EMERGENCY SHEPHERD SERVICE

• US 20090325535A1
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Data Services LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Relyea, Don, Roberts, Brian, Felt, Michelle, Stallings, Heath
• Granted Patent: US 8,660,520 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/006 with transmission via telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An emergency shepherd service includes at least one communications facility configured to provide communication services to at least one communication device in a service area and a notification subsystem including at least one processor and a computer readable medium with instructions. The instructions may be configured to cause the processor to receive information relevant to an affected area and identify at least one communication facility associated with the affected area based on a predetermined knowledge of a site of the communication facility. The instructions may be further configured to cause the processor to discover at least one communication device associated with the communication facility, determine that the communication device should be notified about the information, and send a message based on the information to the communication device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving information from at least one information provider relevant to an affected area;

discovering at least one communication device associated with the affected area;

determining that the communication device should be notified about the information;

sending a message based on the information to the communication device; and

providing directions with the message including at least one route away from the affected area.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising instructing the communication device regarding the preempting of its normal operation and providing an alert based on the message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

instructing the communication device regarding establishing its location via a satellite based positioning system;

receiving the location from the communication device; and

basing the determining on the location being associated with the affected area.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing, when the communication device is associated with one or more communication facilities, an approximate location of the device based on a respective placement of each of the one or more communications facilities; and

basing the determining on the approximate location being associated with the affected area.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

locating at least one unaffected communication device adjacent to a periphery of the affected area;

instructing the unaffected communication device regarding establishing its location at a plurality of time periods;

estimating a heading of the device based on the locations;

determining that the heading leads to the affected area; and

providing an alternative route with the message.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising validating at least one of the information and the affected area prior to the identifying.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising recognizing a particular information provider as competent for providing secondary information related to at least a subset of the affected area.

8. A system, comprising:

at least one communications facility configured to provide communication services to a plurality of communication devices; and

a notification subsystem including at least one processor and a computer readable medium having instructions configured to cause the processor to;

receive information from at least one information provider relevant to an affected area;

discover that at least one communication device of the plurality of communication devices is associated with the affected area;

determine that the communication device should be notified about the information; and

send a message based on the information to the communication device, including directions with at least one route away from the affected area.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a remote interface to the notification subsystem configured to accept the information.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising at least one emergency sensor, selectively providing sensory input regarding the affected area to the notification subsystem.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising additional instructions to cause the processor to recognize a particular information provider as competent for providing secondary information related to at least a subset of the affected area.

12. The system of claim 8, further comprising additional instructions to cause the processor to:

instruct the communication device to establish its location via a satellite based positioning system;

receive the location from the communication device; and

base the determining on the location being associated with the affected area.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising additional instructions to cause the processor to:

establish, when the communication device is in communicative contact with the at least one communication facility, an approximate location of the device based on a respective placement of the at least one communication facility; and

base the determining on the approximate location being associated with the affected area.

14. The system of claim 8, further comprising additional instructions to cause the processor to:

locate at least one unaffected communication device adjacent to a periphery of the affected area;

instruct the unaffected communication device to establish its location at a plurality of time periods;

estimate a heading of the device based on the locations;

determine that the heading leads to the affected area; and

provide an alternative route with the message.

15. A method, comprising:

maintaining geographic positions of a plurality of communication facilities;

receiving information from at least one information provider relevant to an affected area;

determining a boundary of the affected area;

correlating the affected area with the positions to identify at least one affected communication facility that provides communication services to at least a subset of the affected area;

discovering at least one communication device in communicative contact with the affected communication facility;

determining that the communication device should be notified about the information; and

commandeering the communication device to provide an alert message based on the information including directions with at least one route away from the affected area.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

instructing the communication device to establish its location via a satellite based positioning system;

receiving the location from the communication device; and

basing the determining on the location being associated with the affected area.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

establishing, when the communication device is associated with a plurality of communication facilities, an approximate location of the device based on the collective locations of the communications facilities; and

basing the determining on the approximate location being associated with the affected area.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

locating at least one unaffected communication device adjacent to a periphery of the affected area;

instructing the unaffected communication device to establish its location at a plurality of time periods;

estimating a heading of the device based on the locations;

determining that the heading leads to the affected area; and

providing an alternative route with the message.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

including placement details for the communication facilities with the positions, wherein each placement detail includes a placement location of a respective communication facility within a containing structure; and

providing structural details of the structure with the alert message.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising altering at least one of the information, the boundary, and the alert message based on feedback from the communication device.