Emergency call initiator

• US 6,073,004 A
• Filed: 12/17/1996
• Issued: 06/06/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ericsson, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: Ericsson, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Balachandran, Shridharan
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): APPIAH, CHARLES NANA
• Application Number:
  US08/768,315
• Time in Patent Office: 1,267 Days
• Field of Search: 379/39, 379/40, 379/43, 379/45, 379/51, 455/404, 455/456, 455/459, 342/357
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/005 Alarm destination chosen according to a hierarchy of available destinations, e.g. if hospital does not answer send to police station
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• 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

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.

Claims

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.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the means for initiating comprises a processor, including a controlling program actuated by the activation signal, for determining if the activation signal strength meets a preselected threshold level and initiating the outgoing calling sequence if the activation signal meets the preselected threshold level.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone comprises dual receiver signal circuitry for receiving signals from a telecommunication network and for receiving the activation signal from the sensor via the wireless communications link.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein in response to the first type of activation signal said means immediately initiates the outgoing call sequence and in response to the second type of activation signal said means sets a timer to a length of time enabling a passenger of the vehicle an opportunity to cancel the outgoing call sequence.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the timer may further be by-passed in response to preselected types of emergencies.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises a sensor for initiating automatic air bag deployment.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the home location register further includes at least one number to be called in case of an emergency for each subscriber.

8. The system of claim 1 further including means for providing location information for the cellular telephone.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the home location register further includes at least one notification number to individuals who should be notified in case of an accident involving the subscriber.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the home location register further includes emergency procedure information for continuous transmission to the cellular telephone.

11. A system for initiating an emergency call from a cellular telephone in response to a vehicle accident, comprising:

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.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the means for initiating comprises a processor, including a controlling program actuated by the activation signal, for determining if the activation signal meets a preselected threshold level and initiating the outgoing calling sequence if the activation signal meets the preselected threshold level.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the cellular telephone comprises dual receiver signal circuitry for receiving signals from a telecommunication network and for receiving the activation signals from the plurality sensors via the wireless communications link.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein in response to the first type of activation signal said means immediately initiates the call activation and in response to the second type of activation signal said means sets a timer to a length of time enabling a passenger of the vehicle an opportunity to cancel the call activation.

15. The system of claim 11, further including means for aborting call activation.

16. The system of claim 11, further including means for providing location information for the cellular telephone.

17. A method for automatically initiating an emergency call through a cellular telephone in response to a vehicle accident, comprising the steps of:

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.

18. The method of claim 17 further including the step of:

retrieving location information for the cellular telephone; and

transmitting the location information to the emergency operator.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first type of call activation signal sets the first time period to immediately initiate the emergency call setup and the second type of activation signal sets the second time period to a length of time enabling a passenger of the vehicle an opportunity to cancel the emergency call setup.

20. The method of claim 17 further including the step of receiving the call activation signal through the cellular telephone, wherein the cellular telephone comprises dual circuitry for receiving signals from a telecommunication network and for receiving the call activation signal via the wireless communications link.