JP2001250183A - Emergency notification system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need to provide a position detecting means such as a GPS and to automatically give an alarm at the time of an accident only by a ride on a vehicle together with a portable telephone set. SOLUTION: An on-vehicle device is mounted on an automobile and when a passenger who carries a portable telephone set of a W-CDMA system rides on the automobile, a short-distance radio connection is made by the bluetooth standard to establish a link with the portable telephone. If a shock is applied to the automobile, the on-vehicle device detects accident occurrence and makes the portable telephone set dial a specific notification number. Once a mobile station side detects the dialing, a distance measurement signal is sent to the portable telephone set through base stations 2a to 2c to measure the distance, so that the coordinates are found. An accident information center 6 receives notice of the accident occurrence and refers to a map database according to position coordinate information to estimate the accident site. It is made ready that the component police office 7a and firehouse 7b can be informed and a telephone call can be made by transfer. A proper department can speedily grasp the accident state to take emergency actions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular emergency report system which can automatically report when a vehicle accident occurs.

[0002]

In some cases, when a vehicle such as an automobile causes an accident, an emergency situation is automatically notified to a police station or a fire department.
This is being put into practical use as a Mayday system, which is named after Mayday, which means a rescue signal. in this case,
The most important information to be reported when an accident occurs is the current position of the vehicle.

[0003] Therefore, conventionally, a GPS receiver is mounted, or a GPS receiver provided in a car navigation system is used.
The present position is recognized by utilizing the S position detection function. As a result, even if the occupant is not aware of it and cannot make a report, it is automatically reported to a police station or a fire department, and an emergency vehicle such as a police car or an ambulance can be dispatched to quickly save lives. .

[0004] As described above, in order to detect the position of the vehicle, it is necessary to provide a GPS position detecting device or the like in advance, and a dedicated telephone is used when reporting to a police station or a fire station. Or a mobile phone or the like must be connected. Therefore,
In the case where a May Day system is configured to save lives, it is a fact that providing these components increases costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to eliminate the need for a dedicated position detecting means and to allow a user to carry a cable or the like simply by carrying a portable terminal and boarding a vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system and an emergency call device that do not need to be connected and can automatically make an emergency call through a portable terminal in an emergency such as an accident.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a user carrying a portable communication device enters a vehicle equipped with a vehicle-mounted device, the vehicle-mounted device connects the portable communication device to a cable or the like. The wireless communication is performed in the non-contact state by the short-range wireless method to perform the connection processing, and thereafter, the state shifts to a state where the function can be used for the portable communication device when necessary.

When an impact force due to a collision or the like is received while the vehicle is running, it is determined whether or not the level of the impact force is at a level that affects human life based on the detection data of the accident determination element at that time. When the operation is performed and it is determined that an accident has occurred, the in-vehicle device performs control to cause a specific notification dial, which is stored in advance, to report the occurrence of the accident or the like via the portable communication device.

When the portable communication device transmits a call to the specific report dial by radio through the base station, the position calculating means calculates the distance by measuring the position of the portable communication device and sends the result to the facility of the specific report dial, ie, the specific report center. The calculated position information is also reported. The specific reporting center that receives the report identifies the location of the accident from the map data based on the information on the location of the accident, and provides emergency services such as police stations and fire departments that are appropriate for the location or jurisdiction of the location of the accident Report to related facilities. As a result, it is possible to quickly and appropriately rescue an injured person who can quickly go to the location where an accident has occurred by an ambulance vehicle or the like from the nearest emergency-related facility or an emergency-related facility under the jurisdiction to rescue a passenger. Will be able to

