SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING HIGH-EFFICIENCY PUSH-TO-TALK COMMUNICATION SERVICE TO LARGE GROUPS OVER LARGE AREAS

• US 20140349626A1
• Filed: 05/24/2013
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harris Corporation (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Celestech, Inc. (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Topping, Thomas Russell, Bishop, James W Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,693,206 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.4
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A system, various methods, and a specific apparatus are provided for the purpose of supporting push-to-talk (PTT) service for a very large group featuring a significantly higher number of listeners than the number of potential talkers, as well as a constrained vocabulary in normal usage. The invention takes advantage of speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion in end user devices for maximum utterance compression. The invention uses the Iridium Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) system and its Short Burst Data (SBD) service for unicast transmission of talker utterances to a PTT Server, and the same system'"'"'s Global Data Broadcast (GDB) service for multicast retransmission of utterances from the PTT Server to an effectively unlimited number of listeners. The PTT Server provides priority ordering and preemption as necessary when multiple talkers provide near-simultaneous utterances, effectively managing the floor without interactive protocols among the talkers.

Claims

1. A method of providing a communication to a receiving device, comprising:

converting a first audio utterance into a text based message; and

transmitting, via a text delivery optimized communication network, said text based message;

wherein said text based message is transmitted, via a broadcast optimized communication network, to at least one receiving device to convert said text based message into a second audio utterance.

2. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said transmitting is performed by a push-to-talk communication device.

3. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network is an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network.

4. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said broadcast optimized communication network is an Iridium Global Broadcast (GDB) communication network.

5. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network carries a maximum 340 bytes of information for a single communication.

6. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said text based message is queued for delivery using an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network'"'"'s native access protocol.

7. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said at least one receiving device is a listen-only device.

8. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, further comprising:

compressing said text based message.

9. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 1, wherein:

said text based message is prioritized prior to said transmission to said at least one receiving device.

10. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 9, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of a source device.

11. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 9, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of said at least one receiving device.

12. A communication device to communicate with a receiving device, comprising:

a speech-to-text converter to convert a first audio utterance into a text based message; and

a transmitter to transmit, via a text delivery optimized communication network, said text based message;

wherein said text based message is transmitted, via a broadcast optimized communication network, to at least one receiving device to convert said text based message into a second audio utterance.

13. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said communication device is a push-to-talk communication device.

14. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network is an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network.

15. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said broadcast optimized communication network is an Iridium Global Broadcast (GDB) communication network.

16. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network carries a maximum 340 bytes of information for a single communication.

17. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said text based message is queued for delivery using an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network'"'"'s native access protocol.

18. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said at least one receiving device is a listen-only device.

19. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said text based message is a compressed text based message.

20. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 12, wherein:

said text based message is prioritized prior to said transmission to said at least one receiving device.

21. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 20, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of a source device.

22. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 20, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of said at least one receiving device.

23. A method of providing a communication to a receiving device, comprising:

receiving, via a broadcast optimized communication network, a text based message;

converting said text based message into a second audio utterance; and

wherein said text based message is transmitted, via a text delivery optimized communication network, from a transmitting device converting a first audio utterance into said text based message.

24. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

a receiving device receiving said text based message is a push-to-talk communication device.

25. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network is an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network.

26. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said broadcast optimized communication network is an Iridium Global Broadcast (GDB) communication network.

27. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network carries a maximum 340 bytes of information for a single communication.

28. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said text based message is queued for delivery using an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network'"'"'s native access protocol.

29. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said receiving device is a listen-only device.

30. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said text based message is a compressed text message.

31. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 23, wherein:

said text based message is prioritized prior to said transmission to said receiving device.

32. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 31, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of a source device.

33. The method of providing a communication to a receiving device according to claim 31, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of said at least one receiving device.

34. A communication device, comprising:

a receiver to receive, via a broadcast optimized communication network, a text based message; and

a text-to-speech converter to convert said text based message into a second audio utterance;

wherein said text based message is transmitted, via a text delivery optimized communication network, from a transmitting device converting a first audio utterance into said text based message.

35. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

a receiving device receiving said text based message is a push-to-talk communication device.

36. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network is an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network.

37. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said broadcast optimized communication network is an Iridium Global Broadcast (GDB) communication network.

38. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network carries a maximum 340 bytes of information for a single communication.

39. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said text based message is queued for delivery using an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network'"'"'s native access protocol.

40. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said at least one receiving device is a listen-only device.

41. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said text based message is a compressed text based message.

42. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 34, wherein:

said text based message is prioritized prior to said transmission to said at least one receiving device.

43. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 42, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of a source device.

44. The communication device to communicate with a receiving device according to claim 42, wherein:

said prioritized text based message is prioritized based on an identification of said at least one receiving device.

45. A communication server, comprising:

an input handler to receive, via a text delivery optimized communication network, a text based message;

a subroutine, at said communication server, to identify a destination parameter associated with said text based message; and

an output handler at said communication server to transmit, via a broadcast optimized communication network, said text based message to at least one receiving device based on said destination parameter;

wherein said at least one receiving device converts said text based message into an audio utterance.

46. The communication server according to claim 45, wherein:

a transmitting device transmitting said text based message is a push-to-talk communication device.

47. The communication server according to claim 45, wherein:

said at least one receiving device is a push-to-talk communication device.

48. The communication server according to claim 45, further comprising:

a prioritizer to prioritize transmission of said text based message.

49. The communication server according to claim 48, wherein:

said prioritizer prioritizes transmission of said text based message based on a higher of a sending device'"'"'s priority and a receiving device'"'"'s priority.

50. The communication server according to claim 45, wherein:

said text delivery optimized communication network is an Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) communication network.

51. The communication server according to claim 45, wherein:

said broadcast optimized communication network is an Iridium Global Broadcast (GDB) communication network.