PROCEDURE FOR MAKING AN EMERGENCY CALL

Description

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

[0002] The publication DE 10 2016 204 823 A1 describes a GPS-based area recognition system in a vehicle.

[0003] A method for determining one's own position with respect to a boundary line is described in publication DE 10 2020 211 392 A1.

[0004] Publication US 2016 / 217151 A1 shows a technique for representing geographical data using a polygon.

[0005] The state of the art includes Regulation (EU) 2015 / 758 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Official Journal of the European Union (DE), L 123, pp. 77-89, 2015 and the article by J. Snoeyink: "Point Location" preliminary version (August 10, 2017) from "The Handbook of Discrete and Computational Geometry", JE Goodmann, J. O'Rourke, and CD Töth (editors), 3rd edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2017.

[0006] Furthermore, course materials for CS166, Lecture 11 on Planar Point Location, 2021, by K. Schwarz et al., and the slides for CS164 and CS266, Computational Geometry. Week 6: Point location. Reading: Section 6.1, 2020, by M. Goodrich, are available.

[0007] The publication EP 1 840 519 A2 describes a route search procedure and a navigation device.

[0008] A method for determining the mileage of a vehicle is known from US 6,181,995 B1.

[0009] Against this background, the task was to make an emergency call based on location.

[0010] This problem is solved by a method and a system with the features of the independent claims. Embodiments of the method and the system are described in the dependent claims and the description.

[0011] The method according to the invention is designed for making an emergency call from a vehicle, e.g., a motor vehicle. First, the geographical area in which the vehicle is currently located is determined. Starting from the vehicle's current position within the area to be determined, a first track and a second track are laid out. These tracks are straight lines that differ in direction from the current position and are chosen randomly. Using provided and / or determined geodata of two immediately adjacent areas, the system checks which boundary is intersected first by the first track and which boundary is intersected first by the second track, both starting from the vehicle's current position.In the event that both lanes intersect the same boundary running between the same areas, a new first lane and a new second lane are created based on the vehicle's current position. Furthermore, in the alternative case where the boundaries first intersected by the two lanes from the vehicle's current position differ, the area to which both boundaries (e.g., area boundaries) are assigned is determined as the area in which the vehicle is currently located. The emergency call is then automatically placed by the vehicle, e.g., from a communication module within the vehicle, depending on the specific geographical area.

[0012] In this implementation, if two initially laid tracks intersect the same boundary (i.e., the boundary between the same immediately adjacent areas), these initially laid tracks are discarded. Furthermore, starting from the vehicle's current position, a new first track and a new second track are laid repeatedly until both tracks intersect the boundary between two different immediately adjacent areas. If the vehicle is stationary and remains at least temporarily in the same position, the initial tracks and any necessary new tracks are laid starting from the same position. If the vehicle is moving, its position changes. In this case, the initial tracks are laid starting from a first position of the vehicle, and any necessary new tracks are laid starting from a second position of the vehicle.

[0013] As a rule, a boundary exists between each pair of directly adjacent areas, forming a pair of immediately neighboring areas separated by this shared boundary. The first straight lane intersects a first boundary between a first pair of areas, and the second straight lane intersects a second boundary between a second pair of areas. If both pairs comprise the same two areas, new lanes must be laid out based on the current position. If the first boundary lies between a first pair of areas and the second boundary between a second pair of areas, the area in which the vehicle is located is determined based on this.The first pair of areas comprises a first area and a second area, and the second pair also comprises the first area and a third area, with both pairs having a total of three distinct areas. The area in which the vehicle is located belongs to both pairs of areas. The areas considered here include the area to be determined or the determined area in which the vehicle is located, and two distinct, immediately adjacent neighboring areas.

[0014] Starting from the position, the first and second tracks are laid in different directions, with an angle between the two tracks greater than 0° and less than 360°, where a possible angle between the tracks is, for example, 90° or 180°, with the two tracks in the latter case being oppositely aligned and / or oriented.

[0015] A territory is defined as a country, a state, a federal state, a territory usually recognized under international law, and / or a body of water, such as a sea, an ocean, a lake, and / or a river. Thus, it is possible for one territory in a pair to be a country or mainland and the other a body of water directly adjacent to each other, with the boundary between a country and a body of water also being referred to as a territorial boundary, e.g., a maritime boundary.

