Method and device for rapid channel deployment at an incident site

Abstract

Methods for rapid channel deployment at an incident site, wherein the method comprises: Detect, by a participating device, an event location arrival trigger that is associated with arrival at an event location; In response to the detection of the event location arrival trigger, either (i) tune, by the subscriber device, to a pre-configured event channel or (ii) scan, by the subscriber device, a multitude of channels for an event channel and tune to the event channel as soon as it is located; Sending, through the subscriber device, an indication of a home traffic channel for which the subscriber device is configured to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device; Received, via the event channel, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a specific event location role associated with the subscriber device to a specific traffic channel on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role can communicate; and Voting, by the subscriber device, to the specifically assigned traffic channel as a function of the event location-to-traffic-channel mapping.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Radio access networks (RANs) enable radio communication links to be established within the network between a plurality of user terminals. Such user terminals may be mobile, and they may be known as 'mobile stations' or 'user equipment'. At least one other terminal, for example, used in conjunction with user equipment, may be a fixed terminal, such as a base station, an eNodeB, a repeater, and / or an access point. Such a RAN typically includes a system infrastructure that generally comprises a network of various fixed terminals that are in direct radio communication with the user equipment.Each of the fixed end points operating in the RAN may have one or more transceivers that can, for example, serve subscriber equipment in a given region or area through radio frequency (RF) communication, known as a 'cell' or 'site'. The subscriber equipment in direct communication with a particular fixed end point is referred to as being served by the fixed end point. In one example, all radio communications to and from each subscriber equipment within the RAN are carried out by respective serving fixed end points. Locations of adjacent fixed end points may be offset with respect to one another, and they may be non-overlapping or partially or fully overlapping with one another. Additionally or alternatively, radio communications to and from each subscriber equipment may be carried out directly between these subscriber equipment.

[0002] RANs can operate according to an industry standard land mobile radio (LMR) protocol, such as the Project 25 (P25) standard defined by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), the TETRA standard defined by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), the Digital Private Mobile Radio (dPMR) standard also defined by ETSI, or the Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standard also defined by ETSI.RANs can operate in addition to or alternatively according to an industry-standard broadband protocol, such as the LTE ("Long Term Evolution") protocol including MBMS ("multimedia broadcast multicast services"), the OMA-PTT-OMA-PoC standard ("open mobile alliance push to talk over cellular standard"), the VoIP ("voice over IP") standard, or the PolP ("PTT over IP") standard, among many other possibilities. Because LMR systems generally provide lower throughput than broadband systems, they are sometimes referred to as narrowband RANs.

[0003] Communications in accordance with any one or more of these protocols or standards, or other protocols or standards, may take place over physical channels in accordance with one or more of the following protocols: TDMA (time division multiple access), FDMA (frequency division multiple access), OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access), or CDMA (code division multiple access). User equipment in RANs, such as those mentioned above, send and receive media streams (encoded portions of voice, audio, and / or audio / video streams) in a call in accordance with the designated protocol.

[0004] Specifically, OMA-PoC enables familiar PTT and instant-on features of traditional half-duplex subscriber devices, but using mobile subscriber devices operating over modern broadband telecommunications networks. Using PoC, wireless subscriber devices, such as mobile phones and notebooks, can operate as PTT half-duplex subscriber devices for transmitting and receiving. Other types of PTT models and multimedia call models (MMCMS) are also available.

[0005] Basic control in an OMA PoC session is generally performed by a PTT server, which manages communications between two or more wireless subscriber devices. When a user presses a PTT button on one of the subscriber devices, a request for permission to speak in the OMA PoC session is sent from the user's subscriber unit to the PTT server, using, for example, an RTP (real-time transport protocol) message. If no other users are currently speaking in the PoC session, an acceptance message is sent back to the user's subscriber device, and the user can then speak into the device's microphone.Using standard compression / decompression techniques (codec), the user's voice is digitized and sent to the PTT server using discrete audio data packets (e.g., together, forming an audio data stream over time), such as according to RTP and Internet Protocol (IP). The PTT server then sends the audio data packets to other users of the PoC session (e.g., to other subscriber devices in the group of subscriber devices or the talkgroup to which the user has subscribed), for example, using a unicast, point-to-multipoint, or broadcast communication technique.

[0006] Narrowband LMR systems, on the other hand, can operate in either a conventional or trunked radio configuration. In each configuration, a plurality of subscriber units are divided into separate groups of subscriber units. In a conventional system, each subscriber unit in a group is selected for a specific frequency for communications associated with that subscriber unit's group. Thus, each group is served by one channel, and multiple groups may share the same single frequency (in which case, in some embodiments, group IDs may be present in the group data to distinguish between groups sharing the same frequency).

[0007] In contrast, a trunked radio system and its subscriber devices utilize a pool of traffic channels for a virtually unlimited number of groups of subscriber devices (e.g., talkgroups). Thus, all groups are served by all channels. The trunked radio system operates by taking advantage of the likelihood that not all groups will require a traffic channel for communication at the same time. In one embodiment, when a member of a group requests a call on a control or hold channel on which all of the subscriber devices in the system are free to wait for new call notifications, a call controller allocates a separate traffic channel for the requested group call, and all group members move from the assigned control or hold channel to the assigned traffic channel for the group call.In another embodiment, when a member of a group requests a call on a control or waiting channel, the controller may convert the control or waiting channel on which the subscriber devices were waiting into a traffic channel for the call and instruct all subscriber devices not to participate in the new call to move to a newly assigned control or waiting channel selected from the pool of available channels. With a given number of channels, a much larger number of groups can be accommodated in a trunked radio system compared to conventional radio systems.

