Emergency information prompt report system

• US 20070182586A1
• Filed: 09/12/2006
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Mitsuhashi, Masaru
• Granted Patent: US 8,457,590 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/902
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/59 for emergency or urgency

Abstract

A monitoring center notifies emergency broadcast request information specifying its broadcast area to a prescribed emergency broadcast processing apparatus when any sensor detects an abnormality and determines that an emergency broadcast is needed. When acquiring the emergency broadcast request information transmitted from a plurality of monitoring centers, the processing apparatus grasps contents specified in the request information to notify information necessary for the emergency broadcast to a broadcast station covering an objective area. When a request instruction for the emergency broadcast is issued, the broadcast station arranges contents of emergency information in free areas in a broadcast format, arranges control information to start receivers in the objective area and also automatically select a channel at a defined position in the broadcast format to create an emergency broadcast signal and multiplexes it with a normal broadcast signal to broadcast it.

Claims

1. An emergency information prompt report system which promptly reports requested emergency information to a specified area by utilizing a broadcast system in which a broadcast station multiplex area-specified local information with normal programs to broadcast it, comprising:

a plurality of emergency information requesting apparatuses which request prompt reports of the emergency information by specifying at least objective areas;

an emergency broadcast processing apparatus which automatically receives the emergency information requested from the plurality of emergency information requesting apparatuses and specifies objective areas for the broadcast station to instruct prompt reports of the emergency information; and

emergency broadcast in-station processing apparatuses which are installed in the broadcast station and multiplex the emergency information with broadcast signals of the normal programs as the local information for the specified objective areas in response to instructions from the emergency broadcast processing apparatuses.

2. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 1, wherein

the broadcast system is a digital broadcast system in which it is defined to instruct presentation start of emergency information by class predetermined by each value of a start/end flag bit and a transmission/signal class bit of an emergency information descriptor as a standard system of a digital broadcast signal, and

the digital broadcast signal includes related information of the emergency information into the digital broadcast signal to use an instruction of the presentation start for presentation start of the related information of the emergency information.

3. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, when a start/end flag bit transmits “

1”

, and a transmission/signal class bit transfers “

0”

, if it is defined that presentation start of a first-class start signal defined in a radio station operation rule is instructed as the emergency information, the report system including earthquake related information, or earthquake information and other emergency information as the related information.

4. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, when a start/end flag bit transmits “

1”

, and a transmission/signal class bit transfers “

0”

, if it is defined that presentation start of a second-class start signal defined in a radio station operation rule is instructed as the emergency information, the report system including earthquake related information, or earthquake information and other emergency information as the related information.

5. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, when the digital broadcast signal includes the forgoing other emergency information, and when a start/end flag bit of the emergency information descriptor transfers “

0” and

a transmission/signal class bit transfers “

1”

, the report system instructing presentation start of the forgoing other emergency information.

6. The emergency information prompt report system according to any one of claims 3-5, wherein the forgoing other emergency information means any of disaster information, disaster prevention information, local information and message information.

7. A transmitting system apparatus used for the emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a terrestrial digital broadcast signal and the signal class bit is mapped to a specified auxiliary channel (AC) carrier.

8. A transmitting system apparatus used for the emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a terrestrial digital broadcast signal and the start/end flag bit is mapped to a transmission and multiplexing configuration control signal.

9. A transmitting system apparatus used for the emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a terrestrial digital broadcast signal and contents of the emergency broadcast describer are mapped to a specified AC carrier.

10. A transmitting system apparatus used for the emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, wherein the digital broadcast signal is a terrestrial digital broadcast signal and the emergency information is mapped to either a transmission stream or an AC carrier of an orthogonal frequency division multiplex signal.

11. A transmitting system apparatus used for the emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, wherein the mapping to the AC carrier is mapped in a frequency direction when a prompt report property is required, and mapped in a time axis direction when the emergency information is regarded as important one for a mobile object.

12. A transmitting system apparatus according to claim 2, making a start up processing of the emergency information by means of the start/end flag bit and the transmission/signal class flag bit correspond only to a broadcast signal for an area specified by a transmission request for the emergency information.

13. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 2, further disposing a transmission request exclusive apparatus to issue a transmission request for the emergency information under a specific management.

14. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 13, further generating the start/end flag bit, transmission/signal class bit and emergency information in response to the transmission request from the transmission request exclusive apparatus and putting them on the broadcast signal.

15. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 14, further comprising one or more data servers to store processing results from the emergency broadcast processing apparatus therein, and when a plurality of data severs are used, disposing them at different locations from one another.

16. An emergency broadcast processing apparatus which is used for an emergency information prompt report system which promptly reports requested emergency information to a specified area by utilizing a broadcast system in which a broadcast station multiplex area-specified local information with normal programs to broadcast it, the apparatus comprising:

reception means for receiving emergency information transmitted from any one of a plurality of emergency information request devices and designating a condition including at least an object district;

specifying means for specifying a broadcast station satisfying the condition of the emergency information received by the reception means;

informing means for informing the broadcast specified by the specifying means of the emergency information together with designation of the object district.