Emergency reporting device

• US 20060017612A1
• Filed: 07/22/2005
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagatani, Yoshinori
• Application Number:
  US11/186,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20060017612A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.640
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/006 for emergency situations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile

Abstract

When an emergency report is generated in a bad signal receiving environment such as a town with concentrated buildings, an underground parking lot and indoor where the accuracy of position information acquired is deteriorated, an emergency reporting device 10 loaded in a vehicle 1 acquires the present position of the vehicle 1 using the network assistance GPS function of the cellular phone 30, and transmits it to an emergency reporting center 5 so that the position with high accuracy can be transmitted to the emergency reporting center 5.

Claims

1. An emergency reporting device for transmitting to a reporting destination position information when an emergency report is generated, comprising:

a first acquirer, acquiring the position information on the basis of signals received from positioning satellites; and

a position information computer, computing the position information on the basis of the signals received from the positioning satellites and satellite orbit information and time information acquired from a position information server accessed through a network.

2. The emergency reporting device according to claim 1, wherein the first acquirer acquires the position information on the signals received from four or more positioning satellites, and the position information computer acquires the position information on the basis of the signals received from three or less positioning satellites.

3. The emergency reporting device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a second acquirer, acquiring a signal receiving environment referring to the position information when the emergency report is generated and a map database; and

a selector, selecting either one of the first acquirer and the position information computer based on the acquired signal receiving environment.

4. The emergency reporting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first acquirer and the position information computer commonly employ a receiver for receiving the signals from the positioning satellites outside the emergency reporting device.

5. The emergency reporting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein acquisition of the position information by the first acquirer is stopped and computation of the position information by the position computer is carried out only when the emergency report is generated.