Abstract:
Providing emergency alert system (EAS) alerts to IP-based devices inside and outside a home is contemplated. The EAS alerts may be provided through television signals for output on one or more televisions and simultaneously to Internet-Protocol (IP)-based devices such as tablets, game consoles, cellular phones, mobile computer, IP-STBs, televisions with IP connectivity or non-television dependent devices.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to providing emergency alert system (EAS) alerts, such as but not necessarily limited to providing EAS alerts to television and non-television or Internet Protocol (IP) types of devices. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers specification, entitled Emergency Alert Signaling for the Home Network (ANSI/SCTE 162 2009 (J-STD-070-2010 A Joint Standard Developed by SCTE and CEA) Emergency Alert Signaling for the Home Network), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, standardizes metadata elements describing emergency alert events to devices in a home network, for applications involving the delivery of Commercial Video Services into the home network. Commercial Video Services are sources of audio/video content provided as live or on-demand streams from a particular service provider. Other standards define emergency alert signaling for digital cable receiving devices (ANSI J-STD-042-A, Emergency Alert Messaging for Cable, November 2007, also known as SCTE 18 2007, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety) and for IPTV terminal devices (ATIS-0800012 IPTV Emergency Alert System Metadata Specification, June, 2008, Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). 
         [0003]    Receiving devices in the home with access to Commercial Video Services may wish to place such content on a home network. SCTE  162  defines a metadata format usable by these receiving devices to notify client devices in the home network of emergency alert information including text, audio, and specific details about the alert (such as originator and event code, severity, etc.). Some types of alerts are urgent enough that they trigger client devices to immediately switch to another channel offered by that service provider which is a source of live audio/video describing details of the alert (the “Details Channel”). The metadata format described in SCTE  162  provides a pointer to the Details Channel for such cases. When outputting live programming on a channel defined in the schema as an “Exception Channel,” client devices remain tuned to that channel to receive details of the alert. 
         [0004]    SCTE  162  does not specify required receiver behavior. The purpose of SCTE  162  is to standardize the delivery format and syntax and semantics of the emergency alert metadata, which is specified in the form of an XML Schema and associated element definitions. SCTE  162  also does not describe transport protocols and methods for the delivery of the emergency alert metadata in the home network. Accordingly, the present invention perceives a need to address the delivery of such emergency alert metadata and other EAS related data in the home network. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  illustrates a system for providing an emergency alert system (EAS) alerts as contemplated by one non-limiting aspect of the present invention. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  illustrates a message flow diagram associated with a method for providing EAS alerts as contemplated by one non-limiting aspect of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0007]    As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a system  10  for providing an emergency alert system (EAS) alerts as contemplated by one non-limiting aspect of the present invention. The system  10  may be configured to facilitate generation of an EAS alert or other suitable warning at one or more output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 . The system  10  is described with respect to facilitating generation of the EAS alert in response to EAS source messages issued from an EAS  18 , which for example may be a governmental emergency entity (e.g. national weather service, city-municipal corporations, police, fire, military, etc.) or other entity desiring communication of EAS alerts or other types of messages to certain output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 . The system  10  is predominately described with respect to the EAS source message being carried over a hybrid-fiber coax (HFC) system associated with a cable television infrastructure in accordance with SCTE  162 . The present invention, however, is not necessary so limited and fully contemplates the EAS alerts being delivered according to any suitable protocol or standard, across any cable or non-cable network  20  (e.g., a cellular network, optical network, satellite network, Wi-Fi network, telephone network, etc.), and to any number of output devices. 
         [0009]    The system  10  may include a service provider (SP)  22  configured to provide services for one or more subscribers. The services may include those associated with a cable television service provider, a satellite television service provider, an Internet service provider (ISP), a high speed data (HSD) service provider, a multiple system operator (MSO), a cellular phone service provider, a wireless or Wi-Fi service provider, a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service provider, or other type of service provider tasked with providing services to output devices. The service provider  22  may be configured to facilitate services with signaling carried over a wireline and/or wireless network  24 . The output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  may correspond with any devices sufficient to access the desired services, including but not limited to a computer, phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), media terminal adaptor (MTA), tablet, television, digital video recorder (DVR), etc. One or more gateways  26  may be included to facilitate interfacing signaling between the service provider  22  and the output devices  12 ,  14 . The gateway  26  may be a cable modem (CM), router, settop box (STB), network address translator (NAT) or other device having capabilities sufficient to interface signaling, including those sufficient to interface or descramble proprietary signaling associated with the service provider  22 . 
