US20150050909A1 - Automatic remote communication using network telephony - Google Patents
Automatic remote communication using network telephony Download PDFInfo
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- US20150050909A1 US20150050909A1 US14/528,612 US201414528612A US2015050909A1 US 20150050909 A1 US20150050909 A1 US 20150050909A1 US 201414528612 A US201414528612 A US 201414528612A US 2015050909 A1 US2015050909 A1 US 2015050909A1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
- H04W4/02—Services making use of location information
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
- H04W4/02—Services making use of location information
- H04W4/029—Location-based management or tracking services
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- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
- G01S5/0009—Transmission of position information to remote stations
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/5116—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing for emergency applications
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- H04W4/22—
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
- H04W4/90—Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W64/00—Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
- H04M2242/30—Determination of the location of a subscriber
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
- H04M7/006—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
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.
Description
- This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/929,508, filed Jun. 27, 2013, entitled AUTOMATIC REMOTE COMMUNICATION USING NETWORK TELEPHONY which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 13/566,156, filed Aug. 3, 2012, entitled AUTOMATIC REMOTE COMMUNICATION USING NETWORK TELEPHONY, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,478,296, issued Jul. 2, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/007,576, filed Jan. 14, 2011, entitled AUTOMATIC REMOTE COMMUNICATION USING NETWORK TELEPHONY, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,265,653, issued Sep. 11, 2012, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/522,325, filed Mar. 9, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,890,117, issued Feb. 15, 2011, the entirety of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
- This invention relates to computer networks. In particular, the invention relates to network telephony.
- Packet-based data networks are widely used to link various nodes, such as personal computers, servers, gateways, and so forth. Packet-based data networks include private networks, such as local area networks (LANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), and public networks, such as the Internet. The increased availability of such data networks has increased accessibility among nodes, whether the nodes are located in close proximity to each other (such as within an organization) or at far distances from each other. Popular forms of communications across such data networks include electronic mail, file transfer, web browsing, and other exchanges of digital data.
- With the increase capacity and reliability of data networks, voice communications over data networks, including private and public networks, have become possible. Voice communications over packet-based data networks are unlike voice communications in a conventional public switch telephone network (PSTN), which provides users with dedicated end-to-end circuit connections for the duration of each call. Communications over data networks, such as IP (Internet Protocol) networks, are performed using packets that are sent in bursts from the source to one or more destination nodes. To enable voice communications between end points on a data network, a virtual circuit connection is established between the end points. Voice data sent over a data network has to share the network bandwidth with conventional non-voice data (e.g., electronic mail, file transfer, web access, and other traffic). One standard that has been implemented for communications of voice as well as other data is the H.323 recommendation from the Telecommunications Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T), which describes terminals, equipment and services for multimedia communications over packet-based networks.
- In an IP data network, each data packet is routed to a node having destination IP address contained within the header of each packet. Data packets may be routed over separate network paths before arriving at the final destination for reassembly. Transmission speeds of the various packets may vary widely depending on the usage of data networks over which the data packets are transferred. During peak usage of data networks, delays added to the transfer of voice data packets may cause poor performance of voice communications.
- Despite the increasing popularity of communicating over IP data networks, several applications have presented difficulties to the integration of IP telephony in a traditional communication environment. One example is the Enhanced 911 (E911) emergency call. The E911 regulatory requirements require location information concerning where the 911 caller is located. With a switched network this problem was solved by the transmission of the caller's telephone number to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) where it was cross-referenced with an address database to determine the caller's location. That information was then displayed on a video monitor for the emergency dispatcher to direct public safety personnel responding to the emergency. This enabled emergency organizations to find callers who could not orally provide their precise location. Although this problem has been solved for conventional public switched telephone systems such as in a public switched telephony network, the problem still exists for data networks, and in particular, location identification using IP telephony. First, the IP telephones are not tied or physically connected to a geographical location and thus their locations may be dynamic. Second, the information retrieval is not scaleable because there are a large number of IP domains and service provider policies (e.g., telephone companies, cable companies, and cellular companies).
- A further issue is that congestion on the data network may slow emergency communications traffic. Thus there is a need for prioritization of the emergency traffic to ensure a high degree of quality of service.
