System and method for emergency call channel allocation

• US RE42,224 E1
• Filed: 07/29/2005
• Issued: 03/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Durham Logistics LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Alder, Lawrence J., Trott, Mitchell D., Uhlik, Christopher R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng; George
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, WESLEY LEO
• Application Number:
  US11/193,996
• Time in Patent Office: 2,055 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/450, 455/451, 455/452.1, 455/455, 455/464, 455/414.1, 455/572, 379 37- 45
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• 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 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/10 where an allocation plan is defined based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/36 for reassigning the resources associated with the released connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/14 WLL [Wireless Local Loop]; RLL [Radio Local Loop]

Abstract

An emergency call recognition system which is activated when an off-hook situation occurs, which recognizes when an emergency number is dialed with or without the presence of a dial tone, and which provides the caller a communication channel to complete such a call. The present invention is used to give priority to emergency telephone calls. Typically the present invention is used in wireless local loop systems, however the present invention can also be incorporated into a conventional telephone system. The present invention uses an emergency call recognition system to determine if a person is dialing an emergency telephone number. If the emergency call recognition system recognizes a dialed telephone number as an emergency telephone number, then the caller is provided with a communication channel to complete the telephone call. The caller is provided a communication channel even if all of the communication channels are in use. This is accomplished by disconnecting calls that are not of an emergency nature.

Claims

1. A method facilitating a telephone call comprising:

determining whether a communication channel is available at a servicing communication station to accommodate the telephone call;

providing a telephone interface with an indication denoting the unavailability of a communication channel if it is determined that the communication station does not have a communication channel available; and

receiving a digit of one or more digits of a telephone number from the telephone interface even if no communication channels are available, comparing the received digit, as received, against a corresponding digit of one or more emergency codes and, if the digits match, iteratively repeating the element of receiving for comparison of a subsequent digit of the one or more digits of the telephone number from the telephone interface, as necessary, to determine whether a priority channel request is required to facilitate an emergency telephone call, and otherwise disabling the interface from accepting further digits if it is determined that a received digit is not associated with an emergency code.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising,

issuing the priority channel request to the servicing communication station if the result of the comparison reveals that the received digits correspond to an emergency code and no other communication channels are otherwise available.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the priority channel request denotes a priority class of service that is greater than that of non-emergency telephone calls, such that the servicing communication station reallocates communication channel parameters to facilitate the priority channel request.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein reallocation of communication channel parameters include one or more of tearing down a lower priority communication channel to facilitate the priority channel request, reallocation of bandwidth of one or more communication channels to provide bandwidth to the priority channel request, modifying a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) reuse pattern to provide bandwidth for the priority channel request, and the like.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining whether a communication channel is available comprises:

receiving an off-hook detection signal at the transceiver;

issuing a channel request from a subscriber unit to the servicing communication station; and

receiving a response at the subscriber unit from the communication station to the channel request denoting whether a communication channel is available.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the indication that all communication channels are currently unavailable includes one or more of a fast busy signal, a null signal (silence), a monotone signal, and/or any signal other than a dial tone.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

issuing a priority channel request to the servicing communication station if a subscriber unit receives digits from the telephone interface denoting one or more emergency codes associated with one or more emergency services.

8. A method according to claim 7, further comprising:

facilitating the emergency telephone call over a communication channel made available by the communication station through call completion.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

converting dual-tone, multiple frequency (DTMF) tones received from the telephone interface representing the telephone number entered by a user to digital signal(s) for the transceiver.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein said conversion is performed even if a subscriber unit receives an indication from the servicing communication station that all communication channels are currently unavailable.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the emergency codes are one or more of a telephone number, a speed-dial code and/or a shortened emergency services code.

12. An article of manufacture comprising a machine accessible non-transitory storage medium to provide machine executable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to implement a method according to claim 1.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein the priority channel is a reduced rate communication channel reserved to facilitate emergency telephone calls.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the priority channel is dynamically created by a communication station by invoking spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing to effectively parse multiple communication channels including the priority channel from a single physical channel to facilitate the emergency telephone call.

