AU2011316490A1 - Method and apparatus for communication and alert system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an alert or notification system for communicating with mobile devices. An exemplary method and apparatus is provided for determining mobile cells affected by a notifiable event within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, comprising: determining a network coverage map comprising data from one or a combination of a best server plot and transceiver location data; compiling a list comprising at least one of individual mobile cells or mobile network Location Areas identified in the determined network coverage map. The present invention also provides other improvements for an alert system for mobile devices including controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion by: increasing throughput of messages in accordance with incremental steps in message transfer rates; monitoring network congestion to control the step of increasing throughput.

Description

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATION AND ALERT SYSTEM RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2010904607 in the name of UNICO Computer Systems Pty Ltd. which was 5 filed on 15 October 2010, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Communication and alert System" and the specification thereof is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes. FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. In 10 particular, the present invention relates to an alert or notification system for communicating with mobile devices. BACKGROUND ART Throughout this specification the use of the word "inventor" in singular form may be taken as reference to one (singular) inventor or more than one (plural) 15 inventor of the present invention. It is to be appreciated that any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the present invention. Further, the discussion throughout this specification comes about due to the realisation of the inventor and/or the identification of certain related art 20 problems by the inventor. Moreover, any discussion of material such as documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention in terms of the inventor's knowledge and experience and, accordingly, any such discussion should not be taken as an admission that any of the material forms part of the prior art base or the common general 25 knowledge in the relevant art in Australia, or elsewhere, on or before the priority date of the disclosure and claims herein. It is becoming increasingly recognised that there is a need for improvements in providing alerts and warnings to the public in the event of emergencies such as, for example, natural disasters. Moreover there is a need 30 for providing such alerts and warnings in an effective and efficient manner. One example of a public warning system is the US Emergency Alert System (EAS). According to a Wikipedia entry for the EAS system at (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmergencyAlertSystem), the US Emergency Alert WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 2 System (EAS) is a national warning system introduced in 1994, to supersede or at least upgrade the cold war era emergency broadcast system (EBS). These systems were designed to enable the US President to address the nation with 10 minutes warning. Notably, however, that function has never been used. The 5 EAS covers AM, FM radio, and VHF, UHF and cable television including low power stations. Digital television and cable providers, along with digital radio broadcasters have been required to participate in the EAS since December 31, 2006. All other Digital Broadcast Satellite (DBS) providers have been required to participate since May 31, 2007. 10 Messages in the EAS comprise four parts; a digitally encoded SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) header, an attention signal, an audio announcement, and a digitally encoded end-of-message marker. The SAME header is considered the most critical part of the EAS design. It contains information about who originated the alert (the President, state or local 15 authorities, the National Weather Service, or the broadcaster), a short, general description of the event (tornado, flood, severe thunderstorm), the areas affected (up to 32 counties or states), the expected duration of the event (in minutes), the date and time it was issued (in UTC), and an identification of the originating station. Over 30 radio stations in the US are designated as National Primary 20 Stations in the Primary Entry Point (PEP) System to distribute Presidential messages to other broadcast stations and cable systems. The Emergency Action Notification is the notice to broadcasters that the President of the United States or his designee will deliver a message over the EAS via the PEP system. "You (AM and FM broadcasters) will hear the following Emergency Action Notification 25 Message from the EAS decoder. This is an Emergency Action Notification requested by the White House. All broadcast stations will follow activation procedures in the EAS Operating Handbook for a national level emergency. The President of the United States or his representative will shortly deliver a message over the Emergency Alert System." 30 The EAS is essentially analog technology to which some digital enhancements have been added, such as for example, SAME. The USA is considering upgrading parts of the system with the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), an XML-based data format for exchanging public warnings and WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 3 emergency information. The CAP system is a web based technology which is therefore much simpler to implement on digital devices. Australia is one example of a country that has no EAS infrastructure to upgrade and no stock of weather radios that would require their compatibility to 5 be maintained. Thus, it may be possible to Implement CAP more simply and directly than using a network of purely digital devices. In addition, as Australia has a national, government owned broadcaster, with a national digital infrastructure, CAP may be interfaced to national radio and TV networks simply and at low cost. These circumstances are also applicable to other countries with 10 public owned broadcasters and infrastructure. However, there have been some more recent attempts at alerting the public which unlike the EAS or CAP are not necessarily dependent on broadcast public TV and radio networks or fixed computer networks. In particular, mobile or cell phone penetration has reached high levels to the point of ubiquity in a large 15 majority of countries. This means that the mobile phone may be a useful tool for providing alert messages in case of emergencies not only in the US or Australia but many other countries and regions. Nonetheless, there are technical difficulties to address in mobile systems. For example, when sending SMS messages containing urgent information, it may be necessary to reach all 20 subscribers in a specific region, including roaming visitors. In many areas of the world there are a large number of inbound-roamers who are not part of the local community, but that also must be alerted. However, reaching out with text messages to everyone in a region requires new functionality not available in an ordinary SMS solution. Mobile networks are essentially designed to reach a 25 certain user regardless of their location. But conversely, an urgent SMS message as outlined above, aims to reach everyone in a specific region, regardless of the identity of the users. To find all users in a specific region using the mobile network infrastructure that is predominantly in place would require a query for each user in the network, a process which would be prohibitively long in duration 30 in case of an emergency situation. In an article dated 31 January 2010 from the Irish Sunday Tribune, the article's author Martin Frawley noted that the government's emergency task force was pursuing the possibility of using text messages to warn the public of looming WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 4 national disasters. He then made the following observations. At the height of the water supply crisis, the task force met with mobile phone operators to see if it could send out texts urging people to turn off their taps to conserve water supplies. A spokeswoman for the Irish communications Minister was quoted as 5 saying: "Preliminary discussion with the industry indicated that this is not a simple task and that the infrastructure is not designed to broadcast short message service (SMS) messages simultaneously to all users of the mobile phone network." There were technology issues that needed to be addressed and in this instance, namely the water supply crisis, the broadcasting network was used 10 instead to get the message across. Accordingly, apart from the Irish government's pursuit noted in the above mentioned article, there have been some attempts at providing network systems for alerting the public which unlike the EAS or CAP are not necessarily dependent on broadcast public TV and radio networks or fixed computer networks. The 15 following are examples of these attempts and they also elaborate on a number of the problems faced when attempting to provide such an alert system for the public. US Patent Application, Publication No 2007/0293240A1 (Drennan) discloses a wireless user based notification system in which a group of wireless 20 device users are notified of an event. Drennan addresses a disadvantage of network probe methods in so far as they require extensive use of network resources and increase the overall network traffic thereby contributing to undesirable latency and network capacity issues. In addition, Drennan highlights that coordination of the various data sources and processing elements, and 25 troubleshooting can be more than trivial problems. The solution provided by Drennan is directed generally to a method for notifying a group of wireless device users of an event, tlye method comprising: for each of a plurality of wireless devices, accessing a set of instructions that act to control a location updating process for the wireless device; obtaining location data for the wireless device in 30 accordance with the set of instructions; providing the location data to a notification server; and storing the location data in a spatial database, wherein the spatial database associates the location data with a geographic region; receiving a request and a description of a geographic area in which a notification message WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 5 associated with the request is to be distributed wherein the geographic area comprises at least a portion of at least one geographic region; mapping the description of the geographic area to the plurality of wireless devices using the location data stored in the spatial database wherein the mapping identifies the 5 location of the wireless devices relative to the geographic area, at least one of the wireless devices being identified as being located within the geographic area; and issuing the notification message to each wireless device identified as being located within the geographic area. Furthermore, Drennan discloses obtaining a list of cells or at least cell identifiers that serve a notification area and with this 10 information the mobile devices within the notification area are identified but this is done using the spatial database formed by location information that is pushed from mobile devices into a "notification server" associated with the network where the mobile devices register with the notification server and then receive a download algorithm from the notification server to perform the location updating 15 process. Moreover, Drennan in particular addresses the problem of notification with an approach leveraging on subscriptions and the standard Mobile Location Centre (MLC) functionality. At paragraphs [0013] and [0014] there is a focus on a defined list of mobiles that are provided with a modified 'Location update' algorithm, thereby keeping a location server updated with their location. In 20 paragraphs [0015] and [0016] Drennan defines how these mobiles are located within the area of interest, and notifications are sent. It is noted that Drennan does not determine the Cells, Location Area's, and hence mobile network systems to obtain network data. At paragraph [0033] Drennan describes how the system can query all devices registered with the notification server, and at 25 paragraph (00341 describes querying just those devices that may be in the Area of Interest based on a HLR query. This highlights a reliance on subscriptions, and use of the HLR as a pivotal starting point. At paragraph [0044] Drennan also describes 'staggering' the notifications to reduce network impact, but this is based on the size of the notification area and number of services. There is not 30 necessarily any ordering of notifications to be sent to be optimized to reduce network congestion. Hence Drennan may not maximize the spread of notifications across the Cell and LA's included in the broadcast, thus allowing higher notification speeds than would otherwise be obtained by Drennan.