- Since each IP address has no geographic association, there is no provision for locating a network resource such as a server, a router, a gateway, or an IP terminal. If a fault occurs in a network resource, there is no way of geographically locating that resource. Thus, it would be desirable to provide network resources with geographic information for the purpose of resource location. Furthermore, it would be desirable to locate the nearest network resource to a terminal in the event that the terminal cannot locate its geographic position.
- In addition, IP telephony has been expensive to implement for applications involving the monitoring of environmental conditions, and remote meter reading, since each station required a dedicated connection to the IP network. Thus, there is a need for providing IP enabled applications with a communication means to communicate with a data network.
- Therefore, there is a need in the art for an efficient and low-cost technique for automatic remote communication using telephony.
- 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 receiving unit, an activation message is decoded to generate an activation command. The activation message is sent in response to a telephony 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.
- According to one embodiment of the present invention, the information message includes a location identifier corresponding to location of the transmitter. The location identifier may be stored in advance or dynamically provided by GPS data. The communication protocol uses one of a multi-frequency tone, an ultra-red signal, a microwave signal, and an electromagnetic signal. The transmitter includes a modulator to modulate the information message according to a modulating scheme. The receiving unit includes a demodulator to demodulate the information message according to a demodulating scheme. The telephony call is made by a person located in proximity of the location of the transmitter. The telephony call may be one of an emergency call using an emergency call number, a transactional call for a commercial transaction, or an intrusive call.
- The advantages of the invention include (1) provision of accurate, secure, and trusted location information, (2) compatibility with current telephony, computer devices, all technologies, and regulatory requirements, (3) ease in integration and implementation, (4) low cost, and (5) readiness for industry acceptance and standardization.
- Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
- In addition, IP telephony has been expensive to implement for applications involving the monitoring of environmental conditions, and remote meter reading, since each station required a dedicated connection to the IP network. Thus, there is a need for providing IP enabled applications with a communication means to communicate with a data network.
- Therefore, there is a need in the art for an efficient and low-cost technique for automatic remote communication using telephony.
- The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention in which:
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FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system according to one embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a transmitter shown inFIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a network component shown inFIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a request subsystem shown inFIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for remote communication using network telephony according to one embodiment of the invention. - 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 receiving unit, an activation message is decoded to generate an activation command. The activation message is sent in response to a telephony 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.
- According to one embodiment of the present invention, the information message includes a location identifier corresponding to location of the transmitter. The location identifier may be stored in advance or dynamically provided by GPS data. The communication protocol uses one of a multi-frequency tone, an ultra-red signal, a microwave signal, and an electromagnetic signal. The transmitter includes a modulator to modulate the information message according to a modulating scheme. The receiving unit includes a demodulator to demodulate the information message according to a demodulating scheme. The telephony call is made by a person located in proximity of the location of the transmitter. The telephony call may be one of an emergency call using an emergency call number, a transactional call for a commercial transaction, or an intrusive call. The emergency call number may be the “9-1-1” in the United States.
- The advantages of the invention include (1) provision of accurate, secure, and trusted information, (2) compatibility with current telephony, computer devices, all technologies, and regulatory requirements, (3) ease in integration and implementation, (4) low cost, and (5) readiness for industry acceptance and standardization.
- In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the present invention. In other instances, well-known electrical structures and circuits are shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention. For example, specific details are not provided as to whether the method is implemented in a station as a software routine, hardware circuit, firmware, or a combination thereof.
- Embodiments of the invention may be represented as a software product stored on a machine-readable medium (also referred to as a computer-readable medium, a processor-readable medium, or a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein). The machine-readable medium may be any type of magnetic, optical, or electrical storage medium including a diskette, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), memory device (volatile or non-volatile), or similar storage mechanism. The machine-readable medium may contain various sets of instructions, code sequences, configuration information, or other data. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other instructions and operations necessary to implement the described invention may also be stored on the machine-readable medium. Software running from the machine readable medium may interface with circuitry to perform the described tasks.
