WO2010133811A1

WO2010133811A1 - Presignaling system for a pedestrian population or vehicle users

Info

Publication number: WO2010133811A1
Application number: PCT/FR2010/050977
Authority: WO
Inventors: Karl Auzou
Original assignee: Goodkap!
Priority date: 2009-05-20
Filing date: 2010-05-20
Publication date: 2010-11-25
Also published as: FR2945888A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a presignaling system (100) including: presignaling devices (4), each provided with geolocation means; a server (6); means for the two-way communication between the server (6) and each presignaling device (4) such that each presignaling device (4) receives presignaling information from the server (6) and/or transmits at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates to said server (6). Each presignaling device (4) includes a memory for storing an onboard mapping. The positioning coordinates transmitted to the server (6) refer to said onboard mapping. At least some of the information sent by the server (6) to the presignaling devices (4) is associated with map coordinates. The invention also relates to a presignaling device (4) and to a presignaling method.

Description

"Warning system for a population of pedestrians or vehicle users"

Technical Field The present invention relates to a warning system for a population of pedestrians or vehicle users. It also relates to a warning device equipped with means for implementing said system, and an associated advance warning method.

The field of the invention is that of the presignalisation of information particularly relating to a route, in particular relating to points of interest and events (weather, traffic, ...) located on a route. The field of the invention relates, in particular but in a non-limiting manner, a road route.

The field of the invention also relates to sending a request for assistance.

State of the art

Pre-signaling systems comprising embedded devices are known in the prior art to communicate to a vehicle user information such as a speed limitation in force, a fixed or mobile radar positioning, or a road traffic state. Each onboard device is equipped with a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, and only receives information that is relevant according to its location by the GPS sensor.

French patent application FR 2 896 462 discloses a system in which the user has the possibility of transmitting to a database, via a warning device, certain information typically relating to incidents of travel (information relating to the presence of a speed control radar, to a road accident). Incident information is accompanied by GPS coordinates of the vehicle at the time of transmission. The base is thus informed in real time of all incidents of travel in the territory covered by the system. Each advance warning device that is active periodically informs the base of its "active" state and its position in GPS coordinates. The base responds by transmitting incidents of course of which it is aware in a geographical area that the device is likely to reach within a determined period corresponding, with a margin of safety, to the periodicity of exchanges between the device and the base. The device stores the last received information in memory, and erases the previous ones if necessary. The device triggers an alert when it detects, based on a refresh of its GPS coordinates, that it is approaching one of the course incidents reported by the base.

The disadvantage of such a system is that the location of the incident site on the basis of GPS coordinates alone is insufficient. The horizontal accuracy of a current GPS is generally of the order of twenty meters, which may be insufficient for example when two different roads are very close, in the case of a road network including in particular tunnels and / or bridges and / or taxiways located at ground level, passing below or above each other.

As a result, users are alerted about incidents that affect a different route than theirs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a more accurate and more accurate advance warning to each pedestrian or vehicle user participating in a warning system.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a warning device equipped with means for implementing a system providing a more accurate and more relevant advance warning.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pre-signaling method implemented in said system.

Exposure of the invention This objective is achieved with a warning system for a population of pedestrians or vehicle users comprising:

- Warning devices each held by a user, each provided with geolocation means;

a server equipped with at least one database; bidirectional communication means between the server and each advance-warning device, so that each advance-warning device receives information from the server and / or transmits to the server at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates; and wherein each of the advance warning device has a memory for storing an on-board map, the positioning coordinates transmitted to the server refer to said on-board map, and at least some of the advance warning information sent by the server to the advance warning devices are associated with map coordinates.

At each instant or at a regular interval, the advance-warning device determines, according to its instantaneous positioning coordinates and possibly one or more recent positioning coordinates, its position on the on-board cartography, for example a kilometric position along an identified track. , and the direction of movement along this path. For example, the reference to on-board cartography is as follows: 37,870 km on Route Nationale N ° 118, meaning Paris-Province. Thus, the positioning provided by the geolocation means is supplemented by cartographic information, which in particular makes it possible to position a warning device exactly on the road that it follows, even if another road is close to, above or below. below the latter. Since the said roads are not superimposed over their entire length, the knowledge of the location of the advance warning device just before the roads are superimposed and / or parallel makes it possible to position accurately on one of the roads the advance warning device. .

