Patent Application
20050227672
The present invention relates generally to a system, apparatus and method for communication of notifications and more specifically to delivery of wireless notifications to devices within a pre-determined geographical area.
Traditionally, government agencies, regional and municipal authorities have relied on audio sirens, door-to-door notifications, TV and radio broadcasts as means for notifying the general public of immense or forthcoming emergencies, such as chemical, gas or nuclear spills; severe weather conditions or other hazardous conditions. Generally, these methods prove to be ineffective. Sirens, while notifying the public of an emergency, do not specify the nature of the emergency nor the affected territory. TV and radio broadcasts can provide further details on the nature of emergency, but may be hard to draw attention to or be unavailable in the case of a power failure.
Increasingly, government organizations at the federal, provincial and municipal level are looking for an affordable and effective system for notifying residents in a particular area of civic emergencies, which would enable them to communicate the fact of an emergency, its nature and proposed course of actions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,462,665 filed on May 16, 2000 by Tarlton et al, assigned to Wheelock Inc. of Long Branch, N.J. (hereinafter referred to as Tarlton) discloses a method and apparatus for sending a severe weather alert, utilizing a paging type system having dedicated frequencies for transmissions. In the Tarlton system, a pager receiver is utilized. The notification device is assigned to a particular geographical area. The set of notification devices in a particular area are assigned a common telephone number. When a weather warning is received, the system dials the specific phone number or numbers for transmitting a warning to the alert units in the affected area.
One of the problems with the Tarlton solution is that it utilizes the public switched telephone network to connect to the notification device. The problem is two-fold. Firstly, a telephone number or combination of telephone numbers is required to identify sets of emergency notification devices in a particular gographical area. This puts an excessive burden on the telephone number availability. Since the available numbers are limited by definition, there could be insufficient numbers to cover all combinations of emergency notification devices required. Yet another problem with using the PSTN is that in case of emergency, the PSTN tends to be overloaded with callers, trying to get hold of their relatives, and friends to notify them of the emergency situation. If the PSTN gets overloaded, it could become difficult to initiate the emergency notification delivery and provide updates to the public, as the notification number might not be reachable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,873 filed on Feb. 8, 1999 by Cragun, assigned to International Business Machines Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Cragun) discloses an apparatus and associated method for notifying users when weather alerts are issued according to geographical areas of interest. The geographical area and weather notification parameters are set by the user. When the weather alert is detected, it is transmitted by the base station to all available emergency notification devices. The message contains specific weather notification parameters. When a message is received on a particular emergency notification device, the notification parameters are compared to the pre-selected parameters of interest for that particular device (e.g. geographical area, types of warnings, etc) and all unwanted messages are ignored. The emergency notification device only displays those notifications that fall within the user selected criteria.
One of the shortcomings of the above solution is the requirement that the user input the parameters utilized for filtering the incoming message to be displayed, including the geographic areas of interest. This requirement adds considerable costs to produce and maintain the notification devices while leaving the possibility for misconfigurations of the apparatus. Due to the severe importance of these devices in times of emergency, misconfigurations should be minimized. A further shortcoming exists within the system of the Cragun patent in the combination of the mass broadcasting of the notification messages with the control of the device being in the hands of the user. The combination of features makes these devices portable and adjustable, both features are not ideal in circumstances that these notification devices are purchased for specific dwellings for specific emergency utilization.
The present invention, according to a first broad aspect, is a system for delivering notification information to a set of notification devices. The system comprises a notification message apparatus, a transport network coupled to the notification message apparatus and a set of notification devices. The notification message apparatus is operable to generate and transmit a notification message comprising at least one device identifier and notification information, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area. The transport network is operable to receive the notification message and to transmit the notification message to a wireless coverage area. The set of notification devices is within the wireless coverage area and is operable to receive the notification message from the transport network and to process the notification information if one of the at least one device identifier corresponding to the notification message is allocated to the particular set of notification devices.
