System for identifying non-impacted and potentially disaster impacted people and communicating with them to gather impacted status
First Claim
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1. A method of responding to a disaster, comprising:
- identifying an area affected by a disaster;
generating a backup communication network for at least a portion of the affected area in response to the disaster;
locating locally impacted users that are one of in and adjacent to the affected area; and
attempting to contact the located locally impacted users via the backup communication network to gather status information for at least some of the locally impacted users, wherein a server determines an order for initiating contacts with the locally impacted users via the backup communication network based on the status of the locally impacted users, wherein, at least based on bandwidth availability, one or more locally impacted users are restricted from initiating a communication via the backup communication network.
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Abstract
The present invention provides methods and systems for determining the status and/or extent of damage caused by a disaster. More specifically, a disaster status system (DSS) is used to create a backup communication network, in the event that the primary communication network has been damaged, to locate and/or contact users that may be in or around a disaster-affected area.
82 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of responding to a disaster, comprising:
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identifying an area affected by a disaster; generating a backup communication network for at least a portion of the affected area in response to the disaster; locating locally impacted users that are one of in and adjacent to the affected area; and attempting to contact the located locally impacted users via the backup communication network to gather status information for at least some of the locally impacted users, wherein a server determines an order for initiating contacts with the locally impacted users via the backup communication network based on the status of the locally impacted users, wherein, at least based on bandwidth availability, one or more locally impacted users are restricted from initiating a communication via the backup communication network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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11. A system for responding to a disaster, comprising:
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a plurality of communication devices each associated with a locally impacted user located proximate to an area affected by a disaster; a server operable to identify the area affected by a disaster and locate at least some of the plurality of communication devices; and a backup communication network generated in response to a primary communication network being at least partially affected by the disaster, the backup communication network providing communication capabilities between the server and at least some of the plurality of communication devices, wherein the server determines an order for initiating contacts with the communication devices via the backup communication network based on a status of the users, wherein, at least based on bandwidth availability, one or more communication devices are restricted by the server from initiating a communication via the backup communication network. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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21. A method of generating impacted area status, comprising:
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identifying an area affected by a disaster; generating a backup communication network for at least a portion of the affected area in response to the disaster; contacting a locally impacted user via the backup communication network; receiving information relating to the area affected by the disaster from the locally impacted user; and adding the locally impacted user to a list of contacted users, wherein locally impacted users on the list of contacted users are at least one of (i) at least based on bandwidth availability, restricted from initiating contacts via the backup communication network and (ii) subsequently contacted only after communication attempts with non-contacted users have failed. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification