WO2018032484A1

WO2018032484A1 - Emergency communication apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: WO2018032484A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/095946
Authority: WO
Inventors: Manhai Li; Xin LIAO
Original assignee: Zte Corporation
Priority date: 2016-08-19
Filing date: 2016-08-19
Publication date: 2018-02-22

Abstract

A method of operating a mobile terminal to provide an ad hoc network is disclosed. A first mobile terminal receives over a short distance wireless network, an emergency connection request from a second mobile terminal. If the emergency connection request is authorized, it is accepted and the first mobile terminal tries to forward message data from the second terminal over a wide area network. In the event that the message data cannot be forwarded, the first mobile terminal may attempt to forward the message data, over a short distance wireless network, to a third mobile terminal.

Description

Emergency Communication Apparatus and Method

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for emergency communication, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for providing ad hoc networks between wireless communications devices, and more particularly to a system and method for constructing an ad hoc emergency network.

Background

With the development of communication technologies, user contact methods have also changed significantly, and users rely more and more on an application based on the SNS (Social Networking Services) or LBS (Location Based Services) for contact. However, once the network is abnormal, for example, during the occurrence of a geological disaster or during power and network failures, applications relying on a server cannot be used at all, and people cannot establish contact with each other even though they may have functioning mobile terminals.

If telecommunications networks and/or servers are overloaded or damaged communications devices may be unable to communicate over long distances. This may be a particular problem in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency because users of mobile devices may be unable to contact emergency services to notify them of the disaster or to ask for help.

Summary of Invention

Aspects and examples of the invention are set out in the appended claims and aim to address at least a part of the above described technical problem.

The present disclosure relates to mobile terminals also known as telecommunications user equipment devices, sometimes referred to as “user equipment” , or UEs. Methods of operating such mobile terminals are also disclosed. A mobile terminal may comprise any device having suitable communications functionality, and may comprise a device used directly by an end-user to communicate. It can be a cellular telephone, a Wi-Fi enabled device, a tablet or laptop computer which may be equipped with a mobile broadband adapter, a general purpose computer or any other device with appropriate communications functionality. In some embodiments the mobile terminals described herein are equipped with RCS (Rich Communication Suite) functionality and may comprise an SDK (Software Development Kit) chip.

Brief Description of Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an ad hoc emergency network；

Figure 2 shows a schematic block diagram of mobile terminal in Figure 2A, and illustrates functionality which may be provided by that mobile terminal in Figure 2B；

Figure 3 is a timing diagram illustrating information delivery between two mobile terminals such as those described with reference to Figure 2；

Figure 4 is a flow diagram of information delivery among a plurality of mobile terminals； and

Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method；

Figure 6 is another flow chart illustrating a method； and

Figure 7 is a network system comprising a communication server which may be used in implementations of any one or more of the methods described herein.

In the drawings like reference numerals indicate like elements.

Specific Description

Figure 1 illustrates a plurality of mobile terminals each comprising a short distance communication interface, such as Bluetooth (RTM) , operable to communicate in a relatively small network area..

As will be explained below, Figure 1 illustrates a method of operating a mobile terminal (or a series of such mobile terminals) to relay communication over long distances even when a wide area network such as a cellular telephone network is not functioning.

This method comprises receiving at a first mobile terminal 102 over a short distance wireless network, an emergency connection request from a second mobile terminal 104.

To decide whether the emergency connection request is authorised, the first mobile terminal can then compare request authentication data received from the second mobile 104 terminal, with authorisation data stored at the first mobile terminal 102. As an alternative, or in addition to this authorisation/authentication process, the first mobile terminal 102 may respond to the emergency connection request by sending its own authentication data to the second mobile terminal 104. The second mobile terminal 104 can then compare the authentication data received from the first mobile terminal 102, with authorisation data stored at the second mobile terminal 102. Whether either (or both) of these two possible authorisation/authentication processes are applied, once authorised, a communication link can be established between the first mobile terminal and the second mobile terminal. A Bluetooth (RTM) pairing is one example of such a communication link.

The communication link can enable the second mobile terminal 104 to provide message data to the first mobile terminal 102. The first mobile terminal 102 can then store the message data so it can be relayed on to other mobile terminals if/when they come into short distance communication range.

In some examples, the first mobile terminal 102 may attempt to forward the message data over a wide area network. In the event that the message data cannot be forwarded over the wide area network, (e.g. because it is not working due to the emergency situation) , the first mobile terminal 102 may attempt to forward the message data, over a short distance wireless network 100, to a third mobile terminal 106. This may be done using an emergency connection request such as that received from the second mobile terminal 104.

It can thus be seen that a chain of short distance networks may be used to relay message data over much longer distances than the communication range of any one such network. The individual short distance networks in this chain need not exist concurrently, because message data can be temporarily stored at mobile terminals along the chain until they become able to communicate with another mobile terminal to relay the message data on. Eventually, the message data may be passed to a mobile terminal in the chain which is able to communicate over a functioning WAN, and that mobile terminal can use the WAN to send the message data to its intended destination.

Figure 1 illustrates a series of such short distance networks (e.g. piconets) . In Figure 1 each of these is shown as a

different network area

100, 108, 116. It will be understood that the drawing of Figure 1 is merely a static illustration of what may be a dynamic system. Thus, even though it includes an illustration of a

network area

100, 108, 116, around some of these

mobile terminals

102, 106, 112.

It is to be understood that this is merely illustrative-these short distance networks may not all be active concurrently. It will also be understood that the geographic locations of the

mobile terminals

102, 106, 112 and the associated

network areas

100, 108, 116, may move so that at sometimes they overlap whereas at other times they do not. It should not be taken from Figure 1 that a particular geographic arrangement of mobile handsets is required.

As illustrated, in a first network area 100, a first mobile terminal 102 is operable to use its short distance communications interface to communicate with a second mobile terminal 104. In the drawing, it is shown that the first mobile terminal can also communicate with a third mobile terminal 106, but it will be understood that the first mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal 106 may move into communication range after the first mobile terminal 102 and the second mobile terminal 104 are no longer in range of each other.

In a second network area 108, the third mobile terminal 106 may be operable to use its short distance communications interface to communicate with a 4^th mobile terminal 112 when/if the 4^th mobile terminal 112 is in range.