In a further aspect, within the system of the first broad aspect, the transport network comprises a plurality of base stations, each base station having a corresponding base station identifier. In this aspect, the notification message further comprises a set of base station identifiers that collectively define the wireless coverage area of the transport network for transmitting the translated notification message. Hence, the notification information is not transmitted by all base stations within the transport network and only by a select set of base stations that limits the geographical area of the transmission. In one embodiment of this aspect, the system further comprises a base station allocation apparatus operable to receive the notification message, to determine a set of base station identifiers that collectively define the wireless coverage area of the transport network for transmitting the notification message and to input the set of base station identifiers into the notification message.
The set of base station identifiers could comprise one or more base station identifiers. Further, the set of notification devices could comprise one or more notification devices.
In yet a further aspect, each of the notification devices within the set of notification devices are allocated a plurality of device identifiers. For each notification device, the allocated device identifiers represent a plurality of geographical areas in which the notification device is physically located. In some embodiments, the system of the first broad aspect comprises a remote device identifier allocation apparatus operable to transmit, via the transport network, at least one device identifier to at least one notification device of the set of notification devices in order to allocate the at least one device identifier to the notification device. This allocation could be based upon a primary device identifier that is permanent for the notification device.
The present invention, according to a second broad aspect, is a method for delivering notification information to a set of notification devices. The method comprises: generating a notification message comprising at least one device identifier and notification information, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area; transmitting the notification message to a wireless coverage area; receiving the notification message at the set of notification devices; and processing the notification information at each of the notification devices if one of the at least one device identifier corresponding to the notification message is allocated to the particular notification device.
The present invention, according to a third broad aspect, is a system for delivering notification information to a set of notification devices. The system comprises a translation apparatus, a transport network and a set of notification devices. The translation apparatus is operable to receive a notification message comprising at least one location identifier and notification information; to determine, for each of the at least one location identifiers, at least one corresponding device identifier, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area defined by the location identifier; and to generate a translated notification message comprising the at least one device identifier and the notification information. The transport network is coupled to the translation apparatus and is operable to transmit the translated notification message to a wireless coverage area The set of notification devices is within the wireless coverage area and is operable to receive the translated notification message from the transport network and to process the notification information if one of the at least one device identifiers within the translated notification message is allocated to the particular set of notification devices.
According to a fourth broad aspect, the present invention is a method for delivering notification information within a set of notification devices. The method comprises: receiving a notification message comprising at least one location identifier and the notification information; translating each of the at least one location identifiers into at least one device identifier in order to generate a translated notification message, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area defined by the location identifier; transmitting the translated notification message to a wireless coverage area; receiving the translated notification message at a set of notification devices within the wireless coverage area; and processing the notification information if one of the at least one device identifiers corresponding to the notification message is allocated to the particular set of notification devices.
According to a fifth broad aspect, the present invention is an apparatus for translating notification messages. The apparatus comprises first and second interfaces and a processing unit. The first interface is operable to receive a notification message comprising at least one location identifier and the notification information. The processing unit is operable to determine, for each of the at least one location identifiers, at least one corresponding device identifier, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area defined by the location identifier; and to generate a translated notification message comprising the at least one device identifier and the notification information. The second interface is operable to output the translated notification message to a set of notification devices within a wireless coverage area. The first and second interfaces could be integrated within a single interface.
According to a sixth broad aspect, the present invention is an apparatus for generating notification messages to be transmitted to a set of notification devices. The apparatus comprises a notification information interface operable to receive notification information; a device identifier interface operable to receive at least one device identifier, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area; a processing unit operable to generate a notification message comprising the notification information and the at least one device identifier; and an output interface operable to output the notification message to a transport network for delivery to the set of notification devices corresponding to the at least one device identifier. The notification information interface and the device identifier interface could be integrated within a single web portal interface.