[0008] Individual (e.g., one-to-one) or group calls (e.g., one-to-many) can be made between wireless and / or wired participants in accordance with the narrowband or broadband protocol or standard. Group members for group calls can be defined statically or dynamically.In a first example, this means that a user or administrator acting on behalf of the user presents a list of participants in a group to the switching and / or radio network (possibly at a controller device such as a call controller, PTT server, service gateway, radio network controller (RNC), zone controller, mobile management entity (MME), base station controller (BSC), mobile switching center (MSC), site controller, push-to-talk controller, or network device) at the time of the call or before the call. The group members (e.g., subscriber devices) can be provisioned in the network by the user or an agent and then, for example, provided with some form of group identity or identifier.In the future, an originating user in a group can then cause certain signaling to be sent, indicating that he or she wishes to establish a communication session (e.g., a group call) with each of the preselected participants in the defined group. In another example, subscriber devices can dynamically join (and disjoin) a group, possibly based on user input, and the switching and / or radio network can track group membership and route new group calls according to the current group membership.

[0009] A problem that has arisen at incident scenes where many subscriber devices arrive from different jurisdictions, using different types of radio communication systems and protocols, is that groups of firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, and other emergency first responders have difficulty communicating with other members of their same groups (from different jurisdictions) and with other members of other groups at the incident scene in a quick and efficient manner.For example, a firefighter from one jurisdiction may arrive at the scene using a trunked radio subscriber unit operable in a trunked radio system, a second firefighter from a second jurisdiction may arrive at the scene using a conventional subscriber unit assigned to 'Channel 1', and a third firefighter from a third jurisdiction may arrive at the scene using a conventional subscriber unit assigned to 'Channel 2', for example, a different channel than Channel 1.Because each firefighter is waiting on a different channel, and the first firefighter is using a different type of radio system than the second and third firefighters, none of the firefighters can communicate with each other (apart from some back-end bridging capability between the radio systems), and it is very difficult and a manual process to get two or more firefighters on the same channel so they can coordinate their response to the scene. Because police, medical personnel, and other groups are typically separated from the firefighters due to design, these groups have an even more difficult time coordinating a response to the scene with, for example, the firefighters. Systems and / or methods that address partial aspects of this problem are previously known, for example, from US 8 280 364 B1 and US 2013 / 0 157 558 A1.

[0010] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for rapid channel utilization at an incident site. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying figures, in which like reference characters refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification together with the following detailed description and serve to further illustrate embodiments and concepts incorporating the claimed invention and to explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a communications network in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an event center computing device in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a subscriber device in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating processes that can be executed by a subscriber device from the Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 may be performed in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. Figure 5 is a timing flow diagram illustrating processes executed by an event center computing device from the Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0012] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to enhance understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

[0013] The apparatus and method components have been represented by conventional symbols in the drawings where appropriate, showing only those specific details essential to an understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the present description. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] An improved method and apparatus for rapid channel utilization at an incident location is disclosed.

[0015] In one embodiment, a method for rapid channel utilization at an event location includes: detecting, by a subscriber device, an event location arrival trigger associated with an arrival at an event location; in response to detecting the event location arrival trigger, either (i) tuning, by the subscriber device, to a pre-configured event channel or (ii) scanning, by the subscriber device, a plurality of channels for an event channel and tuning to the event channel once located; transmitting, by the subscriber device, an indication of a home traffic channel that the subscriber device is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device;Receiving, via the event channel, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a particular event location role associated with the subscriber device to a particular traffic channel on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role may communicate; and tuning, by the subscriber device, to the particular assigned traffic channel as a function of the event location-to-traffic channel mapping;

[0016] In another embodiment, for rapid channel utilization at an event location, a subscriber device includes: one or more transceivers; either a loudspeaker or a display; data storage; and one or more processors configured to detect the event location arrival trigger associated with an arrival at an event location; in response to detecting the event location arrival trigger, either (i) tuning, via the one or more transceivers, to a pre-configured event channel or (ii) scanning, via the one or more transceivers, a plurality of channels for an event channel and tuning to the event channel once located; transmitting an indication of a home traffic channel that the subscriber device is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device;Receiving, via the one or more transceivers, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a particular event location role associated with the subscriber device to a particular traffic channel on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role may communicate; and tuning, via the one or more transceivers, to the particular assigned traffic channel as a function of the event location-to-traffic channel mapping;

[0017] In yet another embodiment, a method for fast channel utilization in a wireless network at an event location includes: maintaining, at an event location center computing device, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a plurality of event location roles associated with subscriber devices to corresponding assigned traffic channels on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role can communicate; periodically broadcasting, by the event center computing device, the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping on an event channel;wherein one of the following occurs: (i) the event channel is a pre-configured channel in the wireless network reserved for broadcasting the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping, or (ii) the event location computing device broadcasts on the event channel, prior to broadcasting the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping, either a pre-configured synchronization code identifying the event channel, or a pre-configured message identifier identifying the event channel, or a pre-configured operation code identifying the event channel;Receiving, at the event center computing device, from a subscriber device in the wireless network, an identifier identifying a particular event location role associated with the subscriber device, and receiving, from the subscriber device, an indication of a home traffic channel that the subscriber device is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device; and determining, by the event center computing device, that a particular traffic channel at the event location equivalent to the home traffic channel is included in the event location-to-traffic channel mapping, and in response thereto, replacing the particular traffic channel in the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping with another available channel in the wireless network.

[0018] Each of the above-mentioned embodiments is discussed in more detail below, beginning with exemplary network and device architectures of the system in which these embodiments may be implemented, followed by an illustration of processing steps and message transmissions and / or receptions for achieving rapid channel utilization at an event location from the perspective of a subscriber device and an event center computing device. Further advantages and features consistent with this disclosure are set forth in the following detailed description with reference to the figures. 1. Network architecture and device structures