Thus, the advance warning device knows the route followed by the vehicle and triggers an alert only if a pre-notification information sent by the server relates to the route followed by the vehicle, because the advance warning information is associated with map coordinates to determine if it is relevant to the route taken by the vehicle.

The bidirectional communication between the server and each advance-warning device is preferably in accordance with the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and / or GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and / or Wifi (Wireless Fidelity) and / or Wimax (Worldwide) standards. Interoperability for Microwave Access) and / or 3G ^(3rd generation) and / or DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handeld) and / or DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial). - AT -

The geolocation means advantageously comprise a GPS receiver (Global Positioning System). The positioning coordinates preferably designate GPS coordinates.

When the user decides to transmit to the server, by the advance warning device, a pre-signaling information, for example on an event or a situation of which this user has been the witness during his displacement, this information transmitted is accompanied by the current cartographic position of the advance warning device. Each warning device when it is active preferably sends the server preferably periodically and automatically, geolocation data that is to say in particular its positioning coordinates with reference to the on-board mapping, or at least its positioning coordinates . An active warning device is a device under tension, after ignition. Advantageously, the server is able to identify each advance warning device and to associate with one of them in particular information coupled with positioning coordinates. This allows the server to track the position of a moving warning device, calculate its average speed, and so on. The pre-signaling device can directly transmit to the server its positioning coordinates with reference to the on-board cartography, or the server can be adapted, just like the pre-signaling device, to be determined according to the instantaneous positioning coordinates and possibly one or more coordinates. recent positioning of the device, the position of said device on a map stored in the at least one server database.

In the at least one database of the server, certain information, for example relating to a traffic event is strictly related to a given traffic lane, and other information, for example meteorological, are expanded to a zone.

According to a preferred embodiment, the server is equipped with at least one cartography and means for calculating at least one route taking into account one or more modes of transport (for example pedestrians, transport in common, shared community transportation, public or private rental, etc.).

Advance warning information is such that it provides in advance to the user of the advance warning device information relating to the route he is traveling. A warning information is selected by the server according to the location of the advance warning device. Each advance warning device receives only the advance warning information likely to concern it. To determine which advance-warning information to send at a given time T to the advance-warning device, the server takes into account geolocation data of the device at the instant T and for example a predicted time interval ΔT which will flow before the server again sends at least one advance warning information to the advance warning device. The server can also take into account the speed limits of the roads that the advance warning device is likely to take during the time interval ΔT, as well as a safety margin.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the server retransmits to a pre-signaling device all the pre-signaling information likely to concern it during the time interval X * ΔT, where X is greater than 1, for example equal to 2. Knowing that after a time interval ΔT the server will again send at least one advance warning information to the advance warning device, the sending of all the advance warning information likely to concern it during the time interval 2 * ΔT ensures a margin of safety. A memory provided with each advance warning device can store at least temporarily at least one information sent by the server. Then, it is preferably the advance-warning device itself which selects among the information which has just been sent to it concerning the time interval X * ΔT, those which will directly concern the advance-warning device, taking into account this times more parameters. Thus, the server is preferably based on geolocation data at a given moment, from which it defines a perimeter likely to concern the advance warning device. Then, the advance warning device takes into account its own geolocation data at each moment to re-select in turn among the information that has just been transmitted to it by the server, those to be communicated to the user of said device, at any time. This operation makes it possible to limit the average frequency of the sending of information by the server. Advantageously, the warning device takes into account for its reselection its own direction of displacement. The expression "every moment" does not necessarily mean "continuously", but with a higher average frequency than the average frequency of retransmission of information by the server. The memory of the advance warning device is for example provided with means for erasing as and when the information sent by the server and a geographical area that the advance warning device has left. According to a neighboring embodiment, the server is able to itself make a preselection of the advance notification information to be sent to the advance warning device. For example, if the server locates a device on a highway, it does not transmit information about locations that are not reachable in less than ΔT from the highway, even if they are near the device. .

