Vehicle Emergency Call Area Detection in Border Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for making emergency calls from vehicles are inefficient in determining the precise geographical location, particularly in border regions, and often require significant storage and computing resources, leading to inaccuracies and increased complexity.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that uses randomly oriented straight tracks from a vehicle's current position to intersect geographical boundaries, determining the vehicle's location by checking which boundaries are intersected first, and automatically initiating an emergency call based on the identified area, utilizing geodata and a communication module to place country-specific calls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional GPS-based area recognition systems are used to determine vehicle location, then location determination can be achieved, but storage and computing resources are significantly consumed and complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential boundary information from complete geographical area data. Instead of storing and processing full area definitions, the system only stores boundary lines that separate adjacent areas. This extraction reduces data storage requirements and simplifies the computational process for determining which area a vehicle is in, while maintaining location determination accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the geographical space by focusing on boundary lines between areas rather than treating entire areas as single units. By laying out tracks and checking intersections with boundaries, the system divides the problem into smaller, more manageable checks - determining which boundary is intersected first by each track, rather than checking which complete area contains the vehicle.
2Measurement precision
If multiple tracks are laid out to determine area by boundary intersection, then location accuracy in border regions improves, but computing time and processing resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a probabilistic approach with a limited number of randomly oriented tracks instead of exhaustively checking all possible boundaries. By laying out a small number of tracks in random directions and checking only the first boundary each track intersects, the system achieves sufficient location accuracy without the computational burden of complete boundary analysis. The random orientation provides good coverage for determining area membership with minimal track checks.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for placing an emergency call from a vehicle (10), in which method it is determined what area the vehicle (10) is presently situated in, wherein a first route (S1) and a second route (S2) which differ from one another are set up proceeding from a present position (P) of the vehicle (10) in the area that is to be determined, wherein, using provided geodata relating to boundaries (G12, G13, G23) which are assigned to in each case two immediately adjacent areas and which lie between said areas, it is checked which boundary (G12, G13, G23) is intersected first by the first route (S1) proceeding from the present position (P) and which boundary (G12, G13, 23) is intersected first by the second route (S2) proceeding from the present position (P) of the vehicle (10), wherein, if both routes (S1, S2) intersect the same boundary (G12, G13, G23), a new first route (S1) and a new second route (S2) are set up proceeding from a present position (P) of the vehicle (10), wherein, if the boundaries (G12, G13, G23) that are intersected first in each case by the two routes (S1, S2) proceeding from the present position (P) differ from one another, the area to which both boundaries (G12, G13, G23) are assigned is determined as being the area in which the vehicle (10) is presently situated, wherein the emergency call is placed depending on the determined area, wherein a country, a state, a province, a territory generally recognized under international law, and/or a body of water, for example a sea, an ocean, a lake and/or a river, is provided and/or taken into consideration as an area.