15. A wireless local loop subscriber unit comprising:

a telephone interface, to enable a user to enter a telephone number to place a telephone call; and

a transceiver, coupled to the telephone interface, to receive a digit of one or more digits of a telephone number from the interface even if a communication channel is not currently available, to compare the received digit, as received, against a corresponding digit of one or more emergency codes and, if the digits match, accept and compare a subsequent digit of the telephone number from the interface, as necessary, to determine whether a priority channel request is required to facilitate an emergency telephone call, and otherwise disabling the interface from accepting further digits if it is determined that the received digit is not associated with an emergency code.

16. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 15, further comprising:

an off-hook signal generator, responsive to the telephone interface, to generate an off-hook signal to prompt the transceiver to request a communication channel from the communication station when the user lifts a handset of the telephone interface to place a call.

17. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 16, wherein the transceiver responds to the off-hook signal by requesting a communication channel and providing the telephone interface with an indication denoting whether a communication channel is available from the communication station.

18. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 17, wherein the transceiver provides one or more of a fast busy signal, a constant monotone signal, and/or any tone other than a dial tone as an indication to the user via the telephone interface that no communication channels are currently available to facilitate a telephone call.

19. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 15, further comprising:

a dual-tone, multiple frequency (DTMF) converter to convert DTMF signals generated by the telephone interface representing the telephone number entered by the user in to digital signals appropriate for input to the transceiver.

20. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 19, wherein the DTMF converter remains enabled to receive and convert DTMF signals for the transceiver even if the transceiver determines that no communication channels are currently available until it is determined that a received digit does not correspond to an emergency services code.

21. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 20, wherein the transceiver receives and decodes the digital signals to determine whether the user is dialing an emergency number, even if there are no communication channels available to support the call.

22. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 21, further comprising:

a memory device, to store one or more codes associated with an associated one or more emergency services, wherein the transceiver compares received digital signals associated with a user-entered telephone number against the stored one or more codes to determine whether the user is telephone number is associated with the one or more emergency services.

23. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 22, wherein the transceiver compares the digital signals associated with the user-entered telephone number on a digit-by-digit basis concurrently with receipt of the digits against corresponding digits of the one or more stored emergency codes, and disables receipt of further digits if the comparison reveals that a received digit does not conform to a corresponding digit of an emergency code(s).

24. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 15, the transceiver comprising:

a memory, to receive and retain one or more codes associated with one or more emergency services; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, to receive digital signals representative of the dialed telephone number and compare the received signals to the one or more codes stored in memory to detect telephone calls to the one or more emergency services.

25. A wireless local loop subscriber unit according to claim 15, further comprising:

an on/off-hook detector, coupled between the telephone device and the transceiver, to provide an off-hook indication to the transceiver when the user lifts a handset of the telephone interface.

26. A subscriber unit according to claim 15, wherein the priority channel is a reduced rate communication channel reserved for emergency telephone call, and wherein the transceiver includes reduced rate communication facilities.

27. A subscriber unit according to claim 15, wherein the priority channel is a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) enabled channel to facilitate an emergency telephone call.

28. A wireless communication system comprising:

a communication station, to communicatively couple one or more wireless subscriber unit(s) to a wireline telephony network; and

a wireless subscriber unit, communicatively coupled to the communication station, to accept entry of a digit of a telephone number through a telephone interface even after determining that no communication channels are currently available between the subscriber unit and the communication station, the subscriber unit to compare the received digit, as received, against a corresponding digit of one or more emergency codes and, if the digits match, accept and compare a subsequent digit of the telephone number from the interface, as necessary, to determine whether a priority channel request is required to facilitate an emergency telephone call, and otherwise disabling the interface from accepting further digits if it is determined that the received digit is not associated with an emergency code.