         [0010]    The present invention contemplates the service provider  22  being required or otherwise tasked with delivering EAS alerts to the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 . The system  10  is predominately described with respect to the service provider  22  leveraging off of known geographical locations of their service network and subscribers to facilitate delivery of EAS alerts depending on a geographical area subjected to the EAS alert. While a single network  24  is shown, it is contemplated that the illustrated network  24  may be segmented into a plurality of and/or private networks having cable modem termination stations (CMTSs), headend units, switches or other types of hardware to support signaling at different locations such that the known geographical areas may be determined with geographical specificity equivalent to the known locations of the hardware components supporting signaling. The service provider  22  may be configured to determine the geographical area subjected to a computer EAS alert according to geographical characteristics or other parameters included within a corresponding EAS source message. The geographical information included in the EAS source message may be the extent of the geographical or recipient identifying information such that the service provider  22  is required to assess the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  requiring the corresponding EAS alert. 
         [0011]    The service provider  22  may be configured to cross-reference one or more geographical characteristics specified in the EAS source message with known geographical locations of the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  in order to identify those in need of the EAS alert. This may include identifying the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  specifically, e.g., according to an IP address, a MAC address etc., or the associated subscribers, either individually or geographically, e.g. a ZIP code, street address, etc. Location information sufficient for identifying the area subjected to EAS alert may also be determined by cross-referencing known location information associated with a serial number, MAC address or IP addresses of the gateway  26  or other interface identified within signaling from output devices.  FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary configuration where a first and a second one of the output devices  12 ,  14  are connected through a gateway  26  and a third one of output devices  16  is connected directly to the network  24 . This scenario may occur, for example, in the event the gateway  26  is a cable modem or STB configured to facilitate descrambling proprietary signaling of the service provider, such as to facilitate delivery of services over a home network  30 , and the third device  16  is connected to the Internet either directly or through another gateway, such as at a Wi-Fi or wireless hotspot location associated with a different service provider or at another location associated with the same service provider  22 . 
         [0012]    The present invention presumes each of the first, second and third output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  are associated with one or more subscribers within the EAS alert domain of the service provider  22  such that the service provider  22  is required to provide them relevant EAS alerts. The third device  16 , for example, may be accessing services of the service provider while outside of their “home” location, such as through a web portal or other interface that mimics the service typically available to them at the “home” location. Accordingly, the present invention contemplates the service provider  22  being configured to facilitate individually addressing signaling to each of output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  sufficient to facilitate generating the corresponding EAS alert, optionally regardless of a current position of the output device  12 ,  14 ,  16 . The present invention also fully contemplates one or more of the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  being associated with non-subscribers or others beyond the EAS alert requirements of the service provider  22 , such as but not necessary limited to output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  that have temporarily been granted access to the service provider services, e.g., temporary access to the home network associated with signaling of the service provider  22 . The service provider  22  may be configured to facilitate delivery of relevant EAS alerts to these types of visiting output devices, including relying on addressing or other information associated with the gateway  26  or other connection point through which they are receiving services. 
         [0013]    The present invention contemplates facilitating EAS alerts to subscriber devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  when the subscriber devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  are at known or unknown locations and to facilitate EAS alerts with visiting devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  which otherwise would not be within the EAS alert responsibilities of the service provider  22 , e.g., visiting devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  that have temporarily registered to receive services. The output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  requiring EAS alerts may be limited to those currently at location within the geographical area subjected to the EAS alert and/or more broadly to a device outside the affected area if the subscriber of that devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  is typically located in an area subjected to the EAS alert. This may include notifying subscribers of EAS alerts occurring at the primary location while the subscribers actually traveling to another location, e.g., to notify a subscriber of a problem at their home while they are at a location away from their home. The present invention contemplates at least facilitating transmission of EAS alerts where the gateway  26  may be configured to communicate the EAS alert to each of its connected devices  12 ,  14  (i.e., a one-to-many distribution of EAS alerts, which may optionally occur without the service provider  22  being aware of the devices  12 ,  14  connected to the gateway  26 , and/or through direct signaling with the output devices  12 ,  14  using known addressing (i.e., a one-to-one distribution of EAS alerts), which may require the service provider  22  to be aware of the devices  12 ,  14 . 