According to a seventh broad aspect, the present invention is a method for generating notification messages to be transmitted to a set of notification devices. The method comprises: receiving notification information; receiving at least one device identifier, each device identifier being allocated to a set of notification devices assigned within a geographical area; generating a notification message comprising the notification information and the at least one device identifier; and outputting the notification message to a transport network for delivery to the set of notification devices corresponding to the at least one device identifier.
According to an eighth broad aspect, the present invention is an apparatus for generating notification messages to be transmitted to a set of notification devices. The apparatus comprises a notification information interface operable to receive notification information; a location identifier interface operable to receive at least one location identifier, each location identifier defining a geographical area in which a set of notification devices are assigned; a processing unit operable to generate a notification message comprising the notification information and the at least one location identifier; and an output interface operable to output the notification message to a transport network for delivery to the set of notification devices within the geographical area defined by the at least one location identifier. The notification information interface and the location identifier interface could be integrated within a single web portal interface.
The present invention, according to a ninth broad aspect, is a method for generating notification messages to be transmitted to a set of notification devices. The method comprises: receiving notification information; receiving at least one location identifier, each location identifier defining a geographical area in which a set of notification devices are assigned; generating a notification message comprising the notification information and the at least one location identifier; and outputting the notification message to a transport network for delivery to the set of notification devices within the geographical area defined by the at least one location identifier.
According to a tenth broad aspect, the present invention is a system for remotely assigning a device identifier to at least one notification device. The system comprises a device identifier allocation apparatus, a transport network and at least one notification device. The device identifier allocation apparatus is operable to generate and transmit a device identifier message comprising at least one primary device identifier associated with a predetermined notification device and at least one secondary device identifier allocated to a geographical area in which the predetermined notification device is located. The transport network is coupled to the device identifier allocation apparatus and is operable to receive the device identifier message and to transmit the device identifier message to a wireless coverage area. The at least one notification device is within the wireless coverage area and is operable to receive the device identifier message from the transport network and to allocate the at least one secondary device identifier to the notification device if the notification device is allocated the primary device identifier.
The present invention, according to an eleventh broad aspect, is a method for assigning device identifiers to at least one notification device. The method comprises: generating a device identifier message comprising at least one primary device identifier associated with a predetermined notification device and at least one secondary device identifier allocated to a geographical area in which the predetermined notification device is located; transmitting the device identifier message to at least one notification device within a wireless coverage area; and allocating the at least one secondary device identifier to the notification device if the notification device is allocated the primary device identifier.
Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following figures, in which:
The overall network 28 is operable to communicate a notification message from the CNSC 30 to the notification devices 40A, 40B. In one embodiment of the present invention, the notification message comprises a message header and a message body. The message header includes information concerning the location of the affected area (hereinafter referred to as a location identifier). The location identifiers are any indications that can identify a specific geographic area; such as a plurality of dwellings, a street, a set of streets within a municipality or a municipality itself. In one embodiment of the present invention, a postal code is used to identify geographical areas. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that other identifiers could be used with various different sizes of geographical areas being grouped together.
The message body comprises notification information. This notification information could include a civil emergency alert, such as a notification of a chemical spill or a nuclear plant meltdown. Alternatively, the notification information could include information of concern with respect to, but not limited to, weather conditions, road conditions, public transport alerts and/or proposed courses of action. In other embodiments, the notification information comprises text to be displayed on an alphanumeric display, text to speech data or an audio message file to be played. One should understand that other information that requires localized distribution could also be included within the notification message body.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the message body and/or message header further includes an identifier of the severity of the condition (hereinafter referred to as a severity indication). The severity indication identifies how severe the reported emergency condition is and is used to trigger a particular set of actions within the appropriate notification devices. In one embodiment, the severity identifier comprises code “Red”, “Orange” and “Yellow” within the message body. In another embodiment, the severity indication comprises numeric identifiers, such as 1, 2 and 3. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that other types of severity indications could be used.
The CNSC 30 is the source of notification messages, though it should be understood that other components not shown could allow notification messages to be received at the CNSC 30 from another location. The CNSC 30 is operable to communicate the notification message to the message switch 32. For simplicity, communication links between the CNSC 30 and the message switch 32 have been omitted from the drawing. In one embodiment, the connection is a secure connection. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that microwave, IP connectivity or any other type of communication links could alternatively be used.
In one embodiment, the message switch 32 is a GL3000 message switch produced by Glenayre Electronics of Duluth, Ga., USA. The message switch 32 translates the notification message into a form acceptable for the transport network to deliver the message body to the appropriate notification devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the message switch 32 converts the location identifier to one or more device identifiers associated with the location identifier as will be described in detail below. In some embodiments of the present invention, the device identifiers are CAP codes similar to those used by traditional pagers. In this case, each CAP code is assigned to a set of notification devices grouped within a predefined geographical area defined by the location identifier. The message switch 32 could further specify a limited number of base stations for the notification message to be broadcast based upon either the location identifier and/or the device identifier(s) as will be described in more detail below.
In one example, the Glenayre Computer Protocol (GCP) is used for the translation of the notification message. The GCP is supplied by Glenaure Electronics of Duluth, Ga., USA. The GCP is supported by the GL3000 and allows other types of computers to read from and write to the GL3000's subscriber profile. A person skilled in the art will understand that any other device and any other associated protocol, capable of performing the translation of the location identifier could be utilized. Alternatively, as will be described herein below, some embodiments of the present invention do not require such translations.
The encoder 34 is operable to encode the notification message into an acceptable satellite transmission format. In a particular embodiment, the encoder 34 is a GL3000 remote encoder. The satellite uplink 35 is operable to receive the notification message from the encoder 34. In one embodiment, the FLEX (Flexible Wide-area Synchronous Paging) protocol developed by Motorola is used. In another embodiment, the POCSAG (Post Office Code Standardisation Advisory Group) protocol developed by the UK Post Office is used. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that any protocol capable of transmitting the notification message from the encoder 34 to the satellite uplink 35 could be used.
The communication satellite 36 is operable to receive the notification message from the satellite uplink 35 and the communication satellite 36 is operable to transmit the notification message to a plurality of base stations 38A,38B. The notification message could be communicated using the FLEX protocol, POCSAG protocol or another protocol that is developed for such purpose. Each base station 38A,38B has a unique base station identifier. As will be described in detail herein below, a set of base station identifiers could be associated with a notification message that limits the geographical extent to which the notification message is transmitted by limiting the base stations within the plurality of base stations that wake-up to transmit the notification message.
It should be understood, although described herein with the encoder 34, satellite uplink 35 and communication satellite 36, that other transport techniques could be used to send the notification message from the message switch 32 to the appropriate base stations 38A,38B. For instance, a form of wireline connections could be used.
The notification devices 40A,40B within the designated location as dictated by the location identifier are operable to receive the notification message from the appropriate base stations 38A,38B. Each notification device 40A,40B has one or more device identifiers associated with it. Each device identifier could be a CAP code, an Electronic Serial Number (ESN) or another device specific identifier. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the device identifiers are programmed within the notification devices and cannot be modified by the user. In this case, the device identifiers are effectively permanently associated with a particular notification device and can only be modified by the service provider.
In some embodiments of the present invention, each notification device 40A,40B is associated with a particular physical location such as a building, house, residence, apartment, etc and is designed to be semi-permanent for this physical location. In a non-limiting example, the notification devices 40A,40B are permanently affixed within the physical location and are permanently wired to the physical location's electrical wiring system.
