Network directed cell broadcasts for emergency alert system

• US 8,937,542 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2013
• Issued: 01/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Ming, Shen, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Jack K
• Application Number:
  US13/904,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20130337764A1
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.11, 340/506, 455/404.1, 455/456.1, 455/567
• US Class Current: 340/539.11
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/005 with transmission via computer network
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/006 with transmission via telephone network
• 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 68/02 Arrangements for increasing efficiency of notification or paging channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/08 Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing alerts to end users of networked enabled portable devices are provided so that the end users are made aware when broadcast emergency alerts are issued. The systems and methods provide a way for a portable device to receive information about an emergency alert broadcast of which the user should be aware, e.g., from the EAS, and to notify the user of the emergency alert. A flag provides an indication the EAS should be on and the systems and method override the settings made by a user to a portable device to enable EAS reception. The user may then be automatically taken to the emergency alert information by having the portable device automatically tune to the emergency broadcast information, or the user may optionally retrieve the emergency information by tuning to the emergency broadcast channel, or the user may otherwise be presented with a reference to the emergency data (e.g., a link to the information).

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a portable device, emergency broadcast information, wherein the emergency broadcast information comprises information about available broadcast technologies, information about emergency broadcast channels associated with each available broadcast technology, and information concerning which broadcast technologies or networks are supported by the portable device;

storing, by the portable device, the emergency broadcast information in storage of the portable device;

receiving, at the portable device an update to the emergency broadcast information, wherein the update to the emergency broadcast information comprises updated information about available broadcast technologies, updated information about emergency broadcast channels associated with each available broadcast technology, and updated information concerning which broadcast technologies or networks are supported by the portable device;

storing, by the portable device, the update to the emergency broadcast information in the storage of the portable device;

receiving, at the portable device, a user setting, the user setting instructing a broadcast processor of the portable device not to engage in emergency broadcast monitoring;

receiving an indication at the portable device that the emergency alert is being broadcast, wherein the telephony network is notified by an emergency alert interface service that the emergency alert is being broadcast using broadcast technologies, wherein the emergency alert interface service is notified by an emergency alert network that an emergency alert is being broadcast, wherein;

the portable device belongs to a group including all portable devices in a cell of the telephony network, wherein information on the control channel is simultaneously monitored by all phones in the group, wherein the indicator bit is received after the emergency broadcast information has been received and stored by the portable device; and

the cell is at least one of a macro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, or an umbrella cell;

enforcing user defined settings associated with the portable device by the telephony processor when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is not being broadcast;

requesting, by the telephony processor of the portable device, the emergency broadcast information from the storage of the portable device when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is being broadcast;

receiving, at the telephony processor, the requested emergency broadcast information from the storage of the portable device;

overriding the user defined settings associated with the portable device to enable emergency broadcast monitoring on the portable device by the telephony processor when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is being broadcast;

utilizing, by the telephony processor, the stored emergency broadcast information and the update to the emergency broadcast information to tune to a broadcast channel of a broadcast network upon overriding the user defined settings associated with the portable device to enable emergency broadcast monitoring by a broadcast processor;

receiving, at the broadcast processor, an emergency broadcast from the emergency alert network;

outputting, by the broadcast processor, at least a portion of the emergency broadcast associated with the emergency alert on the portable device; and

reverting back to the user defined settings on the portable device after a predefined period of time has expired on the portable device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the portable device comprises a mobile phone.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the indicator bit is a bit received over the telephony network control channel associated with the emergency alert.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the indicator bit indicates the emergency alert is no longer being broadcast.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting at least a portion of the emergency broadcast associated with the emergency alert on the portable device comprises the use of at least one of a visual output, an auditory output, or a mechanical output.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephony network control channel comprises at least one of a frequency correction channel, a synchronization channel, a random access channel, a paging channel, or an access grant channel.

7. A mobile device comprising:

a user storage device;

a user interface;

a telephony processor; and

a broadcast processor, wherein;

the mobile device is in communication with a network-based emergency broadcast information database and a telephony radio network, an emergency alert interface server is in communication with a telephony radio network, an emergency alert network is in communication with the emergency alert interface;

a broadcast network is in communication with the emergency alert network and the mobile device;

the mobile device receives emergency broadcast information from the network-based emergency broadcast information database and stores the emergency broadcast information in the user storage device, the emergency broadcast information comprising information about available broadcast technologies, information about emergency broadcast channels associated with each available broadcast technology, and information concerning which broadcast technologies or networks are supported by the mobile device;

the mobile device receives an update to the emergency broadcast information from the network-based emergency broadcast information database, the update to the emergency broadcast information comprising updated information about available broadcast technologies, updated information about emergency broadcast channels associated with each available broadcast technology, and updated information concerning which broadcast technologies or networks are supported by the mobile device;

the mobile device stores the update to the emergency broadcast information in the storage of the mobile device;

the mobile device receives a user setting, the user setting instructing the broadcast processor of the mobile device not to engage in emergency broadcast monitoring;