[0016] The system according to the invention is designed to make an emergency call from a vehicle, wherein the system comprises a computing unit and a communication module, which are usually also components of the vehicle.The computing unit is designed to first determine and / or ascertain the area in which the vehicle is currently located. To determine the area to be determined, the computing unit is designed to lay a first track and a second track, starting from the vehicle's current position within that area. These tracks are distinct from each other. Using provided and / or determined geodata from two immediately adjacent areas, the unit checks which boundary is first intersected by the first track from the current position and which boundary is first intersected by the second track from the current position.The processing unit is designed to create a new first lane and a new second lane, starting from the current position, if both lanes intersect the same boundary. The processing unit is also designed to determine, if the boundaries first intersected by the two lanes differ from each other, the area to which both boundaries are assigned as the area in which the vehicle is currently located. The communication module is designed to automatically initiate and transmit an emergency call from the vehicle to an emergency call center within that specific area.

[0017] It is possible to implement an embodiment of the presented method with an embodiment of the presented system. The method provides an efficient algorithm for determining the country where the vehicle is currently located, and, taking this into account, triggers an emergency call or eCall. It is possible to send the emergency call to a country-specific telephone number and / or to consider the language of the respective country for the emergency call.

[0018] In its configuration, the computing unit is designed to project the boundaries and / or traces onto a coordinate system in which the areas are entered.

[0019] The system includes a geodata module designed to provide geodata to the processing unit directly or indirectly via the communication module. This geodata module is located in the vehicle, for example as part of a navigation system, or it is part of an external and / or stationary server.

[0020] In this implementation, two randomly selected but differently oriented tracks are laid out from the current position, with an angle between them greater than 0° and less than 360°. For both tracks, the system tracks when they first intersect a boundary, e.g., a national border. The first boundary, intersected by the first track, lies between a region, e.g., country A, and a region, e.g., country B. Similarly, the second boundary, intersected by the second track, lies between a region, e.g., country C, and a region, e.g., country D. Once these two boundaries are known, the system checks whether two of the four aforementioned regions point towards the same region along a given track in the direction of the current position, where this region is the country in which the vehicle is currently located.Alternatively or additionally, this is also possible if three of the four areas are different, with the vehicle being located in the area that appears twice among these four areas. Otherwise, if, for example, only two of the four areas or all four areas are different, the algorithm is repeated with two new lanes that are newly selected and also have random directions.

[0021] The proposed algorithm aims to find, starting from a given position, two nearest, distinct country borders that share a common border with a given country. In a first example, along the first lane, country A is France and country B is Germany. Along the second lane, country C is Germany and country D is the Czech Republic. Thus, it is determined that the vehicle's country of residence is Germany. In a second example, along the first lane, country A is France and country B is Germany, and along the second lane, country C is France and country D is Germany. In this case, the algorithm is repeated with two new, randomly oriented lanes. In a third example, country A is France and country B is Germany. Additionally, along the second lane, country C is France and country D is Switzerland, and it is determined that the vehicle's country of residence is France.The procedure can also be adapted for a country that has only one neighboring country and otherwise borders a sea. In this case, the neighboring country is considered the first area and the sea the second. This is possible, for example, for Portugal, which borders Spain on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

[0022] The system is based on geodata of national borders and their projection into and / or onto the coordinate system used. This coordinate system is defined in the vehicle, for example, in the computer unit, by a GNSS receiver, for example, in the communication module. In contrast to conventional map data for navigation, which typically has a storage size of 10 to 20 GB, the geographical boundaries, such as national borders, of the world can be represented by a file size of less than 100 kB. Once the national borders are known, an algorithm must be used to determine which country the current position corresponds to. In particular, the use of tiles can be avoided, as these introduce inaccuracies and reduce storage efficiency. The method proposed here can be implemented efficiently in the vehicle. This means that it is storage-efficient and requires and / or occupies only a small amount of permanent storage and working memory.Furthermore, it is efficient in terms of computing power. The method is particularly suitable for border regions, specifically locations near a border between two neighboring countries.

