WO2024069326A1

WO2024069326A1 - Emergency alerting system for transmitting an alert message to users through tv infrastructure

Info

Publication number: WO2024069326A1
Application number: PCT/IB2023/059345
Authority: WO
Inventors: Saurabh BASU; Sandeep Sharma; Suvam Suvabrata Behera; Anugandula Naveen Kumar; Kamlesh Kumar Yadav; Smriti Sachdev; Pankaj Kumar DALELA
Original assignee: Centre For Development Of Telematics
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2023-09-21
Publication date: 2024-04-04

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an emergency alerting system. The emergency alerting system includes an emergency alerting unit and a target alerting unit. The emergency alerting unit is configured to receive an alert information from disaster management entities. The emergency alerting unit further identifies the target area based on the alert information and configured it into a standardized format. The target alerting unit configured to receive the standardized alert information from the emergency alerting unit. The target alerting unit further maps the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information. The target alerting unit further configured to transmit, a second information, to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities for displaying an alert message.

Description

EMERGENCY ALERTING SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING AN ALERT

MESSAGE TO USERS THROUGH TV INFRASTRUCTURE

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to emergency alerting to potentially impactable people for any calamity in advance. More particularly the present disclosure relates to an emergency alerting system acting for sending an alert message through digital television broadcasting entities.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

[0003] Providing effective and targeted emergency alert information to vulnerable populations in a timely manner using reliable communication media having better outreach can be helpful in catalyzing the process of comprehensive emergency management. Strong influence with a high degree of trust and coverage makes the dominance of television among different dissemination media with respect to alert message dissemination. The daily average time spent on Television by the viewer in India ranges normally between 3 to 4 hours, thus making it an effective media for broadcasting emergency alerts.

[0004] Existing infrastructure of digital television broadcasting services are running on diverse systems with different interfaces which may not be capable of processing the emergency alerts and disseminate them in an automated manner. There are different standards for Digital Television broadcasting such as Digital video broadcasting (DVB), European standards, Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards, and Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) standards, which may have provision for emergency alerting. However, the systems currently deployed are majorly sub-standard or non-standard which do not comply with such provisions of emergency alerting or are not mandated by the authorities, and their incorporation also may result in high cost on operators. The Digital Television broadcasting systems are also not compliant with standards such as Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) which is used for exchanging emergency alert information over variety of networks and alerting technologies. [0005] There is, therefore, a need for an emergency alerting system that is capable of acting as a bridge between the disaster management agencies or entities for disseminating alert information to the vulnerable public. The present disclosure proposes an emergency alerting system that can act as an interworking system to integrate with the legacy deployed infrastructure for enabling emergency alerting without significant increase in CAPEX cost and affecting the current architecture.

OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

[0006] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfy are as listed hereinbelow.

[0007] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an emergency alerting system for non-standard or sub-standard systems in digital television broadcasting services.

[0008] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an emergency alerting system, which is cost-effective as it is backward compatible with the current architecture.

[0009] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an emergency alerting system, which is effective as daily average time spent on Television by any viewer is normally between 3 to 4 hours.

SUMMARY

[0010] The present disclosure relates to emergency alerting to potentially impactable people for any calamity in advance. More particularly the present disclosure relates to an emergency alerting system acting for sending an alert message through digital television broadcasting entities.

[0011] An aspect of the present disclosure pertains to an emergency alerting system, adapted to be configured with one or more disaster management entities, for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area. The system includes an emergency alerting unit, having a first processor, operatively configured with the one or more disaster management entities. The emergency alerting unit being configured to receive, from the one or more disaster management entities, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area. The emergency alerting unit further configured to and identify, based on the alert information, the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination. The emergency alerting unit further configured to convert the alert information into a standardized format. The emergency alerting system further include a target alerting unit, having a second processor, communicatively coupled with the emergency alerting unit and the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The target alerting unit being configured to receive, from the emergency alerting unit, the standardized alert information. The target alerting unit further configured to map, based on the standardized alert information, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information. The target alerting unit further configured to transmit, a second information, to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users.

[0012] In an aspect, the one or more digital television broadcasting entities are configured to receive, from the target alerting unit, the second information. The one or more digital television broadcasting entities are configured to identify, using one or more subsystems, the set of users registered in the target area. The one or more digital television broadcasting entities are further configured to display, in the one or more languages, the alert message on one or more devices through respective set top box associated with the one or more users registered in the target area.

[0013] In an aspect, the one or more subsystems of the one or more digital television broadcasting entities may comprise a combination of user management system, user authentication system, and a conditional access system.

[0014] In an aspect, the emergency alert system may comprise a configuration management system for selecting one or more attributes of the alert message, to be displayed. [0015] In an aspect, one or more attributes may comprise a display time, display duration, display frequency, display interval, and character length of the alert message.

[0016] In an aspect, the target alerting unit may be configured to validate the standardized alert information prior to selecting the one or more attributes of the alert message.

[0017] In an aspect, the emergency alerting system may be configured to monitor a health status of the target alerting unit prior to converting the alert information into a standardized format.

[0018] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure pertains to a method for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area. The method includes receiving, by an emergency alerting unit having a first processor, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area from the one or more disaster management entities. The method further includes identifying, by the first processor, the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination based on the alert information. The method further includes converting, by the first processor, the alert information into a standardized format. The method further includes receiving, by a target alerting unit having a second processor, the standardized alert information from the emergency alerting unit. The method further includes mapping, by the second processor, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information based on the standardized alert information. The method further includes transmitting, by the second processor, a second information to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users.

[0019] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. The diagrams are for illustration only, which thus is not a limitation of the present disclosure.

[0021] In the figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.

[0022] FIG. 1A-1B illustrates an exemplary representation an exemplary architecture diagram of an emergency alerting system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary representation module diagram of emergency alerting unit, and FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary representation module diagram of target alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [0024] FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of alert dissemination through emergency alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of target alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary geo-targeted message display mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates a method for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary computer system to implement the proposed system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

[0030] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.

[0031] The present disclosure relates to emergency alerting to potentially impactable people for any calamity in advance. More particularly the present disclosure relates to an emergency alerting system acting for sending an alert message through digital television broadcasting entities.

[0032] The present disclosure elaborates upon an emergency alerting system, adapted to be configured with one or more disaster management entities