Emergency call initiator
First Claim
1. A system for initiating an emergency call from a cellular telephone in response to a vehicle accident, comprising:
- a sensor for generating an activation signal in response to a vehicle accident, wherein the activation signal may be of a first type indicating a first level of urgency or a second type indicating a second level of urgency;
means responsive to the activation signal for initiating an outgoing call sequence, wherein the activation signal is transmitted between the sensor and the means for initiating through a wireless communications link, wherein said means is further responsive to the first and second types of activation signal, wherein initiation of the outgoing call sequence is delayed by a first time period in response to the first type of activation signal and a second time period in response to the second type of activation signal; and
a home location register in a cellular communications system configured to store emergency information to be transmitted upon initiation of the outgoing call sequence.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for enabling emergency call initiations in response to the detection of a vehicle accident is disclosed. A number of sensors located about the vehicle, for example, air bag deployment sensors, initiate call activation signals upon detection of a vehicle accident. The emergency call activation signal is transmitted to an associated cellular telephone unit via wireline or non-wireline communications, and a timer initiates a timeout period. Once the timer has measured the proper timeout period, an emergency call setup is begun. The emergency call setup may be discontinued at any point by a user abort command. Otherwise, the mobile switching center serving the cellular telephone is alerted to initiate an emergency call. The MSC utilizes location information from the base station of the cellular telephone and emergency information from the home location register of the cellular telephone to contact and provide an emergency operator with emergency information.
153 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for initiating an emergency call from a cellular telephone in response to a vehicle accident, comprising:
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a sensor for generating an activation signal in response to a vehicle accident, wherein the activation signal may be of a first type indicating a first level of urgency or a second type indicating a second level of urgency; means responsive to the activation signal for initiating an outgoing call sequence, wherein the activation signal is transmitted between the sensor and the means for initiating through a wireless communications link, wherein said means is further responsive to the first and second types of activation signal, wherein initiation of the outgoing call sequence is delayed by a first time period in response to the first type of activation signal and a second time period in response to the second type of activation signal; and a home location register in a cellular communications system configured to store emergency information to be transmitted upon initiation of the outgoing call sequence. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for initiating an emergency call from a cellular telephone in response to a vehicle accident, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors for detecting the vehicle accident and generating an activation signal in response thereto, wherein the activation signal may be of a first type indicating a first level of urgency or a second type indicating a second level of urgency; means responsive to the activation signal for initiating the call activation, wherein initiation of the call activation is delayed by a first time period in response to the first type of activation signal and is delayed by a second time period in response to the second type of activation signal; a transmitter associated with each sensor for connecting the plurality of sensors with the means for initiating through a wireless communications link; and a database remotely located from the telephone for storing emergency information to be transmitted upon call activation; wherein the database is configured to be accessed by a mobile switching center. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for automatically initiating an emergency call through a cellular telephone in response to a vehicle accident, comprising the steps of:
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generating a call activation signal in response to a vehicle accident, wherein the call activation signal may be of a first type indicating a first level of urgency or a second type indicating a second level of urgency; sending the call activation signal through a wireless communications link to the cellular telephone; activating an emergency call setup, through the cellular telephone, to an emergency operator in response to the call activation signal; delaying activation of the emergency call setup by a first time period in response to the first type of call activation signal and by a second time period in response to the second type of call activation signal; retrieving emergency information from a home location register; and transmitting the emergency information to the emergency operator. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification