Emergency message communication method

• US 5,678,188 A
• Filed: 09/13/1994
• Issued: 10/14/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hisamura, Masayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vo, Nguyen
• Application Number:
  US08/305,148
• Time in Patent Office: 1,127 Days
• Field of Search: 455/33.1, 455/34.1, 455/34.2, 455/54.1, 455/54.2, 455/58.1, 455/62, 455/67.1, 379/59, 375/205, 370/18, 370/84
• US Class Current: 455/509
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An emergency message communication method which enables communication by disregarding channel shortages in emergency message communication. Even if no talking channel is empty or if voice communication is impossible due to system power capacity saturation for a mobile station transmitting an emergency call, the present invention enables emergency message communication that connects the emergency call preferentially by temporarily stopping traffic channel communication for other mobile stations and reducing power use with a lower voice rate.

Claims

1. An emergency communication method for communicating an emergency message using a cellular system to communicate voice and data among mobile stations in one of a plurality of service areas or terminal stations, the emergency message communication method comprising the steps of:

transmitting said emergency message in a mobile station of said cellular system;

saving terminal numbers of said mobile stations in said service area of a base station in a terminal register in said base station of said cellular system;

selecting at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication when said base station of said cellular system receives said emergency message;

restricting talking channel communication to said at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication in said base station of said cellular system by controlling suppression of a communication data rate between said at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication and said base station;

whereby the emergency message communication is enabled regardless of an empty talking channel shortage when said emergency message is communicated.

2. The emergency message communication method according to claim 1 wherein said step of controlling suppression of the data rate comprises the steps of:

suppressing a generated voice data rate of its own voice coding unit if the at least one mobile station receives a communication data rate suppression command; and

restoring a generated voice data rate if the at least one mobile station receives a communication data rate suppression release command or moves out of said service area where the at least one mobile station received said communication data rate suppression command.

3. The emergency message communication method according to claim 1, wherein, said step of selecting a mobile station in nonemergency communication includes the steps of:

(a) transmitting a traffic channel communication pause command from the base station to the at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication;

(b) waiting for receipt by the base station of an acknowledgment signal from the at least one mobile station in response to the traffic channel communication pause command;

(c) if the base station does not receive the acknowledgment signal within a predetermined time, selecting a new mobile station in non-emergency communication and returning to step (a);

(d) continuing with the emergency communication method after the base station receives the acknowledgment signal.

4. The emergency message communication method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of restricting talking channel communication, the base station commands said at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication to pause in talking channel communication.

5. The emergency message communication method according to claim 4 wherein the step of pausing talking channel communication of said at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication comprises the steps of:

pausing talking channel communication and releasing a talking channel if the at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication receives a talking channel communication pause command; and

restarting said talking channel communication if the at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication receives a talking channel communication release command or moves out of said service area where the at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication received the talking channel communication pause command.

6. The emergency message communication method according to claim 4 wherein said step of controlling suppression of the data rate comprises the steps of:

suppressing a generated voice data rate of its own voice coding unit if the at least one mobile station receives a communication data rate suppression command; and

restoring a generated voice data rate if the at least one mobile station receives a communication data rate suppression release command or moves out of said service area where the at least one mobile station received said communication data rate suppression command.

7. The emergency message communication method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of vocally informing a user of the at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication when pausing in said talking channel communication that a talking channel has paused.

8. The emergency message communication method according to claim 4 wherein the step of pausing in said talking channel communication further comprises the step of issuing a talking channel communication pause release command to said at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication if a talking channel becomes empty.

9. An emergency message communication method for communicating an emergency message using a cellular system to communicate voice and data among mobile stations in one of a plurality of service areas or terminal stations, the emergency message communication method comprising the steps of:

transmitting a message from a mobile station of said cellular system;

saving terminal numbers of said mobile stations in said service area of a base station in a terminal register in the base station of said cellular system;

saving a plurality of codes in an emergency number register in said mobile station, said codes being used to determine whether or not an outgoing message should be designated as an emergency message;

comparing a code attached to the message of said mobile station of said cellular system to the plurality of codes in the emergency number register;

designating the message sent by said mobile station of said cellular system which matches any one of the plurality of codes in the emergency number register to be an emergency message, thus giving it a higher priority;

selecting at least one mobile station in nonemergency communication when said base station of said cellular system receives said emergency message, said step of including the steps of;

(a) transmitting a traffic channel communication pause command from the base station to the at least one mobile station in nonemergency communications,

(b) waiting for receipt by the base station of an acknowledgment signal from the at least one mobile station in response to the traffic channel communication pause command,

(c) if the base station does not receive the acknowledgment signal within a predetermined time, selecting a new mobile station in non-emergency communication and returning to step (a), and

(d) continuing with the emergency communication method after the base station receives the acknowledgment signal; and

restricting talking channel communication to said at least one mobile station in non-emergency communication in said base station of said cellular system;

whereby the emergency communication method enables communication regardless of an empty talking channel shortage when said emergency is communicated.