Voice hub processing

• US 7,333,826 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2002
• Issued: 02/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
• Inventors: Siegel, Neil G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah; Charles N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FOX, BRYAN J
• Application Number:
  US10/294,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20040097235A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: 455/517, 455/518, 455/519, 455/520, 455/7, 455/11.1, 370400-402, 370/432, 370254-256, 370/338, 370/395.5
• US Class Current: 455/518
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for routing voice communications to groups in a voice communication system using a voice hub system. The voice hub system allows a user to group communication devices into one or more logical networks and/or unit task organizations. The user can then select one or more of the communications groupings to transmit and receive voice communications. A user can change the communication grouping selections automatically changing the communication group that the voice hub system is transmitting and receiving voice messages.

Claims

1. A wireless voice communication system comprising:

a plurality of mobile communication units that wirelessly transmit voice messages;

a voice hub system operative to group mobile communication units into a plurality of communication groups, the voice hub system comprising an editor that allows a user of the voice hub system to define logical network groups and assign which individual mobile communication units of the plurality of communication units are to be members of a given logical network group, the editor further allowing a user to define unit task organizations and to select individual mobile communication units from more than one logical network group as members of a given unit task organization, wherein the logical network groups and unit task organizations form the plurality of communication groups, the voice hub system being operative to provide selectability of voice message communications with at least one selected communication group of the plurality of communication groups; and

a router that routes the voice messages between the voice hub system and the at least one selected communication group wherein the voice hub system automatically disseminates configuration information to the router, upon completion of the communication groupings, to allow automatic voice message communications between the voice hub system and the at least one selected communication group upon completion of a communication group selection.

2. The system of claim 1, the plurality of mobile communication units being a plurality of two-way line-of-sight radio devices.

3. The system of claim 1, at least one of the plurality of communication groups having radios of a different radio type having different frequency hopping schemes.

4. The system of claim 1, the voice message being transmitted to only members in the at least one selected communication group.

5. The system of claim 1, the plurality of communication groups being at least one unit task organization group and at least one logical network group.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the unit task organization group includes selected individual members from at least two different logical network groups, such that the selected individual members from a given logical network group is less than a number of members forming the logical network group.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein voice messages transmitted to members in the at least one communication group being across different logical network groupings are automatically configured into different communication protocols based on different communication formats associated with the different logical network groupings.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a voice hub processing system that disseminates configuration information to the router, the configuration information defining logical network groups and unit task organization groups, the router utilizing the configuration information to create a router database defining communication requirements and routing connections for routing the voice messages.

9. The system of claim 8, the voice hub processing system provides logical network groupings and task organization groupings and converts the logical network groupings and task organization groupings to physical network groupings and task organization groupings.

10. The system of claim 9, the voice hub processing system provides a network operational database and a set of management information blocks using the physical network groupings and task organization groupings, the network operational database defining logical network grouping connections and task organization grouping connections and the management information blocks having data for reconfiguring the router.

11. The system of claim 1, the voice hub system further comprising an organization selector that selects between at least one communication group with which to communicate voice messages over a voice transmitter.

12. The system of claim 1, the voice hub system further comprising a graphical user interface coupled to the editor that allows a user to group members into logical networks and unit task organizations and provides information to the voice hub system relating to the groupings, the voice hub system stores the groupings in a database.

13. The system of claim 12, the voice hub system further comprising a second graphical user interface that allows a user to select between the plurality of communication groups from a menu for voice communication between the voice hub system and the selected communication group, the voice hub system providing switchability between the graphical user interface for grouping mobile communication units into communication groups and the second graphical user interface for selecting a communication group for voice communication.

14. A voice hub system for providing voice communication with communication groups of a two-way radio system, comprising:

a voice hub processing module operative to group two-way radio devices into a plurality of communication groups, the voice hub system comprising an editor that allows a user of the voice hub system to define logical network groups and assign which individual mobile communication units of the plurality of communication units are to be members of a given logical network group, the editor further allowing a user to define unit task organizations and to select individual mobile communication units from more than one logical network group as members of a given unit task organization, wherein the logical network groups and unit task organizations form the plurality of communication groups, the voice hub system being operative to provide selectability of at least one of the plurality of communication groups for voice communications;

a hand set coupled to a voice transmitter that transmits and receives voice communications from the voice hub system and at least one selected communication group of the plurality of communication groups; and

a router that contains a router database defining routing connections with the plurality of communication groups, the router having a routing algorithm that extracts routing information from the voice communications and utilizes the extracted routing information and router database to route the voice communications between the voice hub system and the two-way radio devices of the at least one selected communication group, wherein the router database is configured in response to configuration information provided to the router by the voice hub processing module based on the groupings of the plurality of communication groups.

15. The system of claim 14, the plurality of two-way radio devices being a plurality of half-duplex line-of-sight two-way radio devices.

16. The system of claim 14, the voice hub processing module comprising an algorithm embodied on a computer-readable media.

17. The system of claim 14, the router having a plurality of different ports that provide connections to different two-way radio communication links trough different two-way radio, devices, the different two-way radio devices being members of different logical networks.

18. The system of claim 14, the router being a wireless router that routes voice communications between the voice hub system and radio devices across different logical networks.

19. The system of claim 14, the plurality of communication groups being at lest one unit task organization and at least one logical network group.

20. The system of claim 14, further comprising a first graphical user interface that allows a user to group members into logical networks and unit task organizations and disseminate configuration information associated with the groupings to the router, and a second user interface that allows a user to select between the plurality of communication groups for voice communication between the voice hub system and the selected communication group, wherein functionality is provided to allow a user to select between the first graphical interface and the second graphical interface.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein the router utilizes configuration information to create the router database that defines communication requirements and routing connections for routing the voice messages, the configuration information compri sing a network operational database defining logical network grouping connections and task organization grouping connections and management information blocks having data for reconfiguring the router.

22. The system of claim 14, the router having an algorithm that receives configuration information and generates a router database defining logical network groupings, unit task organization groupings, and router connections to two-way radio devices in the system, the router using the router database with information in the voice communication to route the voice communications.

23. The system of claim 14, the voice communications being converted to digitized voice packers during routing, the digitized voice packets being one of Voice Over Internet Protocol packets and Network Voice Protocol packets.