In one non-limiting example, each notification device could have a plurality of device identifiers programmed, these device identifiers being one permanent ESN and a plurality of CAP codes that could be modified by the service provider (for example up to 15 CAP codes). In another non-limiting example, each notification device could have one or more changeable CAP codes and no permanent device identifier utilized in the scope of the notification system of the present invention. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that the number of device identifiers assigned to a particular notification device 40A,40B and the form of the device identifiers could vary and depends on the assignment requirements, as discussed hereinafter.
In a non-limiting example, notification devices physically within the same geographical area as defined by a location identifier will be assigned the same device identifier. This could be based upon a postal code or another system that divides areas by geographical sectors. In cases that notification devices are located in different areas as defined by a location identifier (ex. different postal codes), the notification devices would have at least one device identifier different from one another. Despite having different device identifiers, these same devices could also have at least one device identifier in common that is associated with a location identifier that defines a broader geographical area such as a municipality. Effectively, since each notification device could have more than one device identifier programmed, there could be various sizes of geographical areas defined for a single notification device. For instance, a notification device could be assigned a device identifier for its postal code, for its neighbourhood, for its sector of the city and for the overall municipality. Each of these groupings would include a different range of notification devices having the same device identifiers.
In some embodiments of the present invention, each notification device has one unique device identifier (hereinafter referred to as a primary device identifier) and could have one or more adjustable device identifiers (hereinafter referred to as secondary device identifiers). For instance, the notification device could have one permanent ESN and one or more CAP codes that can be adjusted by the service provider. In this case, the service provider could utilize the primary device identifier as an address to remotely access and download the secondary device identifiers to the particular notification devices. This accessing and downloading function could take the form similar to a notification message directed to the specified primary identifier, but with a format recognized by the notification device as a secondary device identifier programming message (potentially with use of a flag in the message header) and with the notification information being replaced by secondary device identifier information. This modified system has significant advantages in that the geographical areas that will define the various secondary device identifiers can be decided upon and modified after the notification devices have been distributed to the users. This prevents the need for each notification device to be recalled to adjust the geographical areas defined by a particular secondary device identifier. This added feature is particularly advantageous in cases that the notification devices are permanently affixed within a building or residence.
The process of transmitting the notification message from the CNSC 30 to the notification device 40A,40B, according to one embodiment of the present invention, will now be described as a sequence of message streams with reference to
The CNSC 30 creates a notification message, containing a message header (including at least one location identifier) and the message body (including notification information such as a text message and a severity indication). It should be understood that the location identifier, notification information and severity indication could alternatively all be within a message body or any other way contained within a notification message. Subsequently, the CNSC 30 sends a message stream 44 to the message switch 32 that contains the notification message. Upon receiving the data stream 44, the message switch 32 translates the message into a recognizable format for the transport network. In one embodiment, this translation could utilize a database lookup including location identifiers and their corresponding one or more device identifiers. In another embodiment, the translation could utilize a database lookup including location identifiers, their corresponding device identifiers and their corresponding one or more base station identifiers. In one embodiment, the resulting notification message could adhere to the Telocator Network Paging Protocol (TNPP).
In a specific non-limiting embodiment, the message switch 32 maintains a database 42 of CAP codes (one example of a device identifier) associated with each of the postal codes in a supported area (one example of a location identifier). For simplicity, the database 42 can be hereinafter referred to as a “device identifier database”. In this particular embodiment, the location identifier is a postal code and the device identifier is a CAP code, but it should be understood that other location identifiers and device identifiers could be utilized. In this case, when the postal codes associated with the affected area are supplied, the message switch 32 queries the device identifier database 42 and identifies the CAP code associated with the supplied postal code. Once the CAP code is identified, the message switch 32 further identifies at least one base station identifier. The identified base stations are the base stations that are to be woken up by the notification message in order to transmit it further to notification devices within their coverage area. In one embodiment, the base station identifier selection is based on the location identifier. In another embodiment, the base station identifier selection is based on the CAP code of the notification device(s) to be activated or alternatively directly based upon the location identifier.
