ES2387823T3 - Method for improving the transit of emergency vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for the improvement of vehicle traffic, each vehicle (1) being subscribed to a traffic accident prevention service for emergency services, the vehicle having (1): - means (2) for determining the position of the vehicle, and - a terminal (3), which can be operated to access a wireless access network (4) that manages the service and is connected to the means (2) for determining the position of the vehicle, thereby having access to the information provided by said means (2); characterized in that said method comprises the following steps: a- the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1) sends a request to the wireless access network (4) to subscribe to the service, sending with said request the following data: - the position of the vehicle (1); - the identifier of the service being requested; and - a unique vehicle identifier (1); b- the wireless access network (4) checks the validation of the terminal subscription (3); c- the wireless access network (4) sends to the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1): - a temporary identifier of said terminal (3); - the coordinates of at least one reference point (6); - an identifier of at least one reference point (6); and - the distance D to at least one reference point (6) at which the terminal (3) must contact the wireless access network (4); d- the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1) periodically calculates the distance d from said vehicle (1) to the at least one reference point (6), and e- in case d <> = D for said at minus a reference point (6): - said terminal (3) sends to the wireless access network (4): the position of the vehicle (1), the identifier of the at least one reference point (6) for which it complies that d <> = D, and the temporary identifier of the terminal (1), storing the wireless access network (4) said terminal data in a database; - the wireless access network (4) reports the presence of the emergency vehicle (1) to other vehicles (7) that are within a predetermined distance of at least one reference point (6) for which it is met that d <> = D for the vehicle (1).

Description

Method for improving the transit of emergency vehicles.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for the improvement of the transit of emergency vehicles, in which the emergency vehicles that circulate on the road network and that use said method have means of determining the position, (for example a global satellite navigation receiver (GNSS), such as GPS or Galileo), and a terminal with access to a wireless access network (for example, the mobile telephone network) and which is connected to said position determining means . Knowing the position of the emergency vehicle at all times, the network alerts the rest of the vehicles in the road network, provided that they are in the vicinity of the emergency vehicle, of the safety parameters (such as maximum allowed speed, safety distance with the vehicle that precedes) and other actions that must be taken to facilitate the passage of said emergency vehicle, minimizing the risk of accident.

Background of the invention

Today the traffic alerts streets and roads of emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, firefighters or police patrol cars, in an emergency situation is based on the use of acoustic and light signals so that the rest of vehicles with those who share the road clear their path and allow them to reach their destination in the shortest possible time.

The safety of these vehicles is found on numerous occasions, especially at intersections or crossroads, not insured, which also puts the safety of other vehicles at risk.

In addition, many times, and due to the Doppler effect of the sound, the vehicles that precede the emergency vehicles do not know if the vehicle is in front of or behind them and by which lane they approach, so that on many occasions they cannot make any maneuver to clear the path of the VE.

The method object of the invention solves the problem posed, as it informs drivers to clear the path of emergency vehicles and thus reduce the time of arrival at their destination, in addition to increasing safety especially at crossings.

Patent documents on analogous methods for improving the transit of emergency vehicles include document US2003 / 141990. In this document, each emergency vehicle announces itself (and its position) as a threat to other users of the road to a centralized data delivery center, which in turn broadcasts an alert information to the drivers of other vehicles The receiving driver's system then determines whether the threat is relevant to the driver, comparing his own position with the broadcast position of the threat, alerting the driver if it is relevant.

Description of the invention

The present invention relates to a method for improving the transit of emergency vehicles according to claim 1 and claim 10, in its two alternative solutions. Preferred embodiments of said method are defined in the dependent claims.

In both methods each emergency vehicle that subscribes to the Traffic Accident Prevention Service for PATSEM Emergency Services, a service provided by said method, has:

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means for determining the position of the vehicle, such as a global GNSS satellite navigation receiver that provides georeferenced measurements of the position of the vehicle in which it is installed, and

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a terminal TE (for example, a mobile telephone with an installed application or a personal digital assistant, PDA), which can access a wireless access network (for example, a mobile telephone network), said terminal being connected to the media for determining the position of the vehicle and with access to the information provided by said means.