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above configuration, the position calculating means measures the distance from the base station that has received the specific report dial from the portable communication device and at least two adjacent base stations to the portable communication device. A signal is transmitted to measure the distance, and the position of the portable communication device is calculated based on the information of the positions of the three base stations and the measured distance. There is no need to provide a configuration, and since the mobile communication device is possessed, the position can be detected, and the vehicle can be configured with a simple configuration, and the position can be reliably detected and reported. Will be able to do it.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-described configurations, the portable communication device is configured by using the communication mode of the W-CDMA system. The function of the distance can be used, and position detection can be performed without providing a special configuration. In addition, the adoption of the W-CDMA system makes it easier to obtain a better communication state than that of the conventional system, and it is also possible to reliably perform emergency communication.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the distance measurement by the position calculating means starts from when the distance measurement signal is transmitted from the base station to the portable communication device. Measure the time difference up to the time when the base station receives the signal returned by the portable communication device and returned, calculate the value obtained by multiplying half the time difference by the speed of the radio wave, and measure the distance. Therefore, the distance can be measured easily and quickly, and the position of the portable communication device can be quickly specified from the measurement results.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in each of the above structures, the specific notification center transfers the call from the portable communication device to an appropriate emergency-related facility after the communication processing of the accident information, so that the occupant of the vehicle can perform an emergency. The direct contact with the staff at the relevant facilities enables the appropriate measures to be taken according to the situation of injuries to the occupants, and appropriate emergency services based on quick and accurate information. It can be performed. In this case, for example, if an accident was reported automatically, but the injury to the occupant was actually small enough not to send an ambulance to the site, the fact was reported by direct conversation. Therefore, it is possible to cope with another accident by avoiding unnecessary dispatch. If the occupant is so injured or unconscious that the call cannot be conversed even if the call is forwarded, he / she may be dispatched after recognizing the situation and making appropriate preparations to deal with it. It will be possible to carry out accurate rescue operations.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-described configurations, a wireless connection interface for performing link processing based on the Bluetooth standard is provided as a short-distance connection method between the vehicle-mounted device and the portable communication device. If a portable communication device conforming to the standard Bluetooth standard is used, an emergency call operation can be performed via a portable communication device possessed by a user without using a device provided with a special configuration. There is no need to connect cables every time you get on the vehicle, so it is easy to use and users can participate in the system as a portable communication device that automatically performs emergency calls without special awareness. .

According to the seventh to ninth aspects of the present invention,
In each of the above configurations, the mobile communication device is of a type capable of communicating via an MMAC system, a stratospheric access network, an access network using LEO, or the like. By using the system, it is possible to exchange information in an environment where high-speed and large-capacity communication is possible in various situations, and even in a communication environment that cannot be dealt with by a configuration in which a base station is provided on the ground, By overcoming such a disadvantageous situation of communication, communication can be reliably performed in a wider area, and reliability of system operation can be improved.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automobile emergency notification system will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall outline of the vehicular emergency notification system. In this system, a mobile phone 1 (see FIG. 2) adopting the W-CDMA system is used as a mobile communication device, and a number of base stations 2a,
2b, 2c,... Are hexagonal communication zones Za, Zb, Z
are arranged so as to set c,.

A mobile communication network 4 is formed by these base stations 2a, 2b, 2c,... And a main control station and circuit switching station 3 (not shown). The circuit switching office 3 is also linked to a fixed communication network 5 which is another circuit network, and through this fixed communication network 5, an accident information center 6 as a specific reporting center set for a specific reporting dial and a police station described later. The line can be connected to an emergency-related facility 7 installed in the whole country or in a jurisdiction area corresponding to the fire station 7a or the fire department 7b.

As described above, the present system is a system applied to an automobile as a vehicle, and is automatically and automatically applied as soon as possible in order to promptly treat an injured occupant due to a collision accident occurring while the automobile is running. The department can be contacted. Therefore, the configuration provided on the automobile side is to provide a configuration capable of detecting occurrence of an accident and contacting an appropriate department. The main component is the vehicle-mounted device 8. Hereinafter, the configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 8 will be briefly described.