In one non-limiting example as shown with reference to Table 1, each entry in the device identifier database 42 comprises a field for the location identifier and fields for associated device identifiers (in this case CAP codes) and one or more base station identifiers.
The example of Table 1 illustrates the flexibility of the approach in which one location identifier could have one or more CAP codes associated with it and one or more base station identifiers. The fourth entry highlights the ability to translate a general location identifier into a plurality of CAP codes and base station identifiers. This fourth entry could alternatively have been implemented with a single CAP code associated with the location identifier, this general CAP code being assigned to each of the notification devices within the broader geographic area (in this example including the postal codes of the second and third entries of Table 1). In this alternative, each of the notification devices could keep a more localized CAP code associated with its postal code. The fifth entry highlights the possibility of a single CAP code being assigned to all the notification devices within a wider geographical area such as a city. In this case, only the one CAP code is assigned to the XYZ City but a plurality of base station identifiers are associated, these base station identifiers being associated with the base stations that provide the coverage area within the XYZ city. In alternative embodiments, a generic base station identifier could be used that wakes-up all of the base stations within a set geographical area in times that a location identifier corresponds to a geographical area larger than the coverage area of a single base station. In some embodiments, this generic base station identifier could be the location identifier or the device identifier.
After translation and transmission to the encoder 34, the encoder 34 sends a message stream 46 to the satellite uplink 35. The satellite uplink 35 is operable to send a message stream 50 to the communication satellite 36. The message streams 48,50, in one embodiment of the present invention, contain the base station identifier(s) of the base stations to be utilized, the device identifier(s) of the notification devices to be awakened, the severity indication and the text message. In one embodiment, the base station identifier(s) and device identifier(s) of the notification devices are within the message header while the severity indication and the text message are contained within the message body.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the communication satellite 36 sends message streams 52A, 52B to all base station 38A,38B. Upon receipt of the message streams 52A,52B, the base stations 38A,38B are operable to analyze the message header of the respective message streams 52A,52B and check the message header for the base station identifier(s). If the base station identifier associated with the particular base station 38A,38B is included in the message header of the message stream 52A,52B, the base station 38A,38B is awoken. If the base station identifier of the particular base station 38A,38B is not specified in the message header of the message stream 52A,52B, the base station 38A,38B is not awoken.
If awoken, the particular base station 38A,38B sends message streams 54A,54B with the specified CAP codes to the notification devices 40A,40B within its coverage area. The notification devices 40A,40B process the header of the notification message within the respective message streams 52A,52B and determine the CAP code(s) associated with the notification message. If the CAP code is one of the CAP codes assigned to the particular notification device 40A,40B, the notification device is awoken and processes the message body as will be described herein below with respect to
In cases that base station identifiers are not utilized to limit the broadcast of the notification message within the network 28, all base stations that are operable to receive notification messages from the communication satellite 36 will awaken and transmit the notification message to the notification devices within their coverage area.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
In one embodiment, the processing unit 64 is a microprocessor, though the processing unit 64 could comprise more than one physical device. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that the processing unit 64 may comprise any device, capable of receiving information from the receiver 62 and at least one or more of outputting display data to the display 70, engaging the visual alarm 72, engaging the audible alarm 75 and communicating with the acknowledgment interface 68.
One function of the processing unit 64 is to perform a low-level analysis of the notification message received from its base station and determine if the device identifier is assigned to the particular notification device 48. Only if this assignment search is positive will the notification device 48 awaken and the message body be processed by the processing unit 64.
The man-machine interface 66 represents any suitable means for providing output from the notification device 48A to the notification device 48A user, and for providing inputs from the user to the notification device 48A for acknowledgement (if desired).
The display 70 represents any suitable means for providing written output from the notification device 48A to the notification device 48A user. In one embodiment, the display 70 could be a liquid crystal display. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that any other type of displays, capable of outputting alphanumerical messages could be used.
