Method to enable the heartbeat beacon for homeland security and homeland defense interoperability

• US 20080109470A1
• Filed: 11/17/2006
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Steven James Mcgee
• Original Assignee: Steven James Mcgee
• Inventors: McGee, Steven James
• Application Number:
  US11/601,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20080109470A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/102
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/302 gathering intelligence information for situation awareness or reconnaissance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

One of the DHS'"'"'s top three goals is (enabling) “A national common operating picture for critical infrastructure”. A congressional directive states “nothing less than network centric homeland security akin to network centric warfare”. The Heartbeat Beacon addresses the interoperability challenge where unique Federal/military situational awareness (SA) systems and Telco networks supporting First Responder public safety systems agree on common settings of three common denominators: (1) TCP/IP heartbeat protocol, system heartbeat, heartbeat beacon, beacon frames . . . (2) heartbeat (XML) messages that convey network configuration data (e.g., router management information databases—MIBs/multicast group subscriptions that can be implemented via transponder beacon technology that increases/decreases the multicast radius corresponding to the DHS threat condition criteria) (3) Common Alert Protocol (CAP) child schemas and/or data islands embedded in the CAP schemas with the option to code small data files as Efficient XML to accommodate extremely low bandwidth connections used by airborne or ground mobile units. When the DOD'"'"'s system integrators and the world'"'"'s public safety Telco network providers agree on these three common denominators/building blocks, direct collaboration based on consistent timing of events and common symbology will be achieved. A common symbol set will improve high level emergency action center & muddy boots (tactical) collaboration. Web standards verses decades old military message standards or hybrid solutions limit us to 30 second web screen scrapes that are not useful reacting to 9/11 scenarios. “Timing is everything”.

SEQUENCE LISTING
See diagram 1, diagram 2, diagram 3, and table 1 of this document. Different scenarios and different situations stimulate different work flow logic and filter logic activation as well as different message sets that are impractical to represent in a single document. Military systems of systems testing comprise hundreds if not thousands of mission threads (analogous to commercial business logic) shown in state, flow and sequence diagrams. Different scenarios flow differently through the enterprise architectures which are different. Speaking to diagram 3, the Heartbeat Beacon in system view, a generic topology was used vice architecture to represent a generic, universally applicable methodology that will be implemented across n complex systems in an application, product, and operating system neutral method. Diagram 1 is a replication of the Army'"'"'s Army Battle Command System Force XXI Battle Command Brigade

Claims

1. A method of claim wherein a fully commercialized methodology of the military'"'"'s Network Centric Warfare (NCW) situational awareness generating operational procedures described in Ser. Nos. 10/605144, 10/708000, and 10/709358 that collectively describe methods centered on three common denominators/building blocks that will collectively enable method to enable the Heartbeat Beacon

(1) Common denominator one:

The common, consistent, universal method of applying the TCP/IP heartbeat protocol/heartbeat beacon/beacon frames used as an intrinsic timer for data harvesting of user and network state management information such as;

current/active data such as;

IP lease, location, Universal Resource Number URN

state information that can determine if computer device is moving, at halt, or a straggler that is harvested then distributed to queues, file folders, object stores and other temporary storage means by TCP/IP heartbeat'"'"'s publish-subscribe functions (get from, send to)

This listed data/information is gathered by the TCP/IP heartbeat protocol for retrieval and dissemination by n number of more modern and more capable applications, products or protocols (e.g., TDXP, 802.11s ESS, ZigBee IEEE 802.15.4, Z-Wave type wireless mesh networks, Groove bots, JXTA motes, intelligent agents and beacon protocol technologies such as Sea Gull, SENTINEL, Flux Beacon, SABRE . . . )

(2) Common Denominator two;

Heartbeat Beacon network (re) configuration messages/forms/schemas/child schemas and or data islands embedded in the XML schemas to include the use of a binary encoding scheme such as QUALCOMM'"'"'s Binary RunTime Environment for Windows (BREW) or AgileDelta'"'"'s Efficient XML to address small data files sent to high speed mobile computer devices in the millisecond range

(3) Common Denominator three;

Common Alert Protocol—

CAP child schemas and or embedded data islands implemented across x complex systems, y federal, state and local contracts, and z product, operating system, network and system types in a standard, non-proprietary and non-military unique method

2. A method of claim where the second building block/common denominator is Heartbeat XML network management messages containing TCP/IP'"'"'s intrinsic get from/send to functions the state management data necessary for network (re) configuration of unicast/multicast subscription groups representing task (re) organization of unit/organizations typical of router/switch and IP/PBX, software PBX (private branch exchange) supported networks thus permitting “

spontaneous (re) organization of disparate types of organizations.