That 4^th mobile terminal 112 may be operable to communicate via its short distance communications interface with yet another mobile terminal, and so on. After a series of relay steps, this chain of communication links may reach an (N-1) th mobile terminal 113 which may be operable to communicate with an Nth terminal 115 in the third network area 116, and so on.

It will thus be understood that a series of short distance network cells may be used to create a series of communication links, from one mobile terminal to another even though only one pair of the mobile terminals in the chain need to be able to communicate at any one time–and there may be intervals during the communication when no communication links are active and the message data is merely stored at one or more of the mobile terminals. When one of the mobile terminals then moves into short distance communication range of another mobile terminal, or comes into communication with a wide area network (WAN) , the message data can be relayed onwards.

In operation of this system, the first mobile terminal 102 receives, via its short distance communications interface an emergency connection request from the second mobile terminal 104. For example, the second mobile terminal 104 may be broadcasting an emergency connection request to all mobile terminals within range of its short distance communication interface.

The first mobile terminal 102 may receive request authentication data from the second mobile terminal. The first mobile terminal 102 determines whether the second mobile terminal is authorised by comparing this request authentication data with authorisation data stored at the first mobile terminal 102. If it is authorised the first mobile terminal 102 can establish a communication link with the second mobile terminal 104.

Once the communication link is established, the first mobile terminal 102 also receives message data from the second mobile terminal 104 over this short distance communication network. If the first mobile terminal 102 determines that the second mobile terminal is authorised, it may store this message data. The first mobile terminal 102 then disconnects from the second mobile terminal 104 and can attempt to forward the message data over a short distance wireless network. If a third mobile terminal 106 is in short distance communication range of the first mobile terminal 102, the first mobile terminal 102 can attempt to forward the message data over the short distance wireless network to that third mobile terminal 106. For example, this may comprise operating in a broadcast mode to send an emergency connection request to any such third mobile terminal 106 which may be in range of the short distance communication interface of the first mobile terminal 102. The first mobile terminal 102 may then send request authentication data to the third mobile terminal 106 to enable the third mobile terminal to authorise communication with the first mobile terminal 102. If the third mobile terminal 106 authorises the first mobile terminal 102, the first mobile terminal can then forward the message data received from the second mobile terminal 104 to the third mobile terminal 106.

The third mobile terminal 106 can then disconnect from the first mobile terminal 102 and attempt to forward the message data to a fourth mobile terminal 112 in short distance communication range of the third mobile terminal 106. For example, it may operate in a broadcast mode to provide an emergency connection request as described above. Upon authorisation of this request by the fourth mobile terminal 112 the message data can be forwarded to the fourth mobile terminal 112 and so on to an Nth mobile terminal 114.

This process can continue across a series of such short distance communication network areas to propagate the message data from one mobile terminal to the next mobile terminal over distances which exceed the range of any one of the short distance communication links.

The emergency connection request from one

mobile terminal

102, 104, 106, 112 to the next across this ad hoc network may comprise the request authentication data received by the first mobile terminal 102 from the second mobile terminal 104. In addition, or as an alternative, each

mobile terminal

102, 104, 106, 112 may comprise its own authentication data which can be used to establish emergency connections for forwarding message data received in the initial emergency connection across the network.

The authorisation data stored at each

mobile terminal

102, 104, 106, 112 may have previously been obtained by each respective

mobile terminal

102, 104, 106, 112, e.g. by synchronising at intervals (e.g. periodically and/or automatically) with a remote communication server (e.g. over a wide area network, not shown in Figure 1) . It may also have been obtained by manual input from the user.

In some embodiments, when the first mobile terminal 102 receives the emergency connection request from the second mobile terminal 104 it responds by sending a scan request to the second mobile terminal 104. This may include authentication data which identifies the first mobile terminal 102 and/or its user. The second mobile terminal 104 can thus determine if the first mobile terminal 102 is an authorised mobile terminal by comparing this authentication data with authorisation data stored at the second mobile terminal 104. This authorisation data may be obtained by synchronising at intervals (e.g. periodically and/or automatically) with a remote communication server (e.g. over a wide area network, not shown in Figure 1) . It may also be obtained by manual input from the user. It will be appreciated in the context of the present disclosure that this process of authentication/authorisation between the

mobile terminals

102, 104 may be done in addition to, or as an alternative to, the authentication of the second mobile terminal 104 by the first mobile terminal 102. It will also be appreciated that it may be done prior to that authentication, for example in the process of establishing communication between the first mobile terminal 102 and the second mobile terminal 104, for example during a process of establishing a Bluetooth (RTM) pairing.

Figure 2 includes Figure 2A and Figure 2B. Figure 2A provides a schematic functional block diagram of an apparatus configured to provide functionality of a mobile terminal such as those described above with reference to Figure 1. The apparatus of Figure 2A includes logical functional elements which may be implemented in any appropriate combination of hardware/software and firmware. It will be appreciated from the disclosure provided by Figure 2A and Figure 2B that the present disclosure may be implemented by configuration of suitable existing hardware devices, and/or by the provision of specialised hardware/firmware/software apparatus.

Figure 2A illustrates one such system for constructing an ad hoc emergency network. The system illustrated in Figure 2A an information preset module 202, an information transmission module 203, a screening and connection module 204, an information storage module 207, an identity authentication module 205, a notification module 206, and a mode switching module 208. The system illustrated in Figure 2A may also comprise an application interface 201, but as with some other features of this system the application interface is optional.

As illustrated in Figure 2A, the information transmission module 203 may be coupled to communicate data with the information preset module 202, the screening and connection module 204, and the identity authentication module 205. The information storage module 207 may be coupled to communicate data with the screening and connection module 204 and the identity authentication module 205. The notification module 206 may be coupled to communicate data with the mode switching module 208 and the identity authentication module 205. In some embodiments an application interface 201 is provided and this may be coupled to communicate data with the information preset module 202, the information transmission module 203 and the notification module 206.

The information preset module 202 is configured to synchronise with an emergency server. This may be done at intervals for example periodically or in response to a trigger such as a user action. This can enable the system to preset emergency parameter information, such as authorisation data and/or request authentication data to be matched with other mobile terminals in advance in case of an emergency.