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 6 US Patent Application, Publication No 2009/0325535 Al (Felt et al) discloses an emergency shepherd service including at least one communications facility configured to provide communication services to at least one communication device in a service area and a notification subsystem including at 5 least one processor and a computer readable medium with instructions. The instructions may be configured to cause the processor to receive information relevant to an affected area and identify at least one communication facility associated with the affected area based on a predetermined knowledge of a site of the communication facility. The instructions may be further configured to cause 10 the processor to discover at least one communication device associated with the communication facility, determine that the communication device should be notified about the information, and send a message based -on the information to the communication device. Felt discusses the problem faced by governments and public safety agencies, among others, when they attempt to provide 15 information and warnings to affected people in the event of an emergency situation. In particular, it can be difficult to ascertain who should be notified. Typical notification systems provide information to a very wide breadth of people. For example, news agencies might have an audience that spans an entire metropolitan area. The emergency broadcast network similarly reaches a very 20 wide audience due to its broadcast nature. Civil defence sirens may be localized to particular municipalities, but -may not be able to provide any information other than the warning siren. All of these mechanisms rely on broadcast technology in an attempt to provide information. As such, the geographic region that receives the broadcast alerts can be significantly larger than the area affected by the 25 emergency situation. Accordingly, individuals may be less'inclined to follow emergency alerts if they are not specifically targeted, With particular reference to figure 5 of Felt and its associated description from paragraph [0057] to paragraph [0063], the solution provided by Felt is directed at the following steps; firstly information may be received about an affected area, for example, a governmental 30 or law enforcement agency may have information about an emergency situation. The information that is received may be specific to a particular location. Next, the boundary of the affected area may be determined. Next, communication facilities associated with the affected area may be identified where the facilities can be cell WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 7 towers, which may be associated with different cell tower controllers 110. The operator of the network 102 typically tracks and records the geographic positions of the communication facilities along with boundaries of any applicable service areas. The identification of affected communication facilities (identifying cells in 5 the affected area), which are associated with the affected area, may be based on a correlation or overlap between the affected area and the geographic positions of the communication facilities. Accordingly, the affected communication facilities 105 may be any communication facility that provides communication services to at least a subset of the affected area. Next, communication devices associated 10 with the affected communication facilities may be discovered (a determination of a list of handsets in the affected area). The devices that might need to be notified may be discovered from the records: of contact with the affected communication facilities. For example, the records may be searched for all of the devices that contacted a communication facility within a certain time frame, e.g., the last ten 15 minutes. This set of devices that might need to be contacted may be reduced to the set of devices that should be contacted based on at least the location of each device with respect to the affected area (ie determine the status of handsets in a network within the affected area). The solution provided by Felt includes a 'Notification Module' that collects location information direct from the 'Cell Tower 20 Controller' (CTC). However, CTC's are closed proprietary systems and this is considered disadvantageous. For example whilst the interfaces to CTC's may be defined, the internal workings or functionality are not. Hence the solution of Felt may be requiring a special function to be built into the CTC's to provide this location information, which would not be available on every vendor's CTC. As a 25 result a range of mechanisms may need to be used to determine location from the CTC's. Accordingly, it may also be implied that specialised or custom functionality is required in the CTC without which the solution of Felt would otherwise not be able to function. For example, at paragraph [0024] a range of location techniques, from Triangulation to Trilateration are described. 30 Furthermore, Felt does not provide any optimisation of the subsequent SMS broadcast to maximize throughput and minimize network congestion, and nothing on the SMS delivery process.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 8 European Patent Application, Publication No 1209886 in the name of Alcatel USA Sourcing, L.P. (Alcatel) discloses a system for alerting mobile subscribers about emergency situations where the system includes an emergency warning system capable of generating information identifying a 5 geographic area in which there is an emergency situation. The Alcatel system also includes a controller capable of receiving the information identifying the troubled geographic area and is further capable of requesting and receiving from a wireless communications network a list of the mobile subscribers currently located within the troubled geographic area. The Alcatel system addresses the 10 general requirement for bulk identification of services in a defined geographic area, and bulk notification. At paragraph [0008] there is description of receiving the target area information, and determining the cells affected. Next in paragraph (0009] a request is sent to the 'Wireless Communications Network' for all mobiles in this defined set of cells associated with the area of interest. The system then 15 subsequently notifies this list of mobiles. With particular reference to paragraph [0015] of Alcatel, a list of mobiles is determined from a request for all mobiles in this cell list through a HLR query. By specifying the HLR as the source of information, the Alcatel system may not be able to determine inbound roamers, given that a spatial query to a HLR is not a typical roaming supported query. 20 Furthermore, for inbound roamers, the system of Alcatel would not know what foreign HLR's to query to obtain information on such mobiles. Another mobile subscriber alert notification system is disclosed in US Patent Application, Publication No 2010/0093380 Al (Gustafsson). The innovation described in Gustafsson relates to mobile subscriber alert notifications 25 and, identifies a recognised need to alert and/or notify individuals being present in a specified geographical area through mobile communications where the alert may be a warning for bush fires, traffic guidance or for the purposes of advertisement. Specifically, it is considered that Gustafsson identifies problems with three prior art systems that may be utilised for alerting mobile subscribers in 30 a specific geographic area, as follows. Firstly, Cell Broadcast functionality of the GSM standard, in its current known forms, has drawbacks in that accuracy is limited to cell accuracy; the same information is broadcast to all subscribers and, it is also a drawback that a mobile WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 9 network won't know who may be in the particular location, for example via temporary out of coverage, so it is not possible to follow up if the subscriber got the notification. Gustafsson also notes that Cell Broadcast also has several limitations in terms of functionality but this is not specified. 5 Secondly, Gustafsson identifies WO 98/08350 (Ericsson, Inc.) as a prior art reference disclosing a system for selectively broadcasting a message to mobile stations travelling within a particular geographic area within a serving mobile switching centre (MSC) coverage area. The message is transmitted using for example short message service (SMS) messages to each of the mobile stations 10 determined to be located within the specified geographic area. The determination of to which mobile stations to send the message is done by querying a visiting location register (VLR). However, Gustafsson notes a drawback with the system of WO 98/08350 is that the accuracy, e.g. the age, of the information accessible In the VLR is not sufficient. 15 Thirdly, Gustafsson identifies WO 00/54524 (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson) which describes a service by which suppliers of general information can supply general information to mobile radio network users in a certain geographical area, without the users having to set their mobile stations in the mode for receiving such information. The service comprises registering a general 20 information message in a general information message register in the mobile radio network including registering an identification of served area. When receiving a location update message from the mobile station the identification of served area is compared with the information of the location of said mobile station included in the location update message. It is determined whether the general 25 information message should be sent to the mobile station based on the result of the comparison and the general Information message is sent to the mobile station if it is determined that the general information message should be sent. The problem identified by Gustafsson with a system according to WO 00/54524 is that it is the mobile station that initiates the sending of information. Thus, although the 30 subscriber location in the mobile network is known by the location update information the method is not suitable for alert notifications where it is important to be able to distribute the information urgently to a plurality of mobile stations since awaiting the mobiles updating their location is not acceptable.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 10 In its broadest sense, Gustafsson provides a solution to the above noted problems by way of a method and apparatus in which a Location Server performs the following steps: receiving a request for identity of subscribers within an alert area (defined by cells) from an alert application; receiving subscriber location data 5 from at least one network node (where a network node is disclosed as being either a core network or a radio access network); checking the subscriber location data and informing the alert application about subscribers located within the alert area; and sending a request to at least one network node to modify the configuration of subscriber location data updating in the network node(s). 10 Essentially, the key aspect of the solution offered by Gustafsson is performing a modification at a network node to the updating of subscriber location data in order to improve the quality/accuracy of location data for subscribers deemed to be within the predetermined alert area. It is considered that this modification to updating of location data may extend only to modifying the timing 15 interval of the Periodic Location Update (PLU) event, which according to Gustafsson, "is a periodic registration event that occurs regularly according to a setting in the Radio Access Network." In other words, the modification performed by Gustafsson may be restricted to a change of the PLU event within the Radio Access Network as opposed to the Core Network, as such. 20 Another mobile solution for emergency alerts is provided by the NobillTM Emergency SMS from Symsoft and is described in a product brochure available from the company, which describes the system as follows. The system is built around one or several databases that continuously collect information on the location, of all subscribers within a mobile network. This data collection can be 25 done in several ways: * using Equipment Identity Register (EIR) data, if it contains IMSI number; 0 collection of data from the VLR, if having the functionality to report when a subscriber enters; 30 e supervision of location update messages to the HLR The choice of method for location data collection depends on the information stored in the EIR, VLR and HLR. The granularity of the location WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 11 information reported in the network determines the precision of the location, which in turn determines the minimum size of the regions targeted by messages. The NobillTm Emergency SMS solution is independent of other SMS platforms. NobillTM has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to write or edit a message. It is 5 also allows for selection of the geographical area to which the message should be sent. It is also possible to pre-define the period during which the system will try to resend messages again, or if messages were undelivered. The NobilITM system is predicated on collecting data from the VLR, on the proviso that the functionality is available to report when a subscriber enters the location, hence there is a 10 deficiency to the system if such functionality is not available. NobilITM may also employ a direct SMS delivery, but there is not necessarily any appropriate methodology employed for an ordered delivery. SUMMARY OF INVENTION It would be desirable to provide state and federal emergency agencies with 15 a system to supplement current methods of providing information and warnings to the public during emergencies which could take advantage of the ubiquity and functionality of mobile. phones in Australia and elsewhere and that may be able to provide agencies with the ability to mark up an area of interest, identify the number and location of mobile customers within the area of interest; and provide 20 those customers with alerts or information regarding an emergency situation. Accordingly, it is an object of the embodiments described herein to overcome or alleviate at least one of the above noted drawbacks of related art systems or to at least provide a useful alternative to related art systems. It is another object of the embodiments described herein to provide a 25 method to determine the areas of a Radio .Access Network (RAN) most likely to have coverage within a given mobile subscriber alert notification campaign target Area of interest, and to provide algorithms optimised for the timeliness and granularity requirements of the specific notification campaign. It is a further object of the embodiments described herein to provide a 30 series of methodologies for mobile subscriber alert notification, incorporating a range of network, handset, and customer data and preferences, to determine both the appropriate message to be delivered, and media to be employed, for a given notification campaign.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 12 In a first aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of determining mobile cells affected by a notifiable event within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the method comprising: 5 determining a network coverage map comprising data from one or a combination of a best server plot and transceiver location data; compiling a list comprising at least one of individual mobile cells or mobile network Location Areas identified in the determined network coverage map. The compiled list may further comprise one or a combination of: 10 individual mobile cells, which are included or intersected by the area of interest and; mobile network Location Areas, which are included or Intersected by the area of interest. Preferably, the above method further comprises the steps of: 15 determining those mobile cells that do not have substantial overlap with the area of interest; removing the mobile cells determined as having no substantial overlap with the area of interest from the compiled list of any one of claims 1 or 2. The step of determining may comprise for each cell performing one or a 20 combination of: calculating the percentage of the cell that is within the area of interest; calculating the percentage of the area of interest that is covered by the cell; and, comparing the calculated percentage to a predetermined threshold 25 percentage. The above method may further comprise the steps of: determining those Location Areas that do not have substantial overlap with the area of interest; removing the Location Areas determined as having no substantial overlap 30 with the area of interest from the compiled list of any one of claims I or 2. The above step of determining may comprise for each Location Area performing one or a combination of: WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 13 calculating the percentage of the Location Area that is within the area of interest; calculating the percentage of the area of interest that is covered by the Location Area; and, 5 comparing the calculated percentage to a predetermined threshold percentage. In preferred forms, the above noted method may further comprise the steps of: determining location information for each mobile device operatively 10 associated with cells included in the compiled list; compiling a primary list comprising the mobile devices with determined location information. The step of determining location information may