Methods and apparatus for selective emergency alert notification and response

• US 8,989,699 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2010
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Hatton, David Anthony, Johnson, Robert Earl Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sarwar, Babar
• Application Number:
  US12/844,591
• Publication Number:
  US 20120028599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,701 Days
• Field of Search: 4554011-4042, 455/412.2, 4554141-4143, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/457, 455/569.2, 701/203, 701/200, 701/213, 701/469, 701/E17.018, 701/E17.108, 701/202, 701/210, 701/211, 701/119, 701/208, 340/905, 340/988, 340/989, 340/990, 340/995.11, 340/995.12, 340/995.13, 340/995.14, 340/995.24
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

Various embodiments include communicating emergency information to a vehicle. A computer may receive one or more emergency notifications issued by a government agency. Additionally, a geographic location of a vehicle may be determined based on GPS data. At least one emergency notification may be selected based on the geographic location of the vehicle and a geographic attribute of the emergency notifications. The selected emergency notifications may be output so that the notification may be presented to a vehicle occupant. In some embodiments, the notification may be output depending on the direction that the vehicle is travelling.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving at a vehicle computer an emergency notification having a an emergency-incident location geographic attribute;

receiving vehicle GPS location data at a vehicle computer;

determining, via the vehicle computer if the emergency-incident is within a predefined proximity to the vehicle GPS location, based on the geographic vehicle location and the geographic attribute; and

outputting the emergency notification, when the emergency-incident is within the predefined proximity to the vehicle GPS location.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the emergency notification is a government issued emergency notification.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,

wherein the predefined proximity is user-input.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein the proximity is defined as a radius centered around a vehicle.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the outputting is based on a direction of travel of the vehicle towards the emergency-incident.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting a request for the one or more emergency notifications.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a vehicle computing system processor, cause the processor to perform the method comprising:

receiving at a vehicle computer an emergency notification having an emergency-incident location geographic attribute;

receiving vehicle GPS location data at a vehicle computer;

determining, via the vehicle computer, if the emergency-incident is within a predefined proximity to the vehicle GPS location, based on the geographic vehicle location and the geographic attribute; and

outputting the emergency notification, when the emergency-incident is within the predefined proximity to the vehicle GPS location.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein the emergency notifications are at least one of an AMBER alert, weather-related alert, or a public safety alert.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 further comprising instructions for:

receiving a user home location;

and

outputting the emergency notification, if the emergency-incident is within the predefined proximity to the user home location.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the user home location is defined by the vehicle occupant.

11. A system comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive at a vehicle computer an emergency notification having an emergency-incident location geographic attribute;

receive vehicle GPS location data at a vehicle computer;

determine if the emergency-incident is within a predefined proximity to the vehicle GPS location, based on the geographic vehicle location and the geographic attribute; and

output the emergency notification, when the emergency-incident is within the predefined proximity to the vehicle GPS location.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the emergency notification includes one or more images of a subject of the emergency notifications.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the subject is selected from the group consisting of missing persons, suspected criminals, missing vehicles, or a combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the subject is meteorological events.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the image is a license plate.