Patent Application
20060178128
This invention relates in general to mobile wireless communications, and more particularly to operating mobile communication devices in emergency situations to reduce system burden while maximizing the ability of subscribers to let other know their status.
Mobile communication devices are in widespread use and have become especially common in metropolitan areas. Originally these devices supported mobile radio telephony service, allowing users to both communicate without a land line telephone, and to move while engaged in a telephone call. More recently, however, these device have been developed to support a wide variety of communication and personal services. Most mobile communication devices presently sold include a network interface for sending and receiving data and data messages. The ability to engage in data communications has transformed mobile communication devices into personal communication assistants, allowing for a wide variety of applications to be used on the mobile communication device, including application for portable application environments, such as Java.
The advancement of mobile communications has enabled society to be more mobile, and many people depend on their mobile communication device to keep in touch, not just with business associates, but with friends and family as well. Communication system operators tend to build communication systems to maximize system use, but provide enough resources to handle periods of increased demand. However, emergency situations occasionally arise in heavily populated areas. During emergency situations, communication system resources in the affected areas quickly reach capacity, and leave many subscribers unable to acquire communication service to let other know of their status. Furthermore, people who are working to address the emergency situation are also unable to use the communication system because of the heavy traffic. Therefore there is a need for a method of operating communication devices and communication systems that allow subscribers to report their status, without allowing subscribers to tie up communication resources and allow others to acquire communication service.
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.
The invention solves the problem of overloading mobile communication serving areas during emergencies by alerting users of the emergency and inhibiting regular mobile communication operation. Instead, users in affected areas are only allowed to transmit short status messages. By inhibiting regular operation and only permitting short message to be sent, more subscribers will be able to at least notify others that they are safe or otherwise not seriously affected by the event giving rise to the emergency. The invention also allows certain subscribers, such as emergency workers, to have regular operation in the affected locations while regular subscribers are inhibited in emergency mode.
Referring now to
The communication system comprises a central office 114 which includes a mobile switching center 116 and a mobile data gateway 118. To verify a subscriber's identity, the central office also comprises a home location register 120, which includes a record corresponding to the subscriber and information for authenticating the subscriber's mobile communication device, as is well known in the art. The central office provides connectivity to the public switched telephone network 122 and the Internet 124, allowing subscribers to access these extra-system networks and communicate with people outside of the communication system. The communication system also comprises a voice mail server 126 so that subscribers may receive voice mail when out of the service area, or when their mobile communication device is not on. A subscriber's voice mail service typically allows a subscriber to record a greeting that callers hear when they reach the subscriber's voice mailbox, or a default greeting if the subscriber does not wish to provide a personalized greeting. In one embodiment of the invention, in the event of an emergency, the subscriber's voice mail greeting is changed if the subscriber is located in an area affected by the emergency situation when the subscriber sends a status message. The emergency voice mail greeting announces the time of the subscriber's last status message so that when callers call the subscriber, and a redirected to the subscriber's voice mail, they hear the announcement and time of the last status update to provide a measure of peace of mind. In an alternative embodiment the status message is sent from the mobile communication device to a remote party 130. The message may be transmitted by a variety of means, including the PSTN 122, over which a short, prerecorded voice message may be sent, or by the Internet 124 such as by an email message. The status message can also be sent to another mobile communications subscriber by a nearby base station 132 after the message propagates through the mobile communication system. It is contemplated that the status message may be created at the mobile communication device while the mobile communication device is operating in the emergency mode, or, alternatively, the status message may simply be a control message transmitted to the mobile communication system which in turn takes a predetermined action in response to receiving the status message.