[0019] Fig.Figure 1 illustrates a communication network 1 comprising client subscriber devices (e.g., SDs) 2, 4, 6, fixed terminals 8, 10, 12 (e.g., a repeater, a base transceiver station (BTS), or an eNodeB, hereinafter referred to as base station (BS)), wireless infrastructure link(s) 14, 16, 18, an event center computing device 20, a wireless event center link 21, wireless direct mode links 22, 24, a backhaul network 29, a radio controller device 27, a memory 28, communication links 30, 32, 36, a dispatch console 38, and external networks 34. Each BS 8, 10, 12 has at least two radio transmitters covering a radio coverage cell (not shown). One or some SDs 2, 4, 6 within the radio coverage of a specific BS can connect to the specific BS using an appropriate wireless communication protocol via wireless link(s) 14, 16, 18.The SDs 2, 4, 6 can communicate with each other, and possibly with other devices reachable via other network connections, using a group communication protocol over wireless link(s) 14, 16, 18, or they can communicate directly with each other over wireless direct mode link(s) 22, 24. The wireless link(s) 14, 16, 18 can each include an uplink channel and a downlink channel, or both, and they can include one or more physical channels or logical channels. The wireless link(s) 21, 22, 24 can each include a single direct mode channel or paired direct mode channels used for direct mode communications, and they can include one or more physical channels or logical channels.For example, the wireless link(s) 14, 16, 18 may implement a conventional or trunked LMR ("land mobile radio") standard or protocol, such as the ETSI DMR-P25 standard ("ETSI Digital Mobile Radio Project 25") defined by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) or other radio protocols or standards. In other embodiments, the wireless link(s) 14, 16, 18 may implement an LTE ("Long Term Evolution") protocol with MBMS ("multimedia broadcast multicast services"). The wireless connection(s) 21, 22, 24 may, for example, implement a direct mode LMR (“land mobile radio”) standard or protocol, such as ETSI DMS or the direct mode P25 standard defined by APCO, a direct mode LTE standard or protocol, or any other radio protocol or standard.In other embodiments, the wireless connection(s) 21, 22, 24 may implement an IEEE 802.11 standard or protocol or a Bluetooth standard or protocol. Other types of wireless protocols could also be implemented.

[0020] In the example from Fig.1, the wireless infrastructure connection(s) 14, 16, 18 may be established between SDs 2, 4, 6 and BSs 8, 10, 12, and a wireless direct mode connection(s) 22, 24 may be established between SDs 2, 4, 6 for transmitting a call of an SD or from the source of another device with a media stream (e.g., formatted bursts, packets, messages, frames, etc. with digitized audio and / or video information representing a portion of an entire call, among other possible signaling and / or other payload data) sent to one or more destination devices, such as SDs 2, 4, 6, possibly belonging to an identical subscriber group of SDs as the source SD or device.The terms "media stream" and "media stream portion" are not intended to be limited to voice-only communications, but rather to encompass all possible digitized audio / video uses, including, but not limited to, voice, audio, and / or audio / video or voice / video multiplexed streams. The wireless connection 21 can be established between the event center computing device 20 and the SDs 2, 4, 6 for direct-mode transmission of control and signaling information, such as event location roles, traffic channel assignments, and mapping information between event location roles and traffic channel assignments.

[0021] The wireless link(s) 14, 16, 18, 22, 24 may be half-duplex or full-duplex, and may include a unicast, multicast, or broadcast channel for sending a call from a source SD or other wireless device (not shown).

[0022] The uplink and downlink channels established over the wireless connection(s) 14, 16, 18 may be conventional channels permanently assigned to a group of SDs including SDs 2, 4, 6, or they may be a trunked traffic channel or an MBMS channel temporarily assigned to the group of SDs for executing a dedicated call. Additionally, the wireless connection(s) 14, 16, 18 may include a separate uplink and / or downlink control channel for sending call request and call grant messages and / or for allocating trunked traffic channels for calls, among other functions. Other types of wireless connections and communication system architectures are also possible.

[0023] The SDs 2, 4, 6 can be configured with an identification reference (such as an IMSI ("International Mobile Subscriber Identity") or MAC address) that can be associated with a physical medium (such as a SIM ("Subscriber Identity Module") card). Each SD 2, 4, 6 can be a group communication device, such as a PTT ("push-to-talk") device, which is normally operated in a monitor-only mode and is switched to a transmit-only mode (for half-duplex devices) or to a transmit-and-receive mode (for full-duplex devices) upon depression or activation of a PTT input switch. The group communication architecture in the communication network 1 allows a single SD, such as a source SD (not shown), to communicate with one or more group members (e.g., SDs 2, 4, 6) associated with a specific group of SDs at the same time. In the Fig.1, it is assumed that the SDs 2, 4, 6 (at location 6B) react to an event at an event location 25 located within a defined event location area 26.

[0024] Although only three SDs, three BSs, three wireless infrastructure links, two wireless direct mode links in Fig. 1, the present disclosure is not so limited, and more or fewer SDs, BSs, and wireless connections may be used in any particular implementation. Furthermore, while a single controller device 27 in Fig.1, more than one controller device 27 may be used, and / or a distributed controller device 27 may be used, which divides functions across multiple devices, possibly for load balancing purposes. Finally, while memory 28 is illustrated as being directly coupled to controller device 27, memory 28 may also be located remotely from controller device 27 and accessible from controller device 27 via one or more of network 29 and / or external networks 34.

[0025] The BSs 8, 10, 12 may be connected to the controller device 27 via the network 29 and / or the communication link 30. The network 29 may include one or more BSs, routers, switches, LANs, WLANs, WANs, access points, or another network structure. For example, the controller device 27 for the BS 8 may be connected via a dedicated line or via the Internet. In one example, the BS 8 may be directly connected to the controller device 27 via one or more internal links under the control of a single communication network provider.The network 29 may further include a call controller, a PTT server, a zone controller, an evolved packet core (EPC), a mobile management entity (MME), a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a mobile switching center (MSC), a site controller, a PTT controller, or other network device for controlling and distributing media streams among the SDs via respective BSs. While in this example, three BSs 8, 10, 12 are illustrated, each associated with three corresponding wireless links 14, 16, 18, in other embodiments, a single BS may include appropriate hardware to support two or more wireless links, including the three wireless links 14, 16, and 18.In still other embodiments, no BSs may be available for SDs 2, 4, 6, in which case direct mode communication is the only mode of communication available for the SDs.