The mobile phone 1 and the in-vehicle device 8 constituting this system have a block configuration as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the configurations of the mobile phone 1 and the in-vehicle device 8 are shown mainly with respect to the transmission path of accident information, and the components related to general telephone functions are omitted. The mobile phone 1 includes a communication control circuit 9 mainly composed of a microcomputer, a transmission circuit 10 and a reception circuit 11, and an antenna 12 for exchanging signals with the outside.
And a circulator 13. Further, a wireless connection interface 14 is connected to the communication control circuit 9 as an interface based on the Bluetooth standard which is a short-range wireless system.

The on-vehicle device 8 includes an on-vehicle device control circuit 15 mainly composed of a microcomputer, an acceleration sensor 16 for detecting acceleration by detecting an acceleration by being connected thereto, and an emergency And an operation switch 17 for determining and operating the state. Further, a wireless connection interface 18 is connected to the in-vehicle device control circuit 15 as an interface based on the Bluetooth standard which is a short-range wireless system.

The on-vehicle device control circuit 15 has a storage unit therein. The on-vehicle device control circuit 15 stores a specific report dial as a report destination at the time of an emergency report to be described later, data of a vehicle to be reported when an accident occurs, data of a driver, and the like. It is to be remembered. The specific report dial is set corresponding to the accident information center 6 which is a specific report center, and is set to a special number. The accident information center 6 is a facility for comprehensively receiving information on accidents that occur nationwide, for example, and reporting the information to emergency-related facilities 7, such as the most appropriate police station 7a and fire station 7b.

FIG. 3 shows a portable telephone 1 and base stations 2a and 2a.
The communication systems b, 2c,... are mainly shown with respect to the components for distance measurement in the present invention. This configuration is configured to perform distance measurement by a so-called folding method. That is, in the communication system of the W-CDMA system, the transmission circuit spread-modulates a data signal Pi / Di including a pilot signal as a transmission signal with a channel spreading code C-code, and outputs a ranging signal R / Di.
i is spread-modulated with a ranging spreading code R-code, and a signal obtained by adding these is further spread-modulated with a scrambling spreading code S-code to generate a spread spectrum signal for ranging over a wide band.

The receiving circuit demodulates the signal received via the antenna by performing a process reverse to that at the time of modulation. That is, demodulation is performed using the scramble spreading code S-code,
Thereafter, demodulation is further performed using the ranging spreading code R-code to obtain a ranging signal Ri '.

On the other hand, in the transmission / reception circuit components of the portable telephone 1, when a signal from the base station is received in the receiving system, the signal is demodulated with the scramble spreading code S-code, and further demodulated with the ranging code R-code. . In the transmission system, the signal obtained in the reception system is looped back as it is, spread-modulated with the ranging spreading code R-code, and the pilot signal and the data signal Pi / Di including the unique data of the mobile phone 1 are channel spread. It is configured to spread-modulate with a code C-code, add these, and further spread-modulate with a scramble spread code S-code and transmit from an antenna.

By adopting such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, a distance measuring signal transmitted from the base stations 2a, 2b, 2c,... By obtaining the time Δt before receiving the signal again, the distance 2 between the time when the radio wave reaches the mobile phone 1 and returns 2
D can be calculated. Thus, the distance D between the three base stations 2a, 2b, 2c,.
(Referred to as Da, Db, and Dc, respectively) is represented by the following equation (1): radio wave speed (equal to light speed) c (= 3)
× 10 ⁸ m / s) multiplied by the time Δt (s) can be obtained as a half length (m).

D = c × Δt / 2 (1) Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, (1) a schematic description of the operation including the mutual operation of the entire system (see FIG. 6) and (2) a detailed operation of each unit constituting the system will be described in (a). Operation of the vehicle-mounted device (see FIG. 7),
(B) The operation of the mobile phone (see FIG. 8), (c) the vehicle position detection operation (see FIGS. 5 and 9), and (d) the reporting operation of the accident information center (see FIG. 10).

