Apparatus and method for providing weather and other alerts
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing location-specific alert information associated with an alert condition relevant to a geographical area, the location-specific alert information being broadcast within the geographical area by at least one transmitter of a wireless bi-directional communication network having a plurality of communication channels and a plurality of transmitters which are each positioned to provide communication services to specific geographical areas serviced by the communication network, said apparatus comprising:
- a receiver adapted to receive transmissions on a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels of the wireless bi-directional communication network, wherein said transmissions comprise formatted text;
a peripheral device operable to indicate an alert condition, wherein said indication comprises displaying said formatted text; and
a controller communicatively coupled to said receiver and said peripheral device, said controller being operable to monitor a communication channel of the wireless bi-directional communication network for the receipt of a transmission of location-specific alert information from a transmitter servicing a geographical area and to operate said peripheral device in response to the reception of the transmission of said location-specific alert information to display said formatted text.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for providing location-specific alert information associated with an alert condition relevant to a geographical area may include a receiver adapted to receive transmissions comprising formatted text on a communication channel of a wireless bi-directional communication network; a peripheral device operable to indicate an alert condition, including displaying the formatted text; and a controller communicatively coupled to the receiver and the peripheral device. The controller is operable to monitor a communication channel of the network for the receipt of a transmission of location-specific alert information from a transmitter servicing a geographical area and to operate the peripheral device in response to the reception of the transmission of the location-specific alert information to display the formatted text. The location-specific alert information is broadcast within the geographical area by at least one transmitter of the wireless bi-directional communication network having communication channels and transmitters which are each positioned to provide communication services to specific geographical areas serviced by the communication network.
137 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing location-specific alert information associated with an alert condition relevant to a geographical area, the location-specific alert information being broadcast within the geographical area by at least one transmitter of a wireless bi-directional communication network having a plurality of communication channels and a plurality of transmitters which are each positioned to provide communication services to specific geographical areas serviced by the communication network, said apparatus comprising:
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a receiver adapted to receive transmissions on a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels of the wireless bi-directional communication network, wherein said transmissions comprise formatted text; a peripheral device operable to indicate an alert condition, wherein said indication comprises displaying said formatted text; and a controller communicatively coupled to said receiver and said peripheral device, said controller being operable to monitor a communication channel of the wireless bi-directional communication network for the receipt of a transmission of location-specific alert information from a transmitter servicing a geographical area and to operate said peripheral device in response to the reception of the transmission of said location-specific alert information to display said formatted text. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An apparatus for providing to a user alert information associated with an alert condition, the alert information being broadcast by at least one transmitter of a wireless bi-directional communication network having a plurality of communication channels and a plurality of transmitters which are each positioned to provide communication services to persons in a particular respective geographical area serviced by the communication network, said apparatus comprising:
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a receiver adapted to receive transmissions on a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels of the wireless bi-directional communication network, wherein said transmissions comprise formatted text; a peripheral device operable to inform the user of the existence of a relevant alert condition, wherein said informing of the user comprises displaying said formatted text; and a controller communicatively coupled to said receiver and said peripheral device, said controller being operable to continuously monitor a communication channel of the wireless bi-directional communication network for the receipt of a transmission of alert information from a transmitter and to operate said peripheral device in response to the reception of the transmission of said alert information to display said formatted text; wherein said controller is further operable to maintain a closed user group list used to filter out particular messages. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of operating a device having a receiver and a peripheral device to receive alert information pertaining to an alert condition which is broadcast by a wireless bi-directional communication network having a plurality of communication channels and to inform a user of the existence of the alert condition, the method comprising:
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selecting a communication channel from the plurality of communication channels of the wireless bi-directional communication network; monitoring the selected communication channel with the receiver for a transmission of a control message, wherein said control message includes a type indicator; reconfiguring the device in accordance with the control message, the reconfiguration influencing subsequent operation of the device; monitoring the selected communication channel with the receiver for a transmission including alert information pertaining to the alert condition; and operating the peripheral device to notify the user of the alert condition upon detection of a transmission including alert information, wherein said notification of the user comprises displaying a formatted text message according to said type indicator. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A receiver module for receiving a location-specific alert information being broadcast within a geographical area by at least one transmitter of a wireless bi-directional communication network having a plurality of communication channels, the receiver module comprising:
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a processor adapted to process the location-specific alert information, said processor adapted to be coupled to a receiver adapted to receive transmissions on a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels of the wireless bidirectional communication network, wherein said transmissions comprise formatted text; an input/output (I/O) port coupled to said processor; and at least one user alerting device coupled to said I/O port, adapted to said display formatted text; wherein the receiver is adapted to receive the location-specific alert information and said processor is adapted to process the location-specific alert information when the receiver module is within a certain geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification