Situational network

• US 7,812,717 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2007
• Issued: 10/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SitNet LLC
• Original Assignee: Resource Consortium Limited
• Inventors: Cona, Thomas, Rose, Bruce L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Crosland; Donnie L
• Application Number:
  US11/924,706
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 340/506, 340/531, 340/538.18
• US Class Current: 340/506
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method of forming a situational network includes receiving an indication of an occurrence of a situation. A first set of connections are established with devices corresponding to a plurality of individuals, where the connections are established based on a determination that the plurality of individuals are affected by the occurrence of the situation. A second set of connections between two or more of the devices corresponding to the plurality of individuals is facilitated, where the first set and second set of connections are used at least in part to exchange information related to the situation among at least a subset of the individuals corresponding to the devices of the second set of connections.

Claims

1. A method of forming a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) receiving an indication of an occurrence of a situation;

(b) establishing a first set of connections with devices corresponding to a plurality of individuals, wherein the connections are established based on a determination that the plurality of individuals are affected by the occurrence of the situation; and

(c) facilitating a second set of connections between two or more of the devices corresponding to the plurality of individuals, the first set and second set of connections used at least in part to exchange information related to the situation among at least a subset of the individuals corresponding to the devices of the second set of connections.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of connections is established with a central service.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second set of connections does not include connections with the central service.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of connections is maintained in absence of the first set of connections.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of individuals have no previous connection with each other.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein information provided to the central service on one of the connections in the first set of connections is available to the plurality of users.

7. A method of creating a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) identifying, by a situation authority, a situation that is anticipated to affect a plurality of individuals;

(b) establishing a centralized service for collecting information related to the situation from one or more sources;

(c) collecting the information related to the situation from the one or more sources;

(d) automatically establishing connections from the centralized service to devices corresponding to the plurality of individuals anticipated to be affected by the situation; and

(e) providing the information from the one or more sources related to the situation to the devices corresponding to the plurality of individuals.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

(f) receiving additional information related to the situation from the devices corresponding to the plurality of individuals; and

(g) augmenting the information related to the situation collected from the one or more sources with the additional information obtained from the devices corresponding to the plurality of individuals.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

(h) facilitating a plurality of connections between devices corresponding to sets of the plurality of individuals.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least some of the plurality of connections are between individuals with no previous connection to each other.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

(h) facilitating an exchange of information related to the situation between devices corresponding to two or more individuals of the plurality of individuals.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein each of the connections in step (d) is established based on a prediction of the likelihood the individual associated with the device is interested in receiving information related to the situation.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the situation is determined to be anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals based at least in part on proximity of the individuals to the situation.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the situation is determined to be anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals based at least in part on proximity of one or more assets of the individuals to the situation.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the situation is determined to be anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals based at least in part on a projected proximity of the individuals to the situation.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein the situation is a weather phenomenon.

17. The method of claim 7, wherein the situation is an emergency occurrence affecting the plurality of individuals.

18. A method of creating a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) establishing, using a device associated with a first individual of a plurality of individuals, a connection to a centralized service in response to the occurrence of a situation anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals;

(b) receiving a first set of information related to the situation collected by the centralized service, wherein the centralized service collects the first set of information related to the situation from one or more sources;

(c) providing a second set of information related the situation to the centralized service, wherein the second set of information augments the first set of information collected in step (b);

(d) establishing a connection with at least one second individual of the plurality of individuals, wherein the connection with the at least a second individual is facilitated by the centralized service; and

(e) exchanging a third set of information related to the situation with the at least one second individual.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the situation is determined to be anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals based at least in part on proximity of the individuals to the situation.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the situation is anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals based at least in part on proximity of one or more assets of the individuals to the situation.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the third set of information is exchanged in step (e) through a connection between the first individual and the at least one second individual that does not include a connection to the centralized service.

22. A method of forming a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) searching, using a device associated with an individual, for centralized services established in response to the occurrence of a situation affecting a plurality of individuals, wherein the individual is included in the plurality of individuals and wherein the central services collect information related to the situation from one or more sources;

(b) connecting, using the device associated with the individual, to at least one of the centralized services located as a result of the searching of step (a);

(c) receiving information related to the situation from at least one of the connected centralized services; and

(d) establishing a connection with at least one other individual of the plurality of individuals, wherein the connection is facilitated by one of the connected centralized services.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

(e) providing additional information related to the situation to the at least one of the centralized services, wherein the additional information is added to the information collected from the one or more sources.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising

(e) exchanging other information related to the situation with the at least one other individual.