The server comprises data processing means, in particular for selecting a pre-signaling information to be sent as a function of positioning coordinates referring to an on-board mapping, or simply as a function of positioning coordinates. Advantageously, the at least one database of the server comprises mapping data compatible with the on-board mapping by each of the advance warning devices, so as to process the positioning coordinate information referring to one of the on-board maps.

The warning device is advantageously provided with a man-machine interface comprising for example a touch screen and / or selection buttons and / or voice recognition means for analyzing at least one word uttered by the user and / or a keyboard and / or a speaker.

The sending and receiving of at least one information coupled with positioning means, respectively of advance warning information, may be at the initiative of the user of the advance warning device and / or automatic. In the first case, the user of the pre-signaling device initiates a data exchange through the interface human-machine said device. In the second case, there may be sending and / or receiving data automatically and preferably periodically. The period may be fixed, for example two minutes, or calculated by the server and / or the warning device, depending on the speed of movement of said device. For example, geolocation data can be sent regularly to the server which then calculates the average speed of the transmitting device and deduces a period and / or a time interval ΔT adapted to send to said device of the advance warning information, for example that the time to reach a point of interest reported furthest from the device among the points reported be the same regardless of the speed of movement of said device, from the moment when said information is received by said device. It can also be provided that when a warning device sends to the server geolocation data indicating that it is approaching a critical point, for example a motorway interchange, there is exceptional transmission of information by the server, even if the initially planned time interval has not elapsed since the last time the server sent information. The device may comprise cartographic analysis means for detecting the approach of such a critical point and in this case send its cartographic position (positioning coordinates referring to the on-board cartography) to the server and obtain in response the aforementioned information in from the server.

The cartography embarked by a system of advance warning can include a territory more or less vast, for example a country, or a continent. The on-board cartography includes in particular a road map as well as data, for example in latitude and longitude, for linking the information of the on-board cartography to the positioning data provided by the geolocation means. Each advance warning device advantageously comprises means for updating the on-board mapping, for example a USB port for connecting said advance warning device to a computer which is itself advantageously connected via the Internet to an update site, or a electronic storage medium such as a SM (SmartMedia) or Micro SD (Secure Digital) card, or any wireless communication protocol that allows the transfer of update data. Onboard mapping can also be updated by wireless technology, for example by connecting the advance notification device to an Internet update site via Wi-Fi technology, or by means of bidirectional communication between the server and each advance warning device, the server containing in this case the updates of the on-board cartography.

According to a preferred embodiment, the at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises at least one of an instantaneous speed, an average speed, an acceleration, an instantaneous speed tracking, an average speed tracking, from which the server is able to calculate information on the fluidity of the traffic. The server therefore comprises calculation means adapted to calculate information on the fluidity of the circulation. The warning device may optionally be coupled to an accelerometer to determine at least one of this information. This last information, in particular an instantaneous speed, an average speed, an acceleration, can also be calculated at the server level, from a regular monitoring of the geolocation data possibly with reference to the on-board cartography of a warning device. . When a warning device slows down, the server can then draw information that at such a time and at a particular location, traffic is slowed down. This information may be transmitted as advance warning information to other advance warning devices, and / or be considered in a study to identify areas at risk of slowing down. Advantageously, the server comprises in its at least one database of traffic information and speed limits. Speed limit information can also be recorded in the advance warning device and transmitted along with the positioning coordinates. Thus, the speed limitation data make it possible to distinguish a slowdown of a warning device due to a limitation of the authorized speed limit, a slowdown due to any other cause such as an accident, work, etc.

Preferably, the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises a direction of movement. The direction of movement is preferably defined in the advance warning device at from the tracking of positioning coordinates. The direction of movement can also be calculated by the server from the tracking of the positions of the advance warning device. Thus, the server more effectively selects the advance-warning information that it sends to the advance-warning device. The server does not send information about a geographical area whose advance warning device is moving away, given the layout of the roads.

