Methods, systems and apparatus for providing urgent public information

• US 7,194,249 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Issued: 03/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Phillips, Bruce A., Casey, Steven M.
• Primary Examiner(s): FERGUSON, KEITH
• Application Number:
  US10/676,418
• Publication Number:
  US 20040150518A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,267 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/422.1, 455/403, 455/521, 455/500, 455/517, 455/3.01, 455/3.03, 455/426.1, 455/426.2, 455/445, 455/550.1, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/466, 340/2.01, 340/7.48, 340/7.47, 340/7.45, 340/7.2, 340/7.1, 340/825.36, 379/372
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/00 Alarm systems in which the alarm condition is signalled from a central station to a plurality of substations
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/005 with transmission via computer network
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/006 with transmission via telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/008 with transmission via TV or radio broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/005 Interface circuits for subscriber lines current supply H04M19/00 and subgroups; supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements H04M3/22 and subgroups; in key telephone systems H04M9/006
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/1739 the upstream communication being transmitted via a separate link, e.g. telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234363 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for clients with a lower screen resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43632 involving a wired protocol, e.g. IEEE 1394 high-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus H04L12/40052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4886 for displaying a ticker, e.g. scrolling banner for news, stock exchange, weather data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6377 directed to server one-way streaming services wherein the source is controlled by the destination H04L65/613
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/658 : Transmission by the client directed to the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 : Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 : Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/106 : for domestic distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/108 : the cable being constituted by a pair of wires
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/141 : between two video terminals, e.g. videophone telephonic communication systems combined with television receiver for reception of entertainment or information matter H04M11/085

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for distributing urgent public information. For example, one exemplary of the invention provides a method for providing an alert to a subscriber. The exemplary method comprises receiving an alert message from at least one alert source. The alert message often will be pertinent to at least one of the subscribers. The alert message can comprise an alert and associated alert information. The alert information can provide information about the alert such that the information can be analyzed determine whether a particular subscriber likely should receive the alert. Other embodiments provide systems, which can be used to perform the methods of the invention.

Claims

1. In a relationship between an information provider and a plurality of subscribers, each of the subscribers being associated with an alert gateway and a corresponding distribution address, a system for providing an alert to a subscriber, the system comprising:

an alert receiver configured to receive an alert message from at least one alert source, the alert message being pertinent to at least one of the subscribers and comprising an alert and associated alert information, the alert information providing information about the alert, such that the alert information can be analyzed to determine whether a particular subscriber should receive the alert;

an alert distribution device in communication with the alert receiver and further in communication with a communication network, wherein the alert distribution device is configured to;

store a directory of alert gateways, each alert gateway being associated with a distribution address;

determine, based on the alert information, a set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert applies; and

transmit the alert to the determined set of distribution addresses via the communication network; and

an alert gateway at a subscriber location in communication with the communication network, wherein the alert gateway is;

associated with a member of the determined set of distribution addresses;

adapted to receive the alert from the alert distribution device; and

configured to take at least one specific action with respect to the alert.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert comprises urgent public information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the urgent public information is selected from a group consisting of an Emergency Alert System transmission, an Amber Alert, a severe weather notification, and a Homeland Security Advisory notification.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert gateway is incorporated within a network interface device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert gateway is in communication with a network interface device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert information is incorporated within the alert.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert information is additional to the alert.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert distribution device is further configured to extract the alert information from the alert message.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the alert distribution device is further configured to analyze the alert information to determine the set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert applies.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication network is selected from a group consisting of a radio-frequency transmission, a telephone network, a cable television distribution network, the Internet, a fiber-optic network, a high-speed data network, a wireless network, and a microwave network.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication network is a plurality of communication networks and wherein, for a particular distribution address, the alert distribution device is configured to select the most appropriate communication network via which to transmit the alert information to the particular distribution address.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one specific action comprises transmitting a confirmation message to the alert distribution device, wherein the confirmation message indicates that the alert was received by the alert gateway.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert gateway is configured to transmit the confirmation message via the communication network.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert distribution device is configured to retransmit the alert to the distribution address associated with the alert gateway in the event that a confirmation message has not been received from the alert gateway within a certain period of time.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the communication network is a first communication network;

the alert distribution device is further in communication with a second communication network, which is also in communication with the alert gateway; and

the alert distribution device is configured to select the second communication network for retransmission of the alert.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising an alert processing device in communication with at least one of the alert distribution device and the alert gateway, wherein the alert processing device is configured to process the alert.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the alert receiver incorporates the functionality of the alert processing device.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the alert gateway incorporates the functionality of the alert processing device.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the alert distribution device incorporates the functionality of the alert processing device.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the alert comprises audio information, and processing the alert comprises translating the audio information into textual information.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein translating the audio information comprises extracting closed-captioning information from a video signal.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein translating the audio information comprises converting a speech portion of the audio information to text.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the alert comprises text, and wherein processing the alert comprises converting the text to audio information.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein the alert is encoded, and wherein processing the alert comprises decoding the alert.