25. A situational network comprising:

a central server, corresponding to a situation authority, configured to establish connections with devices associated with a plurality of individuals in response to the occurrence of a situation anticipated to affect the plurality of individuals, transmit a first set of information related to the situation collected from one or more sources, receive a second set of information related the situation from at least one of the devices, and facilitate connections between the devices;

a database associated with the central server for storing the information related to the situation; and

a plurality of the devices, each device corresponding to one of the plurality of individuals, configured to connect to the central server in response to the occurrence of the situation, receive the first set of information related to the situation collected from the central server, and provide the second set of information related the situation to the central server, wherein connections are established among the plurality of devices for the purpose of exchanging a third set of information related to the situation among the individuals associated with the devices.

26. A method of sharing information related to a situation, the method comprising:

(a) establishing a first set of connections with a plurality of users in response to an indication of the situation;

(b) facilitating a second set of connections between at least two of the users, the first and second set of connections used in part to exchange information related to the situation; and

(c) periodically updating the first set of connections in response to a change associated with the situation.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

(d) facilitating a periodic update of the second set of connections between the at least two users in response to the change associated with the situation.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the change includes change in characteristics of the situation, the characteristics including at least one of trajectory, speed, size, or location of the situation.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the first set of connections is established in response to a determination of the proximity of the users to the situation using positional coordinates received from devices corresponding to the users.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the change includes movement of the users with respect to the situation.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the change is based on a revised forecast corresponding to the situation.

32. A method of forming a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) receiving by a situation authority an indication of a situation;

(b) establishing a first set of connections between the situation authority and devices corresponding to a first set of users based on proximity at a first time of the first set of users to the situation; and

(c) establishing a second set of connections between the situation authority and devices corresponding to a second set of users based on proximity at a second time of the second set of users to the situation.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein at least one user in the second set of users is not included in the first set of users.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

(d) terminating connections with devices corresponding to the first set of users not included in the second set of users, wherein at the least one of the connections terminated in step (d) is re-connected at a time after the second time.

35. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

(d) transmitting information related to the situation to devices corresponding to each of the first and second set of users connected in steps (b) and (c), respectively, wherein different information is transmitted to the first and second sets of users.

36. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

(d) facilitating a third set of connections between devices corresponding to the first set of users, the third set of connections used in part to exchange information related to the situation among the first set of users.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein the situation is a weather phenomenon.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein the location of the situation is time dependent.

39. The method of claim 32, wherein the proximity is based at least in part on a geographic area affected by the situation.

40. The method of claim 32, wherein the proximity is determined using positional coordinates received from the devices corresponding to the first and second sets of users.

41. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

(d) establishing a third set of connections with one or more devices of a third set of users based on a projected proximity to the location of the situation, wherein the one or more users of the third set of users are not included in the first or second sets of users.

(e) transmitting information related to the situation to the devices of the third set of users connected in step (d).

42. The method of claim 32, wherein the projected proximity is based at least in part on the trajectory of the situation.

43. A method of forming a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) receiving an indication of the situation from a situation authority;

(b) determining a first set of users anticipated to be affected by the situation based on proximity of each of the users in the set to the situation;

(c) establishing connections between the situation authority and devices corresponding to the first set of users;

(d) periodically determining an updated set of users in response to the availability of updated information related to the situation; and

(e) establishing connections with devices in the updated set of users that are not in the first set of users.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

(f) terminating the connections with devices corresponding to the first set of users that are not in the updated set of users.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the updated information includes changes in characteristics corresponding to the situation, the characteristics including at least one of trajectory, speed, size, or location of the situation.

46. A method of forming a situational network, the method comprising:

(a) receiving an indication of the situation from a situation authority;

(b) determining a first set of users anticipated to be affected by the situation at a first time;

(c) establishing a first set of connections between the situation authority and devices corresponding to a first set of users;

(d) determining a second set of users anticipated to be affected the situation at a second time; and

(e) establishing a second set of connections between the situation authority and devices corresponding to a second set of users.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

(f) terminating the connection of at least one of the devices corresponding to the first set of users not included in the second set of users, wherein the connection terminated in step (f) is re-established at a time after the second time.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

(f) transmitting information related to the situation to devices corresponding to the first and second sets of users connected in steps (c) and (e), respectively.

49. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

(f) facilitating a third set of connections between devices corresponding to a first set of users, the third set of connection used in part to exchange information related to the situation among the first set of users.

50. A situational network comprising:

a central server, corresponding to a situational authority, configured to receive an indication of the situation, determine a set of users anticipated to be affected by the situation based on proximity of each of the users in the set to the situation, establish connections with devices corresponding to the set of users, periodically determine an updated set of users in response to the availability of updated information related to the situation, and establish connections with devices in the updated set of users that are not in the first set of users; and

a plurality of the devices, each device corresponding to an individual connected via the situational network.