Methods, systems and computer program products for providing an emergency vehicle alert

• US 8,159,368 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2009
• Issued: 04/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Corp.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kirkpatrick, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Mullen, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US12/606,684
• Publication Number:
  US 20100045483A1
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• Field of Search: 340/902, 340/691.6, 340/692
• US Class Current: 340/902
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle

Abstract

A method for providing an emergency vehicle alert to an occupant of a second vehicle includes: receiving an alert signal at a receiver device on the second vehicle from the emergency vehicle; and, responsive to the received alert signal, automatically warning the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle may be approaching and/or is in a vicinity of the second vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for providing an emergency vehicle alert to an occupant of a second vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving an alert signal at a receiver device on the second vehicle from an emergency vehicle;

responsive to the alert signal, determining whether the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern;

if the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern, automatically warning the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle is in a vicinity of the second vehicle and that the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern; and

if the emergency vehicle is not an emergency vehicle of concern, automatically alerting the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle is not an emergency vehicle of concern,

wherein warning the occupant includes playing an audible alert to the occupant; and

wherein the audible alert includes a voice message that is not specifically associated with the second vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the alert signal is a radiofrequency signal.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice message includes a description of the emergency vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice message includes a description of a location of the emergency vehicle relative to the second vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 including, responsive to the alert signal, automatically reducing a volume of an audio device of the second vehicle to enable the occupant to better hear the audible alert.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein warning the occupant includes displaying a visual alert to the occupant.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the visual alert includes a displayed image indicating a location of the emergency vehicle relative to the second vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7 including determining a location of the second vehicle using a positioning system receiver.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving an alert signal at a receiver device on the second vehicle comprises receiving an alert signal emitted from the emergency vehicle to the receiver device on the second vehicle.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the emitted alert signal comprises a broadcast alert signal.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the alert signal is a radiofrequency signal.

12. An alert system for providing an emergency vehicle alert to an occupant of a second vehicle, the system comprising:

a receiver device on the second vehicle configured to;

receive an alert signal from an emergency vehicle; and

responsive to the alert signal, determine whether the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern; and

if the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern, automatically warn the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle is in a vicinity of the second vehicle and that the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern;

if the emergency vehicle is not an emergency vehicle of concern, automatically alert the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle is not an emergency vehicle of concern,

wherein the receiver device is configured to automatically play an audible alert to the occupant responsive to the received alert signal; and

wherein the audible alert includes a voice message that is not specifically associated with the second vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12 including a sender device on the emergency vehicle, wherein the sender device is configured to emit the alert signal to the receiver device.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the sender device is configured to broadcast the alert signal.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the alert signal is a radiofrequency signal.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the receiver device is configured to automatically display a visual alert to the occupant responsive to the alert signal.

17. A computer program product for providing an emergency vehicle alert to an occupant of a second vehicle, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to receive an alert signal at a receiver device on the second vehicle from an emergency vehicle; and

computer readable program code configured to determine whether the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern, and if the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern, automatically warn the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle is in a vicinity of the second vehicle and that the emergency vehicle is an emergency vehicle of concern in response to the alert signal, including automatically playing an audible alert to the occupant responsive to the alert signal; and

if the emergency vehicle is not an emergency vehicle of concern, computer readable program code configured to automatically alert the occupant of the second vehicle that the emergency vehicle is not an emergency vehicle of concern,

wherein the audible alert includes a voice message that is not specifically associated with the second vehicle.