor device that processes instructions stored in memory 1300 and / or storage device 1600. Each of memory 1300 and storage device 1600 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. For example, memory 1300 may include read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).

[0112] A communication interface (also known as a communication device, communicator, communication module, communication unit, etc.), such as a network interface 1700, allows software and / or data to be transmitted between the device and one or more external devices and / or between one or more components of the device. A communication interface may include a receiver, transmitter, transceiver, modem, network interface and / or adapter (such as an Ethernet adapter), radio transceiver, antenna, communication port, PCMCIA slot and card, etc. The software and data transmitted through the communication interface may be in the form of signals, which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, infrared, or other signals that can be received by the communication interface. These signals can be provided to the communication interface through the device's communication path, which can be implemented using, for example, wires or cables, optical fibers, cellular links, radio frequency (RF) links, and / or other communication channels. The communication interface can communicate using one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication (NFC), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G New Radio (NR), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), Controller Area Network (CAN), or Local Interconnect Network (LIN).

[0113] Therefore, the operation of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this specification can be directly implemented using hardware modules, software modules, or a combination of hardware modules and software modules executed by processor 1100. Software modules may reside on storage media (e.g., memory 1300 and / or storage device 1600), such as RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable EPROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk drives, removable disks, or optical disc-ROMs (CD-ROMs).

[0114] The storage medium may be coupled to the processor 1100. The processor 1100 may read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor 1100. The processor and storage medium may be implemented in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may be located in the user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may be located as separate components in the user terminal.

[0115] According to an example of this disclosure, a vehicle collision determination device is provided, comprising: a communication interface unit; one or more processors; and a memory configured to store one or more programs executed by the one or more processors, wherein when a collision signal indicating a vehicle collision is received from an airbag control unit (ACU) via a communication channel, the processor determines that the collision is a first collision and determines whether an additional collision occurs after the first collision based on at least one of a collision direction and acceleration periodically received from the ACU.

[0116] The ACU can repeatedly send different modes of PWM waveforms at a certain period depending on whether a collision has occurred, and send the collision direction and acceleration at a period shorter than the period of repeating the PWM waveforms.

[0117] The processor can compare at least two collision directions received sequentially from the ACU to determine whether the collision direction has changed, and when it is determined that the collision direction has changed, temporarily increase the number of collisions for the vehicle.

[0118] When the number of collisions of a vehicle is temporarily increased, and then the processor receives the PWM collision waveform from the ACU, the processor determines the temporarily increased number of collisions as the actual number of collisions.

[0119] When comparing at least two collision directions and determining that the collision direction has not changed, the processor can compare at least two accelerations received sequentially from the ACU, and when the change in acceleration is greater than a threshold, the processor can temporarily increase the number of collisions for the vehicle.

[0120] When the number of collisions of a vehicle is temporarily increased, and then the processor receives the PWM collision waveform from the ACU, the processor can determine the temporarily increased number of collisions as the actual number of collisions.

[0121] When a PWM collision waveform indicating a collision has occurred is received from the ACU due to a communication channel anomaly, the processor can determine that the collision is the first collision, and after determining that the collision is the first collision, it can determine whether an additional collision has occurred after the first collision based on the pattern of the PWM waveform received from the ACU.

[0122] After determining that the collision is the first collision, when a normal PWM waveform is received for a predetermined time period or longer, and then a collision PWM waveform is received for a predetermined time period, the processor can determine that an additional collision has occurred.

[0123] According to another embodiment of this disclosure, a vehicle collision determination method is provided, performed by means of a memory including a memory configured to store one or more programs executed by one or more processors, comprising: determining that the collision is a first collision when a collision signal indicating a vehicle collision is received from an ACU via a communication channel; and determining whether an additional collision occurs after the first collision based on at least one of a collision direction and acceleration periodically received from the ACU.

[0124] The ACU can repeatedly send different modes of PWM waveforms at a certain period depending on whether a collision has occurred, and send the collision direction and acceleration at a period shorter than the period of repeating the PWM waveforms.