25. The system of claim 24, where the alert is encoded with event and location information conforming to the Emergency Alert System standards, and wherein processing the alert comprises interpreting the event and location information.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein processing the alert further comprises determining, based on the event and location information, the set of one or more distribution addresses.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises an alert notification device coupled to the alert gateway, and wherein the at least one specific action comprises activating the alert notification device to inform a subscriber about the alert.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein informing a subscriber about the alert comprises playing an audible signal.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the audible signal comprises at least one alert tone.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the audible signal comprises an audio signal associated with the alert.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein informing a subscriber about the alert comprises displaying a visual alert signal.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the visual alert signal comprises at least one indicator light.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the visual alert signal comprises a video signal associated with the alert.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the visual alert signal comprises a text message associated with the alert.

35. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one specific action comprises transmitting the alert to at least one subscriber device.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one subscriber device includes a set of features associated with the at least one subscriber device, the alert gateway being configured to process the alert according to the set of features associated with the at least one subscriber device prior to sending the alert to the at least one subscriber device.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one subscriber device is a plurality of subscriber devices.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein each of the plurality of subscriber devices includes a set of features associated with that subscriber device, the alert gateway being configured to process the alert according to the set of features associated with each particular subscriber device prior to sending the alert to that particular subscriber device.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the subscriber device is selected from the group consisting of a wireless telephone, a POTS telephone, an IP telephone, a personal computer, laptop computer, a handheld computer, a webpad, a television, a set-top box, and a pager.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one specific action further comprises anticipating a confirmation message from the at least one subscriber device indicating that the alert was received.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein, if no confirmation message is received from the subscriber device within a certain time interval, the at least one specific action further comprises retransmitting the alert.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the alert is retransmitted to the subscriber device.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the alert is retransmitted to a second subscriber device.

44. The system of claim 40, wherein, if no notification is received from the subscriber device within a certain time interval, the at least one specific action further comprises transmitting a failure message to the alert distribution device.

45. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert distribution device is in communication with a storage medium, the storage medium being configured to store selection criteria associated with each of a plurality of distribution addresses, the alert distribution device being configured to select at least one distribution address to which the alert applies based on a correlation between the alert information and a selection criterion for the at least one distribution address.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the selection criterion is selected from the group consisting of a subscriber'"'"'s geographic location, a subscriber'"'"'s personal information, a subscriber'"'"'s entertainment preferences, a subscriber'"'"'s school location, and a subscriber'"'"'s financial information.

47. In a relationship between an information provider and a plurality of subscribers, each of the subscribers being associated with an alert gateway and a corresponding distribution address, a method for providing an alert to a subscriber, the method comprising:

receiving an alert message from at least one alert source, the alert message being pertinent to at least one of the subscribers and comprising an alert and associated alert information, the alert information providing information about the alert, such that the alert information can be analyzed to determine whether a particular subscriber should receive the alert;

storing a directory of alert gateways, each alert gateway being associated with a distribution address;

determining, based on the alert information, a set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert pertains; and

transmitting the alert to a set of alert gateways, wherein each of the alert gateways is located at a subscriber location and is associated with one of the set of distribution addresses.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the alert comprises urgent public information.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the urgent public information is selected from a group consisting of an Emergency Alert System transmission, an Amber Alert, a severe weather notification, and a Homeland Security Advisory notification.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the alert information is incorporated within the alert.

51. The method of claim 47, wherein the alert information is additional to the alert.

52. The method of claim 47, further comprising extracting the alert information from the alert message.

53. The method of claim 47, wherein transmitting the alert to the set of alert gateways comprises transmitting the alert message to the set of alert gateways.

54. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

anticipating a confirmation message from at least one alert gateway; and

if no confirmation message is received within a certain time interval, retransmitting the alert to the at least one alert gateway.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein:

transmitting the alert comprises transmitting the alert via a first path; and

retransmitting the alert comprises transmitting the alert via a second path.

56. The method of claim 54, wherein:

transmitting the alert comprises transmitting the alert via a specific path; and

retransmitting the alert comprises transmitting the alert a second time via the same path.

57. The method of claim 47, further comprising processing the alert.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the alert comprises audio information, and processing the alert comprises translating the audio information into textual information.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein translating the audio information comprises extracting closed-captioning information from a video signal.

60. The method of claim 57, wherein the alert comprises text, and wherein processing the alert comprises converting the text to audio information.

61. The method of claim 57, wherein the alert is encoded, and wherein processing the alert comprises decoding the alert.

62. The method of claim 61, where the alert is encoded with event and location information conforming to the Emergency Alert System standards, and wherein processing the alert comprises interpreting the event and location information.

63. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

receiving the alert with at least one alert gateway; and

taking a specific action in response to the alert.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein taking a specific action comprises informing the subscriber about the alert.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein informing the subscriber about the alert comprises playing an audible signal.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the audible signal comprises at least one alert tone.

67. The method of claim 65, wherein the audible signal comprises at an audio signal associated with the alert.

68. The method of claim 64, wherein informing the subscriber about the alert comprises displaying a visual alert signal.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the visual alert signal comprises at least one indicator light.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein the visual alert signal comprises a video signal associated with the alert.

71. The method of claim 68, wherein the visual alert signal comprises a text message associated with the alert.

72. The method of claim 63, wherein taking a specific action comprises transmitting the alert to at least one subscriber device.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein the at least one subscriber device includes a set of features associated with the at least one subscriber device, the method further comprising processing the alert according to the set of features associated with the at least one subscriber device prior to sending the alert to the at least one subscriber device.

74. The method of claim 72, wherein the at least one subscriber device comprises a plurality of subscriber devices.

75. The method of claim 74, wherein each of the plurality of subscriber devices includes a set of features associated with that subscriber device, the method further comprising processing the alert according to the set of features associated with each particular subscriber device prior to sending the alert to that particular subscriber device.

76. The method of claim 72, wherein the subscriber device is selected from the group consisting of a wireless telephone, a POTS telephone, an IP telephone, a personal computer, a handheld computer, a television, a set-top box, and a pager.

77. The method of claim 72, wherein the at least one specific action further comprises anticipating a confirmation message from the at least one subscriber device.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein, if no confirmation message is received from the at least one subscriber device within a certain time interval, the method further comprises retransmitting the alert.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein retransmitting the alert comprises retransmitting the alert to the at least one subscriber device.

80. The method of claim 78, wherein retransmitting the alert comprises transmitting the information to at least one additional subscriber device.

81. The method of claim 77, wherein, if no confirmation message is received from the at least one subscriber device within a certain time interval, the method further comprises transmitting a failure message to the alert distribution device.

82. A system for providing an alert to a subscriber, the system comprising:

means for receiving an alert message from at least one alert source, the alert message being pertinent to at least one of the subscribers and comprising an alert and associated alert information, the alert information providing information about the alert such that the alert information can be analyzed to determine whether a particular subscriber should receive the alert;

means for storing a directory of alert gateways, each alert gateway being associated with a distribution address;

means for determining, based on the alert information, a set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert applies; and

means for transmitting the alert to the set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert pertains, each distribution address being associated with an alert gateway at a subscriber location and associated with a member of the determined set of distribution addresses.

83. The system of claim 82, wherein the alert comprises urgent public information.

84. The system of claim 83, wherein the urgent public information is selected from a group consisting of an Emergency Alert System transmission, an Amber Alert, a severe weather notification, and a Homeland Security Advisory notification.

85. The system of claim 82, wherein the alert information is incorporated within the alert.

86. The system of claim 82, wherein the alert information is additional to the alert.

87. The system of claim 82, further comprising means for extracting the alert information from the alert message.

88. The system of claim 82, wherein the means for transmitting the alert is configured to transmit the alert message.

89. The system of claim 82, wherein each of the set of distribution addresses is associated with an alert gateway.

90. The system of claim 82, further comprising means for anticipating a confirmation message associated with each of the distribution addresses, the confirmation message associated with a particular distribution address serving to indicate that the alert was received by a device associated with that particular distribution address.

91. The system of claim 90, further comprising means for retransmitting the alert to a distribution address in the event that a confirmation message associated with that distribution address has not been received within a certain period of time.

92. The system of claim 82, further comprising:

means for receiving the alert, and, in response to the alert, taking at least one specific action.

93. The system of claim 92, further comprising means for processing the alert, the means for processing the alert being in communication with the means for receiving the alert.

94. The system of claim 82, further comprising:

means for processing the alert, the means for processing the alert being in communication with at least one of the means for selecting a set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert pertains and the means for transmitting the alert.

95. In a relationship between an information provider and a plurality of subscribers, each of the subscribers being associated with an alert gateway and a corresponding distribution address, an alert distribution device for providing an alert to a subscriber, the device comprising:

means for receiving an alert message, the alert message comprising an alert and associated alert information;

a processor in communication with the means for receiving an alert message;

means for transmitting an alert to an alert gateway; and

a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the processor, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to;

store on the computer-readable storage medium a directory of alert gateways, each alert gateway being associated with a distribution address;

determine, based on the alert information, a set of one or more distribution addresses to which the alert applies; and

using the means for transmitting an alert to an alert gateway, transmit the alert to a set of alert gateways, wherein each of the alert gateways is located at a subscriber location and is associated with a member of the determined set of distribution addresses.