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FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating asystem 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. Thesystem 100 includes asatellite network 110,N transmitters 120 1 to 120 N, acommunication medium 130, anetwork component 140, anetwork 150, arequest subsystem 160, atransaction processor 170, and anetwork server 180. - The
satellite network 110 includes a number of GPS satellites orbiting around the earth to provideGPS data 115 relating to positional information. TheGPS data 115 is received by thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N to determine the positional information. - The
transmitters 120 1 to 120 N broadcast information to thenetwork component 140 via thecommunication medium 130. The information from thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N are embedded insignals 125 1 to 125 N, respectively. The information may include location information, measurement information, or meter reading information. Thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N broadcast the information either at request upon receiving anactivation request 135 from therequest subsystem 160 or automatically, either on a substantially periodic basis or continuous basis. Thecommunication medium 130 is any medium (e.g., air) that can carry thesignals 125 1 to 125 N and theactivation request 135. In one embodiment, thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N are geographically dispersed to form a distributed location broadcast system. The location broadcast system is used in a number of applications that require the location information transmitted via IP telephony and/or computer network. - The
network component 140 is a unit or subsystem that can be networked with other networkable components via thenetwork 150. Thenetwork component 140 receives and processes the information transmitted or broadcast by at least one of thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N. Thenetwork 140 sends the processed information to other components connected to thenetwork 150 such as thetransaction processor 170 or thenetwork server 180. Thenetwork component 140 is configured to be used in any applications that require receiving information (e.g., location information) from thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N. These applications may include emergency call location reporting (e.g., E911), commercial transactions (e.g., food delivery), intrusion detection (e.g., detecting location of an intrusive caller or harasser). Thenetwork component 140 may be an emergency server, or associated with atransactional entity 175 via thetransaction processor 170. - The
network 150 is any network that allows messages or data packets to be sent and received. Thenetwork 150 may be a data enabled PBX, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), an extranet, an intranet, or the Internet. Thenetwork 150 typically has some protocol or standard that allows voice and data to be transmitted and received. In one embodiment, thenetwork 150 is a data network having the voice over Internet Protocol (IP) capability. Protocols that govern the voice over IP may include the standards provided by the ITU such as the H.323 standard. - The
request subsystem 160 generates the activation request ormessage 135 to be sent to the transmitters to request for information in response to atelephony call 165. Therequest subsystem 160 is connected to thenetwork 150 to exchange network data with other network components. Thetelephony call 165 is a call that is processed by the IP telephony including voice calls and multimedia calls (e.g., teleconference call, audio and/or video call). The call is normally made by a person, or activated by a machine. The call may be made by a person who requests emergency assistance (e.g., E911), or a person who requests a commercial transaction (e.g., food delivery), or an intruder who makes harassing calls to others. - The
transaction processor 170 performs transactional processing tasks in a transaction for atransactional entity 175. The transaction may be a commercial or a financial transaction. For example, thetransaction entity 175 may be a food delivery establishment who wishes to confirm or verify the location of the delivery destination. The location information can be automatically sent from one of thetransmitters 120 1 1 to 120 N to thetransaction processor 170 via thenetwork 150 when the person makes atelephony call 165. This automatic remote communication saves time and reduces error in getting the location information based on verbal communication. Thetransaction processor 170 may have storage medium and display unit to automatically store and/or display the received information. - The
network server 180 is a server that acts as a network gateway to provide interface to thenetwork 150. Thecentral authority 185 is an authority (e.g., local government, public utility) or station that receives the information sent by the transmitters. For E911 applications, the central authority 190 is the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and the information embedded in the signals includes the automatic number identification (ANI) and the automatic location identification (ALI). In environmental reporting applications, thecentral authority 185 may be an environmental data gathering agency that collects environmental data and distributes to news agencies or other environmental agencies. In remote metering reading applications, thecentral authority 185 may be a public utility agency that collects the meter readings of utilities and records for load balancing, load monitoring, or billing purposes. -
