PSAP Video Call Merging for Emergency Bandwidth Overload

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

PSAPs face resource overloads due to multiple emergency calls, especially video streams with varying codecs, leading to inefficient bandwidth usage during simultaneous handling of emergency incidents.

Innovation Solution

A method utilizing a Machine Learning (ML) classifier to identify similar video streams at a PSAP, selecting the most resource-efficient stream, and allowing call takers to confirm and replicate it across multiple devices, converting less efficient streams to audio if necessary.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If multiple video calls with different codecs are received simultaneously at the PSAP, then the emergency incident can be reported from multiple sources, but the bandwidth consumption and system load increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemergency incident reporting reliabilityVSAvoidbandwidth consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple video calls reporting the same emergency incident by identifying similar calls through ML classification and selecting one representative video stream to be distributed to all relevant call takers. This combining approach maintains reliable incident reporting through multiple caller sources while significantly reducing bandwidth consumption by eliminating redundant video stream transmissions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Loss of information

If all received video calls are transmitted to call takers, then complete information is provided, but the PSAP resources become overloaded

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemergency information completenessVSAvoidPSAP system load
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and identifies the essential representative video stream from among multiple similar calls using ML classification and comparison. By selecting one optimal video stream that captures the emergency incident adequately, the system provides complete emergency information to call takers while removing redundant video streams that would otherwise overload PSAP resources.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Ease of operation

If video streams from multiple callers are distributed to all call takers, then each call taker has full information, but the bandwidth usage becomes inefficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecall taker information accessVSAvoidbandwidth usage
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the information access experience for all call takers by selecting a single representative video stream that is then distributed to all of them. This approach ensures that every call taker has access to complete emergency incident information while avoiding the inefficient bandwidth consumption that would result from distributing multiple redundant video streams to each call taker.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP4007272B1Computer-implemented method of processing an emergency incident and emergency communication network
Publication Date: 2026.01.28 ATOS PUBLIC SAFETY LLC
  • EP4007272B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4007272B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4007272B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method of processing an emergency incident reported to a PSAP (1) by a plurality of callers (2, 2', 2", 2'''), the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at the PSAP (1), a video call (4, 4', 4", 4"') for reporting an emergency incident at a specified location; checking, at the PSAP (1), if further video calls (4, 4', 4", 4"') have been received from the same specified location within a predetermined time period, and if it is determined that there are further video calls (4, 4', 4", 4"') that have been received at the PSAP (1) for the same specified location within the predetermined time period, feeding at least a part of the video call and the further video calls to a ML classifier unit (5), identifying, at the ML classifier unit (5), if there are similarities between the video call and the further video calls, and if it is determined that there exists similarity between the video call and at least one further video call, determining which one of the video calls that have been determined to be similar uses less resources, in particular, less bandwidth. Further, the present invention relates to an emergency communication network, comprising at least one PSAP (1) for handling at least one emergency incident according to the computer-implemented method for processing an emergency incident.