3. A method of claim where the third building block/common denominator is the Common Alert Protocol child schema/messages compliant with the Emergency Data Exchange Language Distribution Element EDXL-DE standard that may also include DoD Discovery Metadata Standard—

DDMS elements as Efficient XML encoded data islands in child schema or as data islands within the main CAP schema designed to trigger data exchange cascades/harvesting to/from disparate stakeholder domains (e.g., .mil, .gov, .edu, .com, .biz, .net, .org.).

4. A method of claim wherein aggregated state data elements derived from converted structured military messaging FFIRNs and FUDNs into equivalent X.ML tags in CAP XML (child) schemas will now be parsed by commercial forms engines with intrinsic message parsers enabling the ability to resolve to the individual platform level (e.g, vehicle, plane, train) describing situational conditions symbolically e.g., “

state”

, “

straggler”

, and under duress platforms of interest/commercial subscribers vice a general geographic area of interest as is the state of the current Common Alert Protocol—

CAP OASIS standard that is separate and distinct from military equivalent standards.

5. A method of claim whereas the Common Alert Protocol—

CAP equivalent of the Army'"'"'s Unit Task Order—

UTO heartbeat (field order) message described by the table in this application that describes the key parameters that enable FBCB2-BFT and their commercial equivalent platforms to receive/transmit current active situational awareness data—

who, what, where, when, how often at a later time if platforms of interest (e.g., GPS equipped handheld, laptop or smart phones) conditions e.g., out of radio range, turned off, or down for maintenance or in a duress condition at the time of the initial or follow on heartbeat timed data collection interval (e.g., stale, straggler).

6. A method of claim where DOD, Service and Agency XML repositories supply data element repository for a national/international “

Heartbeat Beacon”

system of systems accessing these XML repositories such as NEIM, JXDM, DDMS, OpenGIS OGC in EDXL-DE format compliant tags.

7. A method of claim where eXtensible markup language (XML) wrapper exposes the military discovery metadata to a web portal for screen refresh/updating faster (e.g, milliseconds, seconds) than the current referenced thirty seconds web portal refresh timing rate quoted in this application'"'"'s referenced AFCEA Signal Magazine article due to direct schema/message/form exchanges by employing Efficient XML encoded technology for small data files designed to support millisecond data exchanges over very low bandwidth links and minimal CPU power.

8. A method of claim where the above described CAP child schemas with optional DDMS formatted data islands are jointly designed by Federal e9-1-1, public safety and military standards bodies for implemented

Through the telecommunication Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) of the (inter) national and relevant public safety, infrastructure protection systems

as requirements in federal contracts such as the General Service Administration'"'"'s NETWORX &

Alliant Contracts, Department of Justice Integrated Wireless Network—

IWN, DHS EAGLE/First Source, Defense Information System Agency Encore II, . . . ) and other federal and commercial infrastructure provider contracts that typically contain both telecommunication and situational awareness requirements.

9. A method of claim wherein the agreed upon standards shall. enable multicast subscription services accessible by neighborhood watch programs, local first responder units equipped with GPS smart phones, personal digital assistants, and laptop computer devices linked via transponder heartbeat beacon technology that increases/decreases the multicast radius corresponding to the DHS threat condition criteria to enable military and first responders to operate in an adhoc, spontaneous fashion following military inspired network centric warfare tactics, techniques and procedures that implement adhoc organizational network affiliation split, joins based on unique unit/organization identification such as the Uniform Resource Name URN/Organizational Identification Number or as alternatively identified in our (inter) national response plans.