PROCESSING EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM MESSAGES

• US 20140059594A1
• Filed: 08/24/2012
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Stein, Robert C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,137,563 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/436 Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/814 comprising emergency warnings arrangements specially adapted for emergency or urgency in broadcast systems H04H20/59; arrangements for providing alarms, notifications, alerts to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for processing an emergency alert message (e.g., a national warning system message e.g., an Emergency Alert System (EAS) message). The methods may comprise a digital media server receiving the message. The digital media server may notify client devices (that are connected to that server via a residential Local Area Network) that it has received such a message. The client devices notified may be those that have requested (e.g., to the digital media server) that they are notified if the digital media server receives such a message. The digital media server may convert the message from being in a first format to being in a second format. The digital media server may acquire, and provide for use by the client device, information that may be used a client device to ascertain whether the message is a new, an updated, or a duplicate message.

Claims

1. A method for responding to a broadcast of an emergency alert message, the method comprising:

receiving, by a digital media server, from an entity remote from the digital media server, the broadcast emergency alert message; and

thereafter, sending, by the digital media server, to a client device, a notification, wherein

the digital media server is part of a residential Local Area Network,

the client device server is part of the residential Local Area Network,

the notification indicates that the digital media server has received an emergency alert message, and

the client device has requested to the digital media server that, if the digital media server receives an emergency alert message, the client device is notified that the digital media server has received an emergency alert message.

2. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising processing, by the digital media server, the emergency alert message such that the emergency alert message is in a format suitable for distribution, via the residential Local Area Network, to the client device.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the emergency alert message is received by the digital media server in a first format, the method further comprising:

converting, by the digital media server, the emergency alert message from being in the first format to being in a second format; and

providing, in the second format, by the digital media server, for distribution on the residential Local Area Network to the client device, the emergency alert message or information related to the emergency alert message;

the second format is different to the first format; and

the second format is an Extensible Markup Language format.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the first format is compliant with the SCTE-18 standard and the second format is compliant with the SCTE-162 standard.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the emergency alert message is a national warning system message.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the emergency alert message is an Emergency Alert System message.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the notification comprises information that may be used by the client device to ascertain whether the emergency alert message is a new emergency alert message, an updated emergency alert message, or a duplicate emergency alert message.

8. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising providing, by the digital media server to the client device, the emergency alert message or a Universal Resource Locator that may be used the client device to retrieve the emergency alert message.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein

the method further comprises:

prior to sending, receiving, by the digital media server, from the client device, a request that the client device is notified that the digital media server has received an Emergency alert message; and

sending, by the digital media server to the client device, the emergency alert message or information related to the emergency alert message;

the request is a Domain Name System Long Lived Query request; and

the Emergency alert message or information related to the emergency alert message is sent, by the digital media server to the client device, as a Domain Name System Long Lived Query result.

10. A method of processing a broadcast emergency alert message, the method comprising:

receiving, by a digital media server, from an entity remote from the digital media server, the emergency alert message, the digital media server being part of a residential Local Area Network, the emergency alert message being received by the digital media server in a first format;

converting, by the digital media server, the emergency alert message from being the first format to a second format; and

providing, in the second format, by the digital media server, for distribution on the residential Local Area Network to a client device, the emergency alert message or information related to the emergency alert message, wherein

the client device is part of the residential Local Area Network;

the second format is different to the first format; and

the second format is an Extensible Markup Language format.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the first format is compliant with the SCTE-18 standard.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein the second format is compliant with the SCTE-162 standard.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the information related to the emergency alert message comprises information that may be used by the client device to ascertain whether the emergency alert message is a new emergency alert message, an updated emergency alert message, or a duplicate emergency alert message.

14. A method according to claim 10, wherein the information related to the emergency alert message comprises a Universal Resource Locator that may be used the client device to retrieve the emergency alert message.

15. A method of a digital media server subscribing a client device to a service provided by that the digital media server, the digital media server and the client device being part of a residential Local Area Network, the service being to, if the digital media server receives a broadcast emergency alert message, notify the client device that the digital media server has received an emergency alert message, the method comprising:

sending, by the digital media server, to the client device, a service message, the service message indicating that the digital media server provides the service;

receiving, by the digital media server from the client device to which the service message was sent, a request, the request being a request that, if the digital media server receives an emergency alert message, the client device is notified that the digital media server has received an emergency alert message; and

subscribing to the service, by the digital media server, the client device from which the request was received;

wherein

the service message comprises an address to which the request is to be sent by the client device.

16. A method according to claim 15, the method further comprising:

receiving, by a digital media server, from an entity remote from the digital media server, the broadcast emergency alert message; and

thereafter, sending, by the digital media server, to the client device that has been subscribed to the service, a notification, wherein

the notification indicates that the digital media server has received an emergency alert message.

17. A method according to claim 16, the method further comprising processing, by the digital media server, the emergency alert message such that the emergency alert message is in a format suitable for distribution, via the residential Local Area Network, to the client device.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the emergency alert message is received by the digital media server in a first format, the method further comprising:

converting, by the digital media server, the emergency alert message from being in the first format to being in a second format; and

providing, in the second format, by the digital media server, for distribution on the residential Local Area Network to the client device, the emergency alert message or information related to the emergency alert message;

the second format is different to the first format; and

the second format is an Extensible Markup Language format.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the first format is compliant with the SCTE-18 standard and the second format is compliant with the SCTE-162 standard.

20. A method according to claim 15, wherein the emergency alert message is a national warning system message.