The method described in claim 1 comprises, for each emergency vehicle that subscribes to the PATSEM service, the following steps:

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The TE terminal of the emergency vehicle sends a request to the wireless access network to subscribe to the PATSEM service, sending with that request the following data: the position of the emergency vehicle, the identifier of the PATSEM service being requested, a unique identifier Emergency vehicle IDVE, and optionally an IDVEPASS service access code for that IDVE, and the direction of movement ;;

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the wireless access network verifies the identity of the user, for example by means of an authentication mechanism, checking the validation of the TE terminal subscription, storing the data received in the previous request and optionally confirming to the TE terminal its subscription to the PATSEM service;

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the wireless access network sends a temporary IDVETEMP identifier of said TE terminal to the emergency vehicle TE terminal; the coordinates of some PR reference points at which the terminal TE must contact the wireless access network, when approaching a certain distance, so that the network informs the rest of the vehicles of the presence of the emergency vehicle; IDPR identifiers of the PRs and the distance D to the PRs that the TE terminal must respect in order to contact the wireless access network;

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Optionally, the wireless access network can inform, at the time of the subscription of the emergency vehicle to the PATSEM service, the rest of the vehicles that are located at a predetermined distance from the emergency vehicle of the presence of the same in the area;

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the terminal TE of the emergency vehicle periodically calculates the distance d of said vehicle to the PR. In case d> D, the terminal TE can send to the network the position of the emergency vehicle, its temporary IDVETEMP identifier and optionally its direction of movement. In case d <= D for at least one of the PR:

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said terminal TE sends to the wireless access network the position of the emergency vehicle, the IDPR identifier of the at least one PR for which it is met that d <= D, the IDVETBMP identifier and optionally the direction of movement of the vehicle;

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the wireless access network stores the received data and optionally confirms to the TE terminal the reception of said data;

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The wireless access network reports the presence of the emergency vehicle to the rest of the vehicles that are at a predetermined distance of at least one PR for which it is met that d <= D.

To inform other vehicles of the presence of the emergency vehicle there are several options. For those vehicles that circulate on the road network and that participate in the PATSEM service and have means of determining the position (such as a GPS receiver), and in turn have a TE terminal with access to the wireless access network , and with access to the information provided by said means, the network informs said other vehicles of the presence of the emergency vehicle through its own TE terminals, sending them security parameters (for example, maximum permitted speed) that must be meet and optionally a message requiring a specific action, such as clearing one of the lanes. Emergency vehicles subscribe to the PATSEM service if you want the rest of the vehicles to be notified of their presence. On the other hand, the vehicles that participate in the PATSEM service are those that are connected to the wireless access network, through a terminal in each vehicle, and can receive information from the PATSEM service to notify them of the presence of an emergency vehicle. Those vehicles that do not have a terminal to access the wireless access network do not participate in the PATSEM service, and therefore cannot receive messages from the wireless access network.

For those vehicles that do not participate in the PATSEM service, they could be notified, for example, by information panels controlled by the PATSEM service itself and located at conflicting points of the road network (at the PR reference points). It could also be controlled, if the PATSEM service, traffic lights and other signs were allowed, so that all vehicles located near the emergency vehicle could be notified.

The wireless access network may periodically send a new IDVETEMP identifier to the emergency vehicle. The method can be implemented so that the emergency vehicle sends its position, its IDVETEMP temporary identifier and optionally its direction of movement to the wireless access network when requested.

The subscription of the emergency vehicle to the PATSEM service may end either when said emergency vehicle does not contact the network in a predetermined time TEXp or when said emergency vehicle sends to the network a request to terminate the subscription to the PATSEM service. In the event that the emergency vehicle has voluntarily terminated its subscription, to make a new subscription, the emergency vehicle TE terminal must send the following information to the network: the position of the emergency vehicle, the PATSEM service identifier that the temporary IDVETBMP identifier of said TE terminal and optionally the direction of movement is being requested. The wireless access network then verifies that the period of validity of said IDVETEMP has not expired.