The visual alarm 72 represents any suitable means for providing visual output from the notification device 48A to the notification device 48A user. In one embodiment, the visual alarm 72 consists of three lights—red, yellow and orange. In another embodiment, the visual alarm 72 could be a single LED or a plurality of LED. In yet another embodiment, the visual alarm 72 comprises a flashing light.
The audible alarm 74 represents any suitable means for providing audible output from the notification device 48A to the notification device 48A user. In one embodiment, the audible alarm 74 is a horn. In another embodiment, the audible alarm 74 comprises means for text to voice translation. The means for text to voice translation are operable to translate the written message to an audio message. For instance, if the written message contained words “Danger! Evacuate!”, the means for translating text to voice, would pronounce the words “Danger” and “Evacuate”. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that any device, capable of producing a sufficiently loud sound, that must alert people (who could be asleep) of the fact that a notification message has been received, could be used.
The acknowledgment interface 68 could be a button that the user presses in order to acknowledge the receipt of the notification message. Any alternative suitable technique for acknowledgment, such as a switch or voice recognition, could also be used. This acknowledgement could be utilized for internal purposes to trigger the processing unit 64 to stop one or more of the audible alarm 74, the visual alarm 72 and the display 70. Further, as will be described with reference to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
If the query is positively answered (step 104=YES), i.e. if the notification message has been broadcast and received and the associated device identifier is assigned to the particular notification device, then the method 100 proceeds to steps 106 to 114, in which it is determined whether a severity indication is within the message body. As discussed above, in one particular embodiment, code “red”, “orange” and 37 yellow” are used as severity indications. In step 106, the method 100 queries if the “red” code is indicated in the message body of the notification message. Alternatively, this indication could be in the message header or n a different format. If the query is negatively answered (step 106NO), the method 100 proceeds to step 110. If the query is positively answered (step 106=YES), the method 100 proceeds to step 108 in which a red alert procedure is triggered. In a non-limiting example, this red alert procedure could comprise steps of switching the visual display 72 onto a red level and activating the audible alarm 74 continuously. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art that any combination of audible, visual and vibrating means could be used. The method 100 subsequently proceeds to step 118.
In step 110, the method 100 queries if the “orange” code is indicated in the message body of the notification message. If the query is negatively answered (step 100=NO), the method 100 proceeds to step 114. If the query is positively answered (step 110=YES), the method 100 proceeds to step 112 and an orange alert procedure is triggered. In a non-limiting example, this orange alert procedure could comprise the step of switching the visual display 72 onto an orange level and activating the audible alarm 74 for a limited time period. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art that any combination of audible, visual and vibrating means could be used. The method 100 then proceeds to step 118.
In step 114, the method 100 queries if the “yellow” code is indicated in the message body of the notification message. If the query is negatively answered (step 114=NO), the method 100 proceeds to step 118. If the query is positively answered (step 114=YES), the method 100 proceeds to step 1I 6 in which a yellow alert procedure is triggered. In a non-limiting example, this yellow alert procedure could comprise the step of switching the visual display 72 onto a yellow level. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art that any combination of audible and visual means could be used. The method 100 then proceeds to step 118.
At step 118, the method 100 triggers the activation of the display 70. In this step the written message is displayed. In one case, the written message could contain the proposed course of action, for example a “red” alarm could be: “Chemical spill Emergency! Evacuate the area immediately and proceed to School X!” In another case, the written message could contain a message during a blackout, for example a yellow alarm could be “Source of blackout being investigated—please standby”.
In one embodiment, the method 100 subsequently proceeds to step 120 in which it is determined whether a receipt of the message has been acknowledged with the acknowledgment interface 68. If the query is answered positively (step 120=YES), the method 100 disengages one or more outputs of the man machine interface 66 (potentially leaving the displayed text message). The method 100 then returns to step 102 and continues to monitor for new notification messages. If the query is negatively answered (step 120=NO), i.e. the end user has not acknowledged receipt of the notification message, the man-machine interface continues to deliver the message. It should be clear to a person skilled in the art, that other means of acknowledging the receipt of the notification message could be utilized. For instance, a timeout could be used that could eliminate the need for the acknowledgement interface and hence make the notification device less expensive.
