Emergency Services Key Pool Management via Timestamp Prioritization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional emergency call systems face number exhaustion and inefficiency due to limited pools of emergency services keys (ESQK and ESRK), leading to increased costs and potential disruptions in emergency services, especially during high call volumes or prolonged emergency calls.
Innovation Solution
A method for selecting an emergency services key from a limited pool by prioritizing keys with the oldest timestamp and no associated call data, ensuring availability even when all keys are initially marked as unavailable, thereby optimizing the use of the limited pool.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pool of emergency services keys is increased to prevent number exhaustion, then the availability of keys for emergency calls is improved, but the cost and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts key availability by allowing keys to transition between unavailable and available states based on call completion. When a call associated with a key completes, that key becomes available for reuse, creating a dynamic pool that adapts to current demand rather than requiring a statically large pool.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers and reuses emergency services keys after their associated calls complete. Instead of discarding keys permanently or maintaining a large static pool, the system recovers keys from completed calls and makes them available for new calls, optimizing pool utilization.
2Productivity
If timers are used to release keys after a fixed duration, then key reuse is improved, but keys may be released prematurely during prolonged emergency calls
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from call completion events to determine when keys should be released. Rather than using fixed timers that may release keys prematurely, the system waits for actual call completion feedback, ensuring keys are only released when truly available for reuse.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-allocates a pool of emergency services keys and prepares them for assignment before calls occur. This preliminary preparation allows the system to quickly assign keys to new calls without delay, while still maintaining the ability to recover and reuse keys efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
An emergency services key (e.g., ESQK or ESRK) is guaranteed to be available from a limited size ESQK pool, such that an available ESQK is always selected and associated with an ongoing emergency call with no measurable impact to existing calls, even if all ESQK pool members are marked as unavailable. A plurality of ESQKs are grouped into a pool of emergency service keys “ESQK Pool ID”, each including anywhere from 1 to N number of ESQKs. Each ESQK preferably has a “Timestamp”, and information relating to the specific emergency E911 call (“Call Data ID”). The ESQK having a Call Data ID=“NULL”, and having the oldest Timestamp, is chosen for selection. If no such ESQK has both Call Data ID=NULL and the oldest Timestamp is found, then the ESQK with merely the oldest Timestamp is selected.