[0026] The controller device 27 may be a separate device in the infrastructure of the communications network 1, configured to control the wireless connection(s) 14, 16, 18 and, during normal operation and possibly in the absence of an event center computing device 20, channel allocation for serving the SDs 2, 4, 6 with infrastructure-supported communications. In other embodiments, the functionality of the controller device 27 may be coupled with or included in other devices in the network 29, in which case the controller device 27 may be a zone controller, PTT server, or the like. In yet other embodiments, the functionality of the controller device 27 may be split and provided directly in each of the BSs 8, 10, 12.

[0027] The memory 28 may operate to store an incident location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a particular incident location role associated with the SDs (e.g., such as a police officer, firefighter, emergency medical services, traffic control, search and rescue, etc.) to a particular assigned traffic channel (conventional, trunked, direct mode, MBMS, etc.) on which all SDs at the incident location may communicate with the particular incident role. The stored mapping may be modifiable by a dispatch console 38 and / or SDs 2, 4, 6, and may be made available to the incident center computing device 20 on request or periodically.

[0028] The one-to-many group communication structure may be implemented in the communication engine 1 in a number of ways and utilize any one or more message protocols, including multiple unicast transmissions (each addressed to a single group member SD), single multicast transmissions (addressed to a single group or multiple groups), single broadcast transmissions (where the broadcast transmission may include one or more group identifiers that may be decoded and matched to the receiving SDs), or any combination thereof.

[0029] The external networks 34 may also be accessible to the BSs 8, 10, 12 (and thus the SDs 2, 4, 6) via the network 29 and the communication link 32 and / or the controller device 27 and the communication links 30, 36. The external networks 34 may include, for example, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, or another wireless service provider network, among other possibilities.

[0030] The dispatch console 38 may be coupled directly to the controller device 27, as shown, or it may be coupled indirectly to the controller device 27 via one or more of the network 29 and the external networks 34, or via any other network device in the network 29. The dispatch console 38 may provide administrative or dispatch access to the SDs 2, 4, 6 and the controller device 27 and enable an administrator or dispatcher to initiate group communications with infrastructure sources for the groups of SDs 2, 4, 6, among other features and functions.

[0031] It will now Fig. 2, where a schematic diagram illustrates an event center computing device 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The event center computing device 200 may, for example, be the same as the event center computing device 20 of Fig.1, or similar to it, and it may take the form of a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, a two-way radio, or any other wireless-capable portable computing device. As described in Fig. 2, the event center computing device 200 includes a communications unit 202 coupled to a common data and address bus 217 of a processing unit 203. The event center computing device 200 may also include an input unit (e.g., a keyboard, a pointing device, etc.) 206 and a display screen 205, each coupled to be in communication with the processing unit 203.

[0032] Processing unit 203 may include a read-only memory (ROM) 212 coupled to the common data and address bus 217 for storing data for initializing system components. Processing unit 203 may further include a microprocessor 213 coupled by the common data and address bus 217 to a random access memory (RAM) 204 and a static memory 216 (i.e., a data memory).

[0033] The communication unit 202 may include one or more wireless and / or wired input / output (I / O) interfaces 209 that are configurable to communicate with the SDs 2, 4, 6 and / or the BSs 8, 10, 12. The communication unit 202 may include one or more antennas and one or more wireless transceivers 208, such as a DMR transceiver, a P25 transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a Wi-Fi transceiver, possibly operating in accordance with an IEEE 802.11 standard (e.g., 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g), a WiMAX transceiver, possibly operating in accordance with an IEEE 802.16 standard, and / or other similar types of wireless transceivers configurable to communicate over a wireless radio network.The communication unit 202 may additionally include one or more wired transceivers 208, such as an Ethernet transceiver, a USB ("Universal Serial Bus") transceiver, or similar transceivers, configurable to communicate with a wireless network via a twisted pair, a coaxial cable, a fiber optic connection, or a similar physical connection. The transceiver 208 is also coupled to a combined modulator / demodulator 210.

[0034] The microprocessor 213 has ports for coupling to the input unit 206 and to the display screen 205. The static memory 216 may store an operating code for the microprocessor 213 which, when executed, performs one or more of the processing, sending and / or receiving steps described in Fig.4 and the accompanying text. Static memory 216 may also permanently or temporarily store information disclosed herein as being stored in memory 28, including, but not limited to, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a particular event location role associated with SDs to a particular assigned traffic channel for all SDs at the event location with the event location role, among other information.

[0035] The static storage 216 may include, for example, a hard-disk drive (HDD), an optical disk drive such as a compact disk drive or a digital versatile disk drive, a solid state drive (SSD), a tape drive, a flash memory drive, or a tape drive, to name a few.

[0036] It will now Fig.3, where a schematic diagram illustrates an SD 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The SD 300 may, for example, be the same as the SDs 2, 4, 6 of Fig. 1, or similar. As in Fig.3, the SD 300 includes a radio frequency communication unit 302 coupled to a common data and address bus 317 of a processing unit 303. The SD 300 may also include an input unit 306 and a display screen 305, both of which are coupled to be in communication with the processing unit 303. A microphone 320 captures audio information from a user, which is further encoded ("vocoded") by the processing unit 303 and sent as voice stream data by the communication unit 302 to other SDs and / or other devices in the network 29. A communication speaker 322 reproduces audio information decoded from the voice streams of voice calls received from other SDs and / or from an infrastructure device via the communication unit 302.The display screen 305 may reproduce image or video data decoded from media accompanying the voice stream, received from other SDs and / or from the infrastructure via the communication unit 302.

[0037] Processing unit 303 may also include a code ROM 312 for storing data for initializing system components. Processing unit 303 may further include a microprocessor 312 coupled to a RAM 304 and a static memory 316 (i.e., a data memory) via the common data and address bus 317.

