Mutual Aid Token Transfer for Responder Access Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In public safety wireless communication networks, visiting responders often face challenges in accessing local services and applications when providing mutual aid, especially in areas with insufficient resources or no public safety wide area network coverage, requiring an efficient method to authorize and enable access to local agency resources.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that utilize a mutual aid token system, where a first responder's mobile device maintains a mutual aid token associated with a transferability time period, allowing it to authorize and transfer a second mutual aid token to other responders without needing to contact the local agency, enabling access to local agency applications and services within the geographical jurisdiction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visiting responders need to contact the local agency to authorize access to local services, then access control can be maintained, but the process becomes time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The local agency pre-issues mutual aid tokens to visiting responders before they arrive at the incident scene. This preliminary action allows responders to immediately access local services without needing to contact the local agency for authorization upon arrival, thus reducing authorization time while maintaining access control through pre-validated tokens
Solution Approach 2:
The mutual aid token acts as an intermediary mechanism between visiting responders and local services. Instead of requiring direct contact with the local agency for authorization, the token serves as a mediator that carries authorization information, enabling seamless access to local applications and services while maintaining security
2Reliability
If multiple responders need to be authorized individually, then access control can be maintained, but the process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The authorization process is segmented into two parts: (1) The local agency issues a mutual aid token to a first responder, and (2) The first responder shares this token with other visiting responders. This segmentation simplifies the overall process by reducing the number of individual authorization transactions needed while maintaining access control through token sharing
3Productivity
If visiting responders access local services without pre-authorization, then access speed increases, but security and control are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization by issuing mutual aid tokens to visiting responders before they access local services. This pre-authorization mechanism combines with immediate access capability, allowing responders to quickly access services while maintaining security through pre-validated tokens that are issued only to authorized individuals
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile device, associated with a responder of the visiting agency and present in the geographical jurisdiction of the local agency, maintains a first mutual aid token associated with the local agency, wherein the mutual aid token authorizes the first responder to access the local agency and wherein the mutual aid token is associated with a transferability time period, that is, a time during which the mutual aid token can be transferred from one mutual aid responder to another. The mobile device identifies another mobile device of another responder associated with the visiting agency and transfers to the another mobile device, without a need to first contact the local or visiting agencies, a mutual aid token that is derived from the first mutual aid token, wherein the transferred mutual aid token authorizes the another responder to access the local agency.