INTEGRATED EMERGENCY CALL SUPPORT FOR MOBILE AND NOMADIC DEVICES

• US 20130029634A1
• Filed: 07/27/2011
• Published: 01/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: LI, Mingxing
• Granted Patent: US 8,761,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A device receives an emergency call via a session initiation protocol (SIP) invite that includes a cell identification (ID) and a service or device type associated with a user equipment (UE). The device determines, based on the service or device type, whether the UE is a fixed device or a wireless device, and uses a static approach to route the emergency call to a public safety answering point (PSAP) when the UE is a fixed device. The device uses a cell database to route the emergency call to the PSAP, based on the cell ID, when the UE is a wireless device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, an emergency call via a session initiation protocol (SIP) invite that includes a cell identification (ID) and a service or device type associated with a user equipment (UE);

determining, by the computing device and based on the service or device type, whether the UE is a fixed device or a wireless device; and

using, by the computing device, a cell database to route the emergency call to a public safety answering point (PSAP) when the UE is a fixed device or a wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, to a serving or emergency call session control function (S/E-CSCF) device, a message that includes an emergency service routing key (ESRK);

providing, to a location server, a first query for a global positioning system (GPS) location of the UE;

receiving, from the location server and based on the first query, the GPS location of the UE; and

storing the GPS location in a database.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, from the PSAP, a second query for the GPS location of the UE; and

providing, to the PSAP and based on the second query, the GPS location of the UE.

4. The method of claim 1, where, when the UE is a fixed device, the method further comprises:

routing the emergency call to the PSAP based on a registered civic address of the UE.

5. The method of claim 1, where using the cell database comprises:

comparing the cell ID, provided in SIP invite, with the cell database to determine the PSAP; and

routing the emergency call to the PSAP.

6. The method of claim 1, where the computing device comprises an emergency call server (ECS).

7. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device and from a user equipment (UE) placing an emergency call, address information associated with the UE;

performing, by the computing device and when the address information fails to include a global positioning system (GPS) location of the UE, reverse geo-coding of the address information to determine the GPS location of the UE; and

storing, by the computing device, the address information and the GPS location of the UE in a database.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, from an emergency call server (ECS), a query that includes a service or device type associated with the UE;

determining whether the UE is a mobile device or a nomadic device based on the service or device type;

determining, when the UE is a mobile device, the GPS location of the UE using a secure user plane location (SUPL) platform; and

retrieving, when the UE is a nomadic device, the GPS location of the UE from the database.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing the GPS location of the UE to the ECS in response to the query.

10. The method of claim 9, where the ECS provides the GPS location of the UE to a public safety answering point (PSAP) that receives the emergency call.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, when the UE is a mobile device, the GPS location of the UE using a control plane solution in addition to the SUPL platform.

12. The method of claim 7, where the computing device comprises a location server device.

13. A computing device, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to;

receive an emergency call via a session initiation protocol (SIP) invite that includes a cell identification (ID) and a service or device type associated with a user equipment (UE), where the SIP invite further includes an indication that the UE does not have global positioning system (GPS) functionality,

determine, based on the service or device type, whether the UE is a fixed device or a wireless device, and

route the emergency call, using a cell database and based on the cell ID, to a public safety answering point (PSAP) when the UE is a fixed device or a wireless device.

14. The computing device of claim 13, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

provide, to a serving or emergency call session control function (S/E-CSCF) device, a message that includes an emergency service routing key (ESRK),

provide, to a location server, a first query for a GPS location of the UE,

receive, from the location server and based on the first query, the GPS location of the UE, and

store the GPS location in a database.

15. The computing device of claim 14, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive, from the PSAP, a second query for the GPS location of the UE, and

provide, to the PSAP and based on the second query, the GPS location of the UE.

16. The computing device of claim 13, where, when the UE is a fixed device, the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

route the emergency call to the PSAP based on a registered civic address of the UE.

17. The computing device of claim 13, where, when using the cell database, the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

compare the cell ID, provided in SIP invite, with the cell database to determine the PSAP, and

route the emergency call to the PSAP.

18. The computing device of claim 13, where the computing device comprises an emergency call server (ECS).

19. A computing device, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to;

receive, from a user equipment (UE) without global positioning system (GPS) functionality, address information associated with the UE placing an emergency call, where the address information includes at least a civic address of the UE,

perform, when the address information fails to include a GPS location of the UE, reverse geo-coding of the address information to determine the GPS location of the UE, and

store the address information and the GPS location of the UE in a database.

20. The computing device of claim 19, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive, from an emergency call server (ECS), a query that includes a service or device type associated with the UE,

determine whether the UE is a mobile device or a nomadic device,

determine, when the UE is a mobile device, the GPS location of the UE using a secure user plane location (SUPL) platform, and

retrieve, when the UE is a nomadic device, the GPS location of the UE from the database.

21. The computing device of claim 20, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

provide the GPS location of the UE to the ECS in response to the query.

22. The computing device of claim 21, where the ECS provides the GPS location of the UE to a public safety answering point (PSAP) that receives the emergency call.

23. The computing device of claim 20, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

determine, when the UE is a mobile device, the GPS location of the UE using a control plane solution in addition to the SUPL platform.

24. The computing device of claim 19, where the computing device comprises a location server device.