METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AGGREGATING INFORMATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20100029243A1
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Strutt, Guenael J., Barker, Charles R., Ozer, Sebnem Zorlu
• Granted Patent: US 8,160,537 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.100
• 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 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A Wireless Router (WR) aggregates information regarding the emergency calls based on their context and routes the aggregated emergency information to the correct portal which directs the aggregated emergency to appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The information aggregation is automatically triggered when the number of calls exceeds the multihop capacity to the egress point. The PSAP responds to the emergency situation by sending a response message via the Portal. The WR multicast/broadcasts the response message to the mobile devices which initiated the emergency calls. The response message generally includes emergency instructions based on incident type and location. Further, a call-back list is created for users whose emergency calls were not completed. By using the call-back list PSAP personnel can initiate calls to end users to provide assistance in emergency situations.

Claims

1. A method of aggregating information at a wireless communication device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a request for an emergency call;

estimating available bandwidth for the emergency call; and

when the available bandwidth is less than a predetermined threshold;

aggregating information related to a plurality of emergency calls,

sending a message to a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the message includes information about information aggregation,

sending the aggregated information to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP),

receiving a response message from the PSAP, wherein the response message comprises at least information related to an emergency context, and

transmitting an emergency message to the plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the emergency message is one of the response message and a stored emergency message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating available bandwidth for the emergency call comprises:

distributing the request for the emergency call to the plurality of wireless communication devices; and

receiving replies from the plurality of wireless communication device, wherein a reply indicates a bandwidth margin left after routing the emergency call.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating available bandwidth for the emergency call comprises using capacity measurement stored in a knowledge database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated information further comprises emergency information, wherein the emergency information includes at least one of:

location information,

caller identification information, and

and emergency type information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating information related to plurality of calls comprises at least one of:

aggregating a plurality of voice frames; and

aggregating the emergency information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device aggregates information based on at least one of:

a location from which the plurality of emergency calls originate,

a type of emergency, and

PSAP identification information, wherein the PSAP identification information indicates a PSAP which serves a geographical area.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the emergency message to the plurality of wireless communication devices comprises multicasting/broadcasting the emergency message.

8. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

extracting the emergency information from the plurality of emergency calls;

forming a multicast tree based at least on the extracted emergency information.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

creating a call-back list at the PSAP based on the received aggregated information; and

calling back a plurality of users associated with the plurality of wireless communication devices based on the call-back list.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is Mesh Access Point (MAP) which operates in accordance with Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11(s).

11. A method of aggregating information in a wireless communication system;

the method comprising;

detecting a call requesting emergency services at a wireless communication device;

determining a bandwidth outage caused after routing the call;

when the bandwidth outage is less than a predetermined threshold;

extracting high level information from a plurality of calls,

aggregating emergency information based at least on the extracted information,

sending the aggregated emergency information to a gateway wherein the gateway directs the information to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) based on a pre-stored PSAP list which maps a plurality of PSAPs with different locations, and

creating a multicast tree based on the extracted high level information.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving an aggregation trigger and in response to receiving the aggregation trigger;

extracting high level information from the plurality of calls,

aggregating emergency information based at least on the extracted information,

sending the aggregated emergency information to the gateway wherein the gateway directs the information to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) based on the pre-stored PSAP list which maps a plurality of PSAPs with different locations, and

creating a multicast tree based on the extracted high level information.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the bandwidth outage comprises:

distributing the call to a plurality of wireless communication devices; and

receiving replies from the plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein a reply indicates a bandwidth margin left after routing the emergency call.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the bandwidth outage comprises using capacity measurement stored in a knowledge database.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the high level information comprises

location information,

caller identification information, and

emergency type information.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the aggregated information comprises at lease one of:

aggregated high level information; and

aggregated voice packet information, wherein the aggregated voice packet information is generated by aggregating a plurality of voice packets.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the aggregated information further comprises a flag, wherein the flag enables the PSAP to determine multiple emergency call situations.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

determining an emergency context;

receiving a response message form the PSAP through the gateway;

processing the response message; and

when the response message is dependent on the emergency context;

broadcasting/multicasting the response message to the plurality of wireless communication device based on the multicast tree,

otherwise, broadcasting emergency services information stored in a knowledge database on the wireless communication device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the emergency context is determined based on the high level information.

20. An apparatus for aggregating information in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor configured to perform the steps of;

receiving a request for an emergency call;

estimating available bandwidth for the emergency call; and

when the available bandwidth is less than a predetermined threshold;

aggregating information related to a plurality of emergency calls,

sending a message to a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the message includes information about information aggregation,

sending the aggregated information to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP),

receiving a response message from the PSAP, and

transmitting the response message to the plurality of wireless communication devices.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a memory element to store emergency context information, emergency services information, and bandwidth capacity measurements.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is configured to operate in accordance with standards Institute Of Electrical And Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11(s).