AUTOMATIC REMOTE COMMUNICATION USING NETWORK TELEPHONY

• US 20110111725A1
• Filed: 01/14/2011
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Zonoun, Mohammad R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,265,653 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5116 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The present invention is a method and apparatus to provide remote communication using network telephony. In a transmitter, an activation message is decoded to generate an activation command. The activation message is sent from an activator via a communication medium in response to a telephony call. An information message is transmitted, responsive to the activation command, to a receiver using a communication protocol. In a receiver, an activation message is decoded to generate an activation command. The activation message is sent in response to a telephone call. An information message is received, responsive to the activation command. The information message is sent from a transmitter according to a communication protocol via a communication medium.

Claims

1-21. -21. (canceled)

24. (canceled)

33. A network comprising:

a plurality of commonly coupled location transmitters, each transmitter comprising a transmission unit to broadcast a signal modulated from an information message containing respective location information in response to a telephony call; and

a network component capable of sensing at least one of the plurality of transmitters, the network component comprising;

a sensor capable of at least intermittent coupling to a first transmitter of the plurality of transmitters to receive the respective location broadcast by the first transmitter, a location determination unit coupled to the sensor to process the received respective location information, and a network interface to externally issue the respective location information in accordance with a packet data format;

wherein the transmission unit of a transmitter broadcasts the respective location information responsive to an activation request.

22. The network of claim 33, wherein the transmission unit of a transmitter broadcasts the respective location information on a substantially periodic basis.

23. The network of claim 33, wherein the transmission unit of a transmitter broadcasts the respective location information on a substantially continuous basis.

25. The network of claim 33, wherein at least one of the plurality of transmitters comprises

a reception unit coupled to the transmission unit of the at least one of the plurality of transmitters, the reception unit to receive the activation request and to notify the transmission unit of such receipt.

26. The network of claim 33, wherein each transmitter further comprises a reception unit coupled to the transmission unit to receive an activation request and to notify the transmission unit of such receipt;

and wherein the reception units of a set of the transmitters to receive the activation request at substantially the same time.

27. The network of claim 26, wherein the set of the transmitters comprises all of the plurality of transmitters in the network.

28. The network of claim 26, wherein the set of the transmitters comprises less than all of the plurality of transmitters in the network.

29. The network of claim 33, wherein the transmitters are geographically dispersed to form a distributed location broadcast system.

30. The network of claim 33, wherein the transmission unit of a transmitter broadcasts respective broadcast information in a format consistent with at least one of an identification tag, an absolute location, and a relative location.

31. The network of claim 33, further comprising:

a network component capable of coupling to a first transmitter of the plurality of transmitters to receive and process the respective location information broadcast by the first transmitter.

32. The network of claim 33, further comprising:

a server coupled to the plurality of transmitters to selectively issue the activation request to the plurality of transmitters.

34. The network of claim 33, further comprising:

a server coupled to the plurality of transmitters to selectively issue the activation request to the plurality of transmitters responsive to a location event; and

a packet network interposing the network interface of the network component and the server, the packet network to bear the packetized, respective location information to said server.

35. The network of claim 34, wherein the location event is generated by the network component.

36. The network of claim 35, wherein the location event comprises an emergency call.

37. The network of claim 34, further comprising an e-commerce transaction processor coupled to the packet network, wherein the location event is generated by the e-commerce transaction processor.

38-120. -120. (canceled)

121. A method of providing the location of a first communication device to a second communication device, comprising:

establishing a communication connection between the first communication device and the second communication device; and

responsive to establishment of the communication connection, transmitting a signal indicative of the location of the first communication device from the first communication device to the second communication device.

122. A method as defined in claim 121, further comprising receiving at the first communication device, at least one signal from the second communication device indicative of the establishment of the communication connection, the at least one signal comprising a signal requesting location information from the first communication device.

123. A method as defined in claim 122, further comprising:

decoding at the first communication device the at least one signal from the second communication device to detect the signal requesting location information; and

transmitting the signal indicative of the location of the first communication device upon detection of the signal requesting location information.

124. A method as defined in claim 123, wherein the signal requesting location information comprises a predefined frequency, code or bit pattern.

125. A method as defined in claim 121, wherein the signal indicative of the location of the first communication device comprises a signal modulated according to location information using a communication protocol.

126. A method as defined in claim 121, wherein establishing a communication connection between the first communication device and the second communication device is initiated at the first communication device.

127. A method as defined in claim 126, wherein establishing a communication connection between the first communication device and the second communication device comprises establishing a telephone call between the first communication device and the second communication device.

128. A method as defined in claim 127, wherein establishing a communication connection comprises establishing an emergency call between the first communication device and the second communication device.

129. A method as defined in claim 128, wherein:

the first communication device is a telephone terminal;

the second communication device is an emergency call center; and

establishing a communication connection comprises establishing an emergency 911 call between the telephone terminal and the emergency call center.

130. A method as defined in claim 121, further comprising determining the location of the first communication device responsive to establishment of the communication connection.

131. A method as defined in claim 130, wherein determining the location of the first communication device comprises reading information indicative of the location of the first communication device from memory.

132. A method as defined in claim 130, wherein:

the first communication device comprises a GPS unit; and

determining the location of the first communication device comprises using the GPS unit of the first communication device to determine the location of the first communication device.

133. A communication device, comprising:

a communication connection processor operable to establish a communication connection between the communication device and another communication device; and

a location signal generator operable, responsive to establishment of the communication connection, to generate a signal indicative of the location of the communication device.

134. A device as defined in claim 133, further comprising a receiver operable to receive at least one signal indicative of the establishment of the communication connection, the at least one signal comprising a signal requesting location information.

135. A device as defined in claim 134, further comprising:

a decoder operable to decode the received signal to detect the signal requesting location information; and

a transmitter operable to transmit the signal indicative of the location of the communication device upon detection of the signal requesting location information.

136. A device as defined in claim 135, wherein the signal requesting location information comprises a predefined frequency, code or bit pattern.

137. A device as defined in claim 133, wherein the signal indicative of the location of the first communication device comprises a signal modulated according to location information using a communication protocol.

138. A device as defined in claim 133, wherein the communication connection processor is operable to establish a telephone call between the communication device and the other communication device.

139. A device as defined in claim 138, wherein the communication connection processor is operable to establish an emergency call between the communication device and the other communication device.

140. A device as defined in claim 139, comprising a telephone terminal operable to establish an emergency 911 call between the telephone terminal and an emergency call center.

141. A device as defined in claim 133, wherein the location signal generator is operable to determine the location of the communication device responsive to establishment of the communication connection.

142. A device as defined in claim 141, wherein the location signal generator is operable to determine the location of the communication device by reading information indicative of the location of the communication device from memory.

143. A device as defined in claim 141, further comprising a GPS unit, wherein the location signal generator is operable to use the GPS unit to determine the location of the communication device.