29. A wireless system according to claim 28, the wireless subscriber unit comprising:

a transceiver, coupled to the telephone interface, to accept the telephone number entered by the user even after determining that no communication channels are currently available, and to issue a priority channel request for a communication channel if the telephone number entered corresponds to one or more stored emergency codes associated with a commensurate one or more emergency services.

30. A wireless system according to claim 29, wherein the transceiver issues one or more priority channel request(s) to the communication station to obtain a communication channel if no communication channels are otherwise available upon detecting entry by the user of a code associated with an emergency service.

31. A wireless system according to claim 29, wherein the stored codes include one or more of a standard telephone number associated with a single emergency service, a speed dial code, and/or a shortened telephone number to an agency serving multiple emergency services.

32. A wireless system according to claim 31, the subscriber unit further comprising:

a memory device, coupled to the transceiver, to receive and retain one or more emergency codes.

33. A wireless system according to claim 28, the communication station comprising:

a transceiver, to receive priority channel requests from one or more subscriber units and modify one or more communication channel parameters to accommodate a priority channel request when no communication channels are otherwise available.

34. A wireless system according to claim 33, wherein the modification of one or more communication channel parameters includes one or more of tearing down an existing call to free the communication channel to accommodate the priority channel request, lowering bandwidth associated with one or more communication channels to free bandwidth for an additional communication channel to accommodate the priority channel request, and/or modifying one or more spatial division, multiple access (SDMA) reuse parameters to obtain a communication channel to accommodate the priority channel request.

35. A wireless communication system according to claim 28, wherein the wireless communication system is a wireless local loop (WLL) communication system, and the subscriber unit is a WLL subscriber unit.

36. A wireless communication system according to claim 28, wherein the communication station further comprises:

spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing facilities, responsive to the transceiver, to dynamically select a traditional communication channel and parse it into multiple SDMA channels employing adaptive antenna technology, wherein the transceiver places the emergency call on one or more of the SDMA channels to facilitate the emergency telephone call.

37. A wireless communication system according to claim 28, the communication station further comprising:

reduced rate communication channels, reserved and dynamically assigned by the transceiver to facilitate emergency telephone calls.

38. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine accessible non-transitory medium to provide instructions which, when executed by a subscriber unit, cause the subscriber unit to determine whether a communication channel is available at a servicing communication station to accommodate a telephone call upon detecting an off-hook signal from a telephone interface, provide the telephone interface with an indication denoting the unavailability of a communication channel if it is determined that the communication station does not have a communication channel available, to enable receipt of a digit of a telephone number from the telephone interface even if no communication channels are available and to compare the received digit, as received, against a corresponding digit of one or more emergency codes and, if the digits match, accept and compare a subsequent digit of the telephone number from the interface, as necessary, to determine whether a priority channel request is required to facilitate an emergency telephone call, and otherwise disabling the interface from accepting further digits if it is determined that the received digit is not associated with an emergency code.

39. An article of manufacture according to claim 38, further comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a subscriber unit to compare each digit of the received telephone number, as received, against one or more emergency codes maintained in the subscriber unit to determine whether the received digits correspond to one or more emergency services associated with the one or more emergency codes.

40. An article of manufacture according to claim 38, further comprising instructions which, when executed, cause the subscriber unit to issue a priority channel request upon detecting entry of an emergency code even if no communication channels are currently available.

41. An article of manufacture according to claim 40, wherein the priority channel request denotes a priority class of service that is greater than that of non-emergency telephone calls, such that the servicing communication station reallocates communication channel parameters to facilitate the priority channel request.

42. An article of manufacture according to claim 38, further comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a subscriber unit to facilitate an emergency telephone call through completion via a communication channel made available by the communication station in response to the subscriber unit'"'"'s priority channel request.