[0038] The radio frequency communication unit 302 is a combined receiver (or multiple receivers) and transmitter (or multiple transmitters), for example, one or more transceivers 308, with a common antenna 307. In some embodiments, additional separate or shared antennas may be provided for each or more transmitters and / or receivers. In the radio frequency communication unit 302, the transceiver 308 is coupled to the antenna 307 via a radio frequency amplifier 309. The transceiver(s) 308 may include a transceiver operating in accordance with one or more standard protocols, such as a DMR transceiver, a P25 transceiver, an LTE transceiver, a TETRA transceiver, an IEEE transceiver, and / or another type of wireless transceiver configurable to communicate over a wireless network. Other types of standards and protocols are also possible.The transceiver 308 is also coupled to a combined modulator / demodulator 310.

[0039] The microprocessor 313 has ports for coupling to the input unit 306 and the display screen 305. The microprocessor 313 also has ports for coupling to the microphone 320 and to the communication speaker 322 and / or other input and output devices. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the static memory 316 may store operational code for the microprocessor 313, which, when executed by the microprocessor 313, performs one or more of the SD processing, transmitting, and / or receiving steps described in Fig. 3 and the accompanying text. Static storage 316 may include, for example, an HDD, an optical disk drive such as a CD drive or DVD drive, an SSD, a tape drive, a flash memory drive, or a tape drive, to name a few. 2. Processes for rapid channel use at an incident location

[0040] The Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 each represent flow diagrams illustrating exemplary processes 400, 500 in a communication network, as in the communication network 1 of Fig. 1, for fast channel usage at an event location from a SD perspective or from the perspective of an event center computing device. Of course, additional steps, receptions and / or transmissions may be added that are not disclosed here, namely as steps before, after, or between receptions and / or transmissions described in the Fig. 4 to 5, and the presence of such additional steps, receptions, and / or transmissions would not negate the purpose and advantages of the examples detailed in the remainder of this disclosure.

[0041] Fig.4 illustrates, in particular, an exemplary process 400 in accordance with an embodiment for fast channel utilization at an event location from the perspective of an SD, such as the SD 6 of Fig. 1 and / or the SD 300 Fig. 3. The process steps that are Fig. 4 are executed with reference to SD 6 from Fig. 1 as it moves from a location outside an event location area 26 at a location 6A to a current location within an event location area 26 at a location 6B, responding to an event location 25. The same or similar steps may already have been performed by SDs 4 and / or 6.

[0042] It will now proceed with step 402 from Fig.4, where SD 6 determines whether an event location arrival trigger has been detected that is associated with an arrival at an event location 25 and / or in an event location area 26 surrounding the event location 25. An event location arrival trigger could be triggered in various ways. For example, the event location arrival trigger can be triggered as a result of an activation of a user input that is associated with an arrival at the event location. In particular, a user of the SD 6, such as the SD 6 from the location 6A Fig.1 moves to a current location 6b and crosses into the event location area 26 associated with the event location 25, activate an input (for example, via an input unit 306 of the SD 300) indicating that the user has entered and / or arrived at the event location 25. Additionally or alternatively, the event location arrival trigger may be automatically triggered as a result of the SD 6 detecting its current location 6b (for example, via a GPS receiver or a triangulation process with three or more signal reference BSs), namely, newly being within a geo-fence defining the event location area 26 associated with the event location 25. A geo-fence definition defining such a geo-fence may have been previously provided to the SD 6 via a user input unit 306 or a wireless connection 14, 16, 18 to one of the BSs 8, 10, and 12, among other possibilities.

[0043] Furthermore, the event location arrival trigger may be triggered as a result of the SD 6 automatically (e.g., based on a monitoring schedule) or manually (e.g., in response to a request to monitor) detecting the existence of a direct-mode wireless connection 21 associated with an event center computing device 20 (e.g., hereinafter referred to as an "event channel"). For example, the event channel may be a preconfigured reserved channel in the communications network 1 in which the SD 6 operates, and the SD 6 may be configured to periodically or manually monitor for the existence of a signal or beacon on the event channel indicating the presence of the event center computing device 20 (i.e., transmitting the signal or beacon), and upon detecting such an existence, the event location arrival trigger may be triggered.Detecting such an existence may include the SD 6 monitoring the event channel and receiving a preconfigured synchronization code associated with the event channel and sent from the event center computing device 20, the SD 6 monitoring the event channel and receiving a preconfigured message identifier associated with the event channel and sent from the event center computing device 20, and the SD 6 monitoring the event channel and receiving a preconfigured OP code associated with the event channel and sent from the event center computing device 20. Other variations are also possible.

[0044] Furthermore, the event location arrival trigger may be triggered as a result of the SD 6 automatically (e.g., based on a monitoring schedule) or manually (e.g., in response to a request to monitor) scanning a plurality of channels in the communication network 1 and detecting an event channel (which is not a preconfigured reserved channel in the communication network 1). For example, the SD 6 may be configured to periodically or manually scan the plurality of channels for the existence of a signal or beacon indicating an event channel and the presence of the event center computing device 20 (i.e., transmit the signal or beacon including a synchronization code, a message identification, or an OP code, as discussed above), and detect such existence, thereby triggering the event location arrival trigger. Other possibilities also exist.

[0045] Once the event location arrival trigger has been detected in step 402, the SD 6 tunes its receiver to the event channel (for example, the preconfigured or sampled and located event channel from step 402) in step 404.