         [0014]      FIG. 2  illustrates a message flow diagram  34  associated with a method for providing EAS alerts as contemplated by one non-limiting aspect of the present invention. The method may be associated with a non-transitory computer-readable medium of the service provider  22 , gateway  26  or other one of the components shown in  FIG. 1  having computer-readable code embodied therein for controlling an associated computing device to facilitate an EAS alert. The computer-readable medium may include instructions sufficient for executing operations contemplated by the present invention, either individually or in cooperation with commands and instructions issued to other devices associated with the system  10 . The method may be beneficial in facilitating EAS alerts to devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  according to their specific protocol requirements and/or generically to devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  having capabilities to facilitate Internet protocol (IP). The EAS alerts may be executed according to instructions or data downloaded in a file from a web server or an EAS server  36  (see  FIG. 1 ). The ability to generate generic or IP-based EAS alerts may be beneficial in allowing the system to leverage off of known or existing EAS infrastructures (e.g., SCTE  162 ) to facilitate generating EAS alerts to devices which may not be compliant with the known or existing EAS infrastructures. 
         [0015]    The process contemplated to facilitate providing the EAS alerts may be instigated with an EAS source message  40  communicated from the EAS  18  to the service provider  22 . The EAS source message  40  may include information regarding a nature of the EAS alert, including information regarding the type, format, urgency, content and geographical area(s) of to the EAS alert. The service provider  22  may be configured to generate EAS messages  42 ,  44  according to the information included within the EAS source message  40 . The EAS messages  42 ,  44  may be used to facilitate appraising the gateway  26 , EAS server  36  or output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  of the EAS alert to be generated. The EAS messages  42 ,  44  may prompt or command the gateway  26  or EAS server  36  to generate an EAS manifest file for subsequent download by one or more of the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 . The downloadable files may be formatted to prompt output of the EAS alert according to the operation parameters of the output devices  12 ,  14 ,  16 . 
         [0016]      FIG. 2  illustrates a scenario where the service provider  22  generates first and second EAS messages  42 ,  44  respectively for the gateway  26  and the EAS server  36 . The first and second message  42 ,  44  may be copies of the same message or uniquely formatted according to the requirements of the gateway  26  and EAS server  36 . The second EAS message  44  may be transmitted to the EAS server  36  over the Internet or through another suitable network. In the event the gateway  26  is a STB or other device connected to a private network or service specific network  24  of the service provider  22 , e.g., its television signaling network, the EAS message  42  may be transmitted to the gateway  26  within normal television signaling. The gateway  26  may be configured to process the EAS message  42  to facilitate output of the EAS alert with the connected output devices  12 ,  14 . The communication of the EAS alert to the output devices  12 ,  14 , for example with respect to the first gateway  26 , may include communicating over a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cable to a television (device  12 ) and over a wireless home network to a computer (device  14 ). 
         [0017]    The gateway  26  may be configured to output an EAS alert  46  within television signals carried though the HDMI cable to be descrambled for output with the television  12 . The television  12  may automatically output the EAS alert when embedded in the television signaling, i.e., as if it was part of the television signals being descrambled for viewing. The EAS message  42  may prompt the gateway  26  to transmit a universal resource locator (URL)  48  or other type of location pointer to the second output device  14  or any additional device connected to the gateway  26 , such as over a wireless connection of the home network  30 . This may include transmitting the URL  18  to any device  14  which is not being actively descrambling television signals for output, i.e., a device  14  that is not outputting television signals having the EAS alert  46  embedded therein. The corresponding gateway  26  may be unable to force output of an EAS alert at the second output device  14  by embedding EAS alert signals within television signals. The URL  48  may be communicated as a UPnP Content Directory Service (CDS) content item, as a server sent event or other suitable operation, such as described in UPnP Version 1.0, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
         [0018]    The URL  48  may be used to command the second device  14  to download  50  an EAS manifest file from the gateway. The EAS manifest file  52  may be included within the EAS message  42  and/or generated by the gateway  26  in response to information included therein. The EAS manifest  52  may be formatted to facilitate IP-based communication such that it can be communicated over the home network  30  to any IP-enabled device  14 . This may include the EAS manifest file  52  being formatted as an xml schema having instructions sufficient to facilitate output of the EAS alert according to the operating requirements of the second output device  14 . The EAS manifest file  52  may correspond with the metadata format defined in SCTE  162 , which may be usable by the receiving device  14  to notify connected client devices in the home network  30  of emergency alert information including text, audio, and specific details about the alert (such as originator and event code, severity, etc.). The EAS manifest  52  may be urgent enough that they trigger client devices  14  to immediately switch to another channel offered by that service provider  22  which is a source of live audio/video describing details of the alert (the “Details Channel”). The metadata format described in SCTE  162  provides a pointer to the Details Channel for such cases, e.g., commanding the second output device  14  to output the desired EAS alert by tuning to a certain channel and/or to download information from a website or a service otherwise associated with the SCTE  162  pointer. 