43. An article of manufacture according to claim 38, further comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a subscriber unit to convert dual-tone, multiple frequency (DTMF) tones received from the telephone interface representing the telephone number entered by the user to digital signal(s), wherein said conversion is performed even if the subscriber unit receives an indication from the servicing communication station that all communication channels are currently unavailable until a digit is received that does not correspond to one or more emergency service code(s).

44. A wireless subscriber unit comprising:

a telephone interface, to enable a user to enter a telephone number to place a telephone call; and

a transceiver, coupled to the telephone interface, to accept entry of a digit of a telephone number from the interface even after determining that no communications channels are currently available from a servicing communication station, to compare the received digit, as received, against a corresponding digit of one or more emergency codes and, if the digits match, accept and compare a subsequent digit of of the telephone number from the interface, as necessary, to determine whether a priority channel request is required to facilitate an emergency telephone call, and otherwise disabling the interface from accepting further digits if it is determined that the received digit is not associated with an emergency code.

45. A subscriber unit according to claim 44, further comprising:

an off-hook signal generator, responsive to the telephone interface, to generate an off-hook signal to prompt the transceiver to request a communication channel from the communication station when the user lifts a handset of the telephone interface to place a call.

46. A subscriber unit according to claim 45, wherein the transceiver responds to the off-hook signal by requesting a communication channel and providing the telephone interface with an indication denoting whether a communication channel is available from the communication station.

47. A subscriber unit according to claim 46, wherein the transceiver provides one or more of a fast busy signal, a constant monotone signal, and/or any tone other than a dial tone as an indication to the user via the telephone interface that no communication channels are currently available to facilitate a telephone call.

48. A subscriber unit according to claim 44, further comprising:

a dual-tone, multiple frequency (DTMF) converter to convert DTMF signals generated by the telephone interface representing the telephone number entered by the user in to digital signals appropriate for input to the transceiver.

49. A subscriber unit according to claim 48, wherein the DTMF converter remains enabled to receive and convert DTMF signals for the transceiver even if the transceiver determines that no communication channels are currently available until it is determined that a received digit does not correspond to an emergency services code.

50. A subscriber unit according to claim 49, wherein the transceiver receives and decodes the digital signals to determine whether the user is dialing an emergency number, even if there are no communication channels available to support the call.

51. A subscriber unit according to claim 50, further comprising:

a memory device, to store one or more codes associated with an associated one or more emergency services, wherein the transceiver compares received digital signals associated with a user-entered telephone number against the stored one or more codes to determine whether the user is telephone number is associated with the one or more emergency services.

52. A subscriber unit according to claim 51, wherein the transceiver compares the digital signals associated with the user-entered telephone number on a digit-by-digit basis concurrently with receipt of the digits against corresponding digits of the one or more stored emergency codes, and disables receipt of further digits if the comparison reveals that a received digit does not conform to a corresponding digit of an emergency code(s).

53. A subscriber unit according to claim 44, the transceiver comprising:

a memory, to receive and retain one or more codes associated with one or more emergency services; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, to receive digital signals representative of the dialed telephone number and compare the received signals to the one or more codes stored in memory to detect telephone calls to the one or more emergency services.

54. A subscriber unit according to claim 44, wherein the priority channel is a reduced rate communication channel reserved for emergency telephone call, and wherein the transceiver includes reduced rate communication facilities.

55. A subscriber unit according to claim 44, wherein the priority channel is a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) enabled channel to facilitate an emergency telephone call.

56. A method comprising:

receiving a priority channel request at a communication station from a wireless subscriber unit, the priority channel request denoting an emergency telephone call;

determining whether a reserved, reduced rate communication channel is available to facilitate the emergency telephone call upon receipt of a priority channel request;

establishing the emergency telephone call on the reserved, reduce rate communication channel to facilitate communication services through call completion if the reserved, reduce rate communication channel is available; and

invoking spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing to free communication channel resources to handle the emergency telephone call if a reserved, reduced rate communication channel is not available.

