US 6,405,132 · Granted 2002-06-11
The GPS Safety Net That Warned Drivers of Invisible Collisions
Imagine if your car could talk to every other car on the road and know exactly where they are — down to inches — using satellite signals. This patent describes a system that uses ultra-precise GPS to figure out where your car and nearby vehicles are located, then warns you (or automatically brakes) if a crash is about to happen, even if you can't see the other car.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The patent covers a method and system for receiving precise GPS location data from satellites, combining it with correction signals to eliminate errors, and then using a detailed digital map to determine a vehicle's exact position on a roadway. What's specifically protected is the ability to receive position information from other vehicles, compare their location to your own vehicle's location and trajectory, calculate collision risk, and then generate either a warning to the driver or an automatic control signal to prevent impact.
Why it matters
This patent represents an early, sophisticated approach to vehicle-to-vehicle collision avoidance that predates modern autonomous driving systems. By combining GPS with digital mapping and inter-vehicle communication, it established a conceptual foundation for how vehicles could share real-time safety data. The accuracy improvements (centimeter-level rather than the meter-level of standard GPS) were a significant technical leap, potentially blocking competitors from using similar centimeter-precision safety architectures without licensing.
Real-world use
If you're driving on a multi-lane highway and another car is hidden behind a truck ahead, a system based on this patent would know it's there and warn you or gently brake before you see it.
Original USPTO abstract
System and method for preventing vehicle accidents in which GPS ranging signals relating to a host vehicle's position on a roadway on a surface of the earth are received on a first communication link from a network of satellites and DGPS auxiliary range correction signals for correcting propagation delay errors in the GPS ranging signals are received on a second communication link from a station or satellite. The host vehicle's position on a roadway on a surface of the earth is determined from the GPS, DGPS, and accurate map database signals with centimeter accuracy and communicated to other vehicles. The host vehicle receives position information from other vehicles and determines whether any other vehicle from which position information is received represents a collision threat to the host vehicle based on the position of the other vehicle relative to the roadway and the host vehicle. If so, a warning or vehicle control signal response to control the host vehicle's motion is generated to prevent a collision with the other vehicle.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,405,132
- Filing date
- 2000-10-04
- Grant date
- 2002-06-11
- Assignee
- Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- BREED DAVID S., JOHNSON WENDELL C., DUVALL WILBUR E.
- CPC class
- B60R21/0134
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