METHOD FOR MANAGING DISASTER AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE THEREOF

• US 20150334544A1
• Filed: 04/24/2015
• Published: 11/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: PARK, Kang-Ho
• Granted Patent: US 9,788,150 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A method of operating an electronic device when a disaster occurs and disaster information is received. The disaster information may be relayed by an external electronic device, a server, or could be detected by one or more sensors within the electronic device that detect a possible emergency such as the user has fallen, or there has been impact sensed consistent with an accident, etc. The method includes receiving disaster information, determining whether a rescue request will be made by analyzing the disaster information, and transmitting rescue request information based on the determination result. An electronic device is configured to perform the method.

Claims

1. A method in an electronic device, the method comprising:

receiving disaster information;

analyzing the disaster information;

determining whether to make a rescue request including rescue request information based on the analyzed disaster information; and

transmitting the rescue request information based on the determination result.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the disaster information is received from at least one sensor of the electronic device.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the disaster information is received from an external electronic device or a server.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether to make the rescue request includes prompting a user for confirmation.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the rescue request is automatically transmitted if no response to prompting the user is received within a predetermined time period.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the disaster information comprises at least one of a disaster type information, a disaster occurrence time information, a disaster occurrence location information, a disaster scale information, and a disaster continuance time information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining of whether to make the rescue request includes comparing the disaster occurrence location information with location information of the electronic device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising enabling an accident detection mode for detecting a specific movement of the electronic device according to the comparison result.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the specific movement comprises at least one of a fall from a specific height, a movement for a specific time period, or an external impact.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising disabling the accident detection mode when the electronic device ceases receiving the disaster information, or a specific time elapses.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the rescue request information comprises at least some disaster information, and at least one of a location information, a contact site information, and a user identification information of the electronic device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the rescue request information is transmitted with the rescue request through at least one of an emergency message, an emergency call, and an emergency email.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the rescue request information is transmitted to a rescue center periodically or continuously in which the rescue center is situated within a predetermined distance of the electronic device or to a designated phone number.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying a user that the transmitting of the rescue request is made, asking the user about whether to make the rescue request prior to transmitting the rescue request, or automatically transmitting the rescue request when an input is not received for a predetermined period of time after asking the user whether to make the rescue request.

15. An electronic device comprising:

a communication module configured to receive disaster information; and

a processor configured to analyze the received disaster information, to determine whether to make a rescue request including rescue information based on the analyzed disaster information, and to transmit the rescue request information based on the determination result.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the received disaster information comprises at least one of a disaster type information, a disaster occurrence time information, a disaster occurrence location information, a disaster scale information, or a disaster continuance time information.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether or not to make the rescue request based on a comparison of the disaster occurrence location information with a location information of the electronic device.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to enable an accident detection mode that detects a specific movement based on the comparison result of the disaster occurrence location information with the location information of the electronic device.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the detected specific movement comprises at least one of a fall of the electronic device from a specific height, a movement of the electronic device for a specific time period, and an external impact.

20. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to disable the accident detection mode when the electronic device ceases receiving the disaster information, or a specific time elapses.