IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,658,042
Granted Patent B2
US 12,658,042 · App. 18/629,662 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Handling emergency vehicle alerts in cellular-vehicle-to-everything

Inventors: Venkatesha M Iyengar (Bengaluru, IN); Seung Ryul Yang (San Diego, CA); Sai Naresh Gajapaka (Hyderabad, IN); Sai Jitendra Varma Gadiraju (Hyderabad, IN); Gopinath S (Chennai, IN)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
G08G1/096783B60Q9/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,658,042
App. No.
18/629,662
Granted
Jun 16, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor, in signal communication with the at least one transceiver, and the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to: receive an alert signal of an emergency vehicle approaching the vehicle; and produce an alert notification on an infotainment system in response to receiving the alert signal.

Claims (149)

1 . A method for handling emergency vehicle alerts within an ego vehicle having an infotainment system, the method comprising:

receiving an alert signal of an emergency vehicle approaching the ego vehicle; and

producing an alert notification on the infotainment system based on the alert signal.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein

receiving the alert signal includes receiving a control message and

producing the alert notification includes setting the infotainment system to an emergency alert mode in response to the control message.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the emergency alert mode causes the infotainment system to perform operations selected from the group consisting of

pausing any media playback,

reducing audio volume,

displaying a location of the emergency vehicle, and

announcing with a voice assistant the approach of the emergency vehicle.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further including:

determining a threshold for setting the infotainment system to the emergency alert mode, and

wherein producing the alert notification on the infotainment system comprises producing the alert notification in response to the control message triggering the threshold.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the threshold is selected from the group consisting of

a timer value,

a first location value for a location of the ego vehicle,

a second location value for the location of the emergency vehicle, and

a distance value between the first location value and the second location value.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein

the threshold is updated based on changing conditions, and

the conditions are selected from the group consisting of traffic conditions,

a first speed of the ego vehicle,

a second speed of a second vehicle,

a first heading of the ego vehicle, and

a second heading of the second vehicle.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further including

transmitting a safety message to a roadside unit (RSU),

wherein

receiving the alert signal includes receiving the alert signal from the RSU,

receiving the alert signal includes receiving a control message, and

producing the alert notification includes setting the infotainment system to an emergency alert mode in response to the control message.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM),

the alert signal includes the control message and an emergency vehicle alert (EVA), a second BSM, or both,

the first BSM includes a vehicle speed, a vehicle heading of the ego vehicle, and a location of the ego vehicle, and

the second BSM includes a speed of the emergency vehicle, a heading of the emergency vehicle, and a location of the emergency vehicle.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM) having a vehicle speed, a vehicle heading of the ego vehicle, and a location of the vehicle,

the alert signal includes sensing information of the emergency vehicle produced by at least one sensor of the RSU or at least one sensor of a second RSU and transmitted to the RSU, and

the sensing information is selected from a group consisting of

one or more images of the emergency vehicle,

a size of the emergency vehicle,

a speed of the emergency vehicle,

a heading of the emergency vehicle,

a location of the emergency vehicle, and

a detected siren sound of the emergency vehicle.

10 . An apparatus of a vehicle for handling received emergency vehicle alerts, wherein the vehicle is an ego vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

at least one transceiver;

at least one memory; and

at least one processor, in signal communication with the at least one transceiver, and the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to:

receive an alert signal of an emergency vehicle approaching the ego vehicle; and

produce an alert notification on an infotainment system based on the alert signal.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to

receive the alert signal by further being configured to receive a control message and

produce the alert notification by further being configured to set the infotainment system to an emergency alert mode in response to the control message.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the emergency alert mode is configured to cause the at least one processor to perform operations selected from the group consisting of

pause any media playback,

reduce audio volume,

display an alert message on a display of the infotainment system,

display a location of the emergency vehicle on the display of the infotainment system, and

announce with a voice assistant the approach of the emergency vehicle.

13 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to

determine a threshold for setting the infotainment system to the emergency alert mode, and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to produce the alert notification on the infotainment system by further being configured to produce the alert notification in response to the control message triggering the threshold.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the threshold is selected from the group consisting of

a timer value,

a first location value for the location of the ego vehicle,

a second location value for the location of the emergency vehicle, and

a distance value between the first location value and the second location value.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein

the threshold is updated based on changing conditions, and

the conditions are selected from the group consisting of

traffic conditions,

a first speed of the ego vehicle,

a second speed of a second vehicle, and

a first heading of the ego vehicle, and

a second heading of the second vehicle.

16 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to

transmit a safety message to a roadside unit (RSU),

wherein the at least one processor is configured to

receive the alert signal by further being configured to receive the alert signal from the RSU, wherein the alert signal includes a control message, and

produce the alert notification by further being configured to set the infotainment system to an emergency alert mode in response to the control message.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM),

the at least one processor is configured to receive the alert signal by further being configured to receive the control message,

the alert signal includes the control message and an emergency vehicle alert (EVA), a second BSM, or both,

the first BSM includes a vehicle speed, a vehicle heading of the ego vehicle, and a location of the ego vehicle, and

the second BSM includes a speed of the emergency vehicle, a heading of the emergency vehicle, and a location of the emergency vehicle.