The information transmission module 203 may comprise a communication broadcast functionality, and mobile scanning functionality used for short distance communication between mobile terminals. It may also include data transceiver functionality for sending data and receiving data after a short distance communication link is created. It can also comprise a short range wireless communication functionality. For example the information transmission module may be provided by a short distance communication interface of a mobile terminal. Examples of such communications interfaces include wireless personal area networks (WPANs) such as: INSTEON, IrDA, Wireless USB, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, ZigBee and Body Area Networks. For example, the communication broadcast functionality may, when the system is operating in emergency mode, cause the system to periodically broadcast an emergency connection request. It may also be configured so that when a scanning request (a response to the broadcast) is detected from another mobile terminal within effective range of the short distance communication the system sends a request to that other mobile terminal to create a connection. The information transmission module 203 may switch between broadcasting and scanning for a broadcast from other similar mobile terminals.

The mobile scanning functionality may comprise actively scanning for emergency connection requests broadcast from other mobile terminals. The data transceiver functionality enables data to be transmitted between the mobile terminals after a short distance communication network is established between two mobile terminals. Examples of this data include message data, authentication data, screening and connection results, identity authentication results, information matching results, pre-set emergency information and a user-created connection identifier. The wireless communication functionality may include a capability to connect with a server for wireless communication. This may include transmission of emergency information or message data to a designated server or automatically dialing a pre-set emergency alarm telephone number.

The screening and connection module 204 is configured so that the mobile terminal is able to screen out unauthorised mobile terminals to prevent them from establishing communication with the system. This may be done by analyzing basic information obtained from a broadcast request received from such a mobile terminal. It may also be done by analyzing the information received in a scanning request received in response to such a broadcast made by the system.

The information storage module 207 is configured so that after two mobile terminals establish a connection, the mobile terminal can store emergency information, including basic information preset by a user and an emergency contact, transmitted from another terminal. This information storage module 207 enables the mobile terminal to store emergency information (such as message data) received from another mobile terminal so that when it later establishes communication with yet another mobile terminal or a wide area network, that message data can be forwarded on so as to achieve the function of information relay –even if concurrent connections may not be available. The information storage module 207 may comprise volatile memory such as RAM and/or non-volatile memory such as flash memory. Other types of data storage may be used.

The identity authentication module 205 is configured to operate on information received in the transceiver unit to perform identity authentication. This may be done according to an “information trueness” metric such as other described herein so that when a metric of the information’s reliability reaces a selected confidence threshold (i.e. 50％) , the identity authentication will be successful. This can enable the system to process emergency connection requests and authentication information received from other mobile terminals. The notification module 206 is configured so that the system can notify a user by any appropriate method such as displaying information, providing a visual indication, mechanical stimulation, generating sound, or smell, or nerve stimulation. For example, it may comprise a visual indicator such as a lamp, e.g an LED, an electromechanical vibratory actuator, a loudspeaker, a chemical reservoir with a controllable valve for releasing odour, or an electrical stimulator such as a nerve cuff or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) system. This notification may be used to communicate the result of whether the identity authentication is successful and/or whether emergency information such as message data has been delivered successfully.

The mode switching module 208 is configured so that after authentication is successful and any emergency message data has been received, the system automatically disconnects from the mobile terminal which sent it that message data and automatically enters an emergency information delivery mode in which it broadcasts an emergency connection request to allow it to connect to other mobile terminals so that the message data can be relayed on once a suitable connection has been made.

One example of a hardware device configured to provide such functionality is illustrated in Figure 2B, which illustrates a mobile terminal 200, such as a mobile telecommunications handset such as a cellular telephone or tablet computer. This hardware device may be configured to provide one of the mobile terminals of an ad hoc network such as that illustrated in Figure 1.

As noted above, Figure 2A provides a schematic illustration of functionality which may be provided by the mobile terminal shown in Figure 2B. This functionality may be implemented in hardware, firmware and software and any appropriate combination thereof. Figure 2B provides one concrete example of this.

As illustrated in Figure 2B, the mobile terminal 200 comprises a processor 34, a data store 36, and a short distance wireless communication interface 32. The processor 34 and the data store 36 are configured to provide functionality such as that of the system illustrated schematically in Figure 2A. Such functionality may include information pre-set functionality 202, connection screening 204, identity authentication functionality 205, information transmission functionality 203, notification functionality 206, and mode switching functionality 208.

The processor 34 is also configured to operate the data store 36 to provide information storage 207 of emergency information received from a second mobile terminal over the short distance communication network. The processor 34 may also provide an application interface 201.

The mobile terminal 200 may also comprise a wide area communications interface (WAN interface) 38 for communication over a wide area network. This is configured for connection with a communication server over the wide area network, for example by wireless communication, and may comprise a cellular telecommunications interface and/or a Wi-Fi modem. The mobile terminal 200 may be configured to automatically transmit emergency message data over the wide area network in response to a message received from a second mobile terminal over a short distance communication link as described below. It may be configured to send this to a designated communication server and/or to automatically dial a pre-set emergency alarm telephone number.

The mobile terminal 200 may also comprise a user interface for notifying a user as to whether identity authentication and/or communication with another mobile terminal has been successful. This may enable the mobile terminal to provide functionality equivalent to the notification module 206 described above. The user interface may include a visual indicator, for example a light source such as a display screen or lamp such as an LED. It may also include any one or more of a number of user actuable input devices, for example touch sensitive devices such as a keyboard, a push button, a switch, a slider, or a touch screen. It may thus also be operable to allow manual input of emergency settings by the user.

The processor 34 may be configured to synchronise with a communication server by communicating with that server via the wide area communication interface. This may be done at intervals (for example periodically, intermittently, or in response to a user action) . This may enable the processor to provide functionality equivalent to the information pre-set module 202 described above. This may comprise obtaining emergency settings from a user and/or from the communication server and may comprise obtaining authorisation data from the communication server, examples of authorisation data include a password or other unique identifier or an encryption key. The processor 34 can use this authorisation data to check whether a connection request from another mobile terminal is authorised as described in relation to any one or more of the other embodiments described herein.

The processor 34 may be configured to provide mobile screening and connection functionality equivalent to the mobile screening and connection functionality 204 described above. Accordingly, the processor may be configured to operate the short distance communication interface to scan for emergency connection requests from another mobile terminal. In the event that such a request is detected (e.g. received in a broadcast from another mobile terminal) , the processor can provide this screening and connection functionality 204 by comparing request authentication data obtained from the mobile terminal which sent the emergency connection request with authorisation data stored in the data store 36. In the event that the request authentication data matches the authorisation data stored in the data store 36 of the mobile terminal 200, a short distance communication link (such as a Bluetooth (RTM) pairing) can be established with the device that sent the emergency connection request. In addition, or as an alternative, as explained above if the UE 200 receives a scanning response to an emergency connection request broadcast by the UE 200, the processor may be configured to analyse information received in the scanning request response, and to decline to establish communication if authentication data received in that scanning response does not match authorisation data stored at the UE.