[0023] With the emergency call function, a digital data and voice connection is established between the vehicle and the emergency call center and / or a rescue coordination center in the event of a vehicle emergency. The emergency call function can be triggered in two ways: manually by a user, such as the driver, in the event of a medical emergency, or automatically by the vehicle, for example, its computer unit, which then notifies the control center of an accident. In both cases, important information such as the vehicle's position, the number of occupants, and the vehicle's drive type (which can be combustion engine, hybrid, or electric) is transmitted to the rescue coordination center. For automatic triggering of the emergency call function, an airbag control unit, for example, detects the accident, a message about this event, and, if applicable, [further details to be added].Further messages are transmitted to a connectivity unit, which runs a function for placing an emergency call. Two configurations are available for this emergency call function. In the case of a private emergency call, a call center operated specifically for this purpose by the vehicle manufacturer is contacted. Alternatively, the emergency services control center is contacted directly. Regardless of the configuration chosen, the vehicle's current country of residence can be taken into account before an emergency call is placed, and the call can be placed automatically based on this information.

[0024] This method allows the determination of the country where a vehicle is currently located. The geo-module provides the processing unit with a GNSS position for determining the vehicle's current location, as well as geographic map data of the regions and their boundaries. The GNSS position can then be compared with the map data. Additionally, the communication module can query the mobile network operator's identifier for the country identified by the method. This identifier comprises a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC), which is used to initiate an emergency call. It is possible that the communication module's mobile modem might report that the current mobile network operator, for example, has the identifier 262-03 for "o2-de".The country code MCC 262 indicates that the vehicle is located in Germany or in a border region of one of Germany's neighboring countries. It is possible that this procedure can also be performed for a vehicle without a navigation system and therefore without map data. Typically, according to previously known methods, querying the mobile country code (MCC) and mobile network code (MNC) via the mobile modem is only possible if the modem is actively monitoring a mobile network, requiring the modem to be activated accordingly. However, a mobile modem is not usually required for this procedure to work.Furthermore, it should be taken into account that legislation requires that when making an emergency call (eCall), the mobile modem withdraws to relieve the mobile network if no other services are active besides the emergency call and the mobile modem is in a sleep mode.

[0025] The invention is schematically illustrated with reference to embodiments in the drawing and is described schematically and in detail with reference to the drawing. Figure 1a , 1b The figures show a schematic representation of an embodiment of the method according to the invention. Figure 2 The figure shows a schematic representation of a vehicle and an embodiment of the system according to the invention, with which the embodiment of the method according to the invention is carried out.

[0026] The figures are described in a coherent and comprehensive manner. The same reference symbols are assigned to the same components.

[0027] The Figure 1a and 1b The geographical areas are represented by a first country 1, a second country 2 and a third country 3, with a first border G12 between the first and second country 1, 2, a second border G13 between the first and third country 1, 3 and a third border G23 between the second and third country 2, 3.

[0028] The embodiment of the method according to the invention is used for vehicle 10 from Figure 2 carried out, which includes a computing unit 12 and a communication module 14, which are also designed as components of the embodiment of the system according to the invention, which further includes a geodata module 16 that is stationary here, e.g. server-based, and an emergency call center 18 or rescue control center.

[0029] It is planned that vehicle 10 will be located at a site in Figure 1a and 1bThe position P shown in each case is located, but initially it is unknown in which country 1, 2, 3, as a possible region, position P is located. In the embodiment of the method presented here, this region, and thus this country 1, 2, 3, is determined. Starting from the current position P of the vehicle 10 in the region to be determined, a first track S1 and a second track S2 are laid out, which here are designed as straight lines and differ in their direction.Furthermore, using geodata provided to the communication module 14 and thus to the computing unit 12 by the geodata module 16, it is checked which boundary G12, G13, G23 is first crossed by the first lane S1 starting from the current position P and which boundary G12, G13, G23 is first crossed by the second lane S2 starting from the current position P of the vehicle 10.

[0030] This involves a first case and / or attempt to determine country 1, 2, 3 based on... Figure 1a The diagram shows that both tracks S1, S2 extend from the first country 1 to the second country 2 and intersect the same first border G12 between these two countries 1, 2.

