Method and apparatus of providing emergency communication services

• US 8,797,855 B1
• Filed: 08/04/2010
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Open Invention Network LLC
• Original Assignee: Open Invention Network LLC
• Inventors: Wieland, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Phillips, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): CATTUNGAL, AJAY P
• Application Number:
  US12/850,001
• Time in Patent Office: 1,462 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/310.2, 370/328, 370/338, 370/398, 370/395.2, 370/401, 370/465, 455/420, 455/404, 455/433, 455/435.1, 455/502, 455/507, 455/574
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/026 using e-messaging for transporting management information, e.g. email, instant messaging or chat
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/68 Gesture-dependent or behaviour-dependent
• 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 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• 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 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

Disclosed is an electrical device and method of automatically searching for and connecting to known or unknown available public communication infrastructure and/or devices in the vicinity using a multi-layer communication model. Each layer may include binding information for local available communication methods and shareable hardware devices, a routing table, and, if applicable, one or more logon profiles for service providers. Communication layers may be built by searching for available public communication infrastructure and/or devices in the vicinity by actively sending out connection requests to all addressable destinations along the available transport medium. Each node is able to access and use the communication infrastructure of each other node. Switching between layers as they become inoperable and/or become available without any user interaction required is also possible.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting data packets from or to an electrical device according to a packet data service in a wired or radio network which is provided for data transmission, the method comprising:

actively transmitting, via a transmitter, connection request packets to all addressable destinations via an accessible transport medium of the wired or radio network;

searching for at least one of an available public communication infrastructure and devices in a corresponding vicinity;

receiving at least one response from at least one device in the corresponding vicinity;

connecting to the at least one device associated with the at least one response and exchanging a set of predefined logon information with the at least one device;

responsive to receiving that at least one response, spontaneously creating a local area network (LAN) comprising at least two nodes one of which being the at least one device found in the corresponding vicinity and one of which being a primary device, each of the nodes of the LAN dynamically exchanging layer specific information, exchanging authentication information with one another of said nodes, and sharing their respective resources with the other nodes of the LAN by permitting each of said nodes to access and use an established communication infrastructure of other of said nodes;

creating a communication layer via the primary device by incrementing a number representing at least one of a network address, a telephone number and a frequency;

creating a connection request comprising the incremented number; and

transmitting the connection request onto the communication layer to produce at least one successful response.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a primary communication channel operating in the wired or radio network is linked to an additional communication channel established by the at least one device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a Bluetooth device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a human interface device (HID) comprising interactive input devices that are operated by a system-supplied HID class driver, which comprises USB devices that comply with a USB HID Standard and non-USB devices that use a HID minidriver.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a IEEE 1394 device.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with an IrDA device comprising serial-IR and fast-IR NDIS miniports.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface that uses a modem.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a multifunction device including combo cards comprising at least one of a PCMCIA modem and netcard adapter.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a network adapter comprising NDIS NIC miniport drivers.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a PCI SSL accelerator device that accelerates secure socket layer (SSL) cryptographic processing.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a PCMCIA adapter including CardBus host controllers.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a port device including serial and parallel port devices.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a USB peripheral device.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary communication channel has an interface compatible with a Windows CE USB ActiveSync device that supports communication between a personal computer and a device that is compatible with the Windows CE ActiveSync driver over USB.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a bridged connection and transmitting the connection request packets according to the received logon information.

16. A method of transmitting analog data from or to an electrical device according to a transmission service in a wired or radio network which is provided for voice and/or data transmission, the method comprising:

actively transmitting, via a transmitter, connection request sequences to all addressable destinations via an accessible transport medium of the wired or radio network;

searching for at least one of an available public communication infrastructure and devices in a corresponding vicinity;

receiving at least one response from at least one device in the corresponding vicinity;

connecting to the at least one device associated with the at least one response and exchanging a set of predefined logon information with the at least one device; and

responsive to receiving that at least one response, spontaneously creating a local area network (LAN) comprising at least two nodes one of which being the at least one device found in the corresponding vicinity and one of which being a primary device, each of the nodes of the LAN dynamically exchanging layer specific information, exchanging authentication information with one another of said nodes, and sharing their respective resources with the other nodes of the LAN by permitting each of said nodes to access and use an established communication infrastructure of other of said nodes;

creating a communication layer via the primary device by incrementing a number representing at least one of a network address, a telephone number and a frequency;

creating a connection request comprising the incremented number; and

transmitting the connection request onto the communication layer to produce at least one successful response.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a primary communication channel operating in the wired or radio network is linked to an additional communication channel established by the at least one device.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

establishing a bridged connection and transmitting connection request sequences according to the received logon information.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions that when executed via a processor perform transmission of data packets from or to an electrical device according to a packet data service in a wired or radio network, the processor being further configured, via the computer-executable instructions, to perform:

actively transmitting, via a transmitter, connection request packets to all addressable destinations via an accessible transport medium of the wired or radio network;

searching for at least one of an available public communication infrastructure and devices in a corresponding vicinity;

receiving at least one response from at least one device in the corresponding vicinity;

connecting to the at least one device associated with the at least one response and exchanging a set of predefined logon information with the at least one device; and

