Apparatus and methods for communicating with a call group

• US 8,396,002 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2006
• Issued: 03/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Marshall-Wilson, Maria I.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Ricky
• Assistant Examiner(s): Masur, Paul H
• Application Number:
  US11/364,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20070201376A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,570 Days
• Field of Search: 370/241, 370/252, 370/259, 370/260, 455/39, 455/73, 455/90.2, 455/403, 455/404.1, 455/422.1, 455/456.1, 455/500, 455/507, 455/517, 455/518, 455/519, 455/520, 455/521, 715/700, 715/705, 715/714, 709/227, 709/228
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments provide apparatus and methods for establishing a group communications session with selected ones of a plurality of communications devices that define a call group. The apparatus includes a dispatch module operable to receive event information and communication device information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices. The dispatch module is further operable to define the members of the call group based on a predetermined relationship between their respective device information and the event information. Additional embodiments include apparatus and methods for dispatching event information to such an ad hoc call group.

Claims

1. A computer server of a group communications system based method of setting up a group communications session over a communications network, comprising:

receiving event information comprising event description information and event location information, wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup;

receiving communication device location information for each of a plurality of communication devices operable in the communications network;

determining a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on a relationship between the event location information and the respective communication device location information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices, wherein the relationship at least comprises ones of the plurality of communications devices having a device status corresponding to the event information, and the device status comprises an availability;

establishing the group communications session with the at least one member of the call group, and concurrently freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected members of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship; and

sending, via a data channel allocated to the group communications session, at least a portion of the event description information to the at least one member of the call group, wherein at least one communication device of the plurality is configured to display the at least a portion of the event description information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship further comprises determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have the communication device location information comprising device locations within a proximity to an event location included in the event location information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the event location comprises information selected from the group consisting of an event geographic position and an event directional component.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each event directional component further comprises an event velocity component, and wherein establishing the call group is further based on the event velocity component.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the respective device location of each of the plurality of communications devices comprises information selected from the group consisting of a device geographic position and a device directional component.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each device directional component further comprises a device velocity component, and wherein establishing the call group is further based on the respective device velocity component.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have a respective device location within the proximity to the event location further comprises:

displaying, on a user interface, a representation comprising an area associated with the event location;

displaying a device indicator for each one of the plurality of communication devices within the area;

receiving a selection of one of a plurality of proximities relative to the event location, wherein the selected one of the plurality of proximities comprises the proximity; and

displaying a relationship indicator on the user interface, wherein the relationship indicator visually identifies which ones of the plurality of communication devices have a respective device location within the proximity.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the selected one of the plurality of proximities defines the proximity as having a center that is offset from the event location.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the relationship indicator further comprises changing a characteristic of each device indicator within the proximity.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship further comprises determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have a device type corresponding to an event type associated with the event information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the call group further comprises including a dispatch communication device in the call group.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein establishing the group communications session further comprises establishing among at least two members of the call group.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding the call group to a group communications module for establishing the group communications session among at least two members of the call group.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding the event description information to the at least one member of the call group.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the event information further comprises receiving at least one of the event location information, an event identification and an event type, and further comprising receiving device information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices including at least one of the device status, a device type and the device location information, wherein determining the call group further comprises selecting ones of the plurality of communications devices based on the relationship between the at least a portion of the respective device information and a corresponding portion of the event information.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the availability indicates at least one of whether a device user is available to respond to the event, or whether the device user is available to participate in the group communications session.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

terminating the group communications session; and

maintaining the call group for a period of time after the termination of the group communications session.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising re-establishing the group communications session after the terminating and before expiration of the time period based on the maintaining of the call group.

19. An apparatus for establishing group communications, comprising:

means for receiving notification of an event, the event comprising event description information and event location information wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup;

means for receiving communication device location information for each of a plurality of communications devices operable on a communications network;

means for determining a group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices depending on a relationship between the event location information and the respective communication device location information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices, wherein the relationship at least comprises ones of the plurality of communications devices having a device status corresponding to the event information, and the device status comprises an availability; and

means for forwarding the event description information over the communication network to the at least one member of the group in a group communications session, and means for concurrently freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected members of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, wherein at least one communication device of the group is configured to display the event description information.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising means for establishing the group communications session with the at least one member of the call group.

21. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a communications interface coupled to the bus and operable to receive event information associated with an event comprising event description information and event location information, and communication device location information for each of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network;

a dispatch module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to;

obtain the event information and the communication device location information,

select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on a relationship between the event location information and the respective communication device location information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices, and

forward the event description information to at least one member of the call group via a group communications session, and concurrently free-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected members of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup, wherein at least one communication device of the call group is configured to display at least a portion of the event description information, the relationship at least comprises ones of the plurality of communications devices having a device status corresponding to the event information, and the device status comprises an availability.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the relationship comprises ones of the plurality of communication device locations being within a proximity of the event location.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to:

obtain communication device information including a communication device type associated with each one of a plurality of communication devices, and

select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group based on the respective communication device type.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the event information includes an event type associated with the event, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group based on a correlation between the respective communication device type and the event type.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the communication device information associated with each of the plurality of communication devices comprises a respective communication device directional component, and wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group is further based on the respective communication device directional component.

26. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising an output mechanism having a user interface, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a first representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the user interface based on the respective communication device location.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the communication device information includes at least one of a device directional component, a device velocity, a device identification, a device type and a device status, and wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a second representation associated with at least one of the plurality of communications devices and comprising at least one of a device directional component, a device velocity, a device identification, a device type and a device status.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a third representation comprising a relationship indicator associated with the event information on the user interface.

29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the event information further comprises an event directional component, and wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group is further based on the event directional component.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein each event directional component further comprises an event velocity component, and wherein selecting at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define the call group is further based on the event velocity component.

31. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a location module operable to receive a communication device identification and an associated communication device location signal for each of the plurality of communication devices, wherein the location module is operable to generate a communication device location for each of the plurality of communications devices based on the respective communication device location signal.

32. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the communications interface is operable to:

establish the group communications session among the selected ones of the plurality of communication devices defining the call group, and

broadcast at least one of the event description information and the event location information associated with the event during the group communications session.

33. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a communications interface coupled to the bus and operable to receive event information comprising an event location and an event description and operable to receive a plurality of communication device information and locations each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network;

a dispatch module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to;

obtain the event information and the plurality of communication device information and locations,

select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on the respective communication device information and location by determining at least which ones of the plurality of communications devices have a device status corresponding to the event information, wherein the device status comprises an availability,

generate a first representation comprising the event information on the communications interface based on the event location,

generate a second representation comprising at least one area associated with the event location on the communications interface,

identify respective ones of the plurality of communication devices within the at least one area, and

output one of the event description or the event location to at least one member of the call group;

a communications module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to;

open a push to talk channel with the selected ones of the plurality of communication devices defining the call group,

receive the output from the dispatch module, and

broadcast at least one of the event description or the event location via the push to talk channel, wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup, wherein at least one of the selected ones of the plurality of communication devices is configured to display the at least one of the event description and the event location; and

an output mechanism coupled to the bus and having the user interface, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a third representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the communication interface based on the respective communication device location.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising a location module in communication with each of the plurality of communication devices, the location module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to generate the corresponding plurality of communication device locations and output the plurality of communication device locations to the dispatch module.

35. A communications apparatus, comprising:

means for dispatching information operable to;

receive event information comprising an event location and an event description,

receive a plurality of communication device information and locations each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network,

select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on a relationship between the respective communication device information and location and the event information by determining at least which ones of the plurality of communication devices have a device status corresponding to the event information, wherein the device status comprises an availability, and

output the call group and at least one of the event description and the event location;

means for determining location operable to;

receive a communication device identification and an associated communication device location signal for each of the plurality of communication devices,

generate each communication device location based on the respective communication device location signal, and

output the respective communication device locations to the means for dispatching information; and

means for communications operable to;

receive the call group and at least one of the event description or the event location and further operable to establish a group communications session among the call group, and

broadcast at least one of displayable data generated from the event description or displayable data generated from the event location during the group communications session, wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising an output means having a user interface means, wherein the means for dispatching information is further operable to generate a second representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the user interface means based on the respective communication device location, and wherein the means for dispatching information is further operable to generate a third representation comprising the event information.

37. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a processor of a communication apparatus, causes said communication apparatus to perform the actions of:

receiving event information comprising event description information and event location information, wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup;

receiving communication device location information for each of a plurality of communication devices operable in a communications network;

establishing a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on a relationship between the event location information and the respective communication device location information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices, wherein the relationship at least comprises ones of the plurality of communications devices having a device status corresponding to the event information, and the device status comprises an availability; and

sending, over the communications network, displayable event description information to at least one member of the call group, and concurrently freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected members of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, wherein the at least one communication device of the group is configured to display the event description information.

38. A communications device, comprising:

a first module operable to wirelessly transmit communication device information associated with the communications device selected from a plurality of communication devices and a communications device user, the communications device user is a potential responder to at least one event having event information, and the transmitted communication device information at least comprises a device status including an availability;

a second module operable to establish participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a relationship between the communication device information and the event information, wherein the established participation prompts freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected devices of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, and the event is not related to group communications session setup; and

a third module capable of displaying data indicative of the event information.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein the communication device information includes a device location, wherein the second module is further operable to receive the event information which comprises an event description and an event location, and wherein the call group is based on a relationship between the communication device location and the event location.

40. The device of claim 38, wherein the second module is further operable to receive the event information which further comprises an event description and an event location, and wherein the call group is based on the relationship being between the communication device status and the event information.