(1) General description of the operation including the mutual operation of the entire system First, the in-vehicle device 8 is mounted on each of the vehicles A and B shown in FIG.
When an occupant such as a driver or a passenger carrying the mobile phone 1 enters the automobiles A and B, a link operation conforming to the Bluetooth standard is performed as follows. As shown in FIG. 6, the in-vehicle device 8
A signal indicating a link request is transmitted at regular time intervals,
When the mobile phone 1 is brought into a receivable range (for example, a vehicle interior) according to the Bluetooth standard, the mobile phone 1 starts communication with each other to perform link processing. When link processing is established,
In a state in which the in-vehicle device 8 waits for communication via the mobile phone 1, the in-vehicle device 8 waits while maintaining a link state. At this time, the mobile phone 1 shifts from the standby mode to the park mode, and is ready for a normal telephone operation while waiting for a communication request from the vehicle-mounted device 8.

Next, the main operation of the system according to the present embodiment, that is, the operation when an accident occurs, will be described. For example, FIG.
As shown in (1), when the automobiles A and B collide while traveling on the road, the acceleration sensor 16 detects a sudden change in acceleration, and the level of the acceleration changes to a predetermined level or more. Then, an airbag or the like operates according to the level. The in-vehicle device control circuit 15 determines the occurrence of an accident based on the accident determination program by referring to various other data. Thereafter, the in-vehicle device 8 transmits a signal for activating the mobile phone 1, and controls to transmit and transmit information on the specific report dial and various information on the accident.

The mobile phone 1 sends a call to the specific report dial in response to the call. At this time, for example, the mobile phone 1
Assuming that the base station 2a is located in the communication zone Za, the base station 2a receiving the call in the communication zone Za connects to the circuit switching station 3 of the mobile access network. Circuit switching office 3
Then, the position of the mobile phone 1, that is, the accident occurrence position is obtained as coordinate data by performing a distance measurement process (see FIG. 9) described later, and connected to the accident information center 6 via the fixed communication network 5 to obtain position coordinate data. Send.

The accident information center 6 estimates the accident location based on the transmitted coordinate data of the accident location and the map database, and provides appropriate police and fire departments 7a and fire departments to cope with rescue activities at the accident location. 7b is selected. In this case, the appropriate police station 7a or fire station 7b can be selected, for example, as a department under the jurisdiction of the place where the accident occurred, or as the nearest department that can arrive at the site earliest. You can also.

After that, the accident information center 6 forwards the call from the mobile phone 1 of the automobile A or B in which the accident occurred to the selected department, that is, the police station 7a or the fire station 7b which reported the accident information. I do. As a result, the department in charge can talk directly with the occupant of the accident vehicle, and can obtain various additional information related to the accident, so that more appropriate measures can be taken.

That is, for example, when an emergency call is automatically made in the event of an accident, but the occupant is slightly injured and cannot reach an ambulance, the state is confirmed by directly talking. Can be canceled. In addition, it is necessary to dispatch an ambulance, but if the driver is conscious about the degree of the accident, a more detailed situation can be heard. In addition, if the call is forwarded and direct conversation is possible but there is no response from the driver, it is possible to understand that the driver is injured enough to lose consciousness, It can recognize that quick response is needed.

In contrast to the above, when a plurality of vehicles collide, when a notification is made from the in-vehicle device 8 provided in each vehicle to the specific notification dial via the mobile phone 1, the appearance is apparent. Although it appears that multiple accidents have occurred, in such a case, the accident information center 6
The information transmitted from them, such as the location of the accident, can be combined to determine whether the accident is a single accident or an accident involving multiple vehicles. It will be possible to take appropriate measures.

(2) Detailed Operational Description of Each Unit Constituting the System (a) Operational Description of In-Vehicle Apparatus Next, the operation of the in-vehicle apparatus 8 when an accident occurs will be described with reference to FIG. Therefore, a link process based on the Bluetooth standard has already been established with the mobile phone 1, and the mobile phone 1 is in a standby state in the park mode. The in-vehicle device control circuit 15 inputs detection signals from various sensors such as an acceleration sensor 16, a vehicle speed sensor and an airbag sensor (not shown) at regular time intervals (step S1).

