Apparatus and methods for group communications

• US 20070201376A1
• Filed: 02/27/2006
• Published: 08/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Marshall-Wilson, Maria
• Granted Patent: US 8,396,002 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments provide apparatus and methods for establishing a group communications session with selected ones of a plurality of communications devices that define a call group. The apparatus includes a dispatch module operable to receive event information and communication device information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices. The dispatch module is further operable to define the members of the call group based on a predetermined relationship between their respective device information and the event information. Additional embodiments include apparatus and methods for dispatching event information to such an ad hoc call group.

Claims

1. A method of setting up a group communication session over a communications network, comprising:

receiving event information;

receiving a plurality of device information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable in the communications network; and

establishing a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on a predetermined relationship between the event information and each of the plurality of device information.

2. The method of claim 1, where the predetermined relationship comprises determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have a device location within a predetermined proximity to an event location associated with the event information.

3. The method of claim 1, where the predetermined relationship comprises determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have a predetermined device type corresponding to an event type associated with the event information.

4. The method of claim 1, where the predetermined relationship comprises determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have a predetermined device status corresponding to the event information.

5. The method of claim 2, where the event location comprises information selected from the group consisting of an event geographic position and an event directional component.

6. The method of claim 5, where each event directional component further comprises an event velocity component, and wherein establishing the call group is further based on the event velocity component.

7. The method of claim 2, where the respective device location of each of the plurality of communications devices comprises information selected from the group consisting of a device geographic position and a device directional component.

8. The method of claim 7, where each device directional component further comprises a device velocity component, and wherein establishing the call group is further based on the respective device velocity component.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the call group further comprises including a dispatch communication device in the call group.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising establishing a group communication session among at least two members of the call group.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding the call group to a group communications module for establishing a group communication session among at least two members of the call group.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving event description information, and further comprising forwarding the event description information to the at least one member of the call group.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising establishing a group communication session with the at least one member of the call group.

14. The method of claim 1, where receiving the event information further comprises receiving at least one of an event location, an event identification and an event type, and where receiving the device information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices further comprises receiving at least one of a device status, a device type and the device location, and where establishing the call group further comprises selecting ones of the plurality of communications devices having a predetermined relationship between the at least a portion of the respective device information and a corresponding portion of the event information.

15. An apparatus for establishing group communications, comprising:

a means for receiving notification of an event, the event comprising event description information and event location information;

a means for receiving communication device location information for each of a plurality of communications devices operable on a communications network;

a means for determining a group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices depending on a predetermined relationship between the event location information and the respective communication device location information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices; and

a means for forwarding the event description information over the communication network to at least one of the group in a group communications session.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a means for establishing a group communication session with the at least one member of the call group.

17. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a communications interface coupled to the bus and operable to receive event information associated with an event and a plurality of communication device information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network;

a dispatch module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to obtain the event information and the plurality of communication device information, the dispatch module further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on a predetermined relationship between the event information and the respective communication device information, and the dispatch module operable to forward at least some portion of the event information to at least one member of the call group via a group communications session.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the event information includes an event location and wherein each one of the communication device information includes a respective communication device location, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group based on a predetermined relationship between the event location and the respective communication device location.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the predetermined relationship comprises a determination of which ones of the plurality of communication device locations are within a predetermined proximity of the event location.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the communication device information includes a communication device status associated with each one of the plurality of communication devices, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group based on the respective communication device status.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the communication device information includes a communication device type associated with each one of a plurality of communication devices, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group based on the respective communication device type.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the event information includes an event type associated with the event, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group based on a predetermined correlation between the respective communication device type and the event type.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the communication device information includes a communication device location, and further comprising an output mechanism having a user interface, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a first representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the user interface based on the respective communication device location.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the communication device information includes at least one of a device directional component, a device velocity, a device identification, a device type and a device status, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a second representation associated with at least one of the plurality of communications devices and comprising at least one of a device directional component, a device velocity, a device identification, a device type and a device status.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a third representation comprising a predetermined relationship indicator associated with the event information on the user interface.

26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the event information further comprises an event directional component, and wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group is further based on the event directional component.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein each event directional component further comprises an event velocity component, and wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group is further based on the event velocity component.

28. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the communication device information associated with each of the plurality of communication devices comprises a respective communication device directional component, and wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group is further based on the respective communication device directional component.

29. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a location module operable to receive a communication device identification and an associated communication device location signal for each of the plurality of communication devices, wherein the location module is operable to generate a communication device location for each of the plurality of communications devices based on the respective communication device location signal.

30. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a communications module operable to establish a group communications session among the selected ones of the plurality of communication devices defining the call group, wherein the communications module is operable to broadcast at least one of an event description and an event location associated with the event during the group communications session.

31. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a communications interface coupled to the bus and operable to receive event information comprising an event location and an event description and operable to receive a plurality of communication device locations each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network;

a dispatch module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to obtain the event information and the plurality of communication device locations, the dispatch module further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on the respective communication device location, and the dispatch module operable to output one of the event description and the event location to at least one member of the call group; and

a communications module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to establish a group communications session among the selected ones of the plurality of communication devices defining the call group, wherein the communications module is operable to receive the output from the dispatch module and to broadcast at least one of the event description and the event location during the group communications session.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising a location module in communication with each of the plurality of communication devices, the location module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to generate the corresponding plurality of communication device locations and output the plurality of communication device locations to the dispatch module.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising an output mechanism coupled to the bus and having a user interface, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a first representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the user interface based on the respective communication device location.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a second representation comprising the event information on the user interface based on the event location.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a third representation comprising a predetermined area associated with the event location on the user interface, and further operable to identify respective ones of the plurality of communication devices within the predetermined area.

36. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a means for dispatching information operable to receive event information comprising an event location and an event description, the means for dispatching information further operable to receive a plurality of communication device locations each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network, the means for dispatching information further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on the respective communication device location, and the means for dispatching information operable to output the call group and at least one of the event description and the event location;

a means for determining location operable to receive a communication device identification and an associated communication device location signal for each of the plurality of communication devices, wherein the means for determining location is operable to generate each communication device location based on the respective communication device location signal, wherein the means for determining location is further operable to output the respective communication device locations to the means for dispatching information; and

a communications means operable to receive the call group and at least one of the event description and the event location and further operable to establish a group communications session among the call group, wherein the communications means is operable to broadcast at least one of the event description and the event location during the group communications session.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising an output means having a user interface means, wherein the means for dispatching information is further operable to generate a first representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the user interface means based on the respective communication device location, and wherein the means for dispatching information is further operable to generate a second representation comprising the event information.

38. A computer readable medium storing a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a processor of a communication apparatus, causes said communication apparatus to perform the actions of:

receiving event information;

receiving a plurality of device information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable in the communications network; and

establishing a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on a predetermined relationship between the event information and each of the plurality of device information.

39. A communications device, comprising:

a first module operable to wirelessly transmit communication device information associated with at least one of the communications device and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to a predetermined event having event information; and

a second module operable to establish participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device information and the event information.

40. The device of claim 39, wherein the communication device information includes a device location, wherein the second module is further operable to receive the event information which comprises an event description and an event location, and wherein the call group is based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device location and the event location.

41. The device of claim 39, wherein the communication device information includes a device status, wherein the second module is further operable to receive the event information which further comprises an event description and an event location, and wherein the call group is based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device status and the event information.

42. The device of claim 39, wherein the communication device information includes a device type, wherein the second module is further operable to receive the event information which further comprises an event type, and wherein the call group is based on a predetermined relationship between the device type and the event type.

43. A wireless device, comprising:

a means for wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with at least one of a wireless communications device and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to a predetermined event having event information; and

a means for establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device information and the event information.

44. A method of participating in a communication based on a device location, comprising:

wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with at least one of a communications device and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to a predetermined event having event information; and

establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device information and the event information.

45. A computer readable medium storing a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a processor of a communication apparatus, causes said communication apparatus to perform the actions of:

wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with at least one of a communications device and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to a predetermined event having event information; and

establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device information and the event information.

46. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

receiving event information;

receiving a plurality of device information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable in the communications network; and

establishing a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on a predetermined relationship between the event information and each of the plurality of device information.

47. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with at least one of a communications device and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to a predetermined event having event information; and

establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a predetermined relationship between the communication device information and the event information.