         [0019]    The service provider  22  may be configured to generate the EAS message  42  to include the EAS manifest file  52  with instructions sufficient to facilitate commanding various types of devices  12 ,  14  to communicate the desired EAS alert. The EAS manifest file  52  downloaded from the gateway  26  by the second device  14 , therefore, may include a number of different instructions set and/or configurations for the EAS alert. The second output device  14  may process a suitable portion of the downloaded EAS manifest file  52  in order to generate the desired EAS alert. The EAS manifest file  52  may include an emergency alert video message to be played by the second output device when generating the EAS alert. The EAS manifest file  52  may include instructions sufficient for commanding the second output device  14  to perform a corresponding forced tune alert. The EAS manifest file  52  may include an emergency alert audio message to be played by the second output device  14  when generating the EAS alert. The EAS manifest file  52  may include instructions sufficient for commanding the second output device  14  to perform a corresponding audio alert. The EAS manifest file  52  may include a text message to be played by the second output device  14  when generating the EAS alert. The EAS manifest file  52  may include instructions sufficient for commanding the second output device  14  to perform a corresponding text alert. 
         [0020]    The process of facilitating an EAS alert at the third output device  16  may be similar in that the EAS message  44  provides a second EAS manifest file  52  to the EAS server  36  for storage and download using a second URL  58  transmitted to the third output device  16  to prompt  60  a download. The service provider  22  may be configured to determine a location of the third device  16  from an address being used by it to facilitate communications such that the service provider  22  may facilitate output of EAS alerts at the third device  16  that are specific its current location. This may be particularly beneficial in allowing the service provider  22  to facilitate EAS alerts for subscribers accessing services of the service provider  22  through a web portal or other non-traditional interface. The service provider  22  may also be configured to provide the third device  16  with EAS alerts that are not specific to their current location, such as to provide EAS alerts relevant to the associated subscribers home location. This may be beneficial in apprising the subscriber of alert while traveling to another location not necessarily subjected to the EAS alert, e.g. to warn the subscriber of a storm at their home location while actually being located in an area beyond the reach of the storm. 
         [0021]    As supported above, one non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates providing text, audio and video Emergency Alert (EA) Messages to IP devices. The present invention may be used by a video service provider when delivering live premium content services to IP devices to meet EAS regulatory obligation. A service provider, for example, may create an EA manifest file that contains the following information, depending on the type of the EA message: a URL to the emergency alert video message, if the EA message is a forced tune alert; a URL to the emergency alert audio message, if the EA message is audio+text alert; and a URL to the emergency alert text message or actual contents of the text message, if the EA message is text only or audio+text alert. The URL may be a pointer separate from a pointer included in an EAS manifest file or otherwise used to download the actual EAS alert. The format of EAS manifest file can be proprietary to a service provider or XML format specified in CEA 2035/SCTE  162  can be used. 
         [0022]    The service provider may make the EAS manifest file available at a specific URL for certain period of time and/or multiple EAS manifest files may be constructed and pointed to with different URLs. Contents of EAS manifest file may be updated every time a new EA message is received by the service provider from National Weather Service other sources or other EASs. For regional EA messages, a service provider will have region specific URLs. In case of a DLNA device connected to the home network, a service provider may populate the EA manifest file URL in a well-known CDS content item. A CDS event is generated when there is an update to the EA manifest file. This triggers the DLNA client device to fetch the EA manifest file. In case of a generic IP client receiving live services, the EA manifest file URL may be provided to an IP client during initial set up through an MSO application on the IP client. This could be could be a native application on the IP client or a RUI application. An event (e.g. Server Sent Events) is sent to this application from a service provider server when there is an update to the EA manifest file. This triggers the IP client device to fetch the EA manifest file. After the client receives the manifest file, depending on the contents of the EA manifest file, it may access appropriate URLs and displays EA message appropriately. 
         [0023]    When MVPD live content services are extended to IP devices within home, emergency alert messages may be delivered to those IP devices in accordance with the present invention. The present invention may be able to facilitate EAS alert by leveraging capabilities to provide alerts to STB devices to other devices connected to cable operator&#39;s HFC network. The present invention can be used when MVPD services are offered to in-home IP devices either using a STB device in the home or directly from the cloud. Because the invention can utilize a DLNA/UPnP CDS content item to populate URL of the EA manifest file, the solution enables serving the EA manifest file from the cloud when the IP client is outside the home and serving it from the in-home STB/gateway when the IP-client is within home behind the STB/gateway. This may be useful from scalability point of view. The present invention may be used to enable MVPDs to meet their regulatory obligation of providing emergency alert messages when offering live content services to IP devices. The present invention may be used for offering emergency alert messages to any generic IP-based device as well as for DLNA device. 
         [0024]    While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.