41. The device of claim 38, wherein the communication device information includes a device type, wherein the second module is further operable to receive the event information which further comprises an event type, and wherein the call group is based on the relationship being between the device type and the event type.

42. A wireless communications device, comprising:

means for wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with the wireless communications device selected from a plurality of communication devices and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to at least one event having event information, and the transmitted communication device information at least comprises a device status including an availability;

means for establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a relationship between the communication device information and the event information, wherein the established participation prompts freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected devices of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, and the event is not related to group communications session setup; and

means for displaying event information received over a data channel during the group communications session.

43. A method of participating in a communication based on a device location, comprising:

wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with at least one communications device selected from a plurality of communication devices and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to at least one event having event information, and the transmitted communication device information at least comprises a device status including an availability;

establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a relationship between the communication device information and the event information, wherein the established participation prompts freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected devices of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, and the event is not related to group communications session setup; and

displaying event information received over a data channel during the group communications session.

44. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a processor of a communication apparatus, causes said communication apparatus to perform the actions of:

wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with the communication apparatus selected from a plurality of communication devices and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to at least one event having event information, and the transmitted communication device information at least comprises a device status including an availability;

establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a relationship between the communication device information and the event information, wherein the established participation prompts freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected devices of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, and the event is not related to group communications session setup; and

displaying event information received over a data channel during the group communications session.

45. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

receiving event information relating to an event, the event comprising event description information and event location information, wherein the event is not related to group communications session setup;

receiving a plurality of device location information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable in a communications network, wherein each received device information at least comprises a device status including an availability;

determining a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on a relationship between the event location information and the respective communication device location information associated with each of the plurality of communications devices, wherein the relationship at least comprises ones of the plurality of communications devices having the device status corresponding to the event information; and

sending the event description information over the communications network to the at least one member of the call group in a group communications session, and concurrently freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected members of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, wherein the at least one communication device of the group is configured to display the event description information.

46. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

wirelessly transmitting communication device information associated with at least one communications device selected from a plurality of communication devices and a communications device user, wherein the communications device user is a potential responder to at least one event having event information, and the transmitted communication device information at least comprises a device status including an availability;

establishing participation in a group communications session of a call group established based on a relationship between the communication device information and the event information, wherein the established participation prompts freeing-up corresponding communication channels associated with non-selected devices of the plurality of communication devices based on the relationship, and the event is not related to group communications session setup; and

displaying event information received over a data channel during the group communications session.

47. A computer server of a group communications system based method of setting up a group communications session over a communications network, comprising:

receiving event information, wherein the event is not related to group communications session setup;

receiving a plurality of device information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable in the communications network;

establishing a call group comprising at least one member selected from the plurality of communications devices based on determining a relationship between the event information and each of the plurality of device information, the relationship at least comprising ones of the plurality of communications devices having a device status corresponding to the event information, and the device status comprising an availability, wherein determining the relationship comprises determining which ones of the plurality of communications devices have the device information including device locations within a proximity to an event location included in the event information, comprising;

displaying, on a user interface, a representation comprising an area associated with the event location,

displaying a device indicator for each one of the plurality of communication devices within the area,

receiving a selection of one of a plurality of proximities relative to the event location, wherein the selected one of the plurality of proximities comprises the proximity, and

displaying a relationship indicator on the user interface, wherein the relationship indicator visually identifies which ones of the plurality of communication devices have a respective device location within the proximity;

establishing the group communications session with the at least one member of the call group; and

sending, via a data channel allocated to the group communications session, at least a portion of the event information to the at least one member of the call group, wherein at least one communication device of the plurality is configured to display the at least a portion of the event information.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the selected one of the plurality of proximities defines the proximity as having a center that is offset from the event location.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein displaying the relationship indicator further comprises changing a characteristic of each device indicator within the proximity.

50. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a communications interface coupled to the bus and operable to receive event information associated with an event and a plurality of communication device information each respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of communication devices operable on a communications network, wherein the communication device information includes at least one of a communication device location, a device directional component, a device velocity, a device identification, a device type and a device status;

a dispatch module storable in the memory and operable by the processor to;

obtain the event information and the plurality of communication device information,

select at least one of the plurality of communication devices to define a call group based on determining a relationship between the event information and the respective communication device information,

forward at least some portion of the event information to at least one member of the call group via a group communications session wherein said event is not related to group communications session setup, wherein at least one communication device of the call group is configured to display at least a portion of the event information, wherein the relationship at least comprises ones of the plurality of communications devices having a device status corresponding to the event information, wherein the device status comprises an availability,

generate a first representation associated with at least one of the plurality of communications devices and comprising at least one of a device directional component, a device velocity, a device identification, a device type and a device status, and

generate a second representation comprising a relationship indicator associated with the event information on the user interface; and

an output mechanism having a user interface, wherein the dispatch module is further operable to generate a third representation comprising each of the plurality of communication devices on the user interface based on the respective communication device location.