Referring now to
In response to receiving the emergency notification message, the mobile communication device changes from a normal mode of operation to an emergency mode of operation (208). While in the emergency mode of operation, normal operation, such as making a phone call, are inhibited so as to prevent overloading the mobile communication system with call traffic from subscribers in the affected areas. However, the mobile communication device will permit the user to send a short status message when the user desires to do so (210). By limiting the length or duration of the message, the user is able to get out a message to others, and the communication resources of the affected cells are then able to service more people since the time needed to transmit the status message is far shorter than a typical phone call. The status message is created prior to sending and may be either a default message or one created by the user shortly before sending. The message may be sent by a regular phone channel by transmitting a prerecorded voice message of a preselected duration, or other modes of communication may be used to transmit text messages, such as short message service, or a message sent over a packet data link, for example. In an alternative embodiment, the user has predefined an emergency response profile, and designated a party or parties to be contacted, wherein the emergency response profile is saved on a server at the mobile communication system. In this alternative embodiment, rather than assigning the mobile communication device a channel to transmit the status response message after the mobile communication device transmits a request, the request itself triggers the mobile communication system to send a prerecorded message to the parties defined in the subscriber's emergency response profile. Once the user has selected the message, the user presses, for example, a status response button on the mobile communication device which causes the mobile communication device to transmit the status message (212). As long as the mobile communication device is receiving the emergency notification message from the present serving cell (214) the mobile communication device will continue to inhibit the normal mode of operation, and allow only the emergency mode of operation where only a status message can be sent. It is further contemplated that the mobile communication device restricts the number of status messages that can be sent in a given period of time, such as by, for example, allowing one status message to be sent ever ten minutes. No time period is preferred and it is left as a matter of engineering choice to decide if such a restriction is needed, and if so, how long the time period between status messages must be. If the present serving cell stops broadcasting the emergency notification message, or of the mobile communication device moves to a new cell that is not broadcasting the emergency notification message, the mobile communication device may then resume normal operation (216) and the method ends (218).
In the preferred embodiment, certain mobile communication devices will not inhibit normal operation and switch to emergency operation mode. For example, volunteer emergency workers will need to be able to communicate with others. These mobile communication devices are referred to as emergency response mobile communication devices, and they are provided with different instruction code than regular mobile communication devices designed in accordance with the invention, as described thus far. After the emergency response mobile communication devices receive the emergency notification message and alert the user, the mobile communication device determines if it is an emergency response mobile communication device, or if the user is otherwise permitted to continue using a normal mode of operation of the mobile communication device (220). For example, a special key may be disposed in a reserved section of memory in a serial inline module (SIM) used in the mobile communication device. The presence of the key authorizes the mobile communication device to continue operating in the normal mode as the presence of the key indicates the user is an authorized emergency worker.
Referring now to
Cells operating in emergency mode may receive requests for normal service, which is commonly performed on a random access channel (RACH). It is contemplated that there may be mobile communication devices in the affected area that are not designed in accordance with the teachings described herein in regard to
Referring now to
In the first scenario 510, the mobile communication device is a mobile communication device designed in accordance with the prior art, and hence does not respond to the emergency notification message in accordance with the invention as it pertains to mobile communication devices. Subsequent to the base station changing to an emergency mode of operation the prior art mobile communication device attempts to make initiate a call by first transmitting a channel request over a random access channel (RACH) (514). Since, in one embodiment of the invention, some mobile communication devices may be granted regular communication service, the base station forwards the request to the central office (516). The central office checks the home location register and subscriber records for the requesting mobile communication device (518) and determines that it is not one of the authorized mobile communication devices that are allowed to receive communication service during emergency situations, and informs the base station of such (520). The base station then ignores the request and all future requests from the prior art mobile communication device (522) until the base station resumes normal operation. Alternatively, the base station may transmit a “system busy” message.
In a second scenario 524, the requesting mobile communication device is a mobile communication device assigned to an emergency response subscriber, such as, for example, a volunteer firefighter. The user of this type of mobile communication device is referred to an emergency subscriber (ES). The emergency subscriber's mobile communication device transmits a RACH request to initiate a call or other communication (540), and including calling information for a remote party, such as a phone number. It is contemplated that the request may indicate the requester is an ES. The base station receives the request and forwards the request to the central office (528). The central office authenticates the ES status of the requester (530), and commences setting up a call circuit, and notifies the base station to allow the call (532). The base station then transmits a channel assignment to the mobile communication device (534), and the mobile communication device commences communicating with the remote party (536).
A third scenario 538 begins when a non-emergency subscriber using a mobile communication device designed in accordance with the invention as it pertains to mobile communication devices initiates a service request to transmit a status message (540), including the calling information of a third party. The mobile communication device, having received the emergency notification message, is operating in emergency mode when the user decides to send a status message to a remote party. The request is forwarded to the central office (542) to commence setting up a call circuit or data circuit, depending on the type of call being made to transmit the status message. The base station transmits a channel assignment to the mobile communication device (544), and the mobile communication device transmits the status message to the remote party (546). The status message is prerecorded, and sent by any one of a variety of calling or messaging means known in the art, such as, for example, short message service, packet data, voice telephony, and so on.