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating one of thetransmitters 120 1 to 120 N shown inFIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. Thetransmitter 120 includes areception unit 210, atransmission unit 220, abroadcast information 230, aninformation message 240, alocation interface 255, aprocessor 280, and amemory 290. - The
transmitter 120 is a device that transmits asignal 125 upon receiving theactivation request 135 or continuously without request. In one embodiment of the invention, thetransmitter 120 is a stand-alone device, in a wall or ceiling mountable case. Thetransmitter 120 may alternatively be embedded in a building or any area where the present invention might have application. In other embodiments of the invention, thetransmitter 120 may be built into an always-on appliance such as a security system, a smoke detector, a server, a telephony apparatus, as an adjunct to an electrical or telecommunications socket or the like. For portable applications, such as when thetransmitter 120 is not fixed to a permanent location, thelocation interface 255 is a Global Positioning System (GPS) element for the provision of positional data. Thelocation interface 255 processes received signals from orbiting satellites to derive positional information to an estimated mean accuracy of plus or minus 100 feet. Additionally, Differential GPS (DGPS) positioning techniques may be used, in which signals from a local transmitter and orbiting satellites are processed to compute an extremely precise location, with a much smaller error than using conventional GPS techniques. Positional data may also be provided to thetransmitter 120 from a device that calculates a position by processing signals from ground-based stations with fixed locations. Further, accurate altitude information may be calculated by a processor taking an input from a barometric pressure sensor and a local barometric pressure setting. The local barometric pressure setting may be received automatically from a local weather reporting station, or over a network connection, for example, from a weather data provider. There are various techniques know in the art for deriving such positional information, and any one of these positioning devices may be coupled withtransmitter 120. - Alternative to transmitting positional data, the
transmitter 120 may transmit a predetermined code, wherein the code has an associated location that is registered with an address database. This code may be cross-referenced with the associated location. - In some embodiments, any of the above geographical locating methods and apparatus may be used in conjunction with the
transmitter 120 when programming the location information either into the device or when sending the location information to an address database that stores geographical location information associated with a predetermined code. - In environmental reporting applications, the
transmitter 120 is located near the environmental location. In remote meter reading applications, thetransmitter 120 is located near the meter. Thesignal 125 carries an information message to be sent over thenetwork 150. - The
reception unit 210 receives theactivation request 135 sent from the request subsystem 160 (FIG. 1 ). Thereception unit 210 includes atransmitter decoder 212. Thetransmitter decoder 212 receives and decodes the activation request/message 135. In most cases, thetransmitter decoder 212 is a signal detector that detects the signal carrying theactivation request 135. The signal carrying theactivation request 135 may be a signal having a predefined frequency, code, or bit pattern and the signal detector is designed to detect any signal with that predefined frequency, code, or bit pattern. Thereception unit 210 generates anactivation command 215 to thetransmission unit 220. Thetransmission unit 220 receives theactivation command 215 and retrieves thebroadcast information 230. Thetransmission unit 220 includes amodulator 222 which modulates thebroadcast information 230 according to a pre-defined communication protocol that is designed to be compatible with thenetwork component 140. The modulatedinformation message 230 becomes one of thesignals 125 1 to 125 N to be transmitted over thecommunication medium 130. Thesignal 125 may be any one of a multi-frequency (MF) signal, an ultra-red signal, an infra-red signal, a microwave signal, a RF signal, or any other electromagnetic or optical signal. - In one embodiment, the signal modulation uses a pseudo random binary sound (PRBS) technique. The PRBS codes can generate many different code sequences and therefore can help differentiate many different locations. In other words, several transmitters can be installed in close proximity without having too much interference. The PRBS signal behaves like white noise and is therefore less intrusive and would not cause interference to other signal transmissions. Lastly, the PRBS signal level can be very low, resulting in low power consumption, such that the transmitter can be turned on all the time. In this case, it is possible that there is no need to have a transmitter activator. When the telephony number is detected, it is only necessary to activate the receiver to receive the PRBS signal.
- The
broadcast information 230 is the information to be transmitted by thetransmission unit 220. Thebroadcast information 230 incorporates the contents of the information message with other information and includes any one of anidentification tag 232, anabsolute location 234, arelative location 236, andother information 238. Thebroadcast information 230 is arranged according to a predefined format that can be identified and decoded by thenetwork component 140. The absolute andrelative locations - The
information message 240 is any message that is to be sent to network 175 according to the application in which this invention is practiced. There are numerous applications that the remote communication technique in this invention can be used. Some examples of these applications include emergency reporting (e.g., E911), geographical location reporting, geographical location verification, information gathering, environmental conditions reporting, remote meter reading, electronic commerce, commercial transactions, and intrusion detection. - In the E911 application, the
information message 230 includes alocation identifier 250 that identifies the location of thetransmitter 120 or the general location where thetransmitter 120 is located. Thelocation identifier 250 may include global positioning system (GPS) data including longitudinal, latitudinal, and altitude and other x, y, z coordinate information. When thetransmitter 120 is installed in an office building, a hotel, a shopping mall, a large public or private space, or any structure, thelocation identifier 250 may include the specific street address, the street name, the address number, the suite number, the floor number, the room number, or any other location identification information. In this application, typically the location is known at the time thetransmitter 120 is installed. Therefore, theinformation message 230 may be pre-programmed or entered with the specific information. When thetransmitter 120 is installed at another different location, theinformation message 240 can be re-programmed, re-coded, or re-entered with the new location information. Theinformation message 240 may be stored in a programmable read only memory (PROM) such as flash memory. The flash memory can be re-programmed remotely via some communication interface at the time thetransmitter 120 is installed. - In the environmental reporting, the
information message 240 may includeenvironmental conditions 260 in the area that thetransmitter 120 is installed. Theenvironmental conditions 260 may include temperature, humidity, wind speed, barometric pressure, etc. In these applications, theinformation message 240 may be constantly updated, periodically updated, or updated at the time of activation to reflect the current environmental condition. The environmental condition is provided by anenvironmental sensor 262 such as a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, and a wind speed meter. - In remote meter reading, the
information message 240 may include a meter reading 270 from ameter 272. Themeter 272 may be installed to reported utility usage such as electricity, water, or gas consumption at the facility that thetransmitter 120 is installed. Theinformation message 240 may be constantly updated or updated only at the time of activation to reflect the current reading of the meter. - The
processor 280 is typically an embedded micro-controller that can execute code to control the operation of thetransmitter 120. In some applications, theprocessor 280 may be optional. Theprocessor 280 is interfaced to thememory 290. Thememory 290 may include a random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM) to store program code or data. Theprocessor 280 executes computer readable program code for decoding theactivation message 135, modulating thebroadcast information 230, and transmitting thesignal 125 to thecommunication medium 130. -
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating thenetwork component 140 shown inFIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. Thenetwork component 140 includes a receivingunit 310, alocation determination unit 320, anetwork interface 330, areceiver decoder 340, areceiver activator 350, aprocessor 360, and amemory 370. - The receiving
unit 310 receives thesignal 125 sent from thetransmitters 120. The receivingunit 310 is activated by anactivation command 315 from thereceiver decoder 340 and is enabled to receive thesignal 125 carrying the broadcast information 230 (FIG. 2 ). The receivingunit 310 includes ademodulator 312 to demodulate the receivedsignal 125 and provides the extractedinformation message 315. The extractedinformation message 315 is essentially the same as the information message 240 (FIG. 2 ). The receivingunit 310 then sends the extractedinformation message 315 to thelocation determination unit 320. Thelocation determination unit 320 is used in applications that require the location information. Thelocation determination unit 320 determines the location embedded in the extractedinformation message 315. This may include calculations of x, y, z coordinates based on the GPS data, distance estimates, or any other necessary calculations. - The
network interface 330 allows thenetwork component 140 to interface to thenetwork 150. Thenetwork interface 330 includes adata packet 335 to be sent to other networked components. Thedata packet 335 includes the extractedinformation message 315. - The
processor 360 is typically an embedded micro-controller that can execute code to control the operation of thenetwork component 140. Theprocessor 360 may be a media processor with telephony capabilities or a digital signal processor (DSP) to perform other signal processing tasks. In some applications, theprocessor 360 may be optional.Processor 360 may also be implemented by other control means such as a dedicated logic circuitry, programmable gate array (PGA), a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or hybrids of these. Theprocessor 360 is interfaced to thememory 370. Thememory 370 may include a mass storage device (e.g., CD ROM, floppy drive, hard disk drive), random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM) to store program code or data. Theprocessor 360 executes computer readable program code for decoding theactivation message 345, demodulating thesignal 125, and generating the extractedinformation message 315. - The
receiver decoder 340 decodes anactivation command 315 sent from thereceiver activator 350 when thesignal 125 is to be received. Thereceiver activator 350 may be connected to thereceiver decoder 340 via an electronic interface such as a parallel data interface or a serial data interface over a serial data bus, or an electromechanical switching mechanism such as a relay. Thereceiver activator 350 may be a software program code executed by theprocessor 360, or a hardware mechanism controlled by theprocessor 360. Thereceiver activator 350 sends anactivation message 345 to thereceiver decoder 340 in response to thetelephony call 165. -
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating therequest subsystem 160 shown inFIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. Therequest subsystem 160 includes atelephony call device 410, atelephony interface 420, atelephony server 430, atelephony connection path 440, and atransmitter activator 450. In some applications, not all of the elements in therequest subsystem 160 are necessary. - The
call device 410 is a device that provides telephony service and transmits thetelephony call 165. Thecall device 410 may be atelephone unit 412, a computer 414 (e.g., a notebook, a personal digital assistant, a laptop, and a desktop computer) with telephony capabilities, and acellular telephony device 416. A person can use thecall device 410 in any place or location. For example, a person can use thecall device 410 at home, in a hotel room, or in a public telephony booth. - The
telephony interface 420 provides telephony services to thecall device 410. Thetelephony interface 120 is optional in some instances. The telephony services include multimedia interface for voice over Internet Protocol (IP) or any other protocols. Thetelephony interface 120 may include a router, a gateway, or a private branch exchange (PBX) with IP telephony capabilities. The PBX routes the call made by thecall device 410 through theserver 430 via some programmed trunk interface. In another embodiment, thetelephony interface 420 may be a device to listen to the dialed tone, or call setup signaling and detect if a certain number (e.g., 911) has been called. - The
server 430 is typically installed near or at the location of thecall device 410. Theserver 430 is connected to thenetwork 150 and/or directly to thetransmitter activator 450 to exchange network data/messages. Theserver 430 may be an IP gateway that allows the call to be embedded in a network data to be sent over thenetwork 150. Theserver 430 may be a centralized computer system that has adatabase 432 for telephony services. Thedatabase 432 may include a directory of telephony numbers or people. The telephony numbers are those that need to be detected when a telephony call is made via thetelephony device 410. For example, thedatabase 432 may include the 911 number for E911 service, a phone number of a utility agency to report meter readings (e.g., for gas, water, electricity usage), a phone number of an environmental bureau to report environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity). In other applications, thedatabase 432 may include any telephony numbers that may utilize the remote communication technique in this invention. For example, businesses may find it desirable to automatically locate the calling party or to verify the location of the calling party before placing an order for a product or service. Such a need arises, for example, with food delivery companies, when receiving orders from customers via a telephony device. Thus, these business may subscribe to having their number included indatabase 432, such that the connection to that number causes thetransmitter 120 to activate, as further described below. - The
telephony connection path 440 is the telephony link that links theIP telephony interface 420 and/or thecall device 410. Thetelephony connection path 440 may be a traditional telephony line in a home or in a business environment, a connection to a data network such as a LAN, a WAN, or a MAN, or a wireless interface to thecellular telephony 416. - The
transmitter activator 450 is connected to thetelephony connection path 440 and/or theserver 430. Thetransmitter activator 450 may be integral to theserver 430 or thetelephony interface 420. Thetransmitter activator 450 sends an activation request ormessage 135 to thetransmitter 120 via thecommunication medium 130 in response to atelephony call 165 made by thecall device 410. In one embodiment, thecommunication medium 130 is air and the activation request ormessage 135 is modulated into any one of a multi-frequency (MF) signal, an ultra-red signal, an infra-red signal, a microwave signal, an RF signal, or any other electromagnetic or optical signal. In one embodiment, thetransmitter activator 450 is interfaced to theserver 430 and receives a command from theserver 430 when a specified telephony number (e.g., 911) is detected. In another embodiment, thetransmitter activator 450 is interfaced to thetelephony connection path 440 to detect if a specified number is being dialed. For example, in a home environment, thetransmitter activator 450 is a device installed at the telephone box to listen to the telephone tone being dialed. When the specified telephony number (e.g., 911) is detected, thetransmitter activator 450 sends the activation request ormessage 135 to thetransmitter 120. -
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating aprocess 500 for remote communication using network telephony according to one embodiment of the invention. - Upon START, a telephony call is placed via a call device (Block 510). The call device may be a regular telephony handset, a cellular phone, or a notebook computer with audio interface capabilities. Then, the
process 500 determines if the number dialed is the specified number (e.g., 911) (Block 515). If not, theprocess 500 proceeds to process the call as normal (Block 520) and is then terminated. Otherwise, theprocess 500 activates the transmitter by sending an activation request or message (Block 525). - Then, the
process 500 decodes the activation message at the transmitter (Block 530). The decoding may simply involve detecting a signal with a specified characteristic (e.g., specified frequency, code). Next, theprocess 500 retrieves and sends the information message (e.g., location identifier) to a receiver via a communication medium (Block 535). The sending of the information message may involve modulating the information message according to a communication protocol. - Then, the
process 500 determines if the information has been reliably received (Block 540). If not, theprocess 500 generates an error condition (Block 545) and is then terminated. Otherwise, theprocess 500 de-activates the transmitter (Block 550). Next, theprocess 500 receives the signal sent over the communication medium (Block 555). Then, theprocess 500 demodulates the received signal to extract the information message (Block 560). Next, theprocess 500 embeds the extracted information message in network data in a data packet (Block 565). Then, theprocess 500 sends the network data in the data packet via the network (Block 560). Next, theprocess 500 receives the data packet with the information message (Block 565). Theprocess 500 is then terminated. - While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, which are apparent to persons skilled in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to lie within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims (19)