The processor is configured to operate the short distance communication interface 32 to provide information transmission functionality equivalent to that provided by the information transmission module 203 described above. This can enable the UE 200 to communicate with other mobile terminals by controlling the short distance communication interface 32 to send data and to receive data after a connection is created. For example, message data, an identity authentication result, an information matching result, pre-set emergency information and a user-created connection identifier, can be transmitted between the mobile terminals via a short distance network established though this wireless connection of two mobile terminals.

The processor 34 may also operate the short distance communication interface 32 in a broadcast mode for sending emergency connection requests to other mobile terminals.

In this mode, the short distance communication interface periodically broadcasts emergency connection requests, and when another mobile terminal is detected within an effective range, scanning for connections, the processor uses the emergency connection request to create a short distance communication link with that other mobile terminal.

The processor 34 and data store 36 may provide information storage for storage of emergency information. For example after a short distance connection is established with a second mobile terminal, the processor communicates with that other mobile terminal to obtain emergency information, including basic information pre-set by a user of that other mobile terminal and an emergency contact. Thus, because of this information storage, after being disconnected, the information is retained offline. Later, when the mobile terminal is able to establish communication with yet another mobile terminal (e.g. a third mobile terminal) , the stored information can be forwarded over a short distance link to that mobile terminal so as to achieve the function of information relay.

The processor 34 may also provide mode switching functionality equivalent to that provided by the mode switching module 208 described above. For example, after authentication of an emergency connection request is successful and the message data (e.g. emergency information such as that described above) has been received, the processor may automatically disconnect the short distance communication link to the second mobile terminal and switch into the broadcast mode for broadcasting emergency connection requests and delivering the message data to a third mobile terminal once such a connection has been established.

The processor 34 may be configured so that, at intervals, it switches between initiating a broadcast (e.g. sending an emergency connection request) and scanning for emergency connection requests received from other mobile terminals. This can enable a connection to be established between different mobile terminals –e.g. a mobile terminal may be operating to relay message data from a second mobile terminal whilst also listening for emergency connection requests from other mobile terminals.

The processor may be configured to provide functionality equivalent to the identity authentication module 205. For example it may be configured to determine whether to accept connection requests from other mobile terminals operate using a password or secret key or using any other algorithm. In some embodiments a plurality of items of request authentication data received from a mobile terminal making a connection request may be compared with stored authorisation data to establish a level of authentication confidence–if all the items match the authentication confidence might be very high (e.g. 100％) whereas if a smaller number match it might be lower. The processor may be configured to accept an emergency communication request in the event that this confidence rate reaches a certain threshold (e.g. at least 50％or some other selected threshold) .

It will be appreciated in view of the foregoing disclosure that embodiments may employ a setting function of a Rich Communication Suite itself to provide a system and method for constructing an ad hoc emergency network, wherein the system and method do not need to connect to the Internet, but only need to open a short distance wireless broadcast, leading to great convenience； identity permission authentication is required for matching, leading to security； furthermore, the system and the method may break through the geographical limitation of an original short distance broadcast, so that information delivery is performed at a maximum range by a series of relay steps between mobile terminals. The result may be obtained simply and easily and only consumes a short amount of time and a small error rate, without occupying valuable time of a user, and thus can be acquired by the user in real time.

The short distance communication interfaces 32 described herein may comprise any wireless communication system operable to transfer data between devices over a range of less than a few tens or hundreds of meters. Typically, where such communication is provided between two devices, data may be transferred to the physical layer at the first device and the first device generates physical layer signals (such as radio signals) for reception by the second device. The second device receives the physical layer signals generated by the first device and converts them to provide received data. For example, such communication may take place between two devices directly without the need to be mediated through other network hardware. Examples of such communications interfaces include wireless personal area networks (WPANs) such as: INSTEON, IrDA, Wireless USB, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, ZigBee and Body Area Networks. Bluetooth is a particularly useful example of a short distance communication interface which may be used in examples of the present disclosure. Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology that uses a frequency-hopping scheme in the unlicensed Industrial Scientific-Medical (ISM) band at 2.4 GHz other examples of short distance communication may be used.

The wide area networks described herein may be provided by any geographically dispersed telecommunications network such as the internet and may comprise packet switched and/or circuit switched elements such as POTS (plain old telephone services) . It may comprise, at least in part, a cellular telecommunications network. The wide area communications interfaces described herein comprise any interface operable to communicate over such a network. Examples of such interfaces comprise modems for communication over packet switched networks, which may comprise wired and/or wireless components. Such interfaces may comprise GSM, GPRS, 3GPP, LTE and other mobile communications interfaces.

With reference to Figure 2A and Figure 2B in particular, and the drawings in general, it will be appreciated that schematic functional block diagrams, such as that show in Figure 2B, are used to indicate functionality of systems and apparatus described herein. It will be appreciated however that the functionality need not be divided in this way, and should not be taken to imply any particular structure of hardware other than that described and claimed below. The function of one or more of the elements shown in the drawings may be further subdivided, and/or distributed throughout apparatus of the disclosure. In some embodiments the function of one or more elements shown in the drawings may be integrated into a single functional unit. For example the functionality of the processor and data store described with reference to Figure 2 may be implemented in separate hardware and/or software modules and or may be integrated into the functionality of a smaller number of modules or further subdivided.

Figure 3 is a timing diagram illustrating information delivery between mobile terminals. The mobile terminals which implement the method shown in Figure 3 may each be provided by mobile terminals such as that described above with reference to Figure 2. For example, each mobile terminal may have similar functionality such as the information present, information transmission, screening and connection, information storage, identity authentication, notification and mode switching functionality described above. Other types of mobile terminal may also be used.

Through Figure 3, a method for information delivery among mobile terminals will be described in detail. Figure 3 shows the case in which only two mobile terminals operate according to the methods described herein, but it will be appreciated that further mobile terminals may be involved. These will be referred to herein as mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B.

