Systems and methods for location reporting of detected events in vehicle operation

1. An event reporting telematics unit configured to report a location of events, comprising:

a first sensor measuring sensor information;

a storage device storing sensor information, location information, and an event reporting application; and

a processor;

wherein the processor, on reading the event reporting application, is directed to:

receive a first sensor information using the first sensor, wherein the first sensor information comprises a first sensor information timestamp associated with the first sensor information;

determine the start of an occurrence of a vehicle event, wherein the vehicle event comprises an acceleration event;

complete the determination of the vehicle event, wherein the determined event comprises an event duration;

correlate the first sensor information with the determined event based on the first sensor information timestamp;

determine a time corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the first sensor information timestamp and the event duration;

determine location data corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the location information; and

store the determined event and the associated location data using the storage device.

2. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second sensor measuring second sensor information; and

wherein the processor further:

receives a second sensor information using the second sensor;

calculates a second sensor information timestamp, where the second sensor information timestamp is associated with the second sensor information; and

correlates the second sensor information with the determined event based on the second sensor information timestamp.

3. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 2 , wherein the processor further determines the location corresponding to the beginning of the vehicle event based on the information selected from the group consisting of the first sensor information timestamp and the second sensor information timestamp.

4. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , wherein the first vehicle sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, an airbag deployment sensor, a vibration sensor, a compass, a voltage measuring sensor, a resistance measuring sensor, a current measuring sensor, an impact sensor, and a temperature sensor.

5. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; and

wherein the processor further:

determines the location information using the GPS receiver;

calculates a location timestamp associated with the determined first location; and

determines the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the location information, the location timestamp, and the first sensor information timestamp.

6. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; and

wherein the processor further:

determines a set of location information using the GPS receiver;

calculates a set of location timestamps corresponding to one or more of the set of location information; and

estimates the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event using at least one of the set of location timestamps and at least one of the set of location information.

7. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 6 , wherein the processor further determines the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the first sensor information timestamp, at least one of the set of location information, and at least one of the set of location timestamps associated with the at least one of the set of location information.

8. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , wherein the processor further determines the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event by performing a dead reckoning process based on the location information, the first sensor information, and the first sensor information timestamp.

9. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , wherein the processor further calculates the first sensor information timestamp when the first sensor information exceeds a threshold value.

10. The event reporting telematics unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

a communications device;

wherein the processor further transmits the determined vehicle event and the location data using the communications device.

11. A method for determining a location of a vehicle event, comprising:

receiving a first sensor information using an event reporting telematics unit, wherein:

the first sensor information comprises a first sensor information timestamp associated with the first sensor information; and

the event reporting telematics unit comprises a processor and a memory connected to the processor;

determining a start of an occurrence of a vehicle event using the event reporting telematics unit, wherein the vehicle event comprises an acceleration event;

completing the determination of the vehicle event using the event reporting telematics unit, wherein the determined event comprises an event duration;

correlating the first sensor information with the determined event based on the first sensor information timestamp using the event reporting telematics unit;

determining a time corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the first sensor information timestamp and the event duration using the event reporting telematics unit;

determining location data corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on location information using the event reporting telematics unit; and

storing the determined event and the associated location data using the event reporting telematics unit.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising

receiving a second sensor information using the event reporting telematics unit;

calculating a second sensor information timestamp using the event reporting telematics unit, where the second sensor information timestamp is associated with the second sensor information; and

correlating the second sensor information with the determined event based on the second sensor information timestamp using the event reporting telematics unit.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining the location corresponding to the beginning of the vehicle event based on the information selected from the group consisting of the first sensor information timestamp and the second sensor information timestamp using the event reporting telematics unit.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first vehicle sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, an airbag deployment sensor, a vibration sensor, a compass, a voltage measuring sensor, a resistance measuring sensor, a current measuring sensor, an impact sensor, and a temperature sensor.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining the location information using a GPS receiver in the event reporting telematics unit;

calculating a location timestamp associated with the determined first location using the event reporting telematics unit; and

determining the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the location information, the location timestamp, and the first sensor information timestamp using the event reporting telematics unit.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a set of location information using a GPS receiver in the event reporting telematics unit;

calculating a set of location timestamps corresponding to one or more of the set of location information using the event reporting telematics unit; and

estimating the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on at least one of the set of location timestamps and at least one of the set of location information using the event reporting telematics unit.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event based on the first sensor information timestamp, at least one of the set of location information, and at least one of the set of location timestamps associated with the at least one of the set of location information using the event reporting telematics unit.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining the location corresponding to the beginning of the determined event by performing a dead reckoning process based on the location information, the first sensor information, and the first sensor information timestamp using the event reporting telematics unit.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising calculating the first sensor information timestamp when the first sensor information exceeds a threshold value using the event reporting telematics unit.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting the determined vehicle event and the location data using the event reporting telematics unit.