There is also an alternative method, according to claim 10. In this case the terminal TE sends a request to the wireless access network, the network verifies the identity of the user and the validation of the subscription of the terminal TE in the same way as in the First method described. What varies is that now the wireless access network only sends a temporary IDVETEMp identifier of the TE terminal, and does not send information about the PRs. The network, as in the first method described, informs the rest of the vehicles that are at a predetermined distance from the emergency vehicle of the presence of the same. The TE terminal of the emergency vehicle periodically sends the IDVETEMP identifier, the position of the emergency vehicle and optionally the direction of the emergency vehicle to the wireless access network. In this way it is now the wireless access network, and not the emergency vehicle, which calculates the distance d of the emergency vehicle to the PRs, and in case d <= D for at least one of the PRs the network wireless access informs the presence of the emergency vehicle to other vehicles that are at a predetermined distance of at least one PR for which it is met that d <= D. The emergency vehicle can send its position, its IDVETEMP temporary identifier and optionally its direction of movement to the wireless access network when requested. The wireless access network may in turn periodically send a new IDVETEMP identifier to the emergency vehicle.

The wireless access network's way of informing other vehicles of the presence of the emergency vehicle is identical to that already described. The procedure for termination of the subscription to the service and new subscription is also the same as described for the first method.

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of the invention, an embodiment of the invention will be briefly described below, as an illustrative and non-limiting example thereof. For this, reference is made to the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the interaction of the TE terminal of the emergency vehicle, connected to means for determining the position of the vehicle, with the wireless access network provided by the PATSEM service.

Description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

As shown in Figure 1, the method object of the invention is based on the availability, in the emergency vehicle 1, of means for determining the position, for example, and in the case of Figure 1, a global satellite navigation receiver GNSS 2 (GPS, Galileo, etc.) that provides position measurements of the vehicle in which it is installed, said GNSS receiver 2 having a terminal TE 3 of the driver of said vehicle 1, terminal 3 which It has a client application installed and has access to the information provided by the GNSS receiver 2, so that the location of the vehicle 1 is determined locally (in the vehicle 1 of the user).

The steps of the method are as follows:

P1. The TE 3 terminal subscribes to the service for the first time. To do this, it sends a registration request to a wireless access network 4, in charge of managing the PATSEM Traffic Accident Prevention Service for Emergency Services. The parameters included in the request are:

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the identifier of the PATSEM service,

- a unique IDVE identifier of emergency vehicle 1, -the current position of terminal TE 3, and optionally: -the direction of circulation (a simple solution is to send two points or two position measurements), and

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an IDVEPASS service access key for that IDVE- The wireless access network 4 has for example a database 5 with the pairs (IDVE, IDVEPASS) allowed for the PATSEM service.

P2 In response to this request, network 4 will attempt to authenticate the user using an authentication mechanism, for example a credential sending mechanism. In this mechanism, using as input the user's identity and password parameters, network 4 and user generate a response that must be the same at both ends to consider the user authenticated and facilitate access. As the calculation of that response is based on something that only network 4 and user know, if the answer is the same, it is the registered user.

P3 If it is correct, it will confirm your subscription to the PATSEM service and send to terminal TE 3:

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a temporary ID of the IDVETEMP emergency vehicle,

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the coordinates of some PR 6 reference points where you must contact network 4 to inform other vehicles 7;

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IDPR identifiers of the PR 6 reference points;

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distance D to these PR 6 that the terminal TE 3 must respect in order to contact the network 4. This distance can be unique for all PR 6 to a particular good for each PR 6.

P4 The network will optionally inform, just after the subscription, the rest of vehicles 7 of the presence of the emergency vehicle in the area. The information sent to these vehicles will depend on where these are:

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 For those vehicles that are on track 8 in which the emergency vehicle 1 is located (determined by consulting a map and the direction of traffic information):

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The parameters sent by the network 4 associated with safety, safety parameters such as maximum speed, can be complemented in the following PRs in the direction of emergency vehicle movement with more restrictive safety parameters and indicating for example that it is required that clear the left lane for use by the emergency vehicle in its path.

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For vehicles that have recently passed through PR 6 where the emergency vehicle is now located, network 4 will send an update of the safety parameters and may request a lane change.

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For those vehicles that are on adjacent roads 9, those that are perpendicular to the track 8 through which the emergency vehicle circulates, to which the emergency vehicle 1 is located (determined by consulting a map and the direction information circulation):

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the PR 6 located at a certain distance from each of the PR reported in the previous point (vehicles that are on track 8 in which the emergency vehicle 1 is located) is informed to clear the intersection with track 8 through which the emergency vehicle 1 circulates, reduce its speed and, if appropriate, stop until the passage of the emergency vehicle 1.