[0031] Since the result of this first attempt at refining the procedure is not conclusive, in a second case and / or attempt, starting from the current position P, a new first track S1 and a new second track S2 are laid, which is determined based on Figure 1b shown.

[0032] The first new lane S1 extends from the first country 1 to the second country 2, intersecting the first border G12. In contrast, the second new lane S2 extends from the first country 1 to the third country 3, intersecting the second border G13, with the two borders G12 and G13 being distinct from each other.

[0033] The first country, 1, is defined as the one in which vehicle 10 is currently located and to which both different borders, G12 and G13, are assigned. Depending on this specific country 1, the emergency call is automatically initiated by the communication module 14 of vehicle 10 and sent to the emergency call center 18 located in this first country 1. REFERENCE MARK:

[0034] 1, 2, 3 Land G12, G13, G23 Border P Position S1, S2 Lane 10 Vehicle 12 Computing unit 14 Communication module 16 Geodata module 18 Emergency call center

Claims

1. A method of placing an emergency call from a vehicle (10), in which it is determined in which area the vehicle (10) is currently located, wherein, starting from a current position (P) of the vehicle (10) in the area to be determined, a first track (S1) and a second track (S2) are laid which differ from one another, wherein, using provided geodata of boundaries (G12, G13, G23) respectively assigned to two directly adjacent areas, which boundaries (G12, G13, G23) lie between these areas, it is checked which boundary (G12, G13, G23) is the first to be intersected by the first track (S1) starting from the current position (P) and which boundary (G12, G13, G23) is the first to be intersected by the second track (S2) starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10), wherein, in the event that both tracks (S1, S2) intersect the same boundary (G12, G13, G23), a new first track (S1) and a new second track (52) are laid starting from a current position (P) of the vehicle (10), wherein, in the event that the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) respectively first intersected by the two tracks (S1, S2) starting from the current position (P) differ from one another, that area to which both boundaries (G12, G13, G23) are assigned is determined as the area in which the vehicle (10) is currently located, wherein the emergency call is placed depending on the determined area, wherein a country, a state, a federal state, a territory recognized under international law and / or a body of water is provided for and / or taken into account as the area.

2. The method according to claim 1, in which, in the event that two tracks (S1, S2) laid for the first time respectively intersect the same boundary (G12, G13, G23) between the same directly adjacent areas, these tracks (S1, S2) laid for the first time are discarded, wherein, starting from the position (P), a new first track (S1) and a new second track (S2) are laid repeatedly until the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) respectively intersected by the two tracks (S1, S2) differ.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, in which the first and second tracks (S1, S2) are laid in different directions starting from the position (P).

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

5. The method according to claim 4, in which a body of water is considered as at least one second area.

6. A system of placing an emergency call from a vehicle (10), wherein the system has a computing unit (12) and a communication module (14), wherein the computing unit (12) is configured to determine in which area the vehicle (10) is located, wherein the computing unit (12) for determining the area is configured to lay a first track (S1) and a second track (S2), which differ from one another, starting from a current position (P) of the vehicle (10) in the area to be determined and, using provided geodata of boundaries (G12, G13, G23) respectively assigned to two directly adjacent areas, which boundaries (G12, G13, G23) lie between these areas, to check which boundary (G12, G13, G23) is the first to be intersected by the first track (S1) starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10) and which boundary (G12, G13, G23) is the first to be intersected by the second track (S2) starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10) wherein, in the event that both tracks (S1, S2) intersect the same boundary (G12, G13, G23), the computing unit (12) is configured to lay a new first track (S1) and a new second track (S2) starting from the current position (P), wherein, in the event that the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) respectively first intersected by the two tracks (S1, S2) starting from the current position (P) of the vehicle (10) differ from one another, that area to which both boundaries (G12, G13, G23) are assigned is determined as the area in which the vehicle (10) is currently located, wherein the communication module (14) is configured to place the emergency call depending on the determined area, wherein a country, a state, a federal state, a territory recognized under international law and / or a body of water is provided for and / or taken into account as the area.

7. The system according to claim 6, in which the computing unit (12) is configured to project the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) onto a coordinate system.

8. The system according to claim 6 or 7, having a geodata module (16) which is configured to provide the geodata to the computing unit (12).