Emergency notification system for devices within a targeted boundary

• US 8,660,520 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Felt, Michelle, Roberts, Brian, Relyea, Don, Stallings, Heath
• Primary Examiner(s): Addy, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fang, Keith
• Application Number:
  US12/164,846
• Publication Number:
  US 20090325535A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,066 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041-4042
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/006 with transmission via telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An emergency shepherd service includes at least one communications facility configured to provide communication services to at least one communication device in a service area and a notification subsystem including at least one processor and a computer readable medium with instructions. The instructions may be configured to cause the processor to receive information relevant to an affected area and identify at least one communication facility associated with the affected area based on a predetermined knowledge of a site of the communication facility. The instructions may be further configured to cause the processor to discover at least one communication device associated with the communication facility, determine that the communication device should be notified about the information, and send a message based on the information to the communication device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving area data related to an affected area from at least one information provider through a third party access point;

determining a boundary associated with the affected area based on the area data;

discovering at least one communication device outside the boundary of the affected area;

determining whether the communication device is heading toward the affected area based on;

establishing, when the communication device is associated with one or more communication facilities, an approximate location of the communication device at a plurality of time periods based on a respective placement of each of the one or more communications facilities;

establishing a positional heading based on the approximate locations; and

determining that the communication device is heading toward the affected area based on the positional heading of the communication device;

if the communication device is heading toward the affected area, sending a message including at least one route to avoid the affected area based on the area data to the communication device;

receiving second area data related to the affected area from a particular provider, wherein the second area data is weighted for its reliability;

determining whether the particular provider is competent based on the weighted reliability of the second area data;

determining a provider location of the particular provider when the particular provider is determined as competent; and

requesting additional area data from the particular provider when the at least one communication devices is associated with the provider location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the communication device is heading toward the affected area comprises:

instructing the communication device regarding establishing its location at a plurality of time periods via a satellite based positioning system;

receiving the locations from the communication device;

establishing the positional heading based on the locations; and

determining that the communication device is heading toward the affected area based on the positional heading of the communication device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the notification subsystem, additional area data from a plurality of information providers, wherein the additional area data is weighted for its reliability.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the boundary is further determined based on the additional area data if the additional area data is deemed reliable.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively providing the area data including sensory input acquired by at least one emergency sensor regarding the affected area to the notification subsystem.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the sensor input includes aggregating multiple sensor inputs from a plurality of sensors.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one emergency sensor is the communication device.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one emergency sensor is a third party access point.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the area data is supplied by a controller in the affected area, the area data including a predetermined amount of dropped signals from the communication devices within the affected area.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the boundary is determined based on an increase in call volume to an emergency response number within a geographic area.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a targeted message to the at least one communication devices that is associated with a provider location based on the additional area.

12. A system, comprising:

at least one communications facility configured to provide communication services to a plurality of communication devices; and

a notification subsystem including at least one processor and a computer readable medium having instructions configured to cause the processor to;

receive area data related to an affected area from at least one information provider through a third party access point;

determine a boundary of the affected area based on the area data;

discover that at least one communication device of the plurality of communication devices is outside the boundary of the affected area and heading toward the affected area based on;

establishing, when the communication device is associated with one or more communication facilities, an approximate location of the communication device at a plurality of time periods based on a respective placement of each of the one or more communications facilities;

establishing a positional heading based on the approximate locations; and

determining that the communication device is heading toward the affected area based on the positional heading of the communication device;

send a message including at least one route to avoid the affected area based on the area data to the communication device;

receive second area data related to the affected area from a particular provider, wherein the second area data is weighted for its reliability;

determine whether the particular provider is competent based on the weighted reliability of the second area data;

determine a provider location of the particular provider when the particular provider is determined as competent; and

request additional area data from the particular provider when the at least one communication devices is associated with the provider location.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising at least one emergency sensor configured to selectively provide the area data including sensory input acquired by the at least one emergency sensor regarding the boundary associated with the affected area to the notification subsystem.

14. A method, comprising:

maintaining geographic positions of a plurality of communication facilities;

receiving area data related to an affected area from at least one information provider through a third party access point;

determining a boundary of the affected area based on the area data;

correlating the affected area with the positions to identify at least one affected communication facility that provides communication services to at least a portion outside of the boundary of the affected area;

discovering at least one communication device associated with the affected communication facility and outside the boundary of the affected area;

determining whether the communication device is heading toward the affected area based on;

establishing, when the communication device is associated with one or more communication facilities, an approximate location of the communication device at a plurality of time periods based on a respective placement of each of the one or more communications facilities;

establishing a positional heading based on the approximate locations; and

determining that the communication device is heading toward the affected area based on the positional heading of the communication device;

if the communication device is heading toward the affected area, commandeering the communication device to provide an alert message including at least one route to avoid the affected area based on the area data;

receive second area data related to the affected area from a particular provider, wherein the second area data is weighted for its reliability;

determine whether the particular provider is competent based on the weighted reliability of the second area data;

determine a provider location of the particular provider when the particular provider is determined as competent; and

request additional area data from the particular provider when the at least one communication devices is associated with the provider location.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

including, by the notification subsystem, placement details for the communication facilities with the positions, wherein each placement detail includes a placement location of a respective communication facility within a containing structure; and

providing, by the notification subsystem, structural details of the structure with the alert message.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising altering, by the notification subsystem, at least one of the area data, the boundary, and the alert message based on feedback from the communication device.

17. A method, comprising:

receiving area data related to an affected area from at least one information provider through a third party access point;

determining a boundary associated with the affected area based on the area data;

discovering at least one communication device outside the boundary of the affected area;

determining whether the communication device is heading toward the affected area;

if the communication device is heading toward the affected area, sending a message including at least one route to avoid the affected area based on the area data to the communication device,

wherein determining whether the communication device is heading toward the affected area includes;

calculating a directed line based on first and second locations of the communication device,

calculating whether the directed line intersects with the boundary of the affected area,

determining time and distance differences between the first and second locations to calculate a speed of the communication device, and

utilizing the speed to further determine whether the message should be sent;

continuously recalculating the heading and the speed of the communication device to determine whether the communication device is traveling at a consistent speed in a consistent direction, and

utilizing the recalculated headings and the speeds to further determine whether the message should be sent.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein utilizing the speed to further determine whether the message should be sent includes:

sending the message if the communication device will intersect the boundary of the affected area within a certain time.