[0046] In step 406, the SD 6 may optionally transmit its event location role and / or its home traffic channel to the event center computing device 20 over the event channel (e.g., an uplink portion of a paired uplink / downlink event channel, where the uplink and downlink are separated in time, frequency, and / or by subcarrier, among other possibilities). For example, the SD 6 may transmit an identifier to the event center computing device 20 over the event channel that identifies the particular event location role associated with the SD 6. The identifier may be an indexed identifier, such as "1" for fire department, "2" for police, "3" for medical services, "4" for traffic control, etc., or it may be a text string that identifies the role itself, such as "fire department," among other possibilities.The incident center computing device 20 may utilize the provided specific incident location role to limit the number and types of incident location role-to-traffic channel mappings provided to the SD 6 in response, among other possibilities. The SD 6 may additionally or alternatively transmit an indication of a home traffic channel that the SD 6 is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the SD 6, possibly also based on the indicated incident location role. For example, the SD 6 may be configured to use "Channel 2" or a "yellow channel" for fire department communications in a home jurisdiction outside of the communication network 1 (e.g., at location 6A in . Fig.1), and it may send an indication of the home traffic channel to the event center computing device 20 for interference minimization purposes. In particular, since the SD 6 is configured to use a special home traffic channel for communications after arrival at the event location 25 and the event location area 26 (until another assignment is made by the event center computing device 20), the event center computing device 20 may wish to assign any roles to the equivalent traffic channel in the communication network 1 in the map it maintains (e.g., "channel 2" or "yellow channel"). Or, if the event center computing device 20 has already assigned the equivalent traffic channel in the communication network 1 to a specific event location role, the event center computing device 20 may wish to assign any other available traffic channel of the communication network 1 in place of the equivalent traffic channel.

[0047] In step 408, the SD 6 receives an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping from the event center computing device 20 via the event channel. The SD 6 then processes the mapping and identifies an assigned traffic channel as a function of its configured event location role. The SD 6's event location role may be preconfigured at the SD 6 in a pre-arrival process prior to arrival at the event location 25 or the event location area 26, it may be entered via a user interface such as the SD 6's input unit 306, it may be set via an over-the-air update from one of the BSs 8, 10, 12 and the wireless links 14, 16, 18 (or via its home traffic channel in its home jurisdiction), or it may be set via some other process.In the event that the SD 6 has provided its event location role to the event center computing device in step 406, the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping received in step 408 may include a single map having the form shown in Table I. Table I Event location role traffic channel Fire department A

[0048] As shown in Table I, the SD 6 receives a map indicating its incident location role ("Fire Department") and its assigned traffic channel ("A") on which SDs associated with the same incident location role (Fire Department) can communicate with each other within the incident location area 26 surrounding the incident location 25. The traffic channel defined in the map may be an index associated with specific traffic channel parameters stored in the SD, or it may specify those specific traffic channel parameters itself. For example, channel "A" may be preconfigured on the SD 6 to identify a direct mode channel at a specific frequency and / or utilize a specific timeslot or subcarrier. In other embodiments, the map may explicitly specify the specific frequency and / or timeslot or subcarrier.In other embodiments, channel "A" may be a conventional (repeated) LMR radio channel, an LMR trunked radio channel, or an MBMS LTE channel (possibly assigned or otherwise reserved by the communications network 1 upon request from the event center computing device 20), a direct mode LMR channel, or a direct mode LTE channel. Other possibilities also exist.

[0049] In other embodiments, including those where the SD 6 does not provide its event location role to the event center computing device 20 in step 406, the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping received in step 408 may include a plurality of mappings, taking the form set forth in Table II. Table II Event location role traffic channel Fire department A police B medical service C Traffic service D

[0050] As indicated in Table II, the SD 6 receives a map indicating several different event location roles and the assigned traffic channel for each role (which may be the same or different, with at least one embodiment all being different) on which SDs associated with the same event location role can communicate with each other in the event location area 26 surrounding the event location 25. The traffic channels indicated in Table II may be the same as or similar to those described above with reference to Table I. In this case, the SD 6 analyzes the received map, locates the event location role that identically matches or best matches its assigned particular event location role, and identifies the corresponding assigned traffic channel for that role.An advantage of receiving the entire map is that the SD 6 can make the map available to its user via a display, such as the display screen 305, and can enable its user to also contact other SDs having other incident location roles at the incident location to coordinate responses or obtain specific assistance or information by making the contents of the incident location role-to-traffic channel map available to the user in whole or in part via a user interface of the SD 6 and allowing the user to select the incident location role (and thus the assigned traffic channel) required by the user.

[0051] In step 410, the SD 6 tunes into the particular assigned traffic channel as a function of its event location role and the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping received in step 408. The SD 6 may then receive media over the assigned traffic channel from other SDs (and, in some embodiments, dispatch consoles if the traffic channel is an infrastructure channel) that have a same or associated role, and plays the media over a display screen 305 or communications speaker 322 of the SD 6. Similarly, the SD 6 may then transmit media over the assigned traffic channel to other SDs that have a same or associated role (and, in some embodiments, dispatch consoles if the traffic channel is an infrastructure channel) that was captured via an input microphone 320 and / or a video camera integrated with or coupled to the SD 6.

[0052] In optional step 412, the SD 6 detects an event location removal trigger associated with moving away from the event location area 26 associated with the event location 25. The event location removal trigger may be triggered as a result of activating a user input associated with moving away from an event location. In particular, when the SD 6 is moving away from the location 6B in Fig. 1 moves to the current location 6A and crosses out of the event location area 26 associated with the event location 25, a user of the SD 6 may activate an input (for example, via the input unit 306 of the SD 300) indicating that the user has left the event location 25.

[0053] Additionally or alternatively, the event location distance trigger may be triggered automatically as a result of the SD 6 detecting its current location 6A (for example, via a GPS receiver or a triangulation process with three or more signal reference BSs) as being outside the geo-fence defining the event location area 26 associated with the event location 25.

[0054] Furthermore, the event location removal trigger may be triggered as a result of the SD 6 failing to acquire the event channel. For example, failure to acquire the event channel may include failure to acquire during at least one threshold time (e.g., 1, 5, 10, or 60 seconds) a preconfigured synchronization code, message identifier, or OP code associated with the event channel. Other variations are also possible.

[0055] Once an event location removal trigger is detected in step 412, the SD 6 retunes its receiver to a previous channel to which it was tuned before tuning to the special assigned traffic channel in step 410 and before tuning to the event channel in step 404. The previous channel may, for example, be a home jurisdiction traffic channel. Other possibilities also exist.