P5 The terminal TE 3 (specifically, the application that has installed) of the emergency vehicle 1 periodically and autonomously calculates the distance d that separates it from its current point to the PR 6. While d> D, the terminal TE 3 periodically you can inform the network of the current position of the emergency vehicle 1, the IDVETEMP and optionally its direction of movement. In case d <= D:

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The TE 3 sends to the network 4 its position, IDVETEMP and IDPR (the identifier of the PR 6 it has reached) and optionally the direction of movement (for example the last two measured points that are different). If there is more than one PR 6 for which it is met that d <= D, a list of such PR 6 would be sent, although this should not happen if their location is conveniently chosen based on D, but it could happen if there is a situation emergency for example at a point very close to a PR 6.

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Network 4 stores the values received in a database 5 of the PATSEM service.

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Network 4 optionally confirms to TE 3 the reception of the data.

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The network 4 informs the rest of the vehicles 7 of the presence of the emergency vehicle 1 in the area, in the same way as already explained in P4.

On the other hand, periodically network 4 may send a new IDVETEMP to emergency vehicle 1. At the request of the network 4, it can also request the emergency vehicle 1 to send its current position, its temporary identifier and direction of movement.

If the TE 3 terminal of the emergency vehicle 1 remains inactive for a time to be defined (that is, if it does not communicate with the wireless access network 4 for a certain time), said terminal TE 3 must re-subscribe. Also, the emergency vehicle 1 itself can end its subscription to the service voluntarily when it does not require traveling in an emergency. When the emergency vehicle 1 wishes to re-subscribe, it will do so by sending the same parameters as those indicated in P1 if a validity time has elapsed, established by network 4 according to configuration, associated with said emergency vehicle 1. Steps P2, P3, P4 would be carried out without modification. If that time had not expired, the parameters that the network would send in the subscription step P1 would be:

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the identifier of the PATSEM service,

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the temporary IDVETEMP of the emergency vehicle 1,

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the current position of the emergency vehicle 1 and optionally, the direction of movement (a simple solution is to send two points or two position measurements).

In step P2 the network would verify that said IDVETEMP has not expired and therefore access to the service is guaranteed. And in steps P3 and P4 there would be no modification.

The solution described in the method object of the invention is valid for any vehicle other than an emergency vehicle 1 without requiring that it have the application loaded on the TE terminal and a GNSS receiver. In this case, the IDVE could be your enrollment and the IDVEPASS the reason you need the service. For security reasons, the activation (and, therefore, insertion into the database of the network where the allowed pairs (IDVE, IDVEPASS) are registered) could be carried out from an emergency call center.

Claims (14)

1. Method for improving vehicle traffic, each vehicle (1) being subscribed to a traffic accident prevention service for emergency services, having the vehicle (1):

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means (2) for determining the position of the vehicle, and

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a terminal (3), which can be operated to access a wireless access network (4) that manages the service and is connected to the means (2) for determining the position of the vehicle, thereby having access to information which provide said means (2);

characterized in that said method comprises the following steps: a- the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1) sends a request to the wireless access network (4) to subscribe to the service, sending with this request the following data: -the position of the vehicle (1); -the identifier of the service that is being requested; Y -a unique identifier of the vehicle (1); b- the wireless access network (4) checks the validation of the terminal subscription (3); c- the wireless access network (4) sends to the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1): - a temporary identifier of said terminal (3); -the coordinates of at least one reference point (6); - an identifier of at least one reference point (6); Y -the distance D to at least one reference point (6) at which the terminal (3) must contact the network wireless access (4); d- the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1) periodically calculates the distance d from said vehicle (1) to the at least one reference point (6), and e- in case d <= D for said at least a reference point (6): - said terminal (3) sends to the wireless access network (4): the position of the vehicle (1), the identifier of the at least one reference point (6) for which it is fulfilled that d <= D, and the temporary identifier of the terminal (1), storing the network wireless access (4) said terminal data in a database; -the wireless access network (4) reports the presence of the emergency vehicle (1) to the rest of the vehicles (7) that they are within a predetermined distance of at least one reference point (6) for which it is met that d <= D for the vehicle (1).