In a fourth scenario 548, the mobile communication device is also a non-emergency subscriber using a mobile communication device designed in accordance with the invention as it pertains to mobile communication device. The mobile communication device initiates a status service request (550). However, unlike the third scenario where the mobile communication device communicates directly with the remote party, in this embodiment the mobile communication device requests the mobile communication system update a status message that remote parties can hear upon calling the mobile communication device subscriber. Hence, the request is forwarded to the central office (552), and the central office updates a status message (554), such as a voice mail greeting for the subscriber's voice mail. When a remote party calls the subscriber (556), the remote party will hear the updated status message (558).
Alternatively, similarly to the scenario 548, the mobile communication device uses the random access channel to transmit a status service request (550) to the mobile communication system much the way it does when requesting communication service. However, rather than requesting communication service, the mobile communication device indicates the request is for the mobile communication system to send a status message to a party previously selected and described in the subscriber's emergency profile, which is stored on a server of the mobile communication system. When the base station receives the request, it forwards it to the central office (552). Equipment at the central office retrieves the subscriber's emergency profile, and obtains the calling or messaging information for other parties stored therein, and commences sending status messages to those parties.
Thus, the invention provides a method of operating a mobile communication device during an emergency situation, beginning by receiving an emergency notification message at the mobile communication device from the communication system providing communication service to the mobile communication device. In response, the mobile communication device commences transitioning from a regular mode of operation to an emergency mode of operation, and allows only a status message to be transmitted from the mobile communication device while in the emergency mode of operation. If the mobile communication system ceases transmitting the emergency notification message, or if the mobile communication device moves into a serving area that is not affected by the emergency situation, the mobile communication device resumes normal operation. In the preferred embodiment, once the emergency notification message is received, the mobile communication device alerts the user of the mobile communication device, such as by providing a visual alert, illuminating a status response button of the mobile communication device, displaying an icon on a display of the mobile communication device, providing an audible alert, providing a tactile alert, actuating a mechanical vibrator of the mobile communication device, or any combination thereof. Preferably, the mobile communication device receives the emergency message in a broadcast control channel transmitted by the communication system at a base station presently providing communication service in the serving are in which the mobile communication device is presently located. The status message may be transmitted in response to actuation of a status response button disposed on the mobile communication device, and used in conjunction with an emergency user interface. The status message may be transmitted by short message service message, as well as packet data and by sending a prerecorded voice message by regular telephony channels. The status message may be communicated to a remote party, or the status message may be a communicated to the mobile communication system, which causes an update of a status update server of the communication system, such as a voice mail greeting for the user.
The invention also provides a method of operating a mobile communication system during an emergency situation, by determining which of a plurality of serving cells of the mobile communication system are affected cells, the affected cells being serving cells affected by the emergency situation. Once the affected cells has been determined, the communication system operator commands each affected cell to begin broadcasting an emergency notification message. While in an emergency mode, the affected calls will provide communication service to mobile communication devices which are either transmitting a status message or are known emergency responders, and will deny communication service to all other mobile communication devices.
It is further contemplated that the invention provides a method of operating a mobile communication system during an emergency situation by receiving a channel request from a mobile communication device at a base station, the base station having been determined to be in an area affected by the emergency situation. If the channel request indicates the mobile communication device intends to transmit a status message, the mobile communication system commences granting the request, receiving the status message from the mobile communication device, and forwarding the status message to a remote party. If the channel request indicates the mobile communication device is an emergency subscriber, the mobile communication system commences granting the request and allowing the emergency subscriber to have normal communication service. If the channel request is not from either an emergency subscriber or a mobile communication device desiring to transmit a status message the mobile communication system ignores the channel request.
It is still further contemplated that the invention provides a method of operating a mobile communication device of an emergency subscriber during an emergency situation, wherein the method commences by transmitting a communication service request to a base station, wherein the base station is operating in an emergency mode, and the communication service request contains a subscriber identifier for identifying the emergency subscriber. The mobile communication system processes and grants the request. The mobile communication device receives a channel assignment indicating an assigned channel to be used by the emergency subscriber, and the mobile communication device commences communication on the assigned channel.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