[0125] Determining whether an additional collision has occurred may include: comparing at least two collision directions received sequentially from the ACU to determine whether the collision direction has changed; and temporarily increasing the number of collisions for the vehicle when it is determined that the collision direction has changed.

[0126] Determining whether an additional collision has occurred may also include: when the number of collisions of a vehicle is temporarily increased and a PWM collision waveform is received from the ACU, determining the temporarily increased number of collisions of the vehicle as the actual number of collisions.

[0127] Determining whether an additional collision has occurred may include: when comparing at least two collision directions; if the collision direction has not changed, calculating the change in acceleration by comparing at least two accelerations received sequentially from the ACU; and if the calculated change in acceleration is greater than a threshold, temporarily increasing the number of collisions for the vehicle.

[0128] Determining whether an additional collision has occurred may also include: when the number of collisions of a vehicle is temporarily increased and a PWM collision waveform is received from the ACU, determining the temporarily increased number of collisions of the vehicle as the actual number of collisions.

[0129] The apparatus may further include: when a PWM collision waveform indicating a collision accident is received from the ACU due to a communication channel anomaly, determining that the collision accident is the first collision; and after determining that the collision accident is the first collision, determining, based on the pattern of the PWM waveform received from the ACU, whether an additional collision occurs after the first collision.

[0130] When determining whether an additional collision has occurred, after determining that the collision was the first collision, if a normal PWM waveform is received for a predetermined time period or longer, and then a PWM collision waveform is received for a predetermined time period, an additional collision can be determined.

[0131] The various embodiments of this disclosure are intended to explain representative embodiments of this disclosure, rather than to list all possible combinations, and the matters described in the various embodiments may be applied independently or in combination of two or more.

[0132] Furthermore, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, etc.

[0133] According to this disclosure, when a PWM waveform is repeatedly transmitted at a certain period, collisions occurring within a time period shorter than the PWM period can be detected, thereby more accurately detecting and determining a second or subsequent collision.

[0134] Furthermore, according to this disclosure, an MSD including second or subsequent collision information can be created and sent to an eCall server to infer the accident situation and prepare rescue methods in advance.

[0135] The scope of this disclosure includes software or machine-executable instructions (e.g., operating systems, applications, firmware, programs, etc.) that enable operation of methods according to various embodiments to be performed on a device or computer, as well as non-transitory computer-readable media that store such software, instructions, etc. and make them executable on a device or computer.

Claims

1. A vehicle device, the device comprising: The communication interface associated with the communication channel; processor; and A memory storing at least one instruction, wherein when the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: A collision signal is obtained from the vehicle's airbag control circuit via the communication channel, wherein the collision signal indicates that a collision has occurred in the vehicle; Based on the collision signal, it is determined that the collision was the vehicle's first collision; and Based on at least one of the vehicle's collision direction information and the vehicle's acceleration information, a signal indicating whether an additional collision occurs after the first collision is output, wherein the collision direction information and the acceleration information are received periodically from the airbag control circuit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The airbag control circuit is configured as follows: Based on whether a collision occurs, pulse width modulation (PWM) waveforms of different modes are repeatedly transmitted in the first cycle; and The collision direction information and the acceleration information are transmitted in a second period that is shorter than the first period.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: Compare at least two collision directions received sequentially from the airbag control circuit to determine whether the at least two collision directions are different; and Based on the determination that the at least two collision directions are different, the number of collisions of the vehicle is temporarily increased.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: determine the increased number of collisions as a final value based on the pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: based on determining that the at least two collision directions are the same, Compare at least two acceleration values ​​of the vehicle received sequentially from the airbag control circuit; as well as The number of collisions of the vehicle is temporarily increased if the difference between the at least two acceleration values ​​is greater than a threshold.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: determine the increased number of collisions as a final value based on the pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: When the communication channel is in an abnormal state, and based on the pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit, it is determined that the collision is the first collision, wherein the PWM collision waveform indicates that a collision has occurred; and Based on the pattern of the PWM waveform received from the airbag control circuit after the first collision of the vehicle, it is determined whether an additional collision occurred after the first collision.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein, After determining that it is the first collision of the vehicle, when the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the device to: determine that an additional collision has occurred based on receiving a normal PWM waveform for at least a predetermined time period and subsequently receiving a collision PWM waveform for the predetermined time period.