comprise collecting the location information from one or a combination of: a Serving Network Node; 15 a transceiver controller; a network probes located proximate a Serving Network Node; a network probes located proximate a transceiver controller, where the Serving Network Node or transceiver controller are associated with cells included within the compiled list. 20 In another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted for emergency notification within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of: determining at least one subset list of mobile devices for a notification 25 campaign; compiling a final broadcast list of mobile devices, wherein the final broadcast list is compiled using hash table rules to ensure each mobile device in the final broadcast list is alerted only once. In yet another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a 30 method of determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted for notification within a predetermined relative area of interest, in which a mobile subscriber is in operative communication with a supplementary access network, located in a WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 14 coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of: determining at least one subset list of mobile devices for a notification campaign; 5 compiling a final broadcast list of mobile devices, wherein the final broadcast list is compiled using hash table rules to ensure each mobile device in the final broadcast list is alerted only once. In accordance with this method the determination of the list is based on a 'Relative Subscriber Location' being within a 'Relative Area of Interest' (RAol) to a 10 Supplementary Access Network. In the above methods of determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted, it is preferable that at least the final broadcast list is created according to predetermined business logic rules. Furthermore, the at least one subset list may comprise mobile devices identified as being located within the area of interest and 15 a union with at least one predetermined campaign based list. Preferably, the at least one predetermined campaign based list comprises one or a combination of: a mobile white list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to always receive an alert; mobile black list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are never to 20 receive an alert; mobile grey list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an alert only if they are located in a predetermined area of interest corresponding to an alert campaign; cell grey list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an 25 alert only if they are utilising at least one of predetermined set of transceiver controllers; broadcast monitoring white list corresponding to a list of mobile device that are to receive messages either immediately before or immediately following an alert campaign broadcast. 30 Supplementary network grey list, corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an alert only if they are utilising at least one of predetermined set of supplementary networks. Such supplementary networks may include but WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 15 are not limited to Bluetooth networks, WiFi networks, Infra Red connections and Near Field Communication networks (NFC). In yet a further aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to 5 minimise congestion, the method comprising the steps of: determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted where each entry for a mobile device in the list comprises at least a cell ID and Location Area corresponding to the respective mobile device; ordering the list of mobile devices to be alerted such that there is a 10 maximised separation in the list between mobile devices having the same Location Area or cell ID. The above step of ordering may further comprise the steps of: creating separate lists of mobile devices corresponding to each Location Area; and employing ordering methodologies to spread the load of the SMS 15 broadcast across all Location Areas and all Cells within the target area. Such methodologies may be embodied by a 'Round Robin' approach, whereby sequential messages come from different LA and Cells according to methods described in this document, Such methodology may also be embodied with a LA or Cell 'Broadcast 20 Ratio' approach, whereby the ratio of mobiles within a Cell or LA to the total number of mobiles to be alerted is used to create the broadcast list order. Such methodology may also be embodied by a LA based network interface approach, whereby a specific Message delivery queue is employed for a given LA or group of LA's, so as to manage the broadcast rate to that given LA. 25 In the LA broadcast ratio (LA Ratio) approach, the LA-BR for each separate Location Area may be defined as: LA Ratio = (number of mobile devices in LA) I (Total number of mobile device to be alerted); sending alert messages to each Location Area according to the weighting provided by the LA broadcast ratio. Preferably, the ordered broadcast messages 30 are delivered according to one or a combination of: standard SMSC based delivery with delivery receipts; bypassing SMSC directly into a CCS7 network utilising HLR MAP SMSSRI query and MAP SMS_FSM message delivery processes; WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 16 bypassing 3GPP HLR query (MAP SMS_FSM), and sending the MAP SMSFSM message direct to the-SNN hosting the mobile; an initial hidden SMS whereby the message is not displayed to the mobile user to allow a determination of the current cell for the mobile device and if the 5 device is In the desired target cell, a second SMS is sent comprising the alert message. In yet another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion, the method comprising the steps of: 10 increasing throughput of messages in accordance with incremental steps in message transfer rates; monitoring network congestion to control the step of increasing throughput. Any one or a combination of the above method steps may be utilised advantageously in a method of communicating alert messages in a wireless 15 communication network In yet another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided apparatus for determining mobile cells affected by a notifiable event within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, said apparatus comprising: 20 network coverage map determining means for determining a network coverage map comprising data from one or a combination of a best server plot and transceiver location data; mobile information compiling means for compiling a list comprising at least one of individual mobile cells or mobile network Location Areas identified in the 25 determined network coverage map. In still another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided apparatus for determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted for emergency notification within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the apparatus comprising: 30 listing means for determining at least one subset list of mobile devices for a notification campaign; WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 17 compiling means for compiling a final broadcast list of mobile devices, wherein the final broadcast list is compiled using hash table rules to ensure each mobile device in the final broadcast list Is alerted only once. In still yet another aspect of embodiments described herein there is 5 provided apparatus for controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion, said apparatus comprising: list determining means for determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted where each entry for a mobile device in the list comprises at least a cell ID and Location Area corresponding to the respective mobile device; 10 ordering means for ordering the list of mobile devices to be alerted such that there is a maximised separation in the list between mobile devices having the same Location Area or cell ID. In yet a further aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided apparatus for controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order 15 to minimise congestion, the apparatus comprising: throughput means for increasing throughput of messages in accordance with incremental steps in message transfer rates; monitoring means for monitoring network congestion to control the throughput means for increasing throughput. 20 In preferred forms the present Invention is embodied by a system for communicating alert messages in a wireless communication network comprising any one or a combination of the apparatus as disclosed herein. Other aspects and preferred forms are disclosed in the specification and/or defined in the appended claims, forming a part of the description of the invention. 25 In essence, embodiments of the present invention stem from the realization that mobile subscriber alert notification systems of the prior art do not allow for the integration of a solution into a multi operator environment that can accommodate the varying MSC and CTC vendors employed. Furthermore, the present embodiments provide a solution that given a target polygon can 30 determine affected areas, extract network information, determine all affected mobile devices, and based on a range of criteria, employ a custom alert process, that provides optimal throughput to the customer base, while minimising network impact.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 18 Advantages provided by embodiments of the present invention comprise the following: " Ability to incorporate radio network coverage and cell planning data from a variety of network OSS systems and formats, and use such 5 network specific information to determine affected Cells and Location Areas for a given campaign polygon. " Ability to extract location information from a network using a variety of sources and interfaces, from probe data on the CTC-MSC interface, or from the CTC's or MSC's directly should suitable 10 interfaces be available " Ability to construct complex campaigns that involve multiple mobile white, grey and blacklists, and cell white, grey and blacklists, and incorporate information on handset capability, customers home network and language, customer preferences, as well as location. 15 6 Ability to construct and deliver a campaign to a targeted group of mobiles in a targeted area, using SMS, Cell Broadcast, MMS and RVA's, and customise the delivery media according to handset capability, as well as optimise the SMS and MMS message delivery process to minimise impacts on the network whilst maximising 20 throughput. * Unlike the NobillTm system of the prior art, embodiments disclosed herein allow for the collection of all data from the VLR upon a campaign being run, and/or collecting all data passing to the VLR via probes, and/or receiving all location event data from the VLR if 25 spatial triggering software employed. * In contrast to prior examples, intelligent ordering of delivery of alert messages can be provided based on Cell/LA info. Further scope of applicability of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it 30 should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 19 disclosure herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further disclosure, objects, advantages and aspects of preferred and other 5 embodiments of the present application may be better understood by those skilled in the relevant art by reference to the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure herein, and in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for alerting wireless mobile 10 subscribers in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present Invention; Figure 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of a wireless mobile subscriber alert notification system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a high level flowchart for a method of notifying wireless mobile 15 subscribers in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a schematic functional block diagram of a wireless mobile subscriber alert notification system, in part, showing the import of network data in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 Is a schematic functional block diagram of a wireless mobile 20 subscriber alert notification system, in part, showing the retrieval of location and mobility information along with management of campaign specific rules in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a schematic functional block diagram of a wireless mobile subscriber alert notification system, In part, showing the delivery of a campaign 25 for wireless mobile subscriber alert notification in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the context of the present description of preferred embodiments, the following listed terms and acronyms have the meanings as noted below: 30 3GPP: 3rd Generation Partnership Project being a Mobile Telecommunications Industry standards body. Aol: Area of Interest. The target polygon corresponding to the emergency affected geographical area that is determined and passed into WALS.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 20 BSC: Base Station Controller. BTS: Base Station. CBS: Cell Broadcast Service. A broadcast messaging service with no delivery confirmation. 5 CGL: Cell Grey List. CID: Cell ID. GGSN: Gateway GPRS Service Node. ETWS: Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System. Based on CBS. FBL: Final Broadcast List. 10 GPS: Global Positioning System. GT: Global Title. HLR: Home Location Register. IMEL: International Mobile Equipment Identity. IMSI: International Mobile Subscriber Identity. 15 LA: Location Area. LUI: Location Update Interval. MBL: Mobile Black List. MGL: Mobile Grey List. MNP: Mobile Number Portability. 20 MS: Mobile Station. MSC: Mobile Switching Centre. MSISDN: Mobile ISDN. (E.164 Mobile Number). MWL: Mobile White List. OSS: Operations Support Systems 25 NFC Near Field Communications RAOI Relative Area Of Interest RNC: Radio Network Controller. RSL Relative Subscriber Location SAN Supplementary Access Network 30 SGSN: Service GPRS Service Node. SLA Supplementary Location Agent SMPP: Short Message Peer to Peer. Protocol used to send SMS to SMSC from another application.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 21 SMSC: Short Messaging Service Centre. Network platform providing the SMS service. SMS: Short Messaging Service. SMS._FSM: SMS - Forward Short Message. SMS to mobile on SNN. 5 SMSSRI: SMS - Send Routing Information. Determines SNN for given mobile. SNN: Serving Network Node. The MSC or SGSN that services a mobile customer. TLD: Transceiver Location Data. GPS location of Base Station 10 transceiver, which may be provided as Latitude and Longitude information. VLR: Visitor Location Register. WALS: Wireless Location and Alerting System. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a location based mobile identification and alerting system, that may incorporate both standard 15 wireless industry technologies, such as the 3GPP defined 'Short Message Service' (SMS), 'Mobile Location Services' (MLS), 'Cell Broadcast System'(CBS) and 'Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System'(ETWS), as well as custom designs, methodologies and systems some of which are as described herein, to deliver a range of end user applications and services. There are a number of 20 preferred aspects of the present invention disclosed herein, including but not limited to [1] the methodology of determining the affected area (or affected cells) on a cellular network given a target 'Area of Interest' (Aol), [2] the methodology of determining the affected mobiles to be alerted or notified within an affected area, and [3] the methodology of alerting the mobiles within a target area. 25 It is also envisaged that embodiments described herein may be adapted to provide a 'Relative Subscriber Location' (RSL) of a given mobile subscriber to a Supplementary Access Network (SAN), that is detected by and/or provides connectivity to the mobile subscriber, either via the device or a 'Supplementary Location Agent' on the device, separate to the main cellular RAN. In this respect, 30 a given mobile subscriber alert notification campaign may be appropriate for this 'Relative' Subscriber Location, as a target Area of Interest, and with instruction gathered from the disclosure herein, algorithms may be optimised for the timeliness and granularity requirements of the specific notification campaign, as WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 22 would be appreciated by the person skilled in the art. In describing a relative subscriber location it is to be understood that 'Relative' location would be considered in relation to another wireless network, separate to the Cellular network. Such a network may include but not be limited to a specific or general 5 Bluetooth, WiFi or Near Field Communications (NFC) network. Examples may include a Car Bluetooth kit, or home Bluetooth or WiFi, or a location specific WiFi location such as adopted in an Airport or Retail premise, or an interaction or detection of a Near Field Communications (NFC) reader or device. The relative location may be determined by an additional 'Supplementary Location Agent' 10 (SLA) on a mobile device such as a phone, for example an 'I-Phone' application, and on detecting a suitable network, may inform the central WALS server of the Relative location, from which an Alert or Action may be triggered if configured so. With reference to the accompanying drawings, the functions of the embodiments described herein are illustrated. 15 For example, figure 3 illustrates the high level flowchart of the application for a typical campaign, showing the main sub process areas as related to a preferred embodiment, namely that of determining the relevant radio coverage area for a given campaign Aol, retrieving data from the network using one of many available methods, formulating a campaign based on various data 20 attributes and customer preference, and delivery of the campaign in an optimal manner to maximise throughput and minimise network congestion and impact. In more details of the functional steps involved, figure 4 illustrates the functional components of the determination of the affected area of a network for a given campaign Aol. Figure 5 illustrates the functional components and options 25 for obtaining network data and formulating the campaign based on such network data and customer preference. Figure 6 illustrates the functional components for the delivery of a given campaign over multiple media types and in such a manner as to maximise throughput and minimise congestion and network impacts. In a preferred embodiment, the inventor has developed a software system 30 along with mobile telecommunications network components to solve the difficult computation and data processing problem of locating and alerting a large number of mobile phone users within a geographical area. In a generic higher level description the alert system of preferred embodiments may be referred to as a WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 23 Wireless Alert and Location System (WALS). Accordingly, in preferred embodiments WALS is intended to be installed in a wireless operator's network, for example, connecting in at both a signalling level (MAP/CCS7/Sigtran), on a range of interfaces, as well as various OSS interfaces for network coverage 5 information and Cell Tower locations, and is able to identify and alert mobile handsets based on their actual current location. These points of interconnect are shown in figure 2. It is noted that the system shown in figure 2 also, as an option, provides for not only including cellular location but also relative location. In a preferred method the WALS system takes a geographical definition of 10 the area of interest, Aol, and determines which wireless network cells (for example 2G and 3G) provide network coverage within and nearby this area of interest. In doing this, use is made of actual operator network coverage maps, not just mobile base station locations. This determination of affected cells may be automatic and usually takes less than a minute to derive and display. This 15 capability is complex but within the ability of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) tools - the WALS system contains algorithms, described herein, to do this automatically and quickly. From the determined list of cells, the operator's network may be interrogated to determine the location and status of all handsets in the network for 20 the area of interest, Aol. The precise method of interrogating the network may depend on the network operator's configuration and the supplier of the network equipment (e.g. Ericsson, Nokia). Once the network has been interrogated, this large amount of raw data may be converted into a list of mobile handsets located in the area of interest. Depending on the size of the area and number of 25 handsets within it, this may typically take 1-2 minutes. It is to be appreciated that processing this amount of data is a complex problem but has been addressed by the algorithms and processes as described herein. The operator can then enter the required alert text message. In preferred embodiments there are various algorithms provided to throttle messages to the 30 network, taking into- account the throughput capability of the network, including Messaging systems, Location Area and Cell throughput capabilities, and sensitive to any network feedback or further constraints to avoid congestion, or throttle WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 24 back relevant rates to reduce congestion to acceptable level. Status and progress of the alerts can be monitored. For any given campaign, specific 'retry' rules may also apply, from utilising standard SMSC retry algorithms and validity periods, to implementing a WALS 5 specific retry algorithm and number of attempts for a given campaign validity period, through to 'single attempt' campaigns consisting of one attempt only. In a general system description of embodiments of the present invention, any one or a combination of the following processes may be performed: " determination of a list of network cells providing coverage in a 10 predetermined geographical area of interest; e optionally, interrogate operator networks associated with the list of cells to determine location and status of all handsets in each network for the geographical area of interest; * convert the networks response to the interrogation into a list of 15 mobile handsets located In the geographical area of interest; * send desired alert text message to mobile handsets on the list. This can be summarized as: * Receive target area, and determine LA's and cells within or intersected by target area; 20 e Optionally, query the Serving Network Nodes that cover the target area; * Determine mobiles to be alerted from the data returned; * Send alert to this list of mobiles. The above noted processes are described in further detail below. 25 1. Methodology for Determining Affected Cells. Mobile cellular environment Figure 1 illustrates the mobile wireless environment, showing the radio access network as comprising Radio Transceivers, Radio Cells, Cell Tower Controllers, Actual cell coverage, and a modelled 'Best Server Plot' coverage, 30 Transceiver location data, service network nodes, and other such descriptions in which the present embodiment is concerned.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 25 With reference to Figure 1, typically, cellular wireless networks comprise a number of Transceivers 1, for example, BTS or Node B's, supporting a series of radio Cells 2, grouped into Location Areas 3, managed by a series of Transceiver Controllers 4, for example, BSC's or RNC's. The Transceiver Controllers 4 may 5 in turn be parented off a Serving Network Node 5. When an Active Mobile is in an active call or session, or performs a Location Update 6, it's current Cell is communicated to the Network, and is stored within the Servicing Network Node 5 ie SNN, for example, MSC, VLR or SGSC VLR. An Idle mobile may perform a Location Update 6 to the network at a periodic Location Update Interval (LUI, Eg 10 60 minutes), and can move freely between all Cells within a Location Area 3a without communicating to the Transceiver Controller 4, and hence have its location updated in the SNN 5. Idle mobiles moving between different Location Areas, namely 3a to 3b, will detect the new area 3b, and perform a Location Update to the SNN 5. As such, the location data stored in the SNN 5 may be out 15 of date for the Cell information by an amount up to the LUI, but will always be up to date for the Location Area data. When representing coverage of an individual Cell, it is often represented as a circle for an Omni Cell or hexagon 7 for a 180 degree Sectored Cell. In reality the coverage area is very different, based on geography and buildings, and often may be non continuous, see area 8 of Figure 20 1. In order for Operators to manage their network, and show to their customers the coverage of the network, they produce wireless coverage maps, which are a representation of the network coverage, often based on both mathematical predictions, supplemented by survey data. Such coverage maps may be based on a geographical map broken into a grid to a certain level of granularity. 25 Mathematical models then determine the 'best server' for each defined grid square area in the map. Such maps are often referred to as a 'Best Server plot' 9. These maps are complimented by data that tracks the GPS Latitude and Longitude of each and every Base Station Transceiver 1. This data may compliment the 'Best Server Plot', 9. Often 'In Building' coverage involves the 30 use of Microcells that cover a smaller area than might otherwise be shown on the Best Server plot. This information is referred to as the Transceiver Location Data (TLD), 10. A preferred embodiment of the present system comprises as an input both the 'Best Server Plots' 9 for each network to be included in the Alert, as well WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 26 as the Transceiver Location Data 10 for each network. When an 'Area of Interest' (Aol) is passed to the present system, it first spatially references this to the Best Server Plot 9, in order to determine the Cells 2 that have some coverage within the Area of Interest, and may add to this the Transceivers 1 included in the Aol. 5 An Alert can be defined as either to the Cells 2 or LA's included or intersecting this Area of Interest. For an LA based campaign, the LA data for 'attached' mobiles should be up to date, but for a Cell based campaign, the Cell data may be up to 60 minutes out of date (The LUI time). For an LA based campaign, all LA's included or intersected in the Aol are first determined. For intersected LA's, 10 an algorithm is then used to remove LA's that have little overlap with the Aol, so as to avoid including LA's that have a high probability of 'False Positive' alerts (Alerting mobiles not in the Aol), and a low probability of 'False Negative' alerts.(Missing mobiles in the Aol). For a Cell based campaign, all Cells 2 included or intersected by the Aol are first determined. For intersected Cells 2, an 15 algorithm is then used to remove Cells 2 that have little overlap with the Aol, so as to avoid including Cells 2 having a high probability of 'False Positive' alerts (Alerting mobiles not in the Aol), and a low probability of 'False Negative' alerts.(Missing mobiles in the Aol). Affected area determination 20 Step 1. In preferred embodiments as a first step a new Campaign and Area of Interest (Aol) may be defined as Indicated in interface 310 of figure 2. Then Step 2. Best Server Plot referenced to determine affected cells. This defined Aol is spatially referenced to the 'Best Server Plot', previously imported via interface 330 from the relevant OSS systems, in order to determine 25 for the given Aol, the list of Cells that have some coverage within the Area of Interest. This is possible as the BSP contains the most likely service 'Cell' for each BSP grid square as illustrated in figure 1. The Aol is a geographic area, and from this each grid square that is enclosed or intersected by the Aol is first identified. Each BSP grid square may be a 200m x 200m for example. From this 30 list of grid squares, each of which has a single 'best service' Cell, a complete list of cells is composed that are likely to have some coverage within the Aol as predicted from the BSP. Step 3. Additional Transceiver data included.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 27 As many cells have overlapping coverage, and also some cells cover only a limited area that may be less than the BPS grid squares, such as 'In Building Coverage' (IBC) cells, it is necessary to supplement the projected BPS cells with a list of all 'Transceivers' that are also in the Aol, and/or are known to have 5 coverage within the Aol. These transceivers are identified through their known locations as defined by their TLD information, and imported into WALS via interface 340 in figure 2. Step 4. Total list of impacted cells derived. From the above two sources of information, all cells predicted to be 10 included or have some overlap with the Aol are now known. Step 5. Total list of impacted LA's derived. As each Cell is part of a single LA, a total list of all LA's that are included or have some coverage in the Aol Is also available. Alerting campaigns may be of varying levels of granularity, from Location 15 Area, Cell based, or'Sub Cell, all based on coverage with the initial Aol, and campaign rules. For Cell and Location Area campaigns, this may involve Cells and LA's included or intersecting the Area of Interest. For an LA based campaign, the LA data for 'attached' mobiles should be up to date, but for a Cell based campaign, as noted, the Cell data may be up to 20 60 minutes out of date.(The LULI time). The user may choose what level of granularity a specific campaign will be run as, and from that one of the following sections would be followed. LA - affected area determination For an LA based campaign, all LA's included or intersected in the Aol are 25 first determined according to step 5, above. Step 6. Determine full extent of each LA's coverage area. As many of these LA's will have overlapping coverage with the Aol, the total area that these identified LA may cover must be then determined. This is done using coverage information, which may be derived from both cell coverage 30 plots, and best server plot data. For intersected LA's, an algorithm is used to remove LA's that have little overlap with the Aol, so as to avoid including LA's that have a high probability of 'False Positive' alerts (Alerting mobiles not in the Aol), and a low probability of 'False Negative' alerts. (Missing mobiles in the Aol).