The server advantageously comprises means for associating in the server a profile to each advance warning device, and the server refers to this profile when it interacts with a warning device. The profile is advantageously recorded in the at least one database of the server, but can also be recorded in the advance warning device. Said profile can be completed in particular by the user of the advance warning device from said device and / or from an auxiliary computer connected to the server for example via the Internet. Several profiles may correspond to the same advance warning device, the user choosing his profile from among the several profiles corresponding to his device, for example when switching on the device. The profile includes, for example, a time and / or distance determining from which limit the user wishes his advance warning device to receive advance information on a given point of interest. The advance warning device may then in turn be parameterized in terms of distance and / or time as the user's desired warning magnitude between the advance warning and the arrival at the pre-designated point of interest. The profile may comprise at least one characteristic information of a vehicle comprising at least one of a brand, a model, a year of registration, a registration, a color, an engine power, an address of a usual mechanic, a phone number of a typical mechanic, a history of maintenance and repairs.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises a request for assistance. Thus, the user of the advance warning device that requests assistance can be very quickly and accurately located, for a quick response. For example, it may be technical assistance, in case of failure of the vehicle of the user of the advance warning device. It can also be a request for medical assistance, for example if a user witnesses a road accident. In the case of a technical assistance, thanks to the characteristic information of a vehicle corresponding to a profile, the assistance request can be completed automatically by as much information which can be advantageously known in advance by a car repairer. and / or convenience store. For example, when the server receives a request for assistance from the advance notification device, it can transfer it, as well as the positioning coordinates preferably with reference to a map, and some information of the profile corresponding to said device, for example to a dedicated help desk. The characteristic information of a vehicle may allow a repairman to locate and then more easily recognize said vehicle, and / or the dedicated assistance service to select the convenience store based on said information.

Advantageously, the at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises at least one of an indication of a parking lot, a rest area, a petrol station, a speed control radar, an a slowdown in traffic, an accident, work on the track, a deviation, bad weather, a speed limit. Said at least one piece of information is sent by the user of the advance warning device to the server where it is advantageously processed, for example to establish statistics intended to distinguish relatively reliable information, as relayed by several different advance warning devices, Relatively unreliable information, because relayed by little or a single advance warning device. Information can even be considered as false, for example if it is relayed by a warning device to a given location, then by any of the several advance warning devices passing through the same place later. Certain information which in essence is valid only temporarily, is not subjected to the same mathematical treatments to determine their validity or not. These are for example information relating to a slowdown in traffic, an accident, work on the track, bad weather, etc. The at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates may be information of existence of a point of interest to a given place. The at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates can also provide details on a given point of interest, such as a rate in a given gas station.

Preferably, the advance notification information sent by the server is obtained from the at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates transmitted to the server. The server receives information coupled with positioning coordinates, advantageously it processes said information to distinguish a relatively reliable information from a relatively unreliable information, and it returns this information to other advance warning devices that may be affected by said information. However, advance warning information may also have been recorded in the server without the intervention of advance warning devices. For example, the server may be connected to at least one service dedicated to the dissemination of advance warning information.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the at least one advance warning device is provided with means for informing the user of the degree of knowledge that the server possesses concerning the route followed by the user. Preferably, this information is updated each time the server sends new information to the pre-signaling device, therefore at times spaced apart by ΔT, where ΔT is not necessarily a constant. The means for informing the user may be a series of graphic icons on a screen of the advance warning device. It is in the user's interest to know how familiar the server is with the route the user is following. He thus knows to what extent a point of interest and / or a danger and / or information on his itinerary is really likely to be indicated to him in advance by the advance warning system.

Preferably, the degree of knowledge transmitted to the user comprises a number of advance warning devices having borrowed the same portion of path from a defined time interval, a number of advance warning devices having borrowed the same portion of path from a range of sufficient time for at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server from said channel portion can be retransmitted to said user, a confidence coefficient. Information on the degree of knowledge can also be include a number of advance warning devices that will use the same portion of lane knowing their pre-defined route. "Borrow the same portion of lane" means to borrow the same portion of lane, in one direction of traffic or in the other. The server comprises calculation means for analyzing in real time the routes of all the warning devices identified as active. Said routes can be reconstructed at the server, or transmitted by each device periodically and automatically. The analysis of said routes makes it possible to determine for each device the number of advance warning devices having borrowed the same portion of track from a defined time interval, and / or from a time interval sufficient for at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server from said channel portion can be retransmitted to said user and / or the number of pre-signaling device that will take the same portion of the channel.

