Emergency service warning system

• US 8,666,362 B2
• Filed: 01/19/2012
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PHYCO Trading B.V.
• Original Assignee: PHYCO Trading B.V.
• Inventors: Rijnsburger, Jasper Jeroen
• Primary Examiner(s): CAI, WAYNE HUU
• Application Number:
  US13/353,977
• Publication Number:
  US 20130189945A1
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/521
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An emergency service warning system, arranged to warn a user of approach of emergency services, provided with:

• • at least one movable emergency service transmitter (T) and at least one stationary base station (M), which emergency service transmitter (T) and base station (M) are arranged to communicate utilizing uplink signals (S) and respective downlink signals (d);
  • at least one user receiver (R) which is arranged to detect uplink signals (S) transmitted by the emergency service transmitter (T) and to deliver a warning signal upon detection of an uplink signal (S);
  • wherein the user receiver (R) is arranged to search for uplink signals utilizing information concerning the at least one base station.

Claims

1. An emergency service warning system, arranged to warn a user of approach of emergency services, comprising:

at least one movable emergency service transmitter and at least one stationary base station, wherein the emergency service transmitter and the at least one stationary base station are arranged to communicate by utilizing encoded digital uplink signals and respective downlink signals; and

at least one user receiver which is arranged to detect encoded digital uplink signals transmitted by the emergency service transmitter to the base station, without deciphering a possible content of the encoded digital uplink signals, and to deliver a warning signal upon detection of an encoded digital uplink signal;

wherein the user receiver is arranged to search for the encoded digital uplink signals transmitted by an emergency service transmitter to the base station utilizing information concerning the base station.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the information concerning the at least one base station:

comprises downlink signals transmitted by the at least one base station; and

/or

comprises predetermined information concerning the at least one base station, for instance, transmission frequency or frequencies and/or base station position data concerning the at least one base station.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein the user receiver is arranged to detect downlink signals transmitted by the at least one base station, for the purpose of searching for the encoded digital uplink signals.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the user receiver is arranged to detect downlink signals transmitted by the at least one base station, for the purpose of searching for the uplink signals.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined relation exists between the encoded digital uplink signals and the respective downlink signals transmitted by the at least one base station, wherein the user receiver is arranged to investigate whether said predetermined relation is present utilizing the information concerning the at least one base station.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a fixed frequency difference in the range of 1-20 MHz.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a frequency band channel number.

8. A system according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a frequency band channel number.

9. A system according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a fixed frequency difference of 10 MHz.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein the receiver is arranged to also receive said downlink signals, and to determine a signal strength of received encoded digital uplink signals and a signal strength of received downlink signals.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein the user receiver is arranged to estimate what the distance is to a said movable emergency service transmitter utilizing:

a signal strength of a detected encoded digital uplink signal; and

a signal strength of a respective detected downlink signal.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein the receiver is arranged to also receive said downlink signals, and to determine a reception direction of received uplink signals and a reception direction of received downlink signals.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein the user receiver is provided with a GPS receiver to determine a current position of the receiver, wherein the user receiver disposes of predetermined base station position data, wherein the receiver is arranged to verify which at least one base station is in a neighborhood by utilizing a current position determined by the GPS receiver and the base station position data.

14. A method of delivering a warning in case of an approaching mobile emergency service, comprising the step of:

utilizing a system, comprising;

at least one movable emergency service transmitter and at least one stationary base station, wherein the emergency service transmitter and the at least one stationary base station are arranged to communicate by utilizing encoded digital uplink signals and respective downlink signals; and

at least one user receiver which is arranged to detect encoded digital uplink signals transmitted by the emergency service transmitter to the at least one stationary base station, without deciphering a possible content of the encoded digital uplink signals, and to deliver a warning signal upon detection of an encoded digital uplink signal;

wherein the user receiver is arranged to search for the encoded digital uplink signals transmitted by an emergency service transmitter to the at least one stationary base station utilizing information concerning the base station

wherein the at least one stationary base station is set up to communicate with emergency services by utilizing uplink encoded digital signals and respective downlink signals, wherein at least one user receiver associated with a user searches for encoded digital uplink signals utilizing information concerning the at least one stationary base station.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein a predetermined relation exists between the encoded digital uplink signals and respective downlink signals, wherein the user receiver searches for the at least one stationary base station, as well as for encoded digital uplink signals corresponding according to said relation.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a fixed frequency difference of 10 MHz.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a frequency band channel number.

18. A method according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined relation comprises a frequency band channel number.