In an initial state, for example in a non-emergency situation, mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B synchronize at intervals (e.g. periodically) to obtain pre-set emergency information, which may be obtained from a communication server via a wide area communication network. As described above this may be done automatically or in response to some user action, in some embodiments the information may be input manually by the user.

When an emergency occurs, mobile terminal A switches to an emergency mode (e.g. in response to some command trigger, which may be provided by the user) and automatically and periodically broadcasts an emergency connection request using its short distance communication interface. When mobile terminal B is scanning for such a broadcast and is in short distance communication range of mobile terminal A, mobile terminal B may respond to the broadcast emergency connection request by sending a response message via the short distance communication interface.

Mobile terminal A checks the response message to identify mobile terminal B, and may determine based on this check whether to create a connection with mobile terminal B. The broadcast frequency parameters of the short distance communication interface of both mobile terminals may be determined by a random algorithm. This may aim to ensure that the initiation broadcast of the emergency connection request and the scanning broadcast response can be effectively connected at the mobile terminals, thereby reducing interference to the terminals. This may be done by random frequency hopping.

If a connection is created, mobile terminal A transmits the pre-stored emergency information to mobile terminal B via the short distance communication. This may be transferred in the connection request or may be sent separately once the connection has been established. The mobile terminal B performs identity authentication as described above with reference to Figure 2. This may comprise matching a plurality of items of request authentication data with a plurality of items of stored authorisation data to establish a measure of “information trueness” . The information to be matched in this process may comprise at least one of: basic information about a mobile terminal owner, an emergency telephone number and an emergency contact. The information, such as the basic information about a mobile terminal owner and the emergency telephone number, may have been authenticated with a communication server during the synchronisation performed in the non-emergency mode as described above.

Accordingly, mobile terminal B can authenticate the identity of mobile terminal A. If mobile terminal A is authenticated (for example if the matching of the plurality of items of data indicates a match greater than a certain threshold, such as 50％) , mobile terminal B will transmit the authentication result to mobile terminal A. Mobile terminal B also stores emergency information sent to it by mobile terminal A (for example this information may comprise message data transmitted in or with the emergency connection request) . Each mobile terminal may trigger a notification at either or both terminals (e.g. on a user interface) so that each user is informed of the information delivery.

After this notification, mobile terminal B automatically disconnects from mobile terminal A. Mobile terminal B then switches to the emergency broadcast mode, in which it searches for the next mobile terminal to which it can send an emergency connection request and so relay the message data sent to it by mobile terminal A.

It will be appreciated in the context of the present disclosure that if the authentication matching is less than the certain threshold (e.g. 50％) , mobile terminal A may transmit the matching result to mobile terminal B, and trigger notification on the two mobile terminals to notify the users that information delivery has failed. After such notification, mobile terminal B may automatically disconnect from mobile terminal A.

Figure 4 illustrates a further extension of the method shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 illustrates a system which involves three mobile terminals-mobile terminal A, mobile terminal B, and mobile terminal C. In Figure 4 mobile terminal A is in short distance communication range of mobile terminal B, but mobile terminal A is not in range of mobile terminal C. Accordingly, mobile terminal A and mobile terminal C cannot mutually detect the presence of one another.

As illustrated in Figure 4, the method of Figure 4 includes steps which are as described above with reference to Figure 3. However, after mobile terminal B automatically disconnects from mobile terminal A, mobile terminal B switches to the broadcast mode and broadcasts an emergency connection request to search for any other mobile terminal that is scanning for such a broadcast.

It will be appreciated in the context of the present disclosure that, by the time mobile terminal B has begun communication with mobile terminal C it may no longer be in communication range of mobile terminal A. Thus emergency information can be communicated to mobile terminal C from mobile terminal A even if the two are not directly in range of each other.

When mobile terminal B enters an effective range of mobile terminal C and broadcasts an emergency connection request, mobile terminal C can respond to the broadcast emergency connection request by sending a response message to mobile terminal B via the short distance communication interface. Mobile terminal B checks the response message to identify mobile terminal C, and may determine based on this check whether to create a connection with mobile terminal C. As with communication between mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B, the broadcast frequency parameters of the short distance communication interface of both mobile terminals may be determined by a random algorithm. This may aim to ensure that the initiation broadcast of the emergency connection request and the scanning broadcast response can be effectively connected at the mobile terminals, thereby reducing interference to the terminals. This may be done by random frequency hopping.

If a connection is created, mobile terminal B transmits the pre-stored emergency information to mobile terminal C via the short distance communication. This may be transferred in the connection request or may be sent separately once the connection has been established. The mobile terminal C then performs identity authentication as described above with reference to Figure 2. This may comprise matching a plurality of items of authentication data with a plurality of items of authorisation data to establish a measure of “information trueness” . The information to be matched in this process may comprise at least one of: basic information about a mobile terminal owner, an emergency telephone number and an emergency contact. The information, such as the basic information about a mobile terminal owner and the emergency telephone number, may have been authenticated with a communication server during the synchronisation performed in the non-emergency mode as described above.

Accordingly, mobile terminal C can authenticate the identity of mobile terminal B. If mobile terminal B is authenticated (for example if the matching of the plurality of items of data indicates a match greater than a certain threshold, such as 50％) , mobile terminal C will transmit the authentication result to mobile terminal B. Mobile terminal C also stores emergency information sent to it by mobile terminal B (for example this information may comprise message data transmitted in the emergency connection request and which was originally sent from mobile terminal A to mobile terminal B) . Each mobile terminal may trigger a notification at either or both terminals so that each user is informed of the information delivery.

After this notification, mobile terminal C automatically disconnects from mobile terminal B. Mobile terminal C then switches to the emergency broadcast mode, in which it searches for the next mobile terminal to which it can send an emergency connection request and so relay the message data sent to it by mobile terminal B.

Through the information delivery flow described above among the three mobile terminals A, B and C, it can be seen that emergency message data can be relayed between an arbitrary number, N, of mobile terminals. Accordingly, it can be seen that an ad hoc emergency network can be constructed in which multiple short distance relay hops can be used to transmit message data over greater distances.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of operating a mobile terminal such as that described above with reference to Figure 2.

