Patent ID: 9596583
Date: 2017-03-14
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A method to broadcast alert messages to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-enabled devices connected to wireless access points located in an alert target area, comprising: maintaining a dataset of locations of known wireless access points and, for each access point, a device identifier and a session state of IMS-enabled devices that access the known wireless access point; receiving an alert message, wherein the alert message includes a link to external data comprising geographic location information for an alert target area in which the alert message is to be broadcast; retrieving, via the link to external data, the geographic location information for the alert target area in which the alert message is to be broadcast; identifying one or more wireless access points located within the alert target area by comparing the locations of known wireless access points to the alert target area to identify wireless access points that fall within the alert target area; for each identified wireless access point located within the alert target area: sending the received alert message to each IMS-enabled device indicated as having an active session; and wherein the method further comprises one or more of the following (a), (b) or (c): (a) maintaining in the dataset of locations of known wireless access points, for each alert message, a message identifier and an indication of whether the message has been sent to an IMS-enabled device associated with a device identifier, and (b) maintaining in the dataset of locations of known wireless access points, for each alert message, a message identifier and an indication of a message confirmation, the message confirmation corresponding to the receipt of the message by an IMS-enabled device to which the message was sent, and (c) maintaining in the dataset of locations of known wireless access points, for each device identifier, an indication of an amount of time that has elapsed since the device identifier was last registered on an IMS network, wherein the alert message is broadcast over an IMS network, and