Emergency information prompt report system

• US 8,457,590 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2006
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaishi Toshiba
• Inventors: Mitsuhashi, Masaru
• Primary Examiner(s): Kasraian, Allahyar
• Application Number:
  US11/519,000
• Publication Number:
  US 20070182586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,457 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 455/456.1, 725/33, 725/35, 725/62, 379/37
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/59 for emergency or urgency

Abstract

A monitoring center notifies emergency broadcast request information specifying its broadcast area to a prescribed emergency broadcast processing apparatus when any sensor detects an abnormality and determines that an emergency broadcast is needed. When acquiring the emergency broadcast request information transmitted from a plurality of monitoring centers, the processing apparatus grasps contents specified in the request information to notify information necessary for the emergency broadcast to a broadcast station covering an objective area. When a request instruction for the emergency broadcast is issued, the broadcast station arranges contents of emergency information in free areas in a broadcast format, arranges control information to start receivers in the objective area and also automatically select a channel at a defined position in the broadcast format to create an emergency broadcast signal and multiplexes it with a normal broadcast signal to broadcast it.

Claims

1. An emergency information reporting system which promptly reports emergency information to a specified area by utilizing a broadcast system in which broadcast stations broadcast digital broadcast signals of normal programs, comprising:

a plurality of emergency information requesting apparatuses configured to send requests to broadcast reports of the emergency information, the requests including information identifying objective areas;

an emergency broadcast processing apparatus configured to;

automatically receive the emergency information requests from the plurality of emergency information requesting apparatuses,

determine which one or more of the broadcast stations are associated with the specified area, and

instruct the one or more of the broadcast stations determined to be associated with the specified area to broadcast the reports of the emergency information; and

in-station processing apparatuses, which are installed in the one or more broadcast stations determined to be associated with the specified area, wherein the in-station processing apparatuses multiplex the emergency information with the digital broadcast signals of the normal programs for the objective areas by placing contents of an emergency broadcast descriptor on an auxiliary channel (AC) carrier and placing the emergency information on a transmission stream (TS) signal and the AC carrier, and wherein the multiplexing is performed in response to instructions received from the plurality of emergency broadcast processing apparatuses for the one or more broadcast stations determined to be associated with the specified area.

2. The emergency information prompt report system according to claim 1, wherein the in-station processing apparatuses multiplex the emergency information with the TS signal as the digital broadcast signal.

3. A transmitting system which broadcasts digital broadcast signals of normal programs and promptly reports emergency information, the transmitting system configured to:

receive a request for emergency information;

generate an emergency broadcast transmission stream (TS) signal by arranging the emergency information on an auxiliary channel (AC) carrier;

place contents of an emergency broadcast descriptor on the AC carrier, and place the emergency information on the emergency broadcast TS signal and the AC carrier; and

multiplex the emergency broadcast TS signal with the digital broadcast signals of the normal programs.

4. The transmitting system according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting system multiplexes the emergency information with the emergency broadcast TS signal as the digital broadcast signal.