Then, a determination process is performed based on those detection signals (step S2). Here, it is determined whether any of the levels of each detection signal is equal to or higher than a predetermined level,
When it is determined that there is a high possibility that an accident involving human life has occurred (step S3), a connection request is transmitted to the mobile phone 1 by a short-range wireless communication method, that is, a communication method according to the Bluetooth standard (step S4).

Thereafter, the in-vehicle device control circuit 15 performs an authentication process with the mobile phone 1 (step S5), and when an access permission is obtained, transmits an emergency call request to the mobile phone 1 and specifies it. The information on the report dial and various information on the accident are transmitted (steps S6 and S6).
7).

(B) Description of Operation of Mobile Phone Next, the operation of the mobile phone 1 will be described with reference to FIG. When the mobile phone 1 is in the standby mode and is brought into the cabin of the automobile, the mobile phone 1 receives a link signal in a short-range wireless communication system transmitted from the in-vehicle device 8, that is, a communication system in accordance with the Bluetooth standard, and establishes a wireless communication line connection. The process is executed (Step P1). When the link processing is completed, the mobile phone 1 forms a piconet of the in-vehicle device 8, and then enters the park mode, that is, waits until a communication request from the in-vehicle device 8 is received (step P2).

In the meantime, the mobile phone 1 releases the Bluetooth link (piconet) by transmitting a connection request from the on-vehicle device control circuit 15 of the on-vehicle device 8 (step P3) or taking it out of the vehicle. It waits while judging whether or not it will be in the state (step P4).

When an accident occurs and there is a connection request from the in-vehicle device 8 (step P3), the mobile phone 1 shifts to an activated state. The in-vehicle device control circuit 15 of the in-vehicle device 8 becomes a master, and the linked mobile phone 1 becomes a slave to perform an authentication process (step P5). Mobile phone 1
When the authentication result indicates that the access is permitted, the communication link is established (step P6), and the state shifts to an activation state to wait for a request for an emergency report to the specific report dial (steps P7 and P8).

When the connection request for the emergency call is transmitted (step P8), the portable telephone 1 starts processing for connecting to the specific report dial and reporting the occurrence of an accident (step P9). In this processing, based on the information of the specific report dial, which is the emergency report destination transmitted from the in-vehicle device 8 side, and various information related to the accident, first, a calling operation is started, and when the line is connected, the information related to the accident is transmitted. In this state, the state of the line connection is maintained, and thereafter, the apparatus is in a state of being connected to the police station 7a or the fire station 7b under its jurisdiction and waiting for a state in which a call can be made.

(C) Description of Operation of Vehicle Position Detection Next, the operation of position detection by the circuit switching office 3 connected by receiving a call from the mobile phone 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The circuit exchange 3 controls the mobile access network of the W-CDMA mobile phone 1. When a call is transmitted from the mobile phone 1, the position of the mobile phone 1 is transmitted to the base station 2a that receives the notification. The presence or absence of registration is confirmed (step Q1), and two adjacent base stations 7b and 7c are selected from the history of handover to the base station 2a (step Q2).

Next, a measurement mode request is transmitted to the three base stations 2a, 2b, and 2c to confirm that the mode is set (step Q3), and then the three base stations 2a, 2b, and 2c are set.
A range signal for distance measurement is transmitted from the mobile stations 2b and 2c to the mobile phone 1, and the distance from each base station to the mobile phone 1 is calculated (step Q4).

Here, the operation of distance calculation in each of the base stations 2a, 2b, 2c will be briefly described. As described above, in spread-spectrum communication employed in the W-CDMA system, the use of a spread-spectrum signal has properties essentially suitable for distance measurement. By utilizing this property, a signal for distance measurement is transmitted from each of the base stations 2a, 2b, and 2c by the configuration shown in FIG. 3 and the time Δt until the signal returns is measured. Round trip distance of 2
Data corresponding to the distance D is obtained (see FIG. 4).