These different criteria can be transmitted separately, or at least two can be combined to provide the user with a coefficient and / or a color code and / or other code, faster readable than many numbers. If at least one advance warning device has taken the same portion of the route for a defined time interval, the likelihood of significant advance warning information being transmitted to the advance warning device is increased. The defined time interval may be recorded by the user on the advance notification device or preferably on the server, and from the advance notification device or from an ancillary terminal. There may be an indication of a number of advance warning devices that have traveled the same portion of the route for several defined time intervals. It may be crucial to communicate to the user the number of pre-signaling devices having borrowed the same portion of track for a sufficient time interval so that at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server from said portion of track can be retransmitted to said user. Indeed, if a second warning device is too close to a first warning device, it may happen that the first transmits to the server information that will not have time to reach the second in a timely manner. It may also be advantageous for the number of presignalization having borrowed the same portion of track for a period of time insufficient for at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server from said portion of track can be retransmitted to said user, or directly removed from the number communicated to the user of the pre-signaling devices having borrowed the same portion of the channel for a defined period of time. For example, a portion of a track, for example, comprises a portion of a track going from the instantaneous location of the advance warning device to the next intersection and / or exit (for a motorway exit, for example), going in the direction moving said device. A portion of a track may also be understood as a portion of a track from the instantaneous location of the advance warning device to several kilometers in any direction, away from the advance warning device. Any pre-signaling device using the same portion of the channel as a second warning device, and ahead of the second one by a defined time interval, is considered as a scout for said second device.

The confidence coefficient is advantageously calculated from at least one of the number of advance warning devices having borrowed the same portion of track from a defined time interval, the number of advance warning devices having borrowed the same portion of track since a sufficient time interval for at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server from said channel portion can be retransmitted to said user, the average relevance of the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates transmitted to the server by a warning device having borrowed the same portion of the channel for a defined time interval, the average relevance of the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates transmitted to the server by a warning device having borrowed the same portion of track since a time interval s whereby at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server from said channel portion can be retransmitted to said user. The notion of average relevance refers to the result of processing information to determine whether it is relatively reliable or not. Indeed, the server is advantageously able to determine whether information is relatively reliable or not, and to refer to a given profile when it interacts with a given advance warning device. The server can therefore establish statistics relating to the information sent to it by a warning device corresponding to a given profile. It is then necessary to establish an average relevance of said information. If a warning device corresponding to a given profile sends a lot of information to the server which proves unreliable after processing said information, the average relevance of the information it sends is low. We can also consider that the relevance of the information it will send will be low, and that it is not a reliable scout. The data of the average relevance of an information sent from a warning device corresponding to a given profile can also make it possible to estimate the reliability or not of an information before it has had time to be processed by the server to determine whether it is reliable or not.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the advance warning device comprises a navigation device.

Advantageously, the pre-notification information sent by the server is selected according to a route defined by the navigation device. Thus, the selection is all the more fine since it is directly a route programmed in the navigation device that is taken into account, and not an entire geographical area. In this case, the route defined by the navigation device is sent to the server. It is preferable to provide that the server sends information concerning an entire geographical area, and that it is then the navigation device itself which, according to the programmed route, selects from the information sent by the server those which are likely to concern the user of the navigation device. There may thus be a different advance warning, depending on whether it concerns the planned route and recorded in the navigation device, or for example an alternative route possible to reach the same point of arrival, or the entire geographical area which would have been concerned in the absence of a route being run by the navigation device. The different advance warning means that the warning device communicates it for example by different color codes. It can also be expected that The advance notification information sent by the server is selected based on an area around the advance warning device.

The invention also relates to a warning device equipped with means for implementing the warning system that has just been described.

Each advance warning device can be portable, so light enough and compact to be slid in a jacket pocket for example. It advantageously comprises a removable support or means for being fixed to a removable support, said removable support consisting for example of a suction cup and for fixing, permanently or removably, the advance warning device to a surface such that the inner face of the windshield of a vehicle. The warning device can also be directly integrated in a vehicle, for example on the dashboard. The invention furthermore relates to a pre-signaling method characterized in that it comprises the following steps: sending by a device of advance signaling information coupled with positioning coordinates, which refer to a cartography embedded by said device; - reception by the server of said information; and retransmission by the server of said information to an annex entity.

