Systems and methods for identifying a geographical area in a commercial mobile alert service message

• US 8,224,285 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2009
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sennett, DeWayne, Daly, Brian K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): DEAN, JR, JOSEPH E
• Application Number:
  US12/571,572
• Publication Number:
  US 20110081884A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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

Abstract

Geographical locations can be encoded in alert messages and the encoded geographical locations can be processed are disclosed. Emergency alerts can be received from an emergency provider or governmental agency comprising a geographical code. The code can be evaluated to determine a geographical location by determining a primary location, such as a state or region, and a secondary location such as a county. This information can be used to determine the devices within a wireless network that should receive the alert message.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a receiver configured to;

receive alert contents;

receive an indication of a first geographical region; and

receive an indication a second geographical region;

a processor configured to;

generate a first subset of a geographical code representing the indicated first geographical region comprising two characters;

generate a second subset of the geographical code representing the indicated second geographical region comprising three characters; and

generate an emergency alert comprising the first subset of the geographical code, the second subset of the geographical code, and the alert contents; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the emergency alert to a Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP).

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is configured to generate the first subset of the geographical code by selecting two characters from Federal Information Processing Standard state numeric codes based on the indication of the first geographical region.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the emergency alert is a Commercial Mobile Alert Message (CMAM).

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is configured to generate the second subset of the geographical code by selecting three characters from Federal Information Processing Standard county numeric codes based on the indication of the second geographical region.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first geographical region comprises the United States, and wherein the receiver is configured to generate the first subset of the geographical code by generating the characters “

US”

based on the first geographical region.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one base transceiver station within the geographical area.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one base station controller within the geographical area.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) within the geographical area.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured on a Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP) gateway.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the second geographical region comprises a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) region, and wherein the receiver is configured to generate the second subset of the geographical code by selecting three characters representing the FEMA region.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the second geographical region comprises a National Weather Service (NWS) region, and wherein the receiver is configured to generate the second subset of the geographical code by selecting three characters representing the NWS region.

12. A method comprising:

receiving a first geographical region on a computing device;

receiving a second geographical region on the computing device;

receiving alert contents on the computing device;

generating, on the computing device, a first subset of a geographical code representing the first geographical region comprising two characters;

generating, on the computing device, a second subset of the geographical code representing the second geographical region comprising three characters;

generating, on the computing device, an emergency alert comprising the first subset, the second subset, and the alert contents; and

transmitting the emergency alert to a Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the first subset of the geographical code comprises selecting two characters from Federal Information Processing Standard state numeric codes based on the received first geographical region.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the second subset of the geographical code comprises selecting three characters from Federal Information Processing Standard county numeric codes based on the received second geographical region.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first geographical region comprises the United States, and wherein generating the first subset of the geographical code comprises generating the characters “

US”

based on the first geographical region.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second geographical region comprises a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) region, and wherein generating the second subset of the geographical code comprises selecting three characters representing the FEMA region.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the second geographical region comprises a National Weather Service (NWS) region, and wherein generating the second subset of the geographical code comprises selecting three characters representing the NWS region.

18. A computer-readable medium that is not a transient signal, the computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon comprising instructions for:

receiving alert contents;

receiving a first geographical region;

receiving a second geographical region;

generating a first subset of a geographical code representing the first geographical region comprising two characters;

generating, a second subset of the geographical code representing the second geographical region comprising three characters;

generating an emergency alert comprising the first subset, the second subset, and the alert contents; and

transmitting the emergency alert to a Commercial Mobile Service Provider (CMSP).

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein instructions for generating the first subset of the geographical code comprise instructions for selecting two characters from Federal Information Processing Standard state numeric codes based on the received first geographical region.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein instructions for generating the second subset of the geographical code comprise instructions for selecting three characters from Federal Information Processing Standard county numeric codes based on the received second geographical region.