1. A method of operating a communication system, the method comprising:
receiving an activation request at a location-aware component of the communication system, the activation request indicating occurrence of an activation event;
in response to the activation request, sending a signal indicating a location of the location-aware component to a networking component of the communication system;
receiving the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component at the networking component; and
sending a signal indicating the location of the location-aware component into a communication network toward at least one network server communicatively coupled to the communication network.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending a signal indicating the activation event with the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component sent from the location-aware component to the networking component; and
sending a signal indicating the activation event with the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component sent from the networking component toward the at least one network server.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising sending the activation request from an activation component of the communication system to the location-aware component in response to the activation event.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the communication system includes a plurality of location-aware components, distributed at respective geographically spaced locations; and
sending the activation request from an activation component of the communication system to the location-aware component in response to the activation event comprises sending a local activation request signal from the activation component for detection only by at least one location-aware component located near to the activation component.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the activation component includes at least one sensor; and
the activation event comprises at least one sensor reading.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the signals indicating the activation event comprise signals indicating the at least one sensor reading, and the method further comprises:
receiving the signal indicating the at least one sensor reading and the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component at the at least one network server; and
processing the at least one sensor reading and the location at the at least one network server.
7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the activation event comprises a commercial transaction.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the signals indicating the activation event comprise signals information pertaining to the commercial transaction, and the method further comprises:
receiving the signal comprising information pertaining to the commercial transaction and the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component at the at least one network server; and
processing the information pertaining to the commercial transaction and the location at the at least one network server.
9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the activation event comprises initiation of a communication session by a component of the communication system located near the location-aware component of the communication system.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the communication session is an emergency communication session.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving the activation request comprises receiving the activation request from a mobile communication device in response to initiation of the emergency communication session.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the emergency communication is a 911 call.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving the activation request comprises receiving the activation request from a mobile telephony device in response to initiation of the 911 call.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a current location of the location-aware component.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the location-aware component includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; and
determining a current location of the location-aware component comprises determining the current location using GPS.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the location-aware component includes a receiver; and
determining a current location of the location-aware component comprises determine the current location based on signals received from ground-based transmitters having known locations.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location-aware component has a known fixed location.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component into the communication network toward the at least one network server communicatively coupled to the communication network comprises broadcasting the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component onto the communication network.
19. The method of claim 2 , wherein sending the signal indicating the activation event with the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component into the communication network toward the at least one network server comprises broadcasting the signal indicating the activation event with the signal indicating the location of the location-aware component onto the communication network.
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US7890117B1 (en) * | 2000-03-09 | 2011-02-15 | Nortel Networks Limited | Automatic remote communication using network telephony |
JP5755962B2 (en) * | 2011-07-22 | 2015-07-29 | 富士通株式会社 | COMMUNICATION DEVICE, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND COMMUNICATION PROGRAM |
KR101260651B1 (en) * | 2012-10-29 | 2013-05-08 | (주)이노비드 | System and method providing social safety net based on address of smart grid infra device |
KR101815391B1 (en) * | 2015-10-19 | 2018-01-05 | 이재훈 | Method for deliverying announcement while call waiting |
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US20120295578A1 (en) | 2012-11-22 |
US8265653B2 (en) | 2012-09-11 |
US7890117B1 (en) | 2011-02-15 |
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