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System and method utilizing integral wireless protocols of a mobile phone as an emergency beacon to aid first responders in locating people

  • US 9,374,673 B2
  • Filed: 07/05/2011
  • Issued: 06/21/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2005
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method providing a user'"'"'s cellular phone application software to assist a user during an emergency or disaster situation, wherein said application software increases a probability of being located and getting help from search and rescue or emergency personal, the method comprising steps of:

  • determining an emergency condition, where a user and said user'"'"'s cellular phone are located within a region wherein cellular communication is at least one of void and inoperable and said user desires to emit a signal to be located;

    initiating emergency alert application software on said user'"'"'s cellular phone, wherein said application software encodes emergency identification information into at least one of (a) a naming portion of an encoded Bluetooth emergency signal in accordance with a Bluetooth protocol and (b) a naming portion of an encoded Wi-Fi emergency signal in accordance with a Wi-Fi protocol;

    initiating a beacon operating mode of said user'"'"'s cellular phone to preserve battery power, wherein said beacon mode emits and broadcasts a signal with said encoded emergency identification, wherein said emergency broadcasting beacon signal is at least one of a repeating unidirectional Bluetooth beacon signal and a repeating unidirectional Wi-Fi beacon signal;

    scanning an area using a scanning device designed to scan an emergency or disaster area to directly detect and locate said repeating emergency broadcasting beacon signal emitted from said user'"'"'s cellular phone;

    detecting and decoding repeating emergency broadcasting beacon signal emitted from said cellular phone user identification to identify said user'"'"'s cellular phone and associated emergency information; and

    locating said user'"'"'s cellular phone by determining an area where said scanning device system emergency beacon signal has detected and located said repeating emergency broadcasting beacon signal emitted from said user'"'"'s cellular phone and providing said detected and decoded cellular phone user identification and detected location of said user'"'"'s said repeating emergency broadcasting beacon signal to search and rescue or emergency personal,wherein said naming portion of said emergency signal is received and decoded independent of pairing between said user'"'"'s cellular phone transmitting said emergency signal and said scanning device.

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