18 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM) having a vehicle speed, a vehicle heading of the ego vehicle, and a location of the ego vehicle,

the alert signal includes sensing information of the emergency vehicle produced by at least one sensor of the RSU or at least one sensor of a second RSU and transmitted to the RSU, and

the sensing information is selected from a group consisting of

one or more images of the emergency vehicle,

a size of the emergency vehicle,

a speed of the emergency vehicle,

a heading of the emergency vehicle,

a location of the emergency vehicle, and

detected siren sound of the emergency vehicle.

19 . A method for handling emergency vehicle alerts in a roadside unit (RSU), the method comprising:

receiving, with at least one transceiver, a safety message from a first vehicle approaching the RSU;

receiving, with the at least one transceiver, an alert of an emergency vehicle approaching the RSU; and

transmitting a control message to the first vehicle based on the alert, wherein the control message causes an infotainment system in the first vehicle to switch to an emergency alert mode.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein causing the infotainment system in the first vehicle to switch to the emergency alert mode includes causing the infotainment system to operate in a manner selected from the group consisting of pausing any media playback, reducing audio volume, graphically displaying a location of the emergency vehicle, and using a voice assistant to announce an approach of the emergency vehicle.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM),

the alert includes an alert signal including an emergency vehicle alert (EVA), a second BSM, or both,

the first BSM includes a speed of the first vehicle, heading of the first vehicle, and a location of the first vehicle, and

the second BSM includes a speed of the emergency vehicle, a heading of the emergency vehicle, and a location of the emergency vehicle.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM),

the alert includes sensing information of the emergency vehicle,

the first BSM includes a speed of the first vehicle, heading of the first vehicle, and a location of the first vehicle,

receiving the alert of the emergency vehicle approaching the RSU includes sensing the emergency vehicle with a sensor to produce the sensing information, and

the sensing information is selected from a group consisting of

one or more images of the emergency vehicle,

a size of the emergency vehicle,

a speed of the emergency vehicle,

a heading of the emergency vehicle,

a location of the emergency vehicle, and

detected siren sound.

23 . A roadside unit (RSU) comprising:

at least one transceiver;

at least one memory; and

at least one processor, in signal communication with the at least one transceiver, and the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to:

receive, via the at least one transceiver, a safety message from a first vehicle approaching the RSU;

receive, via the at least one transceiver, an alert of an emergency vehicle approaching the RSU; and

transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a control message to the first vehicle based on the alert, wherein the control message causes an infotainment system in the first vehicle to switch to an emergency alert mode.

24 . The RSU of claim 23 , wherein the control message causes the infotainment system in the first vehicle to switch to the emergency alert mode by causing the infotainment system to operate in a manner selected from the group consisting of pausing any media playback, reducing audio volume, graphically displaying a location of the emergency vehicle, and using a voice assistant to announce an approach of the emergency vehicle.

25 . The RSU of claim 24 , wherein the control message causes the infotainment system in the first vehicle to switch to the emergency alert mode by further causing the infotainment system to graphically display the location of the emergency vehicle on a main display of the infotainment system.

26 . The RSU of claim 23 , wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM),

the alert includes an alert signal including an emergency vehicle alert (EVA), a second BSM, or both,

the first BSM includes a speed of the first vehicle, heading of the first vehicle, and a location of the first vehicle, and

the second BSM includes a speed of the emergency vehicle, a heading of the emergency vehicle, and a location of the emergency vehicle.

27 . The RSU of claim 26 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to

determine a threshold value for causing the infotainment system in the first vehicle to switch to the emergency alert mode, and

transmit the threshold value as part of the control message.

28 . The RSU of claim 27 , wherein the threshold value is selected from the group consisting of a timer value, a first location value for the location of the first vehicle, a second location value for the location of the emergency vehicle, and a distance value between the first location value and the second location value.

29 . The RSU of claim 23 , further including

at least one sensor,

wherein

the safety message includes a first basic safety message (BSM),

the alert includes sensing information of the emergency vehicle,

the first BSM includes a speed of the first vehicle, heading of the first vehicle, and a location of the first vehicle,

the at least one processor is configured to receive the alert of the emergency vehicle approaching the RSU by further being configured to sense the emergency vehicle with the at least one sensor to produce the sensing information, and

the sensing information is selected from a group consisting of one or more images of the emergency vehicle, a size of the emergency vehicle, a speed of the emergency vehicle, a heading of the emergency vehicle, a location of the emergency vehicle, and detected siren sound.

30 . The RSU of claim 29 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the control message to the first vehicle by further being configured to

transmit the control message to the first vehicle via a second RSU.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 29, 2024
From: M IYENGAR, VENKATESHA; YANG, SEUNG RYUL; GAJAPAKA, SAI NARESH; GADIRAJU, SAI JITENDRA VARMA; S, GOPINATH
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 067248/0074 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20250316169A1 · Oct 9, 2025
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