As shown in the above equation (1), the round trip distance 2D can be obtained by multiplying the measured time Δt by the speed (light speed) c of the radio wave.
Distances Da, D from a, 2b, 2c to mobile phone 1
b and Dc. Distances Da, Db, D
When c is calculated, as shown in FIG.
2b, 2c position coordinates (xa, ya), (xb, y
Since b) and (xc, yc) are known values, the position coordinates (x, y) of the mobile phone 1 in the horizontal plane are obtained from these results.
Can be calculated (step Q5).

As the processing operation of the circuit exchange 3, the position coordinates (x, y) of the mobile phone 1 in the horizontal plane are calculated, and the process up to the process of specifying the position on the map is not obtained. The reason is that when the circuit switching office 3 performs the process of estimating the accident occurrence position based on the map database, it is necessary that all of the plurality of circuit switching stations 3 have the map database. It is possible to avoid a complicated situation by performing the accident processing collectively at the accident information center 6 which handles the accident information comprehensively and estimating the accident site.

Then, the circuit exchange 3 calculates the position coordinates (x, y) of the portable telephone 1 in the horizontal plane calculated in this way.
Is reported to the accident information center 6 connected by the specific report dial together with the accident occurrence information.

(D) Description of Report Operation of Accident Information Center Next, the report operation of the accident information center 6 will be described with reference to FIG. When the accident information center 6 is connected by the specific notification dial from the circuit exchange 3, the accident information center 6 receives the accident information, receives the calculation result of the position coordinates of the mobile phone 1 in the horizontal plane, and receives the current position of the accident vehicle from the map database. Is estimated (step R1). At this time, for example, when accident information of a specific notification dial is transmitted from each of the colliding vehicles A and B by an automatic notification operation, it can be estimated that those accidents are based on the same accident. .

Next, the accident information center 6 determines the jurisdiction of the police station 7a and the fire station 7b based on the estimated current position of the accident vehicle, and automatically reports (step R2). Here, the estimated position of the accident site and information on the accident vehicle are transmitted. Subsequently, the call of the mobile phone 1 connected at this time is transferred to the police station 7a or the fire station 7b, whichever is set (step R3).

As a result, the police station 7a and the fire station 7b under the jurisdiction obtain the accident information, and the call of the mobile phone 1 is directly transferred to any of the set departments, so that the call can be made. Here, if the occupant is conscious, the person in charge of direct jurisdiction can directly confirm the situation such as the scale and extent of the accident by talking directly with the police officer M or the ambulance N (see FIG. 1). The emergency vehicle can be more accurately and promptly dispatched to the accident site.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. First, when an accident occurs, an in-vehicle device 8 provided in an automobile and a mobile phone 1 carried by an occupant automatically report to a specific report dial by the mobile phone 1 and receive the report on the side of the circuit switching center 3 of the mobile access network. Since the system is configured to detect the position of the mobile phone 1 and further notify the accident information center 6, there is no need to provide a device for detecting the position on the automobile side, and the mobile phone 1 is possessed. Can be realized with a simple configuration and eliminates the hassle of connecting, etc., so that mistakes such as forgetting to connect or forget to set are eliminated, and the occupant can use it without being aware, improving usability. Can be achieved.

Second, since the position is detected by distance measurement from three base stations 2a to 2c located close to the mobile phone 1, the detection accuracy can be maintained at a constant level regardless of the type of the mobile phone 1. , The accuracy of the estimation of the accident site can be increased, and the elements added to the configuration of the mobile phone 1 can be reduced to suppress an increase in cost.

Third, since an accident information center 6 is provided to collectively process information on accidents reported, the portable telephones 1 owned by the parties can simultaneously report the same accidents due to a plurality of car accidents. Even in some cases, this can be presumed to be the same accident.