57. A communication station comprising:

a plurality of wireless communication channels including full-rate communication channels and reserved, reduced-rate communication channels; and

control logic, responsive to call requests received from subscriber units in a coverage area of the communication station, to select either a full-rate communication channel or a reserved, reduced rate communication channel to facilitate a communication session, wherein the control logic selectively employs a reserved, reduced rate communication channel to facilitate a telephone call associated with a priority channel request when no other communication channels are available, wherein the control logic employs spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing techniques to free communication channel resources when neither a full-rate communication channel nor a reserved, reduced rate communication channel are otherwise available.

58. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a subscriber unit, an indication denoting the unavailability of at least one communication channel at a communication station; and

receiving, at the subscriber unit, at least one digit of a telephone number even if no communication channels are available at the communication station;

comparing the received at least one digit against a digit of one or more emergency codes;

if the digits match, repeating the receiving and comparing for comparison of a subsequent digit of the telephone number to determine a priority channel request for an emergency telephone call; and

disabling the receiving of further digits of the telephone number if any of the digits of the telephone number is not associated with an emergency code.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising issuing the priority channel request to a servicing communication station if the result of the comparison reveals that the received digits correspond to an emergency code.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the priority channel request denotes a priority class of service that is greater than that of non-emergency telephone calls.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the priority channel request includes one or more parameters that facilitate tearing down a lower priority communication channel, reallocating of bandwidth of one or more communication channels to provide bandwidth to the priority channel request, modifying a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) reuse pattern to provide bandwidth for the priority channel request, or combinations thereof.

62. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

receiving an off-hook detection signal at a transceiver coupled to the subscriber unit;

issuing a channel request to the servicing communication station; and

receiving a response at the subscriber unit from the communication station to the channel request denoting whether a communication channel is available.

63. The method of claim 58, wherein receiving the indication denoting the unavailability of the at least one communication channel includes one or more of a fast busy signal, a null signal (silence), a monotone signal, or a signal other than a dial tone.

64. The method of claim 58, further comprising issuing a priority channel request to a servicing communication station if a subscriber unit receives digits denoting one or more emergency codes associated with one or more emergency services.

65. The method of claim 58, further comprising facilitating the emergency telephone call over a communication channel made available by the communication station through call completion.

66. The method of claim 58, further comprising converting dual-tone multiple frequency (DTMF) tones received from the subscriber unit representing the telephone number to one or more digital signals.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the converting includes performing the converting even if a subscriber unit receives an indication from a servicing communication station that all communication channels are currently unavailable.

68. The method of claim 58, wherein the emergency codes are one or more of a telephone number, a speed-dial code and/or a shortened emergency services code.

69. The method of claim 58, wherein the priority channel is a reduced rate communication channel reserved to facilitate emergency telephone calls.

70. The method of claim 58, wherein the priority channel request triggers dynamically creating a priority channel by a communication station by invoking spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing to effectively parse multiple communication channels including the priority channel from a single physical channel to facilitate the emergency telephone call.

71. A subscriber unit, comprising:

means for receiving at least one digit of a telephone number even if no communications channels are available at a communications station; and

means for comparing the at least one digit to a digit of one or more emergency codes, for causing the means for receiving to receive a subsequent digit of the telephone number, for comparing the subsequent digit of the telephone number to a corresponding subsequent digit of the one or more emergency codes until a priority channel request for an emergency telephone call is required, and for disabling the means for receiving from receiving any subsequent digits of the telephone number if any of the digits of the telephone number is not associated with an emergency code.

72. The subscriber unit of claim 71, wherein the means for comparing is further configured to issue a priority channel request to a servicing communication station responsive to a determination that the received digits correspond to an emergency code.

73. The subscriber unit of claim 72, wherein the priority channel request denotes a priority class of service that is greater than that of non-emergency telephone calls.

74. The subscriber unit of claim 73, wherein the priority channel request includes one or more parameters that indicate tearing down a lower priority communication channel, reallocating of bandwidth of one or more communication channels to provide bandwidth to the priority channel request, modifying a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) reuse pattern to provide bandwidth for the priority channel request, or combinations thereof.