the mobile device receives an indicator bit from a telephony network control channel, the indicator bit indicating that the emergency alert is being broadcast, wherein the telephony network is notified by an emergency alert interface service that the emergency alert is being broadcast using broadcast technologies, wherein the emergency alert interface service is notified by an emergency alert network that an emergency alert is being broadcast, wherein the mobile device belongs to a group including all mobile devices in a cell of the telephony network, wherein;

information on the control channel is simultaneously monitored by all phones in the group, wherein the indicator bit is received after the emergency broadcast information has been received and stored by the mobile device; and

the cell is at least one of a macro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, or an umbrella cell;

the telephony processor enforcing the user defined settings associated with the mobile device when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is not being broadcast;

the telephony processor requesting the emergency broadcast information from the storage of the mobile device when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is being broadcast;

the telephony processor receiving the requested emergency broadcast information from the storage of the mobile device;

the broadcast processor overriding the user defined settings associated with the mobile device to enable emergency broadcast monitoring when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is being broadcast;

the telephony processor utilizing the stored emergency broadcast information and the update to the emergency broadcast information to tune to a broadcast channel of the broadcast network upon overriding the user defined settings associated with the mobile device to enable emergency broadcast monitoring by the broadcast processor;

the broadcast processor receives an emergency broadcast from the emergency alert network;

the broadcast processor provides at least a portion of the emergency broadcast associated with the emergency alert on the mobile device; and

the user defined settings on the mobile device are reverted back to after a predefined period of time has expired on the mobile device.

8. The mobile device of claim 7 wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile phone.

9. The mobile device of claim 7 wherein the mobile device is adapted to revert back to the preexisting setting when the indicator bit indicates the emergency broadcast has stopped.

10. The mobile device of claim 7 wherein the indicator bit comprises at least one bit in a message.

11. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein outputting at least a portion of the emergency broadcast associated with the emergency alert on the portable device comprises the use of at least one of a visual output, an auditory output, or a mechanical output.

12. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the telephony network control channel comprises at least one of a frequency correction channel, a synchronization channel, a random access channel, a paging channel, or an access grant channel.

13. A storage device having stored thereon computer executable instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:

receiving, at a portable device, emergency broadcast information from a network-based emergency broadcast information database, the emergency broadcast information comprising information about available broadcast technologies, information about emergency broadcast channels associated with each available broadcast technology, and information concerning which broadcast technologies or networks are supported by the portable device, the portable device including at least one telephony processor, and at least one broadcast processor;

storing, by the portable device, the emergency broadcast information;

receiving, at the portable device, an update to the emergency broadcast information from the network-based emergency broadcast information database, wherein the update to the emergency broadcast information comprises updated information about available broadcast technologies, updated information about emergency broadcast channels associated with each available broadcast technology, and updated information concerning which broadcast technologies or networks are supported by the portable device;

storing, at the portable device, the update to the emergency broadcast information;

receiving, at the portable device, a user setting, the user setting instructing the broadcast processor of the portable device not to engage in emergency broadcast monitoring;

receiving, at the portable device, an indicator bit from a telephony network control channel, the indicator bit indicating that the emergency alert is being broadcast, wherein the telephony network is notified by an emergency alert interface service that the emergency alert is being broadcast using broadcast technologies, wherein the emergency alert interface service is notified by an emergency alert network that an emergency alert is being broadcast, wherein the portable device belongs to a group including all portable devices in a cell of the telephony network, wherein;

information on the control channel is simultaneously monitored by all phones in the group, wherein the indicator bit is received after the emergency broadcast information has been received and stored by the portable device; and

the cell is at least one of a macro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, or an umbrella cell;

enforcing the user defined settings associated with the portable device by the telephony processor when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is not being broadcast;

requesting, by the telephony processor of the portable device, the emergency broadcast information from the storage of the portable device when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is being broadcast;

receiving, at the telephony processor, the requested emergency broadcast information from the storage of the portable device;

overriding the user defined settings associated with the portable device to enable emergency broadcast monitoring on the portable device by the broadcast processor when the indicator bit indicates that the emergency alert is being broadcast;

utilizing, by the telephony processor, the stored emergency broadcast information and the update to the emergency broadcast information to tune to a broadcast channel of a broadcast network upon overriding the user defined settings associated with the portable device to enable emergency broadcast monitoring by a broadcast processor;

receiving, at the broadcast processor, an emergency broadcast from the emergency alert network;

outputting, by the broadcast processor, at least a portion of the emergency broadcast associated with the emergency alert on the portable device; and

reverting back to the user defined settings on the portable device after a predefined period of time has expired on the portable device.

14. The storage device as recited in claim 13 wherein the portable device comprises a mobile phone.

15. The storage device as recited in claim 13 wherein the indicator bit comprises at least one bit in a message.

16. The storage device of claim 13, wherein outputting at least a portion of the emergency broadcast associated with the emergency alert on the portable device comprises the use of at least one of a visual output, an auditory output, or a mechanical output.

17. The storage device of claim 13, wherein the telephony network control channel comprises at least one of a frequency correction channel, a synchronization channel, a random access channel, a paging channel, or an access grant channel.