Fourth, when a report is made from the mobile phone 1 to the specific report dial due to the occurrence of an accident, the accident information center 6
Police station 7a or fire station 7b connected by
The call can be forwarded to make the call possible, so that the responsible department can determine the accident situation more accurately and take appropriate measures.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 11 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
In the following, portions different from the first embodiment will be described. In other words, the second embodiment is an embodiment in which a stronger network is formed by adding infrastructure expected to be implemented in the future in addition to the infrastructure in the first embodiment. That is, the network environment in which the mobile phone 1 can be used in addition to the mobile communication network 4 is further enhanced. here,
It is assumed that a system is added for three network environments that will be introduced in the future.

The first is multimedia mobile
Access Communication MMAC (Multimedia M
obile Access Communication) system 21. This is a high-speed wireless communication system that enables high-quality video transmission services to be used even on campus or on the street corners by around 2002. In this system, multimedia can be handled anytime, anywhere, and can be seamlessly connected to an optical fiber, and can be used as an ultra-high-speed, high-quality mobile communication system. By realizing such MMAC, mobile TV conferences and mobile TVs with high-definition images can be realized.
Services such as telephones become possible.

The second is a stratospheric platform network 22 introduced by the stratospheric platform concept. The concept is to use an unmanned airship 23 equipped with communication equipment and the like in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 20 km, where the weather is relatively stable, to stay in the air and use it as a relay station for communication and broadcasting.
This system is expected as a next-generation information and communication infrastructure.

Third, a low orbiting satellite (LEO; Low Ea)
rth Orbit) 24 satellite communication system 2
There are five. This differs from geostationary satellites in low orbit (altitude 7
80km), a satellite group (for example, 66 satellites) is arranged, and the distance between the satellite and the ground is shortened so that a small and low-power earth station can be used. By forming a global information communication network by complementing a terrestrial communication network in a difficult place or in an emergency, communication using a palm-sized satellite portable terminal becomes possible. A typical example of this practical use is, for example, an iridium system (proposed by Motorola, USA).

By constructing the network system formed as described above, if an accident occurs and the in-vehicle device 8 dials a specific report through the passenger's mobile phone 1, the mobile phone 1 can be used. Network, ie, mobile communication network 4, MMAC system 21, stratospheric platform network 22, or satellite communication system 2
5 or through a plurality of systems.

The circuit switching center 5 detects the position of the portable telephone 1 in the same manner as described above, and notifies the traffic information center 6 of the accident information together with the position detection information. Traffic information center 6
In response to this, the accident site is estimated based on the map database and reported to the police station 7a and the fire station 7b under the jurisdiction corresponding to the accident site. As a result, a rescue operation can be performed based on quick and accurate information in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In addition, since the system is built as a system that can use multiple networks, it is possible to use a satellite communication system to report even in valleys or buildings where radio waves are difficult to reach. become able to.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as follows. In each of the above embodiments, the police station 7a or the fire station 7b under the jurisdiction of the accident site is selected as an appropriate emergency-related facility. However, instead of this, the rescue operation is performed quickly even if the jurisdiction is different. Alternatively, the nearest police station or fire station may be selected as an appropriate emergency-related facility.

Instead of the police station 7a or the fire station 7b as an emergency-related facility, it can be used as another department or a private organization that can perform rescue activities in the event of an accident. This is for the purpose of promptly dispatching to the accident site, and may be any organization that meets the purpose as a future organization.

The case where the communication method of the Bluetooth specification is used as the short-range wireless communication method between the mobile phone 1 and the in-vehicle apparatus 8 has been described. A communication method may be adopted, or a structure corresponding to a communication method of a wireless LAN specification provided in various mobile phones may be provided on the in-vehicle device 8 side so as to reduce the model dependency of the mobile phone. it can.