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 28 This algorithm is part of the methodology of determining affected Location Areas. Step 7. Algorithm to remove LA's not likely to have mobiles within the Aol. This involves for each LA identified in Step 5'to be checked to see that it 5 has a sufficient area of coverage, or a sufficient part of the LA is included within the Aol. This is done according to the following formula. For each LA that has some overlap with the Aol, the LA will be included in the broadcast if: Percentage of LA within Aol greater than a set value. (Eg 5%) 10 Percentage of Aol that the LA covers is greater than a set value. (Eg 5%) If either criteria is met, the LA will be included in the broadcast. This final list of LA's is then ready to be used to determine affected mobiles as described below. Cell- affected area determination 15 For a Cell based campaign, all Cells included or intersected by the Aol are first determined according to the process in step 4, above. Step 6. Determine full extent of each Cells coverage area. As many of these cells will have overlapping coverage with the Aol, the total area that these identified cells may cover must be then determined. This is 20 done using coverage information, which may be derived from both cell coverage plots, and best server plot data.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 29 Step 7. Algorithm to remove Cells not likely to have mobiles within the Aol. For intersected Cells, that Is, cells that are not totally enclosed by the Aol, an algorithm is then used to remove Cells that have little overlap with the Aol, so as to avoid including Cells have a high probability of 'False Positive' alerts 5 (Alerting mobiles not in the Aol), and a low probability of 'False Negative' alerts.(Missing mobiles in the Aol). This algorithm is part of the methodology of determining affected Location Areas. It involves for each Cell identified in Step 4, above, that is included or overlaps the Aol, to be checked to see that it has a sufficient area of coverage, or a sufficient part of the Cell is included within the 10 Aol. This is done according to the following formula. For each Cell that has overlap with but not enclosed within the Aol, the Cell will be included in the broadcast if: Percentage of Cell within Aol greater than a set value. (Eg 5%) 15 Percentage of Aol that the Cell covers is greater than a set value. (Eg 5%) If either criteria is met, the Cell will be included In the broadcast. It is to be noted that filtering is not to be applied for campaigns with "In building" granularity", ie when including only 'in building' cells or a 'Grey Cell List' campaign. 20 This final list of Cells is then ready to be used to determine affected mobiles as described below. Retrieve mobile network Information on mobile location Step 8. Determination of SNN's. Every Cell has a single serving MSC or SGSN (Referred to as a Serving 25 Network Node or SNN). From the impacted cell information in step 4, above, these SNN's can be derived from the operators network information, which is available through operational support system tables or database. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, information relating to what mobiles services are present within this 'Aol' may be obtained using one of several methods. 30 Step 9a. Mobile location through 3GPP defined Spatial Triggering tools. In approach one, the SNN's are configured using standard vendor processes to direct all location informatIon from all SNN's to WALS, which is then loaded into a database. This may use standard 3GPP mechanisms for 'Spatial WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 30 Triggering' and LBS as defined in 3GPP standards, and or shown as interface 360 may incorporate vendor extensions to such interfaces as available. Step 9b. Mobile location through polling of SNN VLR database. In approach two, the SNN's are polled using either a man-machine or 5 machine-machine interface, depending upon what the SNN vendor supports, , and all location information for all devices found in their respective (VLR) databases is returned as a file or output data stream and loaded into the WALS database. This is also shown as interface 360. This polling and the polling interval is performed based on a specific 10 algorithm, with a criteria that the MSC's are not polled too often, and instead is based on a 'confidence level' for the location data currently managed in the WALS database, to ensure that any campaign is within a 'staleness' threshold, beyond which the SNN"s must be polled for 'fresh' data. As this polling operation takes a finite period of time, the 'progress' of this 15 poll is shown to the customer as a status. The 'Progress' level is calculated according to the following formula: Progress = Minimum of (Recently Polled MSC's I Total Affected MSC's) or (Recently Updated Affected Subs / Total affected subs) Step 9c. Mobile location through SNN network probes. 20 In approach three, all Location information is collected from network probes placed on the interfaces to the SNN's (Eg MSCNLR A Interface). These probes monitor all traffic on the respective interface, and are configured using standard probe operational processes to identify any signalling event that has location significance and send this information to the system. These are shown as 25 interface 370. All Location information is then loaded into the WALS database. Step 9d. Mobile location through B TS/Node B network probes. In approach four, all Location information is collected from network probes placed in the interfaces to the Transceiver Controllers. (BSC's A-bis and RNC luB interface) These probes monitor all traffic on the respective interface, and are 30 configured using standard probe operational processes to identify any signalling event that has location significance and send this information to WALS. All Location information is then loaded into the WALS database.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 31 Of the approaches, approach one uses the defined 'Location Services' interface, and approaches three and four involve capturing data on standardised interfaces. Approach two uses a network vendor proprietary interface. Step 10. Primary list of mobiles in affected area. 5 In all approaches taken by WALS, location Information from all mobile devices within the affected area is obtained from the network, regardless of subscription, local HLR management or in bound roamers. This is now referred to as the Primary Aol list of mobiles for further lit processing described below. 10 For each mobile entry in this Primary Aol list, in addition to the mobile number, the IMSI, IMEI, Cell and SNN are also retained for possible further business rule processing. 2. Methodology for obtaining network Information. In a particular optional embodiment, following an 'Area of interest' being 15 determined, a determination of the Cells and Location Area's impacted may be performed, and from this the 'Serving Network Nodes' (MSCNLR and SGSNNLR's) servicing these Location Areas may be determined. In one approach, these SNN's are polled, and all location information for all devices from these SNN's may be returned and loaded into a database. In another approach, 20 these SNN's may be configured to direct all location information from all devices, which is then loaded into the database. This may be through the use of the standard mechanisms defined in 3GPP, on the Lg interface, or vendor specific interfaces. In another approach, all Location information is collected from network probes placed on the interfaces to the SNN's (Eg MSCNLR A Interface). All 25 Location information is then loaded into the database. In another approach all Location information is collected from network probes placed in the interfaces to the Transceiver Controllers. (BSC's A-bis and RNC luB interface) All Location information is then loaded into the database. In all approaches taken to collect the device location information from the network, information is returned for all 30 devices, regardless of subscription, local HLR managed or in bound roamers.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 32 3. Methodology for determining mobiles to be alerted. In preferred embodiments the present invention can identify all devices within an area, not necessarily a subset predicated by network limitations. As the system of this preferred embodiment extracts all data from the VLR or from the 5 Probe's all devices in the affected area can be notified. The preferred solution incorporates configurable and flexible business logic to intelligently build the list of mobiles to be alerted. This logic includes what mobiles to be alerted, in what order, and with what processing to use when alerting. In all cases the business logic can incorporate information relating to the 10 mobile's home carrier (From the IMSI), mobiles device capability (Derived in part through the IMEI), service capability (PrepaidlPostpaid,. other service status Information), in determining whether to alert or not, in addition to location information, and just what message and alerting mechanisms to use. The business logic may be unique to any given campaign, depending upon 15 requirements. For all campaigns, there are two stages involved in creating the 'Final Broadcast List' (FBL) of mobiles to be alerted. Step 11. Determination of all relevant 'sub lists' for a given campaign. The first stage of list processing involves identifying all of the relevant 'subset' lists for the given campaign. This includes both mobiles identified as 20 being within the Aol, as well as a union of this list with a range of additional campaign based white, grey and black lists. Step 12. Final broadcast list compilation. The second stage involves composing the Final Broadcast List. The broadcast may commence during the compilation or following the completion of 25 the final broadcast list according to campaign business rules. Preferably, in all cases, the list and order of mobiles to be alerted, along with the alerting processes and messages are built up according to business logic and rules. All lists are stored in memory until required. When the final broadcast list is created, it is created using software based hash table rules to ensure that 30 each mobile is alerted once only. The following lists are compiled in accordance with this embodiment. Primary Alert List WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 33 Once the network device location information is loaded into the database, the devices that have a Cell or LA corresponding to the Area of Interest target Cells or LA's (Based on a Cell or LA campaign) are then added to an initial 'Alert List'. 5 Mobile White List. (MWL) Mobile devices can be added to a 'Mobile White List' (MWL) to always receive an Alert. There may be multiple 'Mobile White Lists'. A single campaign may comprise one or more of these 'Mobile White Lists'. A device appearing in more than one MWL is still only ever notified once. 10 Mobile Black List. (MBL) Mobile devices can be added to a 'Mobile Black List' (MBL) to never receive an Alert. Such devices may comprise Telemetry and devices not suitable for the given campaign message. There may be more than one Mobile Black List. A MBL can be configured to be universal against all campaigns, or selected on a 15 campaign by campaign basis. Mobile Grey List. (MGL) Mobile devices may be added to a 'Mobile Grey List' (MGL) to only receive an Alert if in the Aol. There may be multiple Mobile Grey Lists. These MGL can be configured to be universal against all campaigns, or selected on a campaign 20 by campaign basis. Cell Grey List. (CGL) For a 'venue based campaign', such as at a sporting venue or building with 'In Building Coverage', a 'Cell Grey List' (CGL) may be created. In this situation only those mobiles using a defined set of Transceiver Base Stations are to be 25 notified. In such cases where a campaign is to use a CGL, only those mobiles that are currently registered with the CGL cells will be notified. SAN Grey List. (SANGL) For a 'Relative Subscriber Location' campaign', such as being with a car driving home connected to the car Bluetooth kit, or at home connected via WiFi, 30 or in a Venue and detecting a local WiFi network, a 'Supplemental Access Network Grey List' (SANGL) may be created. In this situation only those mobiles that can detect or use a defined set of Supplemental Access Networks are to be WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 34 notified. In such cases where a campaign is to use a SANGL, only those mobiles that are currently registered with the SANGL cells will be notified. Broadcast Monitoring White List. (BMWL) Mobile devices may be added to a 'Broadcast Monitor White List' (BMWL) 5 that is sent a message immediately preceding and immediately following an individual campaign broadcast. Content of such a message may contain the main Alert, or may contain separate data relating to the characteristics of the Broadcast, such as start time, and date, list size, end time and date, broadcast summary. Devices in this list may also be in the main Alert list. Such devices 10 may then receive 3 messages for a given campaign. (Start Broadcast, Main Alert, End Broadcast). 