75. The subscriber unit of claim 71, wherein the means for comparing is further configured to:

detect an off-hook signal; and

issue a channel request to the servicing communication station responsive to detecting the off-hook signal.

76. The subscriber unit of claim 71, wherein the means for comparing is further configured to denote the unavailability of the at least one communication channel responsive to one or more of a fast busy signal means, a null signal means, a monotone signal means, or a signal means other than a dial tone.

77. The subscriber unit of claim 71, further comprising means for making the emergency telephone call over a communication channel made available by the communication station.

78. The subscriber unit of claim 71, further comprising means for converting dual-tone multiple frequency (DTMF) tones representing the telephone number to one or more digital signals.

79. The subscriber unit of claim 78, wherein the means for converting includes means for converting even if a subscriber unit receives an indication from a servicing communication station that all communication channels are currently unavailable.

80. The subscriber unit of claim 71, wherein the emergency codes are one or more of a telephone number, a speed-dial code and/or a shortened emergency services code.

81. The subscriber unit of claim 72, wherein the priority channel is a reduced rate communication channel reserved to facilitate emergency telephone calls.

82. The subscriber unit of claim 72, wherein the priority channel request triggers dynamically creating a priority channel by a communication station by invoking spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing to effectively parse multiple communication channels including the priority channel from a single physical channel to facilitate the emergency telephone call.

83. A machine accessible non-transitory storage medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon that configure a subscriber unit to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a subscriber unit, an indication denoting the unavailability of at least one communication channel at a communication station; and

receiving, at the subscriber unit, at least one digit of a telephone number even if no communication channels are available at the communication station;

comparing the received at least one digit against a digit of one or more emergency codes;

if the digits match, repeating the receiving and comparing for comparison of a subsequent digit of the telephone number to determine a priority channel request for an emergency telephone call; and

disabling the receiving of further digits of the telephone number if any of the digits of the telephone number is not associated with an emergency code.

84. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the operations further comprise issuing the priority channel request to a servicing communication station if the result of the comparison reveals that the received digits correspond to an emergency code.

85. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the priority channel request denotes a priority class of service that is greater than that of non-emergency telephone calls.

86. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the priority channel request includes one or more parameters that facilitate tearing down a lower priority communication channel, reallocating of bandwidth of one or more communication channels to provide bandwidth to the priority channel request, modifying a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) reuse pattern to provide bandwidth for the priority channel request, or combinations thereof.

87. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving an off-hook detection signal;

issuing a channel request to the servicing communication station; and

receiving a response from the communication station to the channel request denoting channel availability.

88. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein receiving the indication denoting the unavailability of the at least one communication channel includes receiving one or more of a fast busy signal, a null signal (silence), a monotone signal, or a signal other than a dial tone.

89. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the operations further comprise issuing a priority channel request to a servicing communication station if a subscriber unit receives digits denoting one or more emergency codes associated with one or more emergency services.

90. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the operations further comprise facilitating the emergency telephone call over a communication channel made available by the communication station.

91. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the operations further comprise converting dual-tone multiple frequency (DTMF) tones received from the subscriber unit representing the telephone number to one or more digital signals.

92. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 91, wherein the converting includes performing the converting even if a subscriber unit receives an indication from a servicing communication station that all communication channels are currently unavailable.

93. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the emergency codes are one or more of a telephone number, a speed-dial code and/or a shortened emergency services code.

94. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the priority channel is a reduced rate communication channel reserved to facilitate emergency telephone calls.

95. The machine accessible non-transitory storage medium of claim 83, wherein the priority channel request triggers dynamically creating a priority channel by a communication station by invoking spatial division multiple access (SDMA) processing to effectively parse multiple communication channels including the priority channel from a single physical channel to facilitate the emergency telephone call.