In each of the above embodiments, the notification to the specific report dial is made based on the deployment of the airbag due to the collision of the car. However, actually, when the airbag does not deploy or the change in acceleration is small. However, there may be an emergency situation equivalent to an accident. For example, even if the vehicle is stopped, if a fallen object from below is placed underneath and rescue is required, another sensor may be provided to determine that an accident has occurred.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the emergency call is made to report the occurrence of an accident when the car is hit by a collision or the like. Even when driving becomes impossible due to sudden illness or the like, an emergency call may be made to the specific call dial. In this case, for example, a biometric sensor for detecting a heart rate is attached to the driver, and when abnormalities occur in the heart rate detection data during driving, the in-vehicle device 8 determines that this is an emergency. To the special report dial. Further, by transmitting the information based on the biometric sensor and not the collision accident at the same time, a more accurate notification can be made.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a system configuration showing a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part of an in-vehicle device and a mobile phone;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication system between a mobile phone and a base station.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating the principle of ranging by a base station.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a communication zone of a base station and a mobile phone.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of the whole system between each other;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicle-mounted device;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a vehicle position detection operation.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation contents of the accident information center.

FIG. 11 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a mobile phone (portable communication device), 2a, 2b, 2c are base stations, 3 is a circuit switching station, 4 is a mobile communication network, 5 is a fixed communication network, 6 is an accident information center (specific reporting center), 7
Is an emergency related facility, 7a is a police station, 7b is a fire department, 8 is a vehicle-mounted device, 9 is a communication control circuit, 14 is a wireless connection interface, 15 is a vehicle-mounted device control circuit, 16 is an acceleration sensor, 18 is a wireless connection interface, 21 Is MMAC
System, 22 is a stratospheric platform network, 23 is a stratospheric platform, 24 is a low orbit satellite LEO,
25 is a satellite communication system.

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Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An interface that wirelessly communicates via a base station, employs a communication method capable of distance measurement with the base station, and has an interface connectable to another electronic device by a short-range wireless method. A portable communication device provided in the vehicle, an accident determination means for determining an accident based on detection data of an accident determination element such as an impact force, and the portable communication device provided in the vehicle and carried by an occupant and a short-range wireless system A vehicle-mounted device that can be connected by the vehicle and that reports the occurrence of an accident through the portable communication device to a specific notification dial stored in advance when the accident is determined by the accident determination means, Position notification means for calculating the position of the portable communication device at that time based on the distance measurement result when notified to the specific notification dial; When the in-vehicle device receives a report via the portable communication device, the location of the accident is identified from the position calculation result of the portable communication device received at that time, and a report is sent to an appropriate emergency-related facility such as a police station or a fire department. And an emergency notification system for vehicles. 2. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the position calculation unit is configured to transmit a specific notification dial from the mobile communication device and at least two base stations adjacent thereto. Transmit the ranging signal to the mobile communication device, receive the signal transmitted back, measure the distance,
An emergency call system for a vehicle, wherein the position of the portable communication device is calculated from the positions of the three base stations and the measured distance. 3. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is a W-CDMA (Wideband Code Diode).
An emergency call system for vehicles, which uses a communication form of vision multiple access). 4. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 3, wherein the position calculating means transmits the ranging signal to the mobile communication device from the time when the ranging signal is transmitted from the base station to the mobile communication device. The base station measures a time difference until the base station receives a signal that is transmitted back by the communication device and calculates a value obtained by multiplying half the time difference by the speed of the radio wave to measure the distance. An emergency call system for vehicles. 5. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the specific notification center selects a call from the mobile communication device after the accident information communication process. An emergency call system for a vehicle, wherein the emergency call is transmitted to an emergency-related facility so that a passenger of the vehicle can make a call. 6. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle device and the portable communication device perform a short-range wireless link process based on a Bluetooth (Bluetooth) standard. An emergency call system for a vehicle, comprising a wireless connection interface. 7. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is a multimedia mobile access communication MMAC (Multimedia Mobil).
e Access Communication) An emergency call system for vehicles, characterized in that the system can be used. 8. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is of a type capable of communicating via a stratospheric access network. Emergency call system. 9. The vehicular emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is a low orbit satellite (LEO).
Rth Orbit) is a system capable of communication via an access network using an emergency notification system for vehicles.