Patent Issued for Technique For Collecting Information Related To Traffic Accidents (USPTO 10,885,773)

2021 JAN 18 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Network Business Daily -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Karapantelakis, Athanasios (Stockholm, SE); Stikkel, Gabor (Sollentuna, SE); Vandikas, Konstantinos (Solna, SE), filed on December 10, 2015, was published online on January 18, 2021.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 10,885,773 is Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (Stockholm, Sweden).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “As more and more people are using vehicles, the probability of accidents is increasing.

“A mobile telecommunication service called ‘eCall’ shall be launched in Europe with the purpose to bring rapid assistance to motorists involved in a collision anywhere in the European Union.

“In case of a crash, an eCall-equipped car automatically calls the nearest emergency centre. Even if no passenger is able to speak, e.g. due to injuries, a `Minimum Set of Data` is sent, which includes the exact location of the crash site. Shortly after the accident, emergency services therefore know that there has been an accident, and where exactly.

“The ‘eCall’ service cuts emergency services response time. It goes down to 50% in the countryside and 60% in built-up areas. The quicker response will save hundreds of lives in the EU every year. The severity of injuries will be considerably reduced in tens of thousands of cases. An eCall is made by pushing a button inside the car. A person witnessing an accident, pushes the eCall-button for reporting the accident and automatically give the precise location. As eCall normally `sleeps`, it does not allow vehicle tracking outside emergencies.

“In the event of a serious accident, eCall automatically dials 112--Europe’s single emergency number.

“If an accident occurs it is crucial to identify who is responsible for the accident so that the vehicles involved can be removed from the road as soon as possible to avoid traffic jams. There are cases when the drivers do not agree on the responsibility. In such cases and in most countries the police are involved to support identification of the responsible driver. This can be a time-consuming process that could lead to traffic jams if the vehicles cannot be removed from the roads. Furthermore, this process can be further obscured by uncertainty when there is not enough information about the conditions surrounding the incident. Additionally, this process may involve extra costs of dispatching police investigators to the scene of the accident as well as experts from insurance companies.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “One object with the following disclosure is to present a technology for collecting information that can be helpful for determining the causes before, during and after the accident has occurred. The amount of sensors installed on vehicles and in the road infrastructure increases. Some of said sensors maybe used for collecting useful information when trying to inspect the scene of an incident or accident. The plethora of these different sources poses a challenge and a problem regarding the collection of all possible information that can be used later on to generate and reconstruct a complete view of the incident. The following technology presented herein provides a solution for finding and collecting traffic accident information from electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and in its surrounding area.

“According to one aspect, a first method and embodiments thereof are provided. The first method is performed in a first electronic sensor device. It is a method for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle. Said method comprises detecting a traffic accident, retrieving information regarding available other electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and in its surrounding area. It further comprises to activate at least one of said available other electronic sensor devices to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident to a traffic information service, and sending to the traffic information service traffic accident data recorded by the first electronic sensor device at the time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“According to further one aspect, a second method in a traffic information service and embodiments of the method are provided. Said method is a method for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle. Said method comprises to receive of a traffic accident alert message from an electronic sensor device wherein the traffic accident alert message indicates the geographical location and the time of the traffic accident, and to retrieve information regarding available electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and its surrounding area. The method further comprises to activate at least one of said available electronic sensor devices to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident to the traffic information service, and to receive, organize and store any traffic accident data recorded at the time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“According to further one aspect, a first electronic sensor device and embodiments of the device are provided. Said first electronic sensor device comprises a processor in a processing circuitry which is operating to perform the steps of the first method for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle.

“According to yet one aspect, a first electronic sensor device and embodiments thereof are provided for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle. Said device comprises a trigger unit adapted to detect a traffic accident, a radio interface adapted to retrieve information regarding available other electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and in its surrounding area, an activator unit adapted to activate at least one of said available other electronic sensor devices to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident to a traffic information service; and wherein the radio interface is adapted to send, to the traffic information service, the traffic accident data recorded by the first electronic service device at the time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“According to yet one aspect, a traffic information service node and embodiments of the service node are provided. Said traffic information service node comprises a processor in a processing circuitry being operated to perform the steps of the second method for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle.

“According to yet one aspect, a traffic information service node and embodiments of the service node are provided for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle. Said node comprises an alert unit adapted to receive a traffic accident alert message from an electronic sensor device wherein the traffic accident alert message indicates the geographical location and the time of the traffic accident, and a reading unit adapted to retrieving information regarding available electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and its surrounding area. The service node further comprises an activator unit adapted to activate at least one of said available electronic sensor devices to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident to the traffic information service and an accident data handler adapted to receive, organize and store any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“According to further one aspect, a computer program is provided. Said computer program comprises computer program code which, when run in a processor circuitry of a first electronic sensor device, causes the first electronic sensor device to perform steps of the first method and embodiments thereof.

“According to further one aspect, a computer program product is provided, which comprises a computer program and a computer readable means, which the computer program is stored. Said computer program comprises computer program code which, when run in a processor circuitry of a first electronic sensor device, causes the first electronic sensor device to perform steps of the first method and embodiments thereof.

“According to yet one aspect, a carrier containing a computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal or computer readable storage medium. Said computer program comprises computer program code which, when run in a processor circuitry of a first electronic sensor device, causes the first electronic sensor device to perform steps of the first method and embodiments thereof.

“According to further one aspect, a computer program is provided. Said computer program comprising computer program code which, when run in a processor circuitry of a traffic service information node, causes the node to perform steps of the second method.

“According to further one aspect, a computer program product, which comprises a computer program and a computer readable means on which the computer program is stored. Said computer program comprising computer program code which, when run in a processor circuitry of a traffic service information node, causes the node to perform steps of the second method.