As illustrated in Figure 5 a server periodically synchronizes 501 emergency parameters with a mobile terminal, which may be provided by a mobile terminal such as that described above with reference to Figure 2. The mobile terminal synchronizes provides emergency information to the emergency server. The emergency server stores this information, and repeats the process with each of a plurality of similar mobile terminals to obtain emergency information from each of the plurality of mobile terminals. The server thus collects various pre-set emergency settings from each terminal. These pre-set emergency settings include information such as one or more of: an emergency contact preset by the user； telephone numbers of various alarm authorities in the emergency condition and alarm interfaces.

When an emergency occurs, a mobile terminal A is triggered (e.g. by a user action, or by an emergency signal) to broadcast an emergency connection request via a short distance communication interface (for example via Bluetooth) . Once another mobile terminal, such as mobile terminal B that is scanning for a broadcast is found, a connection is established between mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B as described above with reference to Figure 3.

Upon receipt of the emergency connection request from the mobile terminal A, the mobile terminal B performs 503 identity authentication of mobile terminal A based on emergency information synchronized in step 501. For example, during synchronisation the server may provide authorisation data, such as a key or password to the mobile terminals. The identity authentication performed at step 503 may thus comprise checking request authentication data sent in an emergency connection request against authorisation data received during synchronisation and stored at mobile terminal B.

Mobile terminal B determines 504 whether the identity authentication of mobile terminal A has been successful. If the authentication is successful mobile terminal A provides emergency message data to mobile terminal B –this data may be included in the emergency connection request or may be provided separately. Mobile terminal B also determines 505 whether the mobile terminal B is currently able to communicate over a wide area network such as a telecommunications network (e.g. the mobile terminal has a usable active connection to the network and can send and/or receive data over that network) .

In the event that mobile terminal B is currently able to communicate over a wide area network, the mobile terminal B attempts 506 to forward the emergency message data to a designated emergency server over the wide area network. The information delivery is completed.

In the alternative, if mobile terminal B is currently unable to communicate over the wide area network. The mobile terminal B will switch 507 into the broadcast mode, disconnect the connection to the mobile terminal A and broadcast an emergency connection request via a short distance communication interface (for example via Bluetooth) to search for another mobile terminal that can deliver information–for example it performs a method such as that described above with reference to Figure 3 and Figure 4. If after a selected interval, the mobile terminal B has been unable to establish communication with another mobile terminal via the short distance communication interface it may re-attempt 505 communication over a wide area network to try 506 to forward the emergency message data to a designated emergency server over the wide area network.

It will be appreciated however that by a series of relay steps over the short distance communication link from one mobile terminal to another, the message data may pass through a series of mobile terminals, and each may check whether communication is available over the wide area network as described above with reference to

items

505, 506 and 507 of Figure 5. This series of N mobile terminals may thus provide an ad hoc network through which the emergency message data can propagate, from one mobile terminal to the next, until it reaches a terminal which is able to establish communication over the wide area communication network for communicating with the designated server.

A mobile terminal which has taken part in this ad hoc network and been unable to communicate over the wide area network may continue 509, to attempt communication over the wide area network. This may be done at intervals (e.g. periodically) or in response to a trigger. Triggers may include detection of communication from a base station such as a telecommunications mast or WLAN access point–other triggers may include a user action such as operation of the user interface of the mobile terminal, or movement of the mobile terminal which may be detected by a sensor in the mobile terminal such as a GPS location device or an accelerometer. In the event that such a mobile terminal moves to a geographical location where connection to wide area network is available it connects 510 to the wide area network.

The mobile terminal having this connection then forwards 511 the emergency message data over the wide area network to the designated emergency server. This may be done in an automatic or manual manner–e.g. in response to a user action at the device. The flow of delivering the emergency information is thus completed.

It will be appreciated in the context of the present disclosure that the method described above with reference to Figure 5 may be performed by mobile terminals having an RCS (Rich Communication Suite) application installed thereon and configured to provide functionality such as that described with reference to the processor of Figure 2. It will also be appreciated that the method described above with reference to Figure 5 may be performed by a mobile terminal having an SDK (software development kit) or a chip with RCS capability.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of operating a mobile terminal such as that described above with reference to Figure 2. The mobile terminal which performs the method of Figure 6 includes an SDK or a chip with an RCS capability.

As illustrated in Figure 6 a server periodically synchronizes 601 emergency parameters with a mobile terminal, which may be provided by a mobile terminal such as that described above with reference to Figure 2. The mobile terminal may provide emergency information to the emergency server. The emergency server stores this information, and repeats the process with each of a plurality of similar mobile terminals to obtain emergency information from each of the plurality of mobile terminals. The server thus collects various pre-set emergency settings from each terminal. These pre-set emergency settings include information such as one or more of: an emergency contact preset by the user； telephone numbers of various alarm authorities in the emergency condition and alarm interfaces.

When an emergency occurs, a mobile terminal C is triggered (e.g. by a user action, or by an emergency signal) to broadcast an emergency connection request via a short distance communication interface (for example via Bluetooth) . Once another mobile terminal, such as mobile terminal D that is scanning for a broadcast is found, a connection is established between mobile terminal C and mobile terminal D as described above with reference to Figure 3.

Upon receipt of the emergency connection request from the mobile terminal C, the mobile terminal D may perform 603 identity authentication of mobile terminal C based on emergency information synchronized in step 601. For example, during synchronisation the server may provide authorisation data, such as a key or password to the mobile terminals. The identity authentication performed at step 603 may thus comprise checking request authentication data sent in an emergency connection request against authorisation data received during synchronisation and stored at mobile terminal D.

Mobile terminal C determines 604 whether the identity authentication of mobile terminal D has been successful. If the authentication is successful mobile terminal C provides emergency message data to mobile terminal D –this data may be included in the emergency connection request or may be provided separately. Mobile terminal D also determines 605 whether the mobile terminal D is currently able to communicate over a wide area network such as a telecommunications network (e.g. the mobile terminal has a usable active connection to the network and can send and/or receive data over that network) .

In the event that mobile terminal D is currently able to communicate over a wide area network, the mobile terminal D attempts 606 to forward the emergency message data to a designated emergency server over the wide area network. The information delivery is completed.