[0056] Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary process 500 in accordance with one embodiment for fast channel utilization at an event location from the perspective of an event center computing device, such as the event center computing device 20 of Fig. 1 and / or the event center computing device 200 Fig. 2. The process steps that are Fig. 5 are specified with reference to the event center computing device 20 from Fig.1, as the SD 6 moves from a location outside an event location area 26 at location 6A to a current location within an event location area 26 at location 6B.

[0057] It is now at step 502 from Fig.5. The event center computing device 20 maintains an event location role-to-traffic channel map, which may be the same as or similar to that specified above in Tables I and II. The map stored and maintained in the event center computing device 20 may have been originally generated at the event center computing device 20 via an input device 206 interface, it may be provided to the event center computing device 20 via an I / O interface 209 locally or via a wireless infrastructure connection, or it may be generated in some other manner. Modifications and / or additions to the map maintained in the event center computing device 20 may be similarly provided.

[0058] In step 504, the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping is periodically or intermittently broadcast or sent on an event channel. As stated above, the event channel is a channel on a direct-mode wireless link associated with an event center computing device. In one embodiment, the event channel may be a preconfigured reserved channel in the wireless network reserved for broadcasting the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping.In another embodiment, the event center computing device may select any available channel as an event channel and subsequently identify the available channel as an event channel by continuously, periodically, or intermittently broadcasting on the selected event channel prior to broadcasting the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping one of: a preconfigured synchronization code identifying the event channel, a preconfigured message identifier identifying the event channel, or a preconfigured OP code identifying the event channel, among other possibilities.

[0059] The event center computing device may send the synchronization code, the message identifier, and / or the OP code more frequently than the actual event location role-to-traffic channel mapping to assist SDs in locating the event channel.

[0060] The event channel may be a conventional LMR radio channel, a trunked LMR channel, an MBMS LTE channel, a direct mode LMR channel, a direct mode LTE channel, an IEEE 802.11 channel, a BT channel, or any other similar channel. The channel types (e.g., protocol and / or standard) identified in the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping may be the same or different in channel type as the event channel. For example, the event channel may be a direct mode LMR channel, and the traffic channels identified in the mapping may also be direct mode LMR channels. In another example, the event channel may be an IEEE 802.11 or BT channel, and the traffic channels in the mapping may be LMR or LTE channels. Other variations and combinations of channel types are also possible.

[0061] In optional step 506, the event center computing device 20 receives an event location role and a home traffic channel from a particular SD, possibly including the identical event location role and the identical home traffic channel, as described with reference to step 406 of Fig. 4, sent by SD 6 from Fig. 1. The event center computing device 20 may receive this information, such as SD 6 moving from location 6A outside the event location area 26 to a current location 6B within the event location area 26 to respond at the event location 25. After detecting the event channel in step 504, SD 6 may then send such information to the event center computing device 20.

[0062] In optional step 508, the incident location computing device 20 determines whether there is a conflict between the SD's indicated home traffic channel and an equivalent traffic channel (e.g., the same traffic channel or a channel with the same or overlapping parameters in the communications network 1, such as the same or overlapping frequency range, time slot, subcarrier, etc.) that is already incorporated into the incident location role-to-traffic channel mapping. For example, if the SD 6 uses channel 3 as a home channel for fire department communications when in its home jurisdiction, and the communications network 1 has already assigned channel 3 in the incident location role-to-traffic channel mapping (for the fire department or some other role), a conflict would exist.If there is a conflict, processing moves to optional step 510, where, to avoid interference with other SDs using the same home traffic channel, the event center computing device 20 may substitute or otherwise replace the equivalent traffic channel in the mapping with another available traffic channel in the communication network 1. Additionally, the event center computing device 20 may broadcast an updated mapping reflecting the substitution so that SDs that were already on equivalent but conflicting traffic channels can receive the updated mappings and move to the substituted traffic channel.

[0063] Returning to step 508, if instead the event center computing device 20 determines that there is no conflict with a traffic channel in the map, processing proceeds to optional step 512, where the event center computing device 20 provides a full map via broadcast or a reduced map (e.g., with only the event location role and traffic channel for the specific event location role provided in step 506) via unicast to the SD. In other examples, the event center computing device 20 may simply wait for a next periodic broadcast of the current map in step 504, rather than broadcasting or unicasting the current map in step 512. 3. Conclusion

[0064] In accordance with the foregoing, an improved method and apparatus for rapid channel utilization at an incident site are disclosed. As a result of the foregoing, incident site assignments and emergency responder communications can be handled quickly and efficiently at an incident site by an incident center computing device, thereby enabling critical communications between jurisdictional SDs (e.g., those that normally operate within the communications network 1) and out-of-jurisdictional SDs (e.g., those that do not normally operate within the communications network 1) to be allocated among available traffic channels within the communications network 1, with or without the aid of an infrastructure back-end network, and without requiring SD users to manually coordinate regarding channel reassignments between them. Other advantages and benefits are also possible.

[0065] In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have been described. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the spirit of the present teachings. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and every conceivable element that results in any benefit, advantage, or solution being realized or made more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all of the claims.The invention is defined solely by the appended claims, including any amendments made during the pendency of the present application, and all equivalents of such claims as published.

[0066] Furthermore, in this document, relational expressions such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like are intended to be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action, without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "include," "containing," "contain," "containing," or any variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device comprising, having, including, or containing a list of elements may include not only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent in such processes, methods, articles, or devices. An element that continues with "comprises... a," "has...a", "includes... a", "contains... a", does not, without further qualification, exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprise, have, include, or contain the element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined as one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms "substantially", "essentially", "approximately", "about", or any other version thereof have been defined as "being close to" as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment, the term is defined to be within 10%, in another embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1%, and in another embodiment within 0.5%. The term "coupled," as used herein, is defined as "connected," although not necessarily directly and not necessarily mechanically.A device or structure that is "configured" in a particular way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in at least one way that is not listed.

[0067] It is desired that some embodiments include one or more generic or specialized processors (or "processing devices"), such as, for example, microprocessors, digital signal processors, custom processors, and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and unique stored program instructions (including both software and firmware) that control the one or more processors to, in conjunction with certain non-processor circuitry, implement some, most, or all of the functions of the method and / or apparatus described herein.Alternatively, some or all of the functions can be implemented by a state machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which each function, or some combination of certain functions, is implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two approaches can be used.

