EMERGENCY ALERTING METHOD AND SYSTEM

• US 20090305659A1
• Filed: 06/05/2009
• Published: 12/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Smart Warning Systems LLC (Mircom Technologies Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Smart Warning Systems LLC (Mircom Technologies Ltd.)
• Inventors: Means, Timothy, Orion, Storm, Hochendoner, David
• Application Number:
  US12/479,146
• Publication Number:
  US 20090305659A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method and system of notifying individuals at a location of an event. The method includes the steps of receiving, at a first device, a data broadcast system (DBS) message, wherein the first device is associated with at least one group and analyzing, by the first device, the DBS message. After analyzing, the first device performs at least one of the following: (1) presenting, by the first device, an alert message, wherein the alert message comprises an audio or visual message including text that is descriptive of the event, and (2) transmitting, by a mesh network transceiver of the first device, the DBS message so that it may be received by at least one additional device within the group.

Claims

1. An event notification system, comprising:

a plurality of communication devices each having at least one associated unique identifier and positioned at varying locations at a facility, wherein each of the communication devices comprise a first network transceiver configured to provide communication between each of the communication devices, wherein at least some of the communication devices also comprise a second network receiver configured to receive a broadcast message containing an indication of an event.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

each first network transceiver comprises a mesh network transceiver; and

each second network transceiver comprises a data broadcasting system receiver.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier comprises:

a first identifier that identifies a group or groups to which an individual communication device is associated; and

a second identifier that uniquely identifies each individual communication device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each communication device is positioned within communication range of at least one other communication device, wherein the communication range is dependent on the first network transceiver.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the communication devices comprise:

a text-to-speech converter that converts a received data signal to audible speech;

a stored voice memory containing a plurality of spoken words that may be constructed into a sentence; and

an audio output that projects the audible speech or the constructed sentence.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the communications devices comprise any of the following:

alerting lights;

a visual display screen;

a relay port for connecting to additional devices;

or

a communications port for sending data or audio to other networked devices.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the communication devices also comprise:

a processor;

a memory;

an audio output; and

program instructions that instruct the processor, upon receipt of a first type of data signal, to;

identify a message code for the signal,

access the memory to identify a pre-recorded message corresponding to the message code, and

if a pre-recorded message is identified, present the pre-recorded message via the audio output.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the memory is configured to store software that may be updated via an FM or mesh network transmission.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the communication devices is operably connected to a database configured to store a log of information, the log including data related to messages sent via the event notification system.

10. A method of notifying individuals at a location of an event, comprising:

receiving, at a first device, a data broadcast system (DBS) message, wherein the first device is associated with at least one group;

analyzing, by the first device, the DBS message and performing at least one of the following;

presenting, by the first device, an alert message, wherein the alert message comprises an audio or visual message including text that is descriptive of the event, and

transmitting, by a mesh network transceiver of the first device, the DBS message so that it may be received by at least one additional device within the group.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the analyzing further comprises analyzing, by the first device, the DBS message to determine whether the message relates to any group to which the first device is associated or should otherwise be relayed by the first device to another receiver.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein if the first device fails, another device takes over any actions being performed by the first device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the first device periodically sends a query to a group of other devices to confirm the other devices are operating properly.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising analyzing, by the first device, the DBS message to determine whether the message is a repeated message that the first device has already transmitted, and if so not re-transmitting the received message.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein each DBS message comprises a packet that comprises:

a first data bit set containing data corresponding to a device or a group of devices to be altered; and

a second data bit set containing data corresponding to the alert message.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the first data bit set comprises:

a first data bit subset containing data corresponding to a facility location of the device to be altered; and

a second data bit subset set containing a data corresponding to a the group to which the device to be alerted belongs;

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising, by the first communication device and at least some of the additional devices in the group:

analyzing the DBS message to identify a message code; and

accessing a memory to determine whether the message code corresponds to a customized message;

wherein if the message code corresponds to a predetermined message, the presenting comprises presenting the customized message as the alert message.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

periodically interrogating each device in the group to request a response message confirming the operational status of each device in the group.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising establishing a records log showing a history of events.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising monitoring, at the first device, various functions of the first device to determine any malfunctioning components.