In the alternative, if mobile terminal D is currently unable to communicate over the wide area network. The mobile terminal D will switch 607 into the broadcast mode, disconnect the connection to the mobile terminal C and broadcast an emergency connection request via a short distance communication interface (for example via Bluetooth) to search for another mobile terminal to which it can can deliver information–for example it performs a method such as that described above with reference to Figure 3 and Figure 4. If after a selected interval, the mobile terminal D has been unable to establish communication with another mobile terminal via the short distance communication interface it may re-attempt 605 communication over a wide area network to try 606 to forward the emergency message data to a designated emergency server over the wide area network.

items

605, 606 and 607 of Figure 6. This series of N mobile terminals may thus provide an ad hoc network through which the emergency message data can propagate, from one mobile terminal to the next, until it reaches a terminal which is able to establish communication over the wide area communication network for communicating with the designated server.

A mobile terminal which has taken part in this ad hoc network and been unable to communicate over the wide area network may continue 609, to attempt communication over the wide area network. This may be done at intervals (e.g. periodically) or in response to a trigger. Triggers may include detection of communication from a base station such as a telecommunications mast or WLAN access point –other triggers may include a user action such as operation of the user interface of the mobile terminal, or movement of the mobile terminal which may be detected by a sensor in the mobile terminal such as a GPS location device or an accelerometer. In the event that such a mobile terminal moves to a geographical location where connection to wide area network is available it connects 610 to the wide area network.

The mobile terminal having this connection then forwards 611 the emergency message data over the wide area network to the designated emergency server. This may be done in an automatic or manual manner–e.g. in response to a user action at the device. The flow of delivering the emergency information is thus completed.

Figure 7 illustrates a network system configured to perform the method described with reference to Figure 5 and/or Figure 6.

The system illustrated in Figure 7 comprises a first mobile terminal 26, a second mobile terminal 24 and a communication server 28. The communication server 28 is arranged for communication via a wide area network 2. The first mobile terminal 26 and second mobile terminal 24 may comprise mobile terminals such as those described above with reference to Figure 2. Accordingly it will be appreciated that the first mobile terminal 26 and the second mobile terminal 24 may be operable to communicate via a short distance communication network 4 such as Bluetooth (RTM) . Either or both of the first mobile terminal 24 and the second mobile terminal 26 may comprise a WAN interface for communication over the wide area network 2 with the communication server 28.

The communication server 28 comprises a data store 40, a controller 42, and a wide area communication interface. The controller 42 is operable to send and receive network messages via the wide area network.

In a non-emergency mode, the controller 42 of the communication server 28 is configured to communicate with the

mobile terminals

24, 26 to obtain emergency data from them, and to provide them with authorisation data such as a key or password. This may be done by a synchronisation process such as that described above with reference to Figure 5. The controller 42 may store the emergency data associated with each mobile terminal into the data store 40. The authorisation data provided to the UEs may enable the first mobile terminal to authenticate a connection request received from the second mobile terminal via the short distance communication, and vice versa.

As explained above, in the event of an emergency the second mobile terminal 24 may send an emergency connection request to the first mobile terminal 26. This emergency connection request may comprise request authentication data and emergency message data. The first mobile terminal 26 can then compare the request authentication data received from the second mobile terminal 24 with the authorisation data received from the communication server 28. In the event that this indicates that the second mobile terminal 24 is authorised, the first mobile terminal 26 can attempt to forward the emergency message data over the wide area network 2 to the emergency server 28. If it is currently unable to communicate over the wide area network 2, the first mobile terminal can attempt to forward the emergency message data to a third mobile terminal (not shown in Figure 7) as described above with reference to Figure 4 and Figure 5.

In an emergency mode, the communication server 28 may thus receive from the first mobile terminal 26, over a wide area network, a message indicating authentication of the second mobile terminal 24 and indicating an emergency condition. The communication server 28 is configured to respond to this by sending, over the wide area network 2, a message based on the emergency data associated with the second mobile terminal 24.

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples. Further embodiments are envisaged. For example in an aspect there is provided a method of operating a mobile terminal comprising: receiving at a first mobile terminal, over a short distance wireless network, an emergency connection request from a second mobile terminal, wherein the emergency connection request comprises request authentication data； determining whether the emergency connection request is authorised based on comparing the request authentication data with authorisation data stored at the first mobile terminal； in the event that the emergency connection request is authorised, obtaining message data from the second mobile terminal and forwarding the message data, over a short distance wireless network, to a third mobile terminal. In this and other aspects the method may comprise attempting to establish connection with a wide area network in the event that the emergency connection request is authorised, and forwarding the message data over the wide area network if the connection is established. It will be appreciated in the context of the present disclosure that the possibilities set out in the two preceding sentences may be combined with any one or more of the features of the methods and/or apparatus described and/or claimed herein. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one embodiment (such as those described in this paragraph) may be used alone, or in combination with other features described elsewhere herein, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other of the embodiments.

Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

In some examples, one or more memory elements can store data and/or program instructions used to implement the operations described herein. Embodiments of the disclosure provide tangible, non-transitory storage media comprising program instructions operable to program a processor to perform any one or more of the methods described and/or claimed herein and/or to provide data processing apparatus as described and/or claimed herein. The data stores described herein may comprise volatile and/or non-volatile memory for storing computer readable data and instructions.

Any of the mobile terminals described herein may comprise RCS functionality and/or an SDK chip configured to provide the functionality described and/or claimed herein. The processors and controllers described herein (and the activities they perform) may be implemented with fixed logic such as assemblies of logic gates or programmable logic such as software and/or computer program instructions executed by a processor. Other kinds of programmable logic include programmable processors, programmable digital logic (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) , an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) ) , an application specific integrated circuit, ASIC, or any other kind of digital logic, software, code, electronic instructions, flash memory, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, magnetic or optical cards, other types of machine-readable mediums suitable for storing electronic instructions, or any suitable combination thereof.