4. Methodology for Alerting Mobiles - Intelligent Alert Delivery. An intelligent alerting may be provided according to this embodiment, with algorithms to maximise throughput and minimising impact and congestion on the 15 network. Once a list of devices has been created to be alerted, the Intelligent Alert Delivery process manages the ordering and methodology of Alert Delivery. Intelligent Alert Delivery. (IAD) The Intelligent Alert Delivery process orders the list of devices to be sent an SMS according to an algorithm based on network information, including the 20 Cell ID and Location Area for each mobile in the list, as well as known limits for the network, including the Messgaing systems and number of interfaces or binds available, the throughput limit for a Location Area and Cell, based on technology type. This IAD algorithm takes into account the number of individual Cells, Location Areas in determining the maximum throughput, and orders the list such 25 that the impact of the broadcast on the network is minimal for the maximum throughput. In one implementation, this optimised ordered list is them passed to an SMSC for Alert delivery. In other implementations, this delivery may be done direct to the network. The methodology to spread the load of the SMS broadcast involves 30 ordering the list of mobile devices to be alerted such that there is a maximised separation in the list between mobile devices having the same Location Area or cell ID. The above step of ordering may further comprise of several options: WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 35 One embodiment uses a 'Round Robin' approach, whereby sequential messages come from different LA and Cells according to methods described in this document. across all cells with one or more mobiles to be notified across the Location Area (LA), This may be done using a 'Cell Round Robin' (CRR) 5 methodology, whereby Cells are first sorted as Cell 1 to Cell n according to the number of mobiles thought to be present in that Cell. The CRR list is created with a mobile from Cell 1, then a mobile from Cell 2, through to a mobile from Cell n, and this is repeated until no further mobiles remain for Cell n. The process is repeated from Cell 1 to Cell (n-1), and so forth, until all mobiles have been placed 10 into the CRR list. One embodiment uses a LA or Cell 'Broadcast Ratio' approach, whereby the ratio of mobiles within a Cell or LA to the total number of mobiles to be alerted is used to create the broadcast list order. The LA broadcast ratio (LA Ratio) is defined as: LA Ratio = (number of mobile devices in LA) / (Total number of mobile 15 device to be alerted): sending alert messages to each Location Area according to the weighting provided by the LA broadcast ratio. One embodiment uses a LA based network interface approach, whereby a specific Message delivery queue is employed for a given LA or group of LA's, so as to manage the broadcast rate to that given LA. 20 Preferably, the ordered broadcast messages are delivered according to one or a combination of: standard SMSC based delivery with delivery receipts; bypassing SMSC directly into a CCS7 network utilising HLR MAP SMSSRI query and MAP SMSFSM message delivery processes; 25 bypassing 3GPP HLR query (MAP SMS_FSM), and sending the MAP SMSFSM message direct to the SNN hosting the mobile; an initial hidden SMS whereby the message is not displayed to the mobile user to allow a determination of the current cell for the mobile device and if the device is in the desired target cell, a second SMS is sent comprising the alert 30 message. In yet another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion, the method comprising the steps of: WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 36 increasing throughput of messages in accordance with incremental steps in message transfer rates; monitoring network congestion to control the step of Increasing throughput. Any one or a combination of the above method steps may be utilised 5 advantageously in a method of communicating alert messages in a wireless communication network 'Intelligent Alert Delivery' manages the ordering, methodology and speed of Alert Delivery, and incorporates both point to point (SMS) alert delivery functionality, as well as 'Cell Broadcast System' (CBS) functionality. A key 10 concept behind the WALS system is to be able to deliver the most effective communications experience to each individual mobile, based on not only the mobiles location, but also the customer (from the IMSI or mobile number) and the handset capability (From IMEI). Step 13. Specific message or delivery based on mobile customers home carrier. 15 From the Primary Aol Alert list derived in step 10, the IMSI is available, and from the IMSI, any in-bound roamers from other networks can be identified. These inbound roaming mobile customers may be treated as standard mobiles, or have special processing, such as a different message, possibly in a different language according to their country of origin. 20 Step 14. Specific message or process based on handset capability. Providing a campaign capability that leverages handset capability, including handset support of the 3GPP defined 'Cell Broadcast' capability and the more recent 3GPP 'Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System' (ETWS) functionality provides extra avenues to communicate information and status 25 updates to mobile customers. For all mobiles, the IMEI is available, and from this the TAC and mobile handset capability may be derived. For example, those mobiles supporting Cell Broadcast or ETWS defined. Special messages and/or special processing may be invoked for these mobiles. IAD - Cell Broadcast and ETWS. 30 The ETWS allows a simultaneous message to be sent and displayed on all mobiles within a defined Aol that are capable of processing the message. This can be used to provide supplementary information to mobile customers, however has the limitation in that it is not confirmed from the mobile, hence the operator WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 37 has no way of tracking delivery status. As a result, this is incorporated into the present embodiment as a 'secondary' mechanism, to provide additional information to support a 'primary' alert, and to provide timely updates to mobiles capable of receiving such a message. As the system of this embodiment knows 5 the IMEI of mobiles within the Aol, and hence which mobiles are capable of receiving the ETWS messages, they may be sent the same, or a different set of SMS messages to the other non ETWS mobiles. IAD - Short Message Service. The Intelligent Alert Delivery SMS process orders the list of devices to be 10 sent an SMS according to an algorithm in order to optimise the throughput of the broadcast and minimise the network impacts, including risk of network congestion, based on the network information for the given campaign. Step 15. lAD ordering of the final broadcast list. The 'IAD Ordering' algorithm includes as variables the Cell ID and Location 15 Area for each mobile in the list, as well as pre-configured technology based limits for messaging throughput into the messaging systems, the Cells and the Location Areas. The IAD Ordering algorithm involves six main steps. 15.1 Dividing up the main broadcast list into separate LA based lists. 20 15.2 Ordering the LA based lists across all cells that have one or more known mobiles to be present, or thought to be present based on location information. This ordering may be done on a Cell Round Robin (CRR) basis, whereby a mobile from each cell is added to the LA list, which will result in a maximum spread early in the LA broadcast, with reducing number of cells 25 remaining as the broadcast progresses for that LA. Alternatively, in another approach, a 'Cell Broadcast Ratio' (CBR) is implemented, so as to maximise the spread of SMS traffic across the Cells in the LA, as defined later. 15.3 Determining throughput limits into the Messaging systems or network, in terms of number of interfaces or binds available, number of LA's to be 30 broadcast to, size of each LA list, and maximum throughput for each LA and Cell based on technology type.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 38 15.4 Grouping together LA broadcast lists using the 'LA Broadcast Ratio' so as to determine the interface specific 'Broadcast delivery lists' that will be directed to a single interface or bind. 15.5 Implementing the broadcast by opening up the interfaces to the 5 network, and managing the throughput to ensure that no messaging system interface, LA or Cell has a rate that exceed known congestion limits. 15.6 Further managing the broadcast by increasing the rate until theoretical limits are. reached, and/or the network congestion levels determine that further throttling should be employed. 10 Cell Round Robin approach. (CRR) There are multiple methodologies to minimising LA and Cell congestion. In one implementation, a 'Round Robin' of all cells with mobiles is used to create the final list. In this implementation, if there are mobiles from five Cells, with 50% (50/100) of all mobiles in one Cell-1, 30% (30/100) in Cell-2, 10% (10/100) in Cell 15 3, and 5% (5/100) in Cell-4 and Cell-5, then the order mobiles would be sent SMS messages would be Cell 1, Cell 2, Cell 3, Cell 4, Cell 5, repeat five times until Cells 4 and 5 have no further mobiles left. Then the order would be Cell 1, Cell 2, Cell 3, repeated until Cell 3 has no mobiles. Then the order would be Cell 1, Cell 2, until Cell 2 has no mobiles, then mobiles in Cell 1 would be broadcast at the 20 maximum cell rate until all mobiles have been broadcast. The delivery for the LA would not exceed the maximum for any given Cell. Cell Broadcast Ratio. (CBR) In another implementation, the order that mobiles are to be broadcast too from any given LA would be spread across the number of cells for that LA using 25 specific 'Cell Broadcast Ratio' (CBR) algorithm. This Is determined through dividing the number of mobiles from any Cell to the total number of mobiles in the LA to be broadcast. This CBR or Cell to total LA ratio Is used to determine the ratio of mobiles in any group of services to be broadcast. For example, if there are mobiles from five Cells, with 50% (50/100) of 30 all mobiles in one Cell-1, 30% (30/100) in Cell-2, 10% (10/100) in Cell-3, and 5% (5/100) in Cell-4 and Cell-5, then every second mobile (100/50) sent an SMS for that LA would be from Cell-1, every third (100/30) sent to Cell-2, every 10th (100/10) send to CellO-3, and every 20th (100/5) sent to Cell-4 and Cell-5.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 39 The delivery for the LA would not exceed the maximum for any given Cell. LA Broadcast Ratio. (LABR) Whether one or more network Interfaces or binds available, the delivery order would be managed so as to maximise the spread of network SMS attempts 5 across all LA's within the target area. This is achieved through using. a 'LA Broadcast Ratio' in conjunction with the maximum theoretical throughput for each LA and the messaging systems. Firstly the proportion of each LA to the total is determined, and from this the 'LA Broadcast ratio' determined through the formula: 10 LA Broadcast Ratio = No of mobiles from that LA / Total number of mobiles to be broadcast to. That is, dividing the number of mobiles from that LA to that of the total to be broadcast. This LA to total ratio is used to determine the ratio of mobiles in any group of 100 services to be broadcast. For example, if there are mobiles 15 from five LA's, with 50% (50/100) of all mobiles in one LA1, 30% (30/100) in LA2, 10% (10/100) in LA3, and 5% (5/100) in LA4 and LA5, then every second mobile (100/50) sent an SMS would be from LA1, every third (100/30) sent to LA2, every 10th (100/10) send to LA3, and every 20th (100/5) sent to LA4 and LA5. The delivery would not exceed the maximum for any given LA. 20 Such ordering of the delivery across LA and Cells provides a maximum separation for mobiles and optimises the delivery throughput to the network. IAD - Short Message Delivery methods. Step 16. SMS Delivery. With reference to figure 2, the Intelligent Alert Delivery SMS process 25 orders the list of devices to be sent an SMS. Once this optimal broadcast list has been produced, or is being produced, the alert delivery can begin -according to one of several methods. Standard SMSC based Delivery with Delivery Receipts. In one implementation this optimised ordered list is passed to the operators 30 standard SMSC [2.1] for Alert delivery. The system may receipt every message [2.2) to maintain knowledge of delivery to the end mobile. Direct Delivery with Standard SMS process.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 40 In another implementation, WALS performs the SMS delivery directly using its network signalling capability to send the SMS, involving a HLR query and message delivery process. Rather than use the standard operator SMSC, WALS can perform either a partial or full SMSC function for the Alert delivery.[2.3], using 5 its own internal SMS delivery tools, directly into the operators CCS7 network. In the 'lAD- Direct Standard SMS' implementation, WALS uses its network CCS7 MAP signalling capability to send the SMS, involving firstly the HLR MAP SMSSRI query [2.4] and MAP SMSFSM message delivery process, according to 3GPP 23.40, using the MAP messages defined in 3GPP 29.02. 10 WALS Direct to MSC SMS Delivery. In the 'lAD- Direct Optimised SMS' Implementation, WALS performs special delivery processing on the mobiles that where on the 'Primary Aol list' defined in step 10, bypassing the standard 3GPP HLR query (MAP SMSFSM), and sending the MAP SMSFSM message direct to the SNN hosting the mobile 15 (MSC or SGSN) [2.51. This reduces the signalling impact on the network for message delivery for these mobiles, and thus allows a higher throughput of message delivery. As WALS will receive a MAP SMSFSM reply from the SNN, it will know the success or not of any message attempt. If the message could not be delivered, WALS will attempt a retry according to a separate algorithm, trying 20 for a limited number of times for the duration of the campaign validity period. WALS 'Hidden SMS' then Direct to MSC SMS Delivery. In the WALS 'Hidden SMS then Direct to MSC delivery', WALS performs an initial 'hidden SMS', whereby the first SMS is not displayed to the mobile user, and allows WALS to determine the current Cell of the device. If the device is in 25 the desired final target Cell list, then the second SMS is sent containing the Alert message. This two stage delivery may be via an SMSC, or via a direct MAP message to the serving node. (MSC or SGSN) For messages sent via an SMSC, WALS can receipt every message, thus maintaining knowledge of the broadcast delivery to the SMSC, and Broadcast 30 delivery to the devices. For messages sent direct to the Service Node (MSC or SGSN), WALS does not need to receipt messages, as it can determine the delivery status or not from the signalling response.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 41 For messages sent direct to the Service Node, WALS can increase throughput according. to set incremental steps until it detects a certain level of congestion or failure in the delivery attempts. It can monitor this level of congestion or failure, and keep the broadcast throughput at the maximum value 5 within these acceptable limits. Step 17. Determination of delivery using MAP. As for "Direct delivery with Standard SMS" and "Direct to MSC SMS Delivery", above, for messages sent direct to the Service Node (MSC or SGSN) via CCS7 MAP messages, WALS does not need to receipt messages, as it can 10 determine the delivery status or not from the MAP SMSFSM signalling response messages, according the 3GPP 29.02 standard. Step 18. Maximising throughput to network using parameters and network congestion. For messages sent direct to the Service Node, WALS can increase 15 throughput according to set incremental steps, starting at an agreed rate, say 500 of messages a second, with increments of 10 messages a second, until it detects a certain level of network congestion or failure in the delivery attempts. It can monitor this level of congestion or failure, and keep the broadcast throughput at the maximum value within these acceptable limits. 20 The use of both a 'standard SMSC' and 'Direct SMS' is shown in the Figure 2. The methodology of maximizing the throughput of Alert broadcast to the network, using 'Direct SMS' techniques, as well as monitoring for congestion, and ordering the broadcast list to maximize the spread over Cell's and LA's within the 25 Aol are part of Unico's claim While this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification(s). This application is intended to cover any variations uses or adaptations of the invention following in general, the principles of the invention 30 and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth.

WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 42 As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of the essential characteristics of the invention, it should be understood that the above described embodiments are not to limit the present invention unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly 5 within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive. Various modifications and equivalent arrangements are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention and appended claims. 10 Therefore, the specific embodiments are to be understood to be illustrative of the many ways in which the principles of the present invention may be practiced. In the following claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover structures as performing the defined function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. For example, although a nail and a screw may not be 15 structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together. whereas a screw employs a helical surface to secure wooden parts together, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw are equivalent structures. It should be noted that where the terms "server", "secure server" or similar 20 terms are used herein, a communication device is described that may be used in a communication system, unless the context otherwise requires, and should not be construed to limit the present invention to any particular communication device type. Thus, a communication device may include, without limitation, a bridge, router, bridge-router (router), switch, node, or other communication device, which 25 may or may not be secure. It should also be noted that where a flowchart is used herein to demonstrate various aspects of the invention, it should not be construed to limit the present invention to any particular logic flow or logic implementation. The described logic may be partitioned into different logic blocks (e.g., programs, 30 modules, functions, or subroutines) without changing the overall results or otherwise departing from the true scope of the invention. Often, logic elements may be added, modified, omitted, performed in a different order, or implemented using different logic constructs (e.g., logic gates, looping primitives, conditional WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 43 logic, and other logic constructs) without changing the overall results or otherwise departing from the true scope of the invention. Various embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many different forms, including computer program logic for use with a processor (e.g., a 5 microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, or general purpose computer), programmable logic for use with a programmable logic device (e.g., a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other PLD), discrete components, integrated circuitry (e.g., an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)), or any other means including.any combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment of 10 the present invention, predominantly all of the communication between users and the server is implemented as a set of computer program instructions that is converted into a computer executable form, stored as such in a computer readable medium, and executed by a microprocessor under the control of an operating system. 15 Computer program logic implementing all or part of the functionality where described herein may be embodied in various forms, including a source code form, a computer executable form, and various intermediate forms (e.g., forms generated by an assembler, compiler, linker, or locator). Source code may include a series of computer program instructions implemented in any of various 20 programming languages (e.g., an object code, an assembly language, or a high level language such as Fortran, C, C++, JAVA, or HTML) for use with various operating systems or operating environments. The source code may define and use various data structures and communication messages. The source code may be in a computer executable form (e.g., via an interpreter), or the source code 25 may be converted (e.g., via a translator, assembler, or compiler) into a computer executable form. The computer program may be fixed in any form (e.g., source code form, computer executable form, or an intermediate form) either permanently or transitorily in a tangible storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory 30 device (e.g, a RAM, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, or Flash-Programmable RAM), a magnetic memory device (e.g., a diskette or fixed disk), an optical memory device (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM), a PC card (e.g., PCMCIA card), or other memory device. The computer program may be fixed in any form in a signal that is WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 44 transmittable to a computer using any of various communication technologies, including, but in no way limited to, analog technologies, digital technologies, optical technologies, wireless technologies (e.g., Bluetooth), networking technologies, and inter-networking technologies. The computer program may be 5 distributed in any form as a removable storage medium with accompanying printed or electronic documentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the communication system (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web). 10 Hardware logic (including programmable logic for use with a programmable logic device) implementing all or part of the functionality where described herein may be designed using traditional manual methods, or may be designed, captured, simulated, or documented electronically using various tools, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), a hardware description language (e.g., VHDL or 15 AHDL), or a PLD programming language (e.g., PALASM, ABEL, or CUPL). Programmable logic may be fixed either permanently or transitorily in a tangible storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory device (e.g., a RAM, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, or Flash-Programmable RAM), a magnetic memory device (e.g., a diskette or fixed disk), an optical memory device (e.g., a CD-ROM 20 or DVD-ROM), or other memory device. The programmable logic may be fixed in a signal that is transmittable to a computer using any of various communication technologies, including, but in no way limited to, analog technologies, digital technologies, optical technologies, wireless technologies (e.g., Bluetooth), networking technologies, and intemetworking technologies. The programmable 25 logic may be distributed as a removable storage medium with accompanying printed or electronic documentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the communication system (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web). 30 "Comprises/comprising" and "includes/including" when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof, Thus, unless the WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 45 context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words 'comprise', 'comprising', 'includes', 'including' and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, In the sense of "including, but not limited to".