The subsidiary entity may be for example another advance warning device, in the case where the first warning device plays a role of scout. The subsidiary entity may also be a dedicated helpdesk, in the event that the advance notification device sends a request for assistance.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES AND EMBODIMENTS Other advantages and particularities of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description of implementations and non-limiting embodiments, and the following appended drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a road network,

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a warning system according to the invention, and - Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of a warning device according to the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a road network 1, comprising a route R1, a route R2, and a route R3. The R2 and R3 pathways are parallel over part of their length. Route Rl overlooks the R2 and R3 pathways. A vehicle 2 is located on the track R1. The circle 3 corresponds to the extent in which geolocation means located inside the vehicle 2, for example a GPS sensor, locate the vehicle 2 taking into account the imprecision of the positioning of said vehicle 2. The vehicle 2 is considered as being somewhere inside circle 3, without any more precision. This information alone therefore makes it impossible to determine whether the vehicle 2 is on the route R1, R2 or R3. It can also be seen that by combining the information provided by the geolocation means with a cartographic reference, for example the identification of a road on which the vehicle 2 is located, the latter can be located much more precisely, without that there remains no doubt in particular on which routes R1, R2 and R3 the vehicle 2 is located.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a warning system 100 according to the invention. A warning device 4 is embedded inside many vehicles, and in particular each of vehicles V1, V2 and V3 shown. Each advance warning device 4 comprises geolocation means, bidirectional communication means with a server 6, and an on-board cartography which notably includes the portion of the road on which the vehicles V1, V2 and V3 are located. Each advance warning device 4 further comprises two-way communication means with the server 6. The bidirectional communications are represented by the arrows 7. Each advance warning device 4 regularly transmits to the server 6 its positioning coordinates referring to the on-board cartography.

In the situation shown, the vehicles V1, V2 and V3 all advance in the same direction on a road 54 which separates into two branches 55 and 56. The warning device 4 embedded in the vehicle V1 comprises a navigation device in which is programmed the route 50 shown in dashed lines in Figure 2. The vehicle V3 is therefore a scout for the vehicle Vl, since it is ahead of the vehicle Vl and a portion of the route 50. The vehicle V3 encounters points of interest 5 before the vehicle Vl, retransmits it to the server 6, thus the vehicle Vl receives recent information in real time on points of interest 5 located on its route 50. A point of interest 5 is for example a control radar of speed, parking, rest area, etc. The user of a warning device 4 passing close to a point of interest 5 sends to the server 6 information coupled to positioning coordinates which refer to the on-board cartography. Said information is for example a simple statement of existence of this type of point of interest 5, which coupled to the positioning coordinates referring to the on-board cartography allows the server 6 to receive moreover information indicating the exact location of said point. of interest 5. The user can also specify whether said point of interest 5 relates to its direction of movement, or the direction of traffic contrary. The server 6 comprises calculation means for estimating the instantaneous speed of each advance warning device 4. Thus, thanks to an estimate of the average delay that elapses between the moment when the user sees the point of interest 5 and the moment where information about this point of interest 5 arrives at the server 6, the computing means of the server 6 can estimate the actual position of the point of interest 5 from the positioning coordinates referring to the onboard map received.

We are particularly interested in the vehicle Vl. Thanks to the precise positioning of the vehicle Vl on a particular road, transmitted to the server 6 and furthermore known by the warning device 4 itself, the advance warning device 4 of the vehicle Vl does not receive from the server 6 a piece of information relating to the point of interest 5 located on a road 52 near and substantially parallel to a portion of the route 50. The user will not be alerted to this point of interest located on the road 52. It is therefore seen that the invention allows to limit the sending of false alerts to a user. A false alarm is called information communicated to a user by a warning device 4, and which is not likely to really concern him. The vigilance of the user vis-à-vis an alert is increased, since it is unlikely to be a false alarm.