Claims

A method of operating a mobile terminal comprising:

receiving at a first mobile terminal, over a short distance wireless network, an emergency connection request from a second mobile terminal；

determining whether the emergency connection request is authorised based on comparing request authentication data, received from the second mobile terminal, with authorisation data stored at the first mobile terminal；

in the event that the emergency connection request is authorised, receiving at the first mobile terminal, message data from the second mobile terminal and attempting to forward the message data from the first mobile terminal over a wide area network； and,

in the event that the message data cannot be forwarded over the wide area network attempting to forward the message data, over a short distance wireless network, to a third mobile terminal.
The method of claim 1 comprising reattempting forwarding over the wide area network in the event that the first mobile terminal is moved to a different geographic location.
The method of claim 1 or 2 comprising obtaining the authorisation data over the wide area network and storing the authorisation data at the mobile terminal.
The method of claim 1, 2 or 3 comprising providing from the second mobile terminal over the wide area network to a communication server, emergency settings comprising at least one of:

(i) emergency contact data preset by a user of the second mobile terminal, and

(ii) emergency contact data for contacting an emergency service.
The method of claim 4 comprising the first mobile terminal forwarding the message data over the wide area network for communication to the communication server, wherein the communication server responds to the message data by communicating based on the emergency settings.
The method of any of claims 1 to 5 wherein the forwarding the message data, over the short distance wireless network, to the third mobile terminal comprises broadcasting the message data to a plurality of third mobile terminals.
The method of any of claims 1 to 6 wherein, in the event that the first mobile terminal is disconnected from the second mobile terminal before forwarding the message data, the first mobile terminal stores the message data and attempts at intervals to forward the message data over at least one of the short distance wireless network and the wide area network.
A mobile terminal comprising:

a processor；

a data store for storing authorisation data；

a wide area communications interface for communication over a wide area network； and

a short distance wireless communication interface for communication with at least a second mobile terminal；

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive an emergency connection request from the second mobile terminal via the short distance wireless communication interface；

receive request authentication data from the second mobile terminal；

determine whether the emergency connection request is authorised based on comparing the request authentication data with stored authorisation data； and to

attempt to forward the message data from the first mobile terminal over the wide area network in the event that the emergency connection request is authorised, and to attempt to forward the message data, via the short distance wireless network, to a third mobile terminal in the event that the message data cannot be forwarded over the wide area network.
The mobile terminal of claim 8 wherein the processor is configured to determine a geographic location of the apparatus and to reattempt the forwarding over the wide area network in the event that the mobile terminal is moved to a different geographic location.
The mobile terminal of claim 8 or 9 wherein the processor is configured to obtain the authorisation data over the wide area network and to store the authorisation data in the data store.
The mobile terminal of claim 8, 9, or 10 wherein the processor is configured to send, over the wide area communication interface to a communication server, emergency settings comprising at least one of:

(i) emergency contact data preset by a user of the apparatus, and

(ii) emergency contact data for contacting an emergency service.
The mobile terminal of any of claims 8 to 11 wherein the processor is configured to disconnect a connection to the second mobile terminal prior to attempting to forward the message data, via the short distance wireless network, to a third mobile terminal.
The mobile terminal of any of claims 8 to 12 wherein the forwarding the message data, over the short distance wireless network, comprises broadcasting the message data to a plurality of mobile terminals.
The mobile terminal of any of claims 8 to 13 wherein the processor is configured to stores the message data from the second mobile terminal in the data store.
The mobile terminal of claim 14 wherein the processor is configured to attempt, at intervals until the message data has been sent, to forward the stored message data over at least one of the short distance wireless network and the wide area network.
A communication server apparatus configured to:

obtain emergency data from a plurality of mobile terminals；

provide request authentication data to the plurality of mobile terminals to enable a first mobile terminal to authenticate a second mobile terminal via a short distance communication interface；

receive from the first mobile terminal, over a wide area network, message data indicating authentication of the second mobile terminal and indicating an emergency condition； and to

send, over the wide area network, a message based on the emergency data associated with the second mobile terminal.
The communication server of claim 16 wherein the message is sent to a device identified by the emergency data associated with the second mobile terminal.
The communication server of claim 16 or 17 wherein the message comprises message data received from the first mobile terminal.
A method of operating a communication server, the method comprising:

obtaining emergency data from a plurality of mobile terminals；

providing request authentication data to the plurality of mobile terminals to enable a first mobile terminal to authenticate a second mobile terminal via a short distance communication interface；

receiving from the first mobile terminal, over a wide area network, message data indicating authentication of the second mobile terminal and indicating an emergency condition of the second mobile terminal； and

sending, over the wide area network from the server, a message based on the emergency data associated with the second mobile terminal.
The method of claim 19 comprising sending the message to a device identified by the emergency data associated with the second mobile terminal.
The method of claim 19 or 20 wherein the message comprises message data received from the first mobile terminal.
A method of operating a mobile terminal comprising:

receiving at a first mobile terminal, over a short distance wireless network, an emergency connection request from a second mobile terminal；

receiving request authentication data from the second mobile terminal；

determining whether the emergency connection request is authorised based on comparing the request authentication data with authorisation data at the first mobile terminal；

in the event that the emergency connection request is authorised, receiving at the first mobile terminal, message data from the second mobile terminal and forwarding the message data from the first mobile terminal, over a short distance wireless network, to a third mobile terminal.
The method of claim 22 wherein forwarding the message data from the first mobile terminal, over the short distance wireless network comprises providing request authentication data to the third mobile terminal.
The method of claim 23 wherein the request authentication data provided to the third mobile terminal is based on at least one of: the request authentication data received from the second mobile terminal in the emergency connection request, and authorisation data received from a communication server in a non-emergency mode.
The method of claim 22, 23 or 24 comprising attempting to forward the message data from the first mobile terminal over a wide area network in the event that the emergency connection request is authorised.
The method of claim 25 comprising reattempting forwarding over the wide area network in the event that the first mobile terminal is moved to a different geographic location.
The method of any of claims 22 to 26 comprising obtaining the authorisation data over the wide area network and storing the authorisation data at the mobile terminal.
The method of any preceding claim comprising providing from the second mobile terminal over the wide area network to a communication server, emergency settings comprising at least one of:

(i) emergency contact data preset by a user of the second mobile terminal, and

(ii) emergency contact data for contacting an emergency service.
The method of claim 28 comprising the first mobile terminal forwarding the message data over the wide area network for communication to the communication server, wherein the communication server responds to the message data by communicating based on the emergency settings.
The method of any of claims 22 to 29 wherein the forwarding the message data, over the short distance wireless network, to the third mobile terminal comprises broadcasting the message data to a plurality of third mobile terminals.
The method of any preceding claim wherein, in the event that the first mobile terminal is disconnected from the second mobile terminal before forwarding the message data, the first mobile terminal stores the message data and attempts at intervals to forward the message data over at least one of the short distance wireless network and the wide area network.
A computer program product comprising program instructions operable to program a processor to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 7 or 19 to 31.