2.

Method according to claim 1, wherein the rest of vehicles (7) circulating on the road network and participating in the service have means (10) of position determination and a terminal (11) with access to the access network wireless (4) and with access to the information provided by said means, characterized in that the network (4) informs said other vehicles (7) of the presence of the emergency vehicle (1) through its own terminals (11), sending them some security parameters that they must comply with and optionally a message requiring them a concrete action

3.

Method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the data sent with said request for Subscription also include:

-a service access code for that unique identifier; -the direction of movement

Four.

 Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in step e, the terminal (3) additionally sends the direction of movement of the vehicle (1) to the wireless access network (4).

5.

Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the network periodically sends a new temporary identifier to the emergency vehicle.

6.

Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the emergency vehicle (1) sends to the network (4) its position, its temporary identifier and optionally its direction of movement when such network

request.

7.

 Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the vehicle (1) that is subscribed to the service terminates its subscription to said service in any of the following cases:

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if said vehicle (1) does not contact the network in a predetermined time TEXP; or

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if said vehicle (1) sends to the network a request to end the subscription to the service.

8.

 Method according to the preceding claim, in which the vehicle has voluntarily terminated its subscription, characterized in that in order to make a new subscription the terminal (3) of the vehicle sends the following data to the network:

-the position of the vehicle (1); -the identifier of the service that is being requested; - the temporary identifier of said terminal (3); and optionally: -the direction of movement; then checking the network (4) that the period of validity of said unique identifier has not expired.

9.

 Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that in step d), and when d> D, the terminal TE (3) sends to the network (4) the position of the vehicle (1), its temporary identifier and optionally its direction of movement

10.

 Method for improving vehicle traffic, each vehicle (1) being subscribed to a traffic accident prevention service for emergency services, having the vehicle:

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means (2) for determining the position of the vehicle, and

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a terminal (3), which can be operated to access a wireless access network (4) that manages the service and is connected to the means (2) for determining the position of the vehicle, thereby having access to information which provide said means (2);

characterized in that said method comprises the following steps: a- the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1) sends a request to the wireless access network (4) to subscribe to the service, sending with this request the following data: -the position of the vehicle (1); -the identifier of the service that is being requested; Y -a unique identifier of the vehicle (1); b- the wireless access network (4) checks the validation of the terminal subscription (3); c- the wireless access network (4) sends to the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1): - a temporary identifier of said terminal (3); d- the terminal (3) of the emergency vehicle (1) periodically sends to the wireless access network (4): - the temporary identifier of said terminal (3); -the position of the vehicle (1); e- the network (4) calculates the distance d of the vehicle (1) to at least one reference point (6) located in the road network, and f- in case d <= D for said at least one reference point (6) the wireless access network (4) reports the presence of the vehicle (1) to other vehicles (7) that are within a predetermined distance of at least one reference point (6) for which it is true that d <= D for the vehicle (1).

eleven.

 Method according to claim 10, wherein the rest of the vehicles (7) that circulate on the road network and that participate in the service have means (10) for determining the position and a terminal (11) with access to the network of wireless access (4) and with access to the information provided by said means, characterized in that the network (4) informs said rest of vehicles (7) of the presence of the vehicle (1) through its own terminals (11) ,

sending them some security parameters that must comply and optionally a message requiring a specific action.

12.

 Method according to any of claims 10 to 11, characterized in that the network periodically sends a new temporary identifier to the vehicle.

Method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the vehicle (1) sends its position, its temporary identifier and optionally its direction of movement to the network (4) when requested by such network. 14. Method according to any of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the vehicle (1) that is subscribed to the service terminates its subscription to said service in any of the following cases:

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if said vehicle (1) does not contact the network in a predetermined time TEXP; or 10 -if said vehicle (1) sends to the network a request to terminate the subscription to the service.

15. Method according to claim 14 above, wherein the vehicle (1) has voluntarily terminated its subscription, characterized in that to make a new subscription the terminal (3) of the vehicle (1) sends the following data to the network :

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the position of the vehicle (1);

15 - the identifier of the service that is being requested; - the temporary identifier of said terminal (3); and optionally:

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the direction of movement;

then checking the network (4) that the period of validity of said temporary identifier has not expired. twenty