responsive to receiving that at least one response, spontaneously creating a local area network (LAN) comprising at least two nodes one of which being the at least one device found in the corresponding vicinity and one of which being a primary device, each of the nodes of the LAN dynamically exchanging layer specific information, exchanging authentication information with one another of said nodes, and sharing their respective resources with the other nodes of the LAN by permitting each of said nodes to access and use an established communication infrastructure of other of said nodes;

creating a communication layer via the primary device by incrementing a number representing at least one of a network address, a telephone number and a frequency;

creating a connection request comprising the incremented number; and

transmitting the connection request onto the communication layer to produce at least one successful response.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, having further computer-executable instructions to perform:

linking a primary communication channel operating in the wired or radio network to an additional communication channel established by the at least one device.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, having further computer-executable instructions to perform:

establishing a bridged connection and transmitting the connection request packets according to the received logon information.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions that when executed via a processor perform transmission of analog data from or to an electrical device according to a transmission service in a wired or radio network, the processor being further configured, via the computer-executable instructions, to perform:

actively transmitting, via a transmitter, connection request sequences to all addressable destinations via an accessible transport medium of the wired or radio network;

searching for at least one of an available public communication infrastructure and devices in a corresponding vicinity;

receiving at least one response from at least one device in the corresponding vicinity;

connecting to the at least one device associated with the at least one response and exchanging a set of predefined logon information with the at least one device; and

responsive to receiving that at least one response, spontaneously creating a local area network (LAN) comprising at least two nodes one of which being the at least one device found in the corresponding vicinity and one of which being a primary device, each of the nodes of the LAN dynamically exchanging layer specific information, exchanging authentication information with one another of said nodes, and sharing their respective resources with the other nodes of the LAN by permitting each of said nodes to access and use an established communication infrastructure of other of said nodes;

creating a communication layer via the primary device by incrementing a number representing at least one of a network address, a telephone number and a frequency;

creating a connection request comprising the incremented number; and

transmitting the connection request onto the communication layer to produce at least one successful response.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, having further computer-executable instructions to perform:

linking a primary communication channel operating in the wired or radio network to an additional communication channel established by the at least one device.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, having further computer-executable instructions to perform:

establishing a bridged connection and transmitting the connection request sequences according to the received logon information.

25. An electrical device configured to transmit data packets from or to an electrical device according to a packet data service in a wired or radio network which is provided for data transmission and in which at least one primary communication channel for transmission of at least one data packet from or to the electrical device is set up in a transmission system of the network, the electrical device comprising:

at least one processor that, when loaded with computer-readable instructions, executes the instructions to

establish at least one additional communication channel at the electrical device,

actively transmit, via a transmitter, connection request packets to all addressable destinations via an accessible transport medium of the wired or radio network,

search for at least one of available public communication infrastructure and devices in a corresponding vicinity,

receive at least one response from at least one device in the corresponding vicinity,

connect to the at least one device associated with the at least one response and exchange a set of predefined logon information,

responsive to receiving that at least one response, spontaneously create a local area network (LAN) comprising at least two nodes one of which being the at least one device found in the corresponding vicinity, each of the nodes of the LAN configured to dynamically exchange layer specific information, exchange authentication information with one another of said nodes, and share their respective resources with the other nodes of the LAN by permitting each of said nodes to access and use an established communication infrastructure of other of said nodes;

create a communication layer via the primary device by incrementing a number representing at least one of a network address, a telephone number and a frequency,

create a connection request comprising the incremented number, and

transmit the connection request onto the communication layer to produce at least one successful response.

26. The electrical device of claim 25, wherein the primary communication channel is linked to the additional communication channel.

27. The electrical device of claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to establish a bridge connection and transmit a connection request packet according to the received logon information.

28. An electrical device configured to transmit analog data from or to an electrical device according to a transmission service in a wired or radio network which is provided for voice and/or data transmission and in which at least one primary communication channel for transmission of analog information from or to the electrical device is set up in a transmission system of the network, the electrical device comprising:

at least one processor that, when loaded with computer-readable instructions, executes the instructions to;

establish at least one an additional communication channel at the electrical device,

actively transmit, via a transmitter, connection request sequences to all addressable destinations via an accessible transport medium of the wired or radio network,

search for at least one of available public communication infrastructure and devices in a corresponding vicinity,

receive at least one response from at least one device in the corresponding vicinity,

connect to the at least one device associated with the at least one response and exchange a set of predefined logon information,

responsive to receiving that at least one response, spontaneously create a local area network (LAN) comprising at least two nodes one of which being the at least one device found in the corresponding vicinity, each of the nodes of the LAN configured to dynamically exchange layer specific information, exchange authentication information with one another of said nodes, and share their respective resources with the other nodes of the LAN by permitting each of said nodes to access and use an established communication infrastructure of other of said nodes,

create a communication layer via the primary device by incrementing a number representing at least one of a network address, a telephone number and a frequency,

create a connection request comprising the incremented number, and

transmit the connection request onto the communication layer to produce at least one successful response.

29. The electrical device of claim 28, wherein the primary communication channel is linked to the additional communication channel.

30. The electrical device of claim 28, wherein the processor is further configured to establish a bridge connection and transmit the connection request sequences according to the received logon information.