A modified method is now described with reference to
Although the above steps have been described in a particular order and for a particular embodiment, it is to be understood by a person skilled in the art, that the invention is not limited thereto. Similar results could occur with different severity indications and different orders of steps.
Although described above with reference to a transport network including an encoder, a satellite uplink, a communication satellite and a plurality of base stations, it should b understood that other transport networks could be utilized. For instance, a transport network with a direct links between the message switch and a plurality of base stations could allow for the translated notification messages to be received at base stations without utilizing a communication satellite.
Although a message switch is described above for translation of the notification message, it should be understood that any apparatus that allows translation of the location identifier(s) to corresponding device identifier(s) and possibly base station identifiers could be utilized. This could be a dedicated hardware and/or software component and in an alternative embodiment could be integrated with the CNSC. In fact, in some embodiments of the present invention, the interface within the CNSC allows the user to input one or more device identifiers directly within the original notification message that is generated, therefore removing the need for translation in a translation apparatus such as the message switch 32 of the location identifier(s) into the device identifier(s). In this case, effectively the device identifiers themselves become the location identifiers and the location identifiers are programmed within the notification devices.
In one non-limiting example, the location identifiers are the same as the device identifiers within the notification system and no translation is necessarily required. Further, even the base station identifiers could be represented with the location identifiers. In this case, a single location identifier is programmed within a set of notification devices as one of their device identifiers and the same location identifier is programmed into one or more of the base stations as at least one of their base station identifiers. In this case, the location identifier could take the form of a postal code, a numeric version of a postal code, a CAP code or another format programmed within the various devices as a location identifier. If a location identifier is entered within the CNSC with corresponding notification information, a notification message is generated including the location identifier and the notification information. The base station(s) with the location identifier as a base station identifier are awoken and transmit the notification message to their respective coverage areas and the notification devices within these coverage areas that have the location identifier as a device identifier process the notification information after receiving the notification message.
Two embodiments of the CNSC 30 are now described with reference to
In one non-limiting example, the man machine interface 156 is a map interface which allows the user to highlight the geographical areas of focus for the notification information. In this case, the processing unit 152 detects the areas that have been highlighted using a sensor pad and translates the geographical area of focus into one or more location identifiers using a database lookup table linked to the XY coordinates highlighted on the map. These location identifier(s) are input within the resulting notification message. Alternatively, the processing unit 152 could translate the geographical area of focus directly into one or more device identifiers corresponding to the notification devices within the geographical area of focus and possibly even the base station identifiers corresponding to base stations that provide wireless coverage to the geographical area of focus.
The present invention thus provides an apparatus and a method of wireless notification. The system of the present invention bypasses the PSTN and utilizes device identifiers, such as CAP codes, rather than telephone numbers to identify notification devices. This ensures that in times of emergency, when the PSTN tends to be over-loaded, the notification message can still be delivered to the appropriate notification devices. The simple notification devices within embodiments of the present invention further ensure that the end user is unable to interfere with the settings of the device identifier(s) (e.g. CAP codes) in order to ensure that only qualified personnel of the service provider can assign them. This is particularly important, considering the nature of notification messages and importance of delivering the notification message to each and every appropriate notification device in times of emergency. Yet further, some embodiments of the present invention limit the ability of the user to move the notification device by limiting the number of base stations that transmit the notification message. This could be advantageous in cases that the notification device is assigned to a particular building or residence.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternatives implementations and modifications possible for implementing the present invention, and that the above implementation is only an illustration of this embodiment of the invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is only to be limited by the claims appended hereto.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,453,709 | Dec 2003 | CA | national |
