Method of transmitting, receiving, recording, playing and displaying weather radio

• US 8,787,221 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2010
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: La Crosse Technology IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: La Crosse Technology IP Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Rolf, Haupt, McCormick, Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kizou, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shand, Roberta A
• Application Number:
  US12/822,252
• Publication Number:
  US 20110045761A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,489 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging

Abstract

A receiver may receive alerts from a radio-broadcast following a tone or other indication preceding each alert, for example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'"'"'s (NOAA) broadcasted weather alerts. Received alerts may be recorded and stored for future playback to an end user, and the receiver may indicate to the user that an alert has been stored, varying the type of indication according to the type of alert stored. The receiver may record alerts specific to one or more zip codes, geographic regions, Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, Federal Information Processes Standards (FIPS) codes, Specific Area Messaging Encoding (SAME) profiles, or other user location data. The user may then select locations and type of alerts to be replayed. Additionally, the receiver may be used in conjunction with other co-located devices to provide information to an end user through a variety of methods and devices.

Claims

1. A method of receiving and recording radio-broadcasted alerts, the method comprising:

monitoring a radio broadcast;

detecting an indication on the radio broadcast and identifying the indication as an indication preceding one or more alerts;

receiving the one or more alerts following the indication, wherein a first alert of the one or more alerts comprises a first set of GPS coordinates;

determining a first alert type of the first alert;

determining a second set of GPS coordinates corresponding to the location of a local GPS module;

receiving a user selection of one or more desired alert types;

comparing the first and second sets of GPS coordinates;

comparing the first alert type of the first alert to the one or more user-selected alert types;

storing the first alert in a memory based on (1) the comparison of the first and second sets of GPS coordinates, and (2) the comparison of the first alert type of the first alert to the one or more user-selected alert types; and

replaying the first stored alert according to user-inputted instructions received via a user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the radio broadcast is an NOAA broadcast and the one or more alerts are NOAA alerts.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more received alerts comprises a weather alert, the method further comprising:

receiving data corresponding to a location and displaying a map indicating the location on a display screen; and

displaying one or more storm path indicators based on received weather alert on the display screen.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying on a display screen a graphical representation of the one or more alerts;

receiving a selection of a first graphical representation corresponding to a first of the one or more alerts; and

based on the received selection, replaying the first of the one or more alerts.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user input comprising one or more zip codes; and

filtering the radio broadcasts to receive only alerts corresponding the one or more zip codes.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more alerts comprises a first alert corresponding to a first zip code of the one or more zip codes and a second alert corresponding to a second zip code of the one or more zip codes, the method further comprising:

displaying the first and second zip codes and a graphical representation of the first and second alerts corresponding to the first and second zip codes on a display screen;

receiving a selection corresponding to one of the first zip code and the second zip code; and

replaying the alert corresponding to the selected zip code.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the one or more alerts to a proximately located remote device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving local weather data from the proximately located remote device.

9. A method of receiving and recording radio-broadcasted alerts, the method comprising:

determining, by a radio alert receiver apparatus comprising a processor, a length of a tone or other indication in a radio broadcast preceding a desired alert type;

configuring, by the radio alert receiver apparatus, the processor to turn on and off according to a periodic schedule based on the determined length of the tone or other indication, said processor configured to monitor one or more radio broadcasts when turned on;

detecting at the processor an indication preceding one or more alerts of the desired alert type;

based on said detecting, transmitting a first instruction to the processor to remain on contrary to the periodic schedule,

receiving at the processor one or more alerts following the indication;

recording and storing the received one or more alerts; and

transmitting a second instruction to the processor to resume the periodic schedule, following the one or more alerts.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more radio broadcast are NOAA broadcasts and the one or more alerts are NOAA alerts.

11. An apparatus configured to receive and record radio-broadcasted alerts, the apparatus comprising:

a processor controlling at least some of the operations of the apparatus;

a GPS module configured to determine a first set of GPS coordinates corresponding to the location of the apparatus; and

a memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to;

monitor a radio broadcast;

detect an indication on the radio broadcast and identify the indication as an indication preceding one or more alerts;

receive the one or more alerts following the indication;

determine a second set of GPS coordinates associated with a first alert of the one or more alerts;

determine a first alert type of the first alert;

receive a user selection of one or more desired alert types;

compare the first and second sets of GPS coordinates;

compare the first alert type of the first alert to the one or more user-selected alert types;

store the first received alert in the memory of the apparatus based on (1) the comparison of the first and second sets of GPS coordinates, and (2) the comparison of the first alert type of the first alert to the one or more user-selected alert types; and

replay the first stored alert according to user-inputted instructions received via a user interface.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a receiver configured to receive NOAA radio frequencies.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

a rechargeable power supply configured to interface with a cradle to charge the rechargeable power supply.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

determine that the apparatus has been removed from the cradle; and

in response to determining that the apparatus has been removed from the cradle, enable one or more functional features of the apparatus and disable one or more additional functional features of the apparatus.

15. A method of receiving and recording radio-broadcasted alerts, the method comprising:

monitoring a radio broadcast, wherein monitoring the radio broadcast comprises;

detecting the radio broadcast from a plurality of broadcast towers;

displaying a plurality of graphical representations corresponding to the plurality of broadcast towers on a display screen;

receiving input selecting one of the plurality of graphical representations;

identifying a first broadcast tower corresponding to the received input; and

monitoring the radio broadcast from the first broadcast tower;

detecting an indication on the radio broadcast from the first broadcast tower, and identifying the indication as an indication preceding one or more alerts;

receiving the one or more alerts from the first broadcast tower, following the indication;

storing the one or more received alerts in a memory; and

replaying the one or more stored alerts according to user-inputted instructions received via a user interface.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the radio broadcast is an NOAA broadcast and the one or more alerts are NOAA alerts.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining one or more alert types associated with the one or more alerts received;

determining a user indication type based on said one or more alert types; and

providing a user indication that the one or more alerts have been stored, wherein the user indication provided corresponds to the determined user indication type.

18. A method of receiving and recording radio-broadcasted alerts, the method comprising:

monitoring a radio broadcast, wherein monitoring the radio broadcast comprises;

detecting the radio broadcast from a plurality of broadcast towers;

for each of the plurality of broadcast towers, calculating a variable based on a strength of a signal from said broadcast tower and a signal to noise ratio of the signal from said broadcast tower;

selecting a first broadcast tower based on said calculations for the plurality of broadcast towers; and

monitoring the radio broadcast from the first broadcast tower;

detecting an indication on the radio broadcast from the first broadcast tower, and identifying the indication as an indication preceding one or more alerts;

receiving the one or more alerts from the first broadcast tower, following the indication;

storing the one or more received alerts in a memory; and

replaying the one or more stored alerts according to user-inputted instructions received via a user interface.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the radio broadcast is an NOAA broadcast and the one or more alerts are NOAA alerts.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining one or more alert types associated with the one or more alerts received;

determining a user indication type based on said one or more alert types; and

providing a user indication that the one or more alerts have been stored, wherein the user indication provided corresponds to the determined user indication type.