Broadcast alerting message aggregator/gateway system and method

• US 8,438,221 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2011
• Issued: 05/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Envisionit LLC A Delaware Limited Liability Company
• Original Assignee: envisionIT
• Inventors: Preston, Kevin Russell, Weiser, Douglas, Wood, Mark Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Joo, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US13/311,448
• Publication Number:
  US 20120142307A1
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• Field of Search: 709203-207, 709224-225, 455403-4041
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/02 Arrangements for relaying broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• 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 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• 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 76/40 for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A message processing system and method providing a broadcast message to a plurality of user devices located within a geographically defined broadcast target area, the system including a broadcast service bureau communicatively coupled for receiving from a broadcast agent access system providing a broadcast request from an originating broadcast agent associated one broadcast agent message origination systems; the received broadcast request includes a broadcast agent identification, the geographically defined broadcast target area, and a broadcast message, the broadcast service bureau verifying the broadcast request as a function of the broadcast agent identification including an authority of the originating broadcast agent to send the broadcast message to the broadcast target area; the broadcast service bureau processing the verified broadcast request for transmission to one or more broadcast message networks providing broadcast message alerting service to at least a portion of the broadcast target area.

Claims

1. A message alert broadcast broker system for providing a broadcast message to a plurality of user devices located within a geographically defined broadcast target area, the system comprising:

a broadcast service bureau communicatively coupled for receiving from one of a plurality of coupled broadcast agent access systems providing a broadcast request from an originating broadcast agent associated one broadcast agent message origination systems, the broadcast request including a broadcast agent identification, the geographically defined broadcast target area, and a broadcast message, the broadcast service bureau having a stored geographically defined broadcast message jurisdiction for the originating broadcast agent and configured for verifying the broadcast request as a function of the broadcast agent identification including an authority of the originating broadcast agent to send the broadcast message to the broadcast target area by comparing the stored geographically defined broadcast message jurisdiction for the originating broadcast agent with the broadcast target area associated with the broadcast message in the broadcast request,

the broadcast service bureau processing the verified broadcast request for transmission to one or more broadcast message networks providing broadcast message alerting service to at least a portion of the broadcast target area.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast service bureau is configured for receiving the broadcast request, and identifying the one or more broadcast message networks from among a plurality of coupled broadcast message networks, providing message alerting service to at least a portion of the broadcast target area.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more message broadcast message networks includes at least one point-to-multipoint non-subscription wireless broadcast network selected from the group consisting of wireless mobile carrier network, and wireless Wi-Fi network, and at least one other broadcast message network selected from the group consisting of digital private radio systems operator network, private radio system network, internet service provider networks, wireline telecommunication network, satellite network, CATV network, radio system, and television system.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast service bureau further includes a distributor receiving the broadcast message and broadcast target area and mapping the broadcast target area to determine which one or more of the broadcast message networks from among a plurality of broadcast message networks has a broadcast message distribution system serving at least a portion of the broadcast target area, and wherein the distributor identifies the one or more broadcast message networks.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the one or more message broadcast message networks includes at least one point-to-multipoint non-subscription wireless broadcast network selected from the group consisting of wireless mobile carrier network, and wireless Wi-Fi network, and at least one other broadcast message network selected from the group consisting of digital private radio systems operator network, private radio system network, internet service provider networks, wireline telecommunication network, satellite network, CATV network, radio system, and television system.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast service bureau includes an output interface for coupling to one of the one or more broadcast message networks providing message alerting service to at least a portion of the broadcast target area.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the output interface is configured to interface with at least one point-to-multipoint non-subscription broadcast message network selected from the group consisting of wireless mobile carrier network, and wireless Wi-Fi network, and at least one other broadcast message networks selected from the group consisting of digital private radio systems operator network, private radio system network, internet service provider networks, wireline telecommunication network, satellite network, CATV network, radio system, and television system.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast service bureau includes a memory for storing a geographically defined broadcast message jurisdiction for each of a plurality of broadcast agents for each of the coupled broadcast agent access systems and identifies the originating broadcast agent from among the plurality of broadcast agents, verifies the authority of the originating broadcast agent to transmit the broadcast message of the broadcast request to the broadcast target area of the broadcast request as a function of the comparing, the verifying ensuring that the geographically defined broadcast message jurisdiction of the originating broadcast agent includes the broadcast target area for the broadcast message of the broadcast request.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein the output interface is configured for interfacing with a carrier broadcast center of a wireless mobile carrier network, the carrier broadcast center receiving the broadcast message and the broadcast target area from the broadcast service bureau and converting the broadcast target area to network addresses of point-to-multipoint wireless transmission devices serving the broadcast target area including determining particular point-to-multipoint wireless network transmission devices serving at least a portion of the broadcast target area, and identifying the network addresses for each determined particular wireless transmission device and transmitting the broadcast message to the network addresses of the particular point-to-multipoint wireless transmission devices for point-to-multipoint wireless transmission of the broadcast message by the particular point-to-multipoint wireless transmission devices to user receiving devices.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the point-to-multipoint wireless transmission devices serving the broadcast target area and the particular wireless transmission devices are wireless cellular network transmitters and each of the wireless cellular network transmitters has a cell id network address and the identified network addresses are cell id network addresses.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the point-to-multipoint wireless transmission devices serving the broadcast target area and the particular wireless transmission devices are Wi-Fi network transmitters, each of the Wi-Fi network transmitters having a Wi-Fi id network address, wherein the identified network addresses are Wi-Fi id network addresses.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast request includes a message type identifying the type of message of the broadcast message request.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast request includes a broadcast message that is an alerting system administrative message selected from the group consisting of:

message recall, language identifier, network selector, and request for message progress status.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast message of the broadcast request is a first broadcast message, the first broadcast message being in a first language, and wherein the broadcast request includes a second broadcast message in a second language, and wherein the broadcast service bureau is configured associate the first broadcast message with a first broadcast message channel identifier and the second broadcast message with a second broadcast message channel identifier that is different than the first broadcast message channel identifier and to transmit the first broadcast message in the first language with the first broadcast channel identifier and the second broadcast message in the second language with the second broadcast channel identifier.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast message is a multimedia message.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the multimedia message includes at least one of a photograph and a map.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the broadcast request includes a message type.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the broadcast service bureau is coupled to a plurality of broadcast message networks, and is configured to select the one or more broadcast message networks from among the plurality of coupled broadcast message networks responsive to the message type and the broadcast target area.

19. A method of public service broadcast messaging to a broadcast target area, the method comprising:

receiving over an input interface a broadcast request including a broadcast agent identification, a geographically defined broadcast target area, and a broadcast message from one of a plurality of coupled broadcast agent message origination systems;

storing a geographically defined broadcast message jurisdiction for a broadcast agent;

verifying an authority of the broadcast agent identification including an authority of the originating broadcast agent to send the broadcast message to the broadcast target area by comparing the stored geographically defined broadcast message jurisdiction for the originating broadcast agent with the broadcast target area associated with the broadcast message in the broadcast request; and

transmitting the broadcast message over an output interface to one or more coupled broadcast message networks providing broadcast message alerting service to at least a portion of the broadcast target area.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the broadcast request includes a message type, further comprising:

selecting one or more point-to-multipoint non-subscription wireless mobile device broadcast message networks from among the plurality of coupled broadcast message networks responsive to the message type and the broadcast target area wherein transmitting includes at least one of the selected point-to-multipoint non-subscription wireless mobile device broadcast message networks.