A screen 13 represents the graphic interface proposed to the user of the advance warning device 4 of the vehicle Vl. A display portion 13 is shown on the screen. Routes 52 and 54 and branches 56 and 55 are represented on the screen 13 by the road drawings respectively 200, 201 and 202, 203. The route 50 is preferably indicated on the screen 13 in that the corresponding road drawings are of a different color. The icon 53 represents the vehicle Vl on the map. The icon 57 represents a point of interest 5 located on the route 50, while the icon 58 represents a point of interest 5 located on the branch 55, off the route 50, but sufficiently close to said route 50 so that it is useful to inform the user in the event that the latter leaves route 50. The icon 58 which corresponds to a point of interest 5 may only concern the vehicle Vl if that it leaves its route 50, for example differs by a color code, the icon 57 which corresponds to a point of interest 5 actually likely to concern the vehicle Vl.

The server 6 is also in bidirectional communication 8 with a support platform 9 which constitutes a dedicated assistance service. Said assistance platform 9 can also be an integral part of the server 6. When a vehicle, for example Vl breaks down, it sends from the advance warning device 4 to the server 6 a request for assistance. The assistance request is coupled with the positioning coordinates of Vl referring to the on-board mapping of the advance warning device 4. Each advance warning device 4 is further associated with at least one profile stored on the at least one database server 6 and set by a user from a warning device 4 or an auxiliary terminal for example via the Internet. When a user connects to the server 6 from the advance warning device 4, he can select one of the associated profiles, for example if the same advance warning device is used by several users depending on the time. There may also be a unique profile per advance notification device 4, and therefore no choice among several profiles when connecting the advance notification device 4 to the server 6. At the server 6, the assistance request coupled with the coordinates of Vl positioning referring to the on-board mapping of the advance warning device 4 is associated with certain information of the user's profile. This information includes for example the type of vehicle in which the warning device 4 is embedded, or a mobile phone number to contact the user directly. The request for assistance thus completed shall be forwarded to the support platform 9, which then manages the help desk. There may be exchange of information between the assistance platform 9 and the server 6, for example information of good reception and arrival time of a technician until the broken down vehicle can be sent to the server 6 by the assistance platform 9, the server 6 can then in turn transmit this information to the warning device 4 transmitting the assistance request, and possibly to other advance warning devices 4 may be concerned by the slowing down of the traffic caused by the vehicle Vl that has stopped on the road, or by a slowdown caused by an accident in the case of a request for assistance following an accident, for example a traffic accident.

The server 6 is further adapted by means of calculations, for example to perform statistical calculations from different information, for example coupled substantially to the same positioning coordinates referring to the on-board mapping. It can thus verify whether or not all advance warning devices 4 passing through a given location, possibly furthermore in a given direction, send the same information concerning a given point of interest. Thanks to these calculations, the server 6 is able to attribute to each profile an evaluation of the average relevance of the information it sends, as well as to sort among the information received those that are relatively reliable or not, to possibly only communicate the data. reliable information. For example, the server 6 can transfer information to other advance warning devices 4 that may be concerned, systematically initially, then not systematically once enough advance warning devices 4 have passed through the same location and that It is therefore possible to determine a degree of reliability of the information.