[0068] Furthermore, an embodiment may be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code stored thereon for programming a computer (e.g., including a processor) to perform a method described and claimed herein. Examples of such computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and a flash memory.Furthermore, it is expected that one skilled in the art, notwithstanding possible considerable effort and a wide range of design choices due, for example, to available time, current technology, and economic considerations, guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein, will readily be able to create such software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.

[0069] The Summary of Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly appreciate the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the spirit or meaning of the claims. Additionally, it will be appreciated from the foregoing Detailed Description that various features in various embodiments are grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as will be apparent from the following claims, inventive subject matter is found in fewer than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as separately claimed subject matter.

Claims

[1] A method for rapid channel utilization at an event location, the method comprising: detecting, by a subscriber device, an event location arrival trigger associated with an arrival at an event location; in response to detecting the event location arrival trigger, either (i) tuning, by the subscriber device, to a pre-configured event channel or (ii) scanning, by the subscriber device, a plurality of channels for an event channel and tuning to the event channel once located; transmitting, by the subscriber device, an indication of a home traffic channel that the subscriber device is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device; Receiving, via the event channel, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a specific event location role associated with the subscriber device to a specific traffic channel on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role can communicate; and Tuning, by the subscriber device, to the particular assigned traffic channel as a function of the event location-to-traffic channel mapping. [2] The method of claim 1, wherein the event location role to traffic channel mappings map a plurality of different event location roles to a plurality of different traffic channels. [3] The method of claim 2, further comprising providing part or all of the contents of the event location role to traffic channel mapping to a user via a user interface so as to allow the user to communicate with one or more selected event location roles at the event location that are different from the particular event location role associated with the subscriber equipment. [4] The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to receiving the event location role to traffic channel mapping, the subscriber equipment transmitting an identifier identifying the particular event location role associated with a subscriber equipment with respect to an event center computing device over the event channel. [5] The method of claim 1, wherein the event channel is a reserved channel preconfigured in the subscriber device. [6] The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber equipment scans the plurality of channels for the event channel, and wherein scanning for the event channel comprises one of: locating a preconfigured synchronization code associated with the event channel during the channel scan, locating a preconfigured message identifier associated with the event channel during the channel scan, and locating a preconfigured operation code associated with the event channel during the channel scan. [7] The method of claim 1, wherein the event channel is a paired channel including an uplink portion and a downlink portion, wherein each of the uplink portion and the downlink portion is one of: a time slot of a multi-slot TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) radio channel, an FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) radio channel, and an OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) radio channel. [8] The method of claim 1, wherein the dedicated traffic channel is one of the following: a conventional land mobile radio (LMR) channel, a trunked LMR channel, a multimedia broadcast multicast services long term evolution (MBMS) LTE channel, a direct mode LMR channel, and a direct mode LTE channel. [9] The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the event location arrival trigger comprises detecting an activation of a user input associated with arriving at the event location. [10] The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the event location arrival trigger is locating a current location of the subscriber device and detecting, as a function of the current location, entry into a geo-fence associated with the event location. [11] A method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the dedicated traffic channel is different from the home traffic channel. [12] The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting, by a subscriber device, an event location removal trigger associated with removal from the event location and, in response, returning to a previous channel tuned to before tuning to the particular assigned traffic channel. [13] The method of claim 12, wherein detecting the event location removal trigger comprises failing to detect a periodic broadcast on the event channel for more than a time duration threshold. [14] The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving group media communications over the traffic channel associated with the particular event location role and playing back the group media communications by the subscriber device. [15] Subscriber device for rapid channel use at an event location, the subscriber device comprising: one or more transceivers; either a speaker or a display; a data storage device; and one or more processors configured to detecting an event location arrival trigger associated with an arrival at the event location; in response to detecting the event location arrival trigger, either (i) tuning, via the one or more transceivers, to a pre-configured event channel or (ii) scanning, via the one or more transceivers, a plurality of channels for an event channel and tuning to the event channel once located; Transmitting an indication of a home traffic channel that the subscriber device is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device; Receiving, via the one or more transceivers, an event location role-to-traffic channel mapping that maps a particular event location role associated with the subscriber device to a particular traffic channel on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role can communicate; and Tuning, via the one or more transceivers, to the particular assigned traffic channel as a function of the event location-to-traffic channel mapping. [16] The subscriber equipment of claim 15, wherein the event location role to traffic channel mapping maps a plurality of different event location roles to a plurality of different traffic channels. [17] Subscriber unit according to claim 15, wherein the event channel is a reserved preconfigured channel in the subscriber device. [18] A method for fast channel usage in a wireless network at an event location, the method comprising: Maintaining, at an event location center computing device, an event location role to traffic channel mapping that maps a plurality of event location roles associated with subscriber devices to corresponding assigned traffic channels on which subscriber devices associated with an identical event location role can communicate; periodically broadcasting, by the event center computing device, the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping on an event channel; wherein one of the following occurs: (i) the event channel is a pre-configured channel in the wireless network reserved for broadcasting the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping, or (ii) the event location computing device broadcasts on the event channel, prior to broadcasting the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping, either a pre-configured synchronization code identifying the event channel, or a pre-configured message identifier identifying the event channel, or a pre-configured operation code (OP code) identifying the event channel; Receiving, at the event center computing device from a subscriber device in the wireless network, an identifier identifying a particular event location role associated with the subscriber device, and receiving, from the subscriber device, an indication of a home traffic channel that the subscriber device is configured to use to communicate in a home jurisdiction of the subscriber device; and Determining, by the event center computing device, that a special traffic channel at the event location that is equivalent to the home traffic channel is included in the event location-to-traffic channel mapping, and in response thereto, replacing the special traffic channel in the event location role-to-traffic channel mapping with another available channel in the wireless network.

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