Method and system for delivering photos to called destinations

• US 20060044407A1
• Filed: 09/20/2004
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Barbeau, Pierre
• Granted Patent: US 7,424,282 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/211.300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32101 Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3205 of identification information, e.g. name or ID code H04N2201/3209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3221 of a job number or identification, e.g. communication number
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information

Abstract

A method and system for conveying a digital image to an assistance center, such as an emergency-assistance center (e.g., 911 center). A camera phone captures an image and sends the image to a network server, and the network server stores the image in correlation with an identifier, such as an identifier of the camera phone or an identifier of an assistance call placed by the camera phone. The assistance center then queries the network server to obtain a photo correlated with the identifier. And the network server responsively provides the photo to the assistance center.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving into a network server an image captured by a camera phone;

storing the image at the network server in correlation with an identifier;

during setup of a call from the camera phone to an assistance center, providing the identifier to the assistance center;

receiving into the network server from the assistance center a request specifying the identifier; and

using the identifier specified by the request as a basis to retrieve the image, and conveying the image in a response from the network server to the assistance center.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier identifies the camera phone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier identifies the call.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the assistance center is an emergency assistance center.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network server resides in a telecom carrier'"'"'s network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network server comprises one or more computers with data storage for holding the image in correlation with the identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the image into the network server occurs before the camera phone initiates the call to the assistance center.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the image into the network server comprises receiving the image delivered from the camera phone to a network address assigned to the network server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the network address comprises an address selected from the group consisting of an Internet Protocol (IP) address, an e-mail address, a Universal Resource Identifier (URI), and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the image into the network server comprises receiving the image from a photo server to which the camera phone transmitted the image.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the image into the network server occurs during setup of the call from the camera phone to the assistance center.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, during setup of the call from the cameraphone to the assistance center:

receiving into the network server a signal indicative of the call being set up; and

responsively sending from the network server to the camera phone a request for the image.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the identifier to the assistance center during setup of the call comprises:

detecting setup of the call at a switch;

responsively sending a signaling message from the switch to the network server;

receiving at the switch a response to the signaling message, wherein the response to the message provides the identifier; and

sending from the switch a call setup message carrying the identifier.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier comprises a directory number of the camera phone, and wherein providing the identifier to the assistance center comprises delivering the directory number in call setup messaging as automatic-number-identification information.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving into the network server the request from the assistance center occurs during setup of the call from the camera phone to the assistance center.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein receiving the image into the network server comprises receiving a digital image file containing data representative of the image;

wherein conveying the image in a response from the network server to the assistance center comprises conveying the digital image file in the response.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the digital image file further contains characterizing-metadata, the method further comprising:

deciding, based at least in part on the characterizing-metadata, whether to send the image from the network server to the assistance center in response to the request.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the characterizing-metadata defines information selected from the group consisting of (i) image-capture location, (ii) image-capture time, (iii) image-transmit location, and (iv) image-transmit time.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after conveying the image from the network server to the assistance center:

receiving into the network server a subsequent image captured by the camera phone;

storing the subsequent image at the network server in correlation with the identifier;

receiving into the network server a subsequent request from the assistance center to obtain at least one image correlated with the identifier; and

conveying the subsequent image in a response from the network server to the assistance center.

20. A system comprising:

a processor;

data storage; and

program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processor to carry out functions comprising;

receiving an image captured by a camera phone,

storing the image in the data storage, in correlation with an identifier,

during setup of a call from the camera phone to an assistance center, receiving from the assistance center a request specifying the identifier, and

using the identifier specified by the request as a basis to retrieve the image from the data storage, and sending the image in a response to the assistance center.

21. A method comprising:

capturing an image into a camera phone;

conveying the image from the camera phone to a network server;

storing the image at the network server in correlation with an identifier;

placing a call from the camera phone to an assistance center, and providing the identifier to the assistance center during setup of the call; and

conveying a request from the assistance center to the network server to obtain the image, based on the identifier, and conveying the image in a response from the network server to the assistance center.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein conveying the image from the camera phone to the network server occurs before placing the call from the camera phone to the assistance center.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein conveying the image from the camera phone to the network server occurs during setup of the call from the camera phone to the assistance center.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein conveying the image from the camera phone to the network server comprises:

the network server receiving a signal indicative of the call being set up, and the network server responsively requesting the image from the camera phone.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the assistance center querying the network server to obtain the image, based on the identifier, occurs during setup of the call.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the assistance center querying the network server center to obtain the image based on the identifier comprises:

receiving the identifier at the assistance center; and

sending a request message from the assistance center to the network server, wherein the request message carries the identifier as a query key.

27. A method comprising:

receiving into a network server an image captured by a camera phone;

storing the image at the network server in correlation with an identifier;

during setup of a call from the camera phone to a destination, providing the identifier to the destination;

receiving into the network server from the destination a request specifying the identifier; and

using the identifier specified by the request as a basis to retrieve the image, and conveying the image in a response from the network server to the destination.