Emergency Call Routing via Location Packet Headers
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Solution Overview
Problem
IP telephony technologies face challenges in supporting emergency services like 9-1-1 calls, as they lack a direct relationship between assigned telephone numbers and physical locations, making it difficult to accurately route emergency calls to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
Innovation Solution
A mobile device application that determines the geographic location using an API and communicates with an emergency call router, utilizing a packet header format to indicate the location, ensuring emergency calls are routed to the appropriate PSAP, with a fallback mechanism to the native dialer when location services are unavailable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If IP telephony is used for emergency calls, then call establishment speed is improved, but location accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary location determination using the device's location services (GPS, cell tower triangulation, Wi-Fi positioning) before the emergency call is actually placed. The determined location is then cached and automatically attached to the call signaling packets, ensuring location accuracy is established in advance without delaying the actual call establishment speed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where location services act as a separate subsystem that independently determines the device's physical location. This location determination subsystem then feeds location data to the VoIP call routing system through standardized interfaces, allowing the two systems (location services and call routing) to operate independently while maintaining accurate location information throughout the call establishment process
2Speed
If IP address mapping is used for emergency routing, then routing speed is improved, but routing accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the critical parameter for routing decisions from IP address mapping to location-based parameters (latitude/longitude coordinates, cell tower identifiers). By transitioning from network-layer addressing to physical location parameters, the system achieves both fast routing (through automated location-based routing decisions) and high accuracy (through direct physical location measurement rather than indirect IP mapping)
3Measurement precision
If location services are integrated into the dialer, then routing accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the dialer application universal by enabling it to handle both standard emergency calls and location-aware emergency calls through a single unified interface. The dialer maintains compatibility with existing telephony infrastructure while optionally integrating location services, allowing one application to serve multiple functions without requiring separate specialized applications for each call type
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts the location determination functionality from the core dialer logic and implements it as a separate, optional module. This extracted location services component can be independently activated or deactivated without affecting the basic dialer operation, reducing the perceived complexity by separating concerns while maintaining the ability to provide accurate location-based routing when needed
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for originating an emergency call over a data network include determining whether or not a location services are currently available. Call control may be released to the native dialer when the location services are currently unavailable. Otherwise, the call may be processed by the application dialer, and may be routed from the mobile device towards a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) by using a private packet backbone network exchange. The application dialer may be configured to utilize a packet header format that indicates a geographic location of the mobile device when communicating with an emergency call router interconnected with the private packet backbone network exchange.