UTILIZATION OF SMS AND/OR CELLULAR BROADCAST TO RECEIVE MULTIMEDIA ALERTS

• US 20140004893A1
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sennett, DeWayne Allan, Daly, Brian K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,071,948 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

An indication of the location of multimedia information for an emergency alert is distributed via text based protocols such as a Cell Broadcast Service (CBS) and/or a Short Message Service (SMS). Multimedia information can include maps, graphics, video clips, audio clips, still pictures, and the like. A text based alert message along with an indication of the location of the associated multimedia is distributed to users. The indication can comprise a link to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or the like, from which the multimedia can be retrieved. The indication can comprise a pointer to a link. For example, the alert message can comprise an address in storage of a user device, and the address can contain the link to the URL. Further, the multimedia can be retrieved automatically or manually.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, via a cellular text based delivery protocol, an indication of an emergency;

determining, based on a type of the emergency, a location of multimedia associated with the emergency, the location accessible via a link to a uniform resource locator (URL);

providing an indication of the link;

receiving an indication of a selection of the link; and

providing multimedia obtained via the link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the emergency is received via at least one of a short message service or a cellular broadcast service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the location of the multimedia further comprises a pointer to the link to the URL.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, upon determining the location of the multimedia, automatically retrieving the multimedia via the link.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an alert message associated with the emergency.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the alert message is provided in a format applicable for rendering in a textual format.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia is provided in a format applicable for rendering via at least one of graphic content, video content, or audio content.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

receiving, via a cellular text based delivery protocol, an indication of an emergency;

receiving an indication of a location of multimedia associated with the emergency, wherein;

the indication comprises a link to a uniform resource locator (URL); and

the location is based on a type of the emergency; and

receiving multimedia obtained via the selected link.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the indication of the emergency is received via at least one of a short message service or a cellular broadcast service.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the indication of the location of the multimedia further comprises a pointer to the link to the URL.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, the operations further comprising, upon receiving the indication of a location of multimedia, automatically receiving the multimedia.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, the operations further comprising, upon receiving the indication of a location of multimedia, providing an indication of a selection of the link.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, the operations further comprising rendering, on a display of the apparatus, the received multimedia.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving an alert message associated with the emergency; and

rendering, in a text format on a display of the apparatus, the received alert message.

15. A machine-readable storage medium that is not a propagating signal, the machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:

receiving, via a cellular text based delivery protocol, an indication of an emergency;

determining, based on a type of the emergency, a location of multimedia associated with the emergency, the location accessible via a link to a uniform resource locator (URL);

providing an indication of the link;

receiving an indication of a selection of the link; and

providing multimedia obtained via the link.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the indication of the emergency is received via at least one of a short message service or a cellular broadcast service.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the indication of the location of the multimedia further comprises a pointer to the link to the URL.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising, upon determining the location of the multimedia, automatically retrieving the multimedia via the link.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising providing an alert message associated with the emergency.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the alert message is provided in a format applicable for rendering in a textual format.