“According to further one aspect, a carrier containing a computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal or computer readable storage medium. Said computer program comprising computer program code which, when run in a processor circuitry of a traffic service information node, causes the node to perform steps of the second method.

“The proposed solution automates the data collection process end-to-end hence no manual steps are necessary. Therefore the incident resolution time can be reduced, i.e. duration of traffic jams can potentially decrease.

“Additionally, the operational expenses related to gathering data from the accident scene are reduced significantly as physical presence of investigators from insurance agencies and police in the area to gather evidence.

“Finally, this solution may indirectly benefit emergency response agencies (e.g. hospitals or clinics, police, fire brigade) response times and effectiveness of said response, by promptly informing those agencies not only about the cause of the accident, but also the severity which may directly or indirectly hint to the situation of the vehicle occupants.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“The invention claimed is:

“1. A method for a first electronic sensor device of collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle, the method comprising: detecting a traffic accident; connecting to a Resource Directory, RD, the RD storing information regarding a location and characteristics of available electronic sensor devices that pre-registered, utilizing a Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), with the RD during sensor power-up, the information regarding the location and the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices being stored in the RD prior to the traffic accident, the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices including a type of sensor; sending to the RD a request for information regarding available electronic sensor devices having at least one characteristic matching at least a predefined characteristic and being at a location of the traffic accident and in an area surrounding the traffic accident; receiving the requested information from the RD; activating at least one of the available other electronic sensor devices identified in the requested information from the RD to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident to a traffic information service; and sending, to the traffic information service, traffic accident data recorded by the first electronic sensor device at the time interval comprising a time for the traffic accident.

“2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first electronic sensor device is located in one of a vehicle and in a road surveillance device.

“3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the activating further comprises: available electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and the area surrounding the traffic accident by one of broadcasting and multicasting a notification message.

“4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the notification message comprises a unique identifier which identifies the first electronic sensor device, and the time when the traffic accident was detected.

“5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information service is a cloud service.

“6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the traffic accident data is encrypted before it the traffic accident data is sent to the traffic information service.

“7. A method in a traffic information service for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a traffic accident alert message from an electronic sensor device wherein the traffic accident alert message indicates the geographical location and the time of the traffic accident; connecting to a Resource Directory, RD, the RD storing information regarding a location and characteristics of available electronic sensor devices that pre-registered, utilizing a Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), with the RD during sensor power-up, the information regarding the location and the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices being stored in the RD prior to the traffic accident, the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices including a type of sensor; sending to the RD a request for information regarding available electronic sensor devices having at least one characteristic matching at least a predefined characteristic and being at a location of the traffic accident and in an area surrounding the traffic accident; receiving the requested information from the RD; activating at least one of the available electronic sensor devices identified in the requested information from the RD to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising a time for the traffic accident to the traffic information service; and receiving, organizing and storing any traffic accident data recorded at the time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the activating further comprises: notifying available electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and the area surrounding the traffic accident by one of broadcasting and multicasting a notification message.

“9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the notification message comprises a unique identifier which identifies the sender and the time when the accident was detected.

“10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the traffic accident data is encrypted.

“11. A first electronic sensor device for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle, the device comprising a processor in a processing circuitry configured to: detect a traffic accident; connect to a Resource Directory, RD, the RD storing information regarding a location and characteristics of available electronic sensor devices that pre-registered, utilizing a Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), with the RD during sensor power-up, the information regarding the location and the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices being stored in the RD prior to the traffic accident, the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices including a type of sensor; send to the RD a request for information regarding available electronic sensor devices having at least one characteristic matching at least a predefined characteristic and being at a location of the traffic accident and in an area surrounding the traffic accident; receive the requested information from the RD; activate at least one of the available other electronic sensor devices identified in the requested information from the RD to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising a time for the traffic accident to a traffic information service; and send, to the traffic information service, traffic accident data recorded by the first electronic sensor device at the time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“12. A traffic information service node for collecting information related to traffic accidents involving at least one vehicle, the node comprising a processor in a processing circuitry configured to: receive a traffic accident alert message from an electronic sensor device wherein the traffic accident alert message indicates the geographical location and the time of the traffic accident; connect to a Resource Directory, RD, the RD storing information regarding a location and characteristics of available electronic sensor devices that pre-registered, utilizing a Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), with the RD during sensor power-up, the information regarding the location and the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices being stored in the RD prior to the traffic accident, the characteristics of the available electronic sensor devices including a type of sensor; send to the RD a request for information regarding available electronic sensor devices having at least one characteristic matching at least a predefined characteristic and being at a location of the traffic accident and in an area surrounding the traffic accident; receive the requested information from the RD; activate at least one of the available electronic sensor devices identified in the requested information from the RD to send any traffic accident data recorded at a time interval comprising a time for the traffic accident to the traffic information service; and receive, organize and store any traffic accident data recorded at the time interval comprising the time for the traffic accident.

“13. The first electronic sensor device according to claim 11, wherein the activating further comprises: notifying available electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and the area surrounding the traffic accident by one of broadcasting and multicasting a notification message.

“14. The traffic information service node according to claim 12, wherein the activating further comprises: notifying available electronic sensor devices at the location of the traffic accident and the area surrounding the traffic accident by one of broadcasting and multicasting a notification message.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Karapantelakis, Athanasios; Stikkel, Gabor; Vandikas, Konstantinos. Technique For Collecting Information Related To Traffic Accidents. U.S. Patent Number 10,885,773, filed December 10, 2015, and published online on January 18, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,885,773.PN.&OS=PN/10,885,773RS=PN/10,885,773

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