Claims (43)

1. A method of determining mobile cells affected by a notifiable event within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile 5 telecommunications network, the method comprising: determining a network coverage map comprising data from one or a combination of a best server plot and transceiver location data; compiling a list comprising at least one of individual mobile cells or mobile network Location Areas identified in the determined network coverage map. 10

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein -the compiled list further comprises one or a combination of: individual mobile cells, which are included or intersected by the area of interest and; 15 mobile network Location Areas, which are included or intersected by the area of interest.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 further comprising the steps of: determining those mobile cells that do not have substantial overlap with 20 the area of interest; removing the mobile cells determined as having no substantial overlap with the area of interest from the compiled list of any one of claims 1 or 2.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the step of determining comprises 25 for each cell performing one or a combination of: calculating the percentage of the cell that is within the area of interest; calculating the percentage of the area of interest that is covered by the cell; and, comparing the calculated percentage to a predetermined threshold 30 percentage. WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 47

5. A method as claimed in claim 3 further comprising the steps of: determining those Location Areas that do not have substantial overlap with the area of interest; removing the Location Areas determined as having no substantial overlap 5 with the area of interest from the compiled list of any one of claims 1 or 2.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the step of determining comprises for each Location Area performing one or a combination of: calculating the percentage of the Location Area that is within the area of 10 interest; calculating the percentage of the area of interest that is covered by the Location Area; and, comparing the calculated percentage to a predetermined threshold percentage. 15

7. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 further comprising the steps of: determining location information for each mobile device operatively associated with cells included in the compiled list; 20 compiling a primary list comprising the mobile devices with determined location information.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the step of determining location information comprises collecting the location information from one or a 25 combination of: a Serving Network Node; a transceiver controller; a network probes located proximate a Serving Network Node; a network probes located proximate a transceiver controller, 30 where the Serving Network Node or transceiver controller are associated with cells included within the compiled list. WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 48

9. A method of determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted for emergency notification within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of: 5 determining at least one subset list of mobile devices for a notification campaign; compiling a final broadcast list of mobile devices, wherein the final broadcast list is compiled using hash table rules to ensure each mobile device in the final broadcast list is alerted only once. 10

10. A method of determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted for notification within a predetermined relative area of interest, in which a mobile subscriber is in operative communication with a supplementary access network, located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the method 15 comprising the steps of: determining at least one subset list of mobile devices for a notification campaign; compiling a final broadcast list of mobile devices, wherein the final broadcast list is compiled using hash table rules to ensure each mobile device in 20 the final broadcast list is alerted only once.

11. A method as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein at least the final broadcast list is created according to predetermined business logic rules. 25

12. A method as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the at least one subset list comprises mobile devices identified as being located within the area of interest and a union with at least one predetermined campaign based list.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the at least one predetermined 30 campaign based list comprises one or a combination of: a mobile white list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to always receive an alert; WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 49 mobile black list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are never to receive an alert; mobile grey list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an alert only if they are located in a predetermined area of interest corresponding 5 to an alert campaign; cell grey list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an alert only if they are utilising at least one of predetermined set of transceiver controllers; broadcast monitoring white list corresponding to a list of mobile device that 10 are to receive messages either immediately before or immediately following an alert campaign broadcast.

14. A method of controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion, the method comprising the steps of: 15 determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted where each entry for a mobile device in the list comprises at least a cell ID and Location Area corresponding to the respective mobile device; ordering the list of mobile devices to be alerted such that there is a maximised separation in the list between mobile devices having the same 20 Location Area or cell ID.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14 wherein the step of ordering further comprises the steps of: creating separate lists of mobile devices corresponding to each Location 25 Area; determining a LA broadcast ratio (LA Ratio) for each separate Location Area list defined as: LA Ratio = (number of mobile devices in LA) / (Total number of mobile device to be alerted); sending alert messages to each Location Area according to the weighting 30 provided by the LA broadcast ratio.

16. A method as claimed in claim 14 or 15 wherein the step of ordering further comprises one or a combination of: WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 50 creating separate lists of mobile devices and using a round robin approach to ordering the alert across all Cells and LA's; creating separate lists of mobiles for each LA and opening a separate Interface to the messaging system and sending messages for a specific LA or 5 groups of LA's to a specific Messaging queue or interface.

17. A method as claimed in claim 14, 15 or 16 wherein the ordered broadcast messages are delivered according to one or a combination of: standard SMSC based delivery with delivery receipts; 10 bypassing SMSC directly into a CCS7 network utilising HLR MAP SMSSRI query and MAP SMSFSM message delivery processes; bypassing 3GPP HLR query (MAP SMS_FSM), and sending the MAP SMSFSM message direct to the SNN hosting the mobile; an initial hidden SMS whereby the message is not displayed to the mobile 15 user to allow a determination of the current cell for the mobile device and if the device is in the desired target cell, a second SMS is sent comprising the alert message.

18. A method of controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in 20 order to minimise congestion, the method comprising the steps of: increasing throughput of messages in accordance with incremental steps in message transfer rates; monitoring network congestion to control the step of increasing throughput. 25

19. A method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 17 further comprising the steps of claim 18,

20. A method of communicating alert messages in a wireless communication network comprising any one or a combination of the steps as claimed in any one 30 of claims 1 to 19. WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 51

21. Apparatus for determining mobile cells affected by a notifiable event within a predetermined area of interest located in a coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, said apparatus comprising: network coverage map determining means for determining a network 5 coverage map comprising data from one or a combination of a best server plot and transceiver location data; mobile information compiling means for compiling a list comprising at least one of individual mobile cells or mobile network Location Areas identified in the determined network coverage map. 10

22. Apparatus as -claimed In claim 21, wherein the compiled list further comprises one or a combination of: individual mobile cells, which are included or intersected by the area of interest and; 15 mobile network Location Areas, which are included or intersected by the area of interest.

23. Apparatus as claimed in claim 22 further comprising: means for determining those mobile cells that do not have substantial 20 overlap with the area of interest; means for removing the mobile cells determined as having no substantial overlap with the area of interest from the compiled list of any one of claims 21 or 22. 25

24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 23 wherein the means for determining is adapted to perform, for each cell, one or a combination of: calculating the percentage of the cell that is within the area of interest; calculating the percentage of the area of interest that is covered by the cell; and, 30 comparing the calculated percentage to a predetermined threshold percentage.

25. Apparatus as claimed in claim 23 further comprising: WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 52 means for determining those Location Areas that do not have substantial overlap with the area of interest; means for removing the Location Areas determined as having no substantial overlap with the area of interest from the compiled list of any one of 5 claims 21 or 22.

26. Apparatus as claimed in claim 25 wherein the means for determining is adapted to perform, for each Location Area, one or a combination of: calculating the percentage of the Location Area that is within the area of 10 interest; calculating the percentage of the area of interest that is covered by the Location Area; and, comparing the calculated percentage to a predetermined threshold percentage. 15

27. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 26 further comprising: means for determining location information for each mobile device operatively associated with cells included in the compiled list; means for compiling a primary list comprising the mobile devices with 20 determined location information.

28. Apparatus as claimed in claim 27 wherein the means for determining location information is adapted to collect the location information from one or a combination of: 25 a Serving Network Node; a transceiver controller; a network probes located proximate a Serving Network Node; a network probes located proximate a transceiver controller, where the Serving Network Node or transceiver controller are associated with 30 cells included within the compiled list.

29. Apparatus for determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted for emergency notification within a predetermined area of interest located in a WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 53 coverage region of a mobile telecommunications network, the apparatus comprising: listing means for determining at least one subset list of mobile devices for a notification campaign; 5 compiling means for compiling a final broadcast list of mobile devices, wherein the final broadcast list is compiled using hash table rules to ensure each mobile device In the final broadcast list is alerted only once.

30. Apparatus as claimed in claim 29 wherein at least the final broadcast list is 10 created according to predetermined business logic rules.

31. Apparatus as claimed in claim 29 or 30 wherein the at least one subset list comprises mobile devices identified as being located within the area of interest and a union with at least one predetermined campaign based list. 15

32. Apparatus as claimed in claim 31 wherein the at least one predetermined campaign based list comprises one or a combination of: a mobile white list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to always receive an alert: 20 mobile black list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are never to receive an alert; mobile grey list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an alert only if they are located in a predetermined area of interest corresponding to an alert campaign;. 25 cell grey list corresponding to a list of mobile devices that are to receive an alert only if they are utilising at least one of predetermined set of transceiver controllers; broadcast monitoring white list corresponding to a list of mobile device that are to receive messages either immediately before or immediately following an 30 alert campaign broadcast.

33. Apparatus for controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion, said apparatus comprising: WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 54 list determining means for determining a list of mobile devices to be alerted where each entry for a mobile device in the list comprises at least a.cell ID and Location Area corresponding to the respective mobile device; ordering means for ordering the list of mobile devices to be alerted such 5 that there is a maximised separation in the list between mobile devices having the same Location Area or cell ID.

34. Apparatus as claimed in claim 33 wherein the ordering means further comprises: 10 means for creating separate lists of mobile devices corresponding to each Location Area; means for determining a LA broadcast ratio (LA Ratio) for each separate Location Area list defined as: LA Ratio = (number of mobile devices in LA) / (Total number of mobile device to be alerted); 15 means for sending alert messages to each Location Area according to the weighting provided by the LA broadcast ratio.

35. Apparatus as claimed in claim 33 or 34 wherein the ordered broadcast messages are delivered according to one or a combination of: 20 standard SMSC based delivery with delivery receipts; bypassing SMSC directly into a CCS7 network utilising HLR MAP SMSSRI query and MAP SMSFSM message delivery processes; bypassing 3GPP HLR query (MAP SMS_FSM), and sending the MAP SMSFSM message direct to the SNN hosting the mobile; 25 an initial hidden SMS whereby the message is not displayed to the mobile user to allow a determination of the current cell for the mobile device and if the device is in the desired target cell, a second SMS is sent comprising the alert message. 30

36. Apparatus for controlling a broadcast of messages over a mobile network in order to minimise congestion, the apparatus comprising: throughput means for increasing throughput of messages in accordance with incremental steps in message transfer rates; WO 2012/048383 PCT/AU2011/001313 55 monitoring means for monitoring network congestion to control the throughput means for increasing throughput.

37. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 33 to 35 further comprising the 5 apparatus of claim 36.

38. A system for communicating alert messages in a wireless communication network comprising any one or a combination of the apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 37. 10

39. Apparatus adapted to communicate alert messages in a wireless telecommunication network, said apparatus comprising processor means adapted to operate in accordance with a predetermined instruction set, said apparatus, in conjunction with said instruction set, being adapted to perform the method steps 15 as claimed in any one of claims I to 20.

40. A network node comprising apparatus adapted to perform the method steps as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20. 20

41. A computer program product comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable program code and computer readable system code embodied on said medium for communicating alert messages in a wireless telecommunication network within a data processing system, said computer program product comprising: 25 computer readable code within said computer usable medium for performing the method steps of any one of claims 1 to 20.

42. A method or protocol as herein disclosed. 30

43. Apparatus, system or device as herein disclosed.