The server 6 is in bidirectional communication with ancillary services 11 which are advance warning services which can update the server 6 with recent advance warning information and / or retrieve the information sent to the server 6 by advance warning devices 4. Ancillary services 11 may also provide mapping updates and certain points of interest such as fixed speed checks. The server 6 retransmits these updates to the advance warning devices 4. Figure 3 shows a warning device 4 according to the invention. This comprises a housing 12 and a man-machine interface. This human-machine interface includes the touch screen 13, a microphone 14 connected to voice recognition means for recognizing a word spoken by the user and a speaker 15 connected to voice synthesis means for emitting an audible sound by the user, for example a sentence pronounced by a synthetic voice. The human-machine interface further comprises several buttons 16 which can each be dedicated to a specific function. For example, a first button 16 may be dedicated to signaling the existence of a first type of point of interest 5, a second button 16 may be dedicated to signaling the existence of a second type of point of interest. interest 5, and a third button 15 may be dedicated to sending a request for assistance. In addition, the advance warning device 4 comprises a button 17 for switching on and off, a socket 18 for connection to a power supply, and a port 19 to be connected for example to an auxiliary terminal for updating the mapping. board. Screen 13 is divided into several sections. On a first section 20, an icon 21 represents a category to which belongs the next point of interest 5 that will meet the advance warning device 4. This category can be for example speed control radar, work on the track, gas station , parking, etc. A second section 22 indicates the distance to which the next point of interest 5 of the advance warning device 4 lies. A section 23 further indicates, for example in the form of a symbol 24, the degree of knowledge that the advance warning system 100 5. In this case, the bars that make up the symbol 24 may, for example, be colored green when the degree of knowledge is good, and in a gradient from green to red for degrees of knowledge more or less high. Said degree of knowledge depends in particular on the number of advance warning devices 4 having borrowed the same portion of track from a defined time interval, the number of advance warning devices 4 having borrowed the same portion of track for a time interval sufficient for that at least one piece of information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server 6 from said portion of the channel can be retransmitted to said user, and a coefficient of confidence which depends inter alia on the average relevance information sent to the server 6 by said advance warning devices 4 having borrowed the same portion of the channel for a given time interval. An area of the screen 13 may also be reserved for displaying a number of scouts for a given advance warning device 4. The sections 25 are allocated to the representation by an icon of the other next points of interest 5, from the most imminent at the top to the farthest at the bottom, and the sections 26 are allocated to the display of the distance separating each of these others. next points of interest 5 of the advance warning device 4 shown in FIG.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples that have just been described and many adjustments can be made to these examples without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

A warning system (100) for a pedestrian population or vehicle users comprising:

- Advance warning devices (4) each held by a user, each provided with geolocation means;

a server (6) equipped with at least one database; bidirectional communication means between the server (6) and each advance warning device (4), so that each advance warning device (4) receives information from the server (6) and / or transmits to the server (6) at least information coupled with positioning coordinates; characterized in that each advance-warning device (4) comprises a memory for storing an on-board map, the positioning coordinates transmitted to the server (6) refer to said on-board map, and several advance-warning information sent by the server (6) to advance warning devices (4) are associated with map coordinates

2. System (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the server (6) is equipped with at least one map and means for calculating at least one route taking into account one or more modes of transport.

3. System (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises at least one of an instantaneous speed, a mean speed, an acceleration, a speed tracking instantaneous, average speed monitoring, from which the server is able to calculate information on the fluidity of the traffic.

4. System (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises a direction of movement.

5. System (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means for associating in the server (6) a profile to each advance warning device (4), and the server (6) is refers to this profile when interacting with a warning device (4).

6. System (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that the profile comprises at least one characteristic information of a vehicle (2; V1; V2; V3) comprising at least one of a brand, a model, a year vehicle registration, registration, color, engine power, an address of a regular mechanic, a telephone number of a regular mechanic, a history of maintenance and repairs.

7. System (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises a request for assistance.

8. System (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates comprises at least one of an indication of a parking, a rest area , a petrol station, a speed control radar, a slowdown of traffic, an accident, work on the track, a deviation, bad weather, a speed limit .

9. System (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that the advance warning information sent by the server (6) is obtained from the at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates transmitted to the server (6).

10. System (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one advance warning device (4) is provided with means for informing the user of the degree of knowledge that the server (6) has regarding the route followed by the user.

11. System (100) according to claim 10, characterized in that information on the degree of knowledge comprises a number of advance warning devices (4) having borrowed the same portion of track from a defined time interval, a number of warning devices (4) having borrowed the same portion of the channel for a sufficient time interval so that at least one information coupled with positioning coordinates sent to the server (6) from said channel portion can be retransmitted to said user, a coefficient of confidence.

12. System (100) according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that information on the degree of knowledge comprises a number of advance warning devices (4) which will take the same portion of track knowing their pre-defined route.

13. System (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the advance warning device (4) comprises a navigation device.

14. System (100) according to claim 13, characterized in that the advance warning information sent by the server (6) are selected according to a route defined by the navigation device.

15. System (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the advance warning information sent by the server (6) are selected according to an area around the advance warning device (4).

16. A warning device (4), characterized in that it is equipped with means for the implementation of any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A method of advance warning characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

- sending by a warning device (4) an information coupled with positioning coordinates, which refer to a mapping embedded by said device (4);

reception by the server (6) of said information; and

- Retransmission by the server (6) of said information to an annex entity.