9. A method performed by a vehicle device, the method comprising the following steps: A collision signal is obtained from the vehicle's airbag control circuit via the vehicle's communication channel, wherein the collision signal indicates that a collision has occurred in the vehicle; Based on the collision signal, it is determined that the collision was the vehicle's first collision; and Based on at least one of the vehicle's collision direction information and the vehicle's acceleration information, a signal indicating whether an additional collision occurs after the first collision is output, wherein the collision direction information and the acceleration information are received periodically from the airbag control circuit.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: The airbag control circuit repeatedly sends pulse width modulation (PWM) waveforms of different modes in a first cycle based on whether a collision has occurred. as well as The collision direction information and the acceleration information are transmitted in a second period that is shorter than the first period.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein, The steps to determine whether an additional collision has occurred include: Compare at least two impact directions received sequentially from the airbag control circuit to determine whether the at least two impact directions are different; and Based on the determination that the at least two collision directions are different, the number of collisions of the vehicle is temporarily increased.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The step of determining whether an additional collision has occurred further includes: determining the final value of the increased number of collisions of the vehicle based on the pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein, The steps for determining whether an additional collision has occurred include: based on determining that the at least two collision directions are the same, Compare at least two acceleration values ​​of the vehicle received sequentially from the airbag control circuit; and The number of collisions of the vehicle is temporarily increased if the difference between the at least two acceleration values ​​is greater than a threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The step of determining whether an additional collision has occurred further includes: determining the final value of the increased number of collisions of the vehicle based on the pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: When the communication channel is in an abnormal state, and based on the pulse width modulation (PWM) collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit, it is determined that the collision is the first collision. as well as Based on the pattern of the PWM waveform received from the airbag control circuit after the first collision of the vehicle, it is determined whether an additional collision occurred after the first collision.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The steps for determining whether an additional collision has occurred include: after determining that it is the first collision, determining that an additional collision has occurred based on the fact that a normal PWM waveform has been received for at least a predetermined time period and a subsequent PWM collision waveform has been received for the predetermined time period.

17. A vehicle comprising: Airbag control circuit; The communication interface associated with the communication channel; processor; and A memory storing at least one instruction, wherein when the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the vehicle to: The collision signal and collision direction information are obtained from the airbag control circuit through the communication channel; Based on the collision signal, it is determined that the vehicle has experienced its first collision; Compare at least two collision direction information received sequentially from the airbag control circuit; Based on the comparison of the at least two collision direction information, it is determined whether the collision direction of the vehicle has changed; Based on the determination that the collision direction has changed, the number of collisions for the vehicle is increased; Based on the determination that the collision direction has not changed and based on the fact that the vehicle's acceleration change exceeds a threshold, the number of collisions for the vehicle is increased. Based on the pulse width modulation collision waveform received from the airbag control circuit, the increased number of collisions of the vehicle is set as the final number of collisions of the vehicle. as well as Output a signal indicating the final number of collisions.

18. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the vehicle to receive the collision direction information at intervals shorter than the period of repeatedly transmitting the pulse width modulation collision waveform.

19. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the vehicle to: Acceleration information is received from the airbag control circuit at intervals shorter than the period of repeatedly transmitting the pulse width modulated collision waveform; as well as Based on the acceleration information, it is determined that the vehicle's acceleration change exceeds the threshold.

20. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein, When the processor communicates with the memory and executes the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction is configured to cause the vehicle to: Generate a collision dataset including at least one of the following: the number of collisions of the vehicle, the direction of the collisions of the vehicle, and the time associated with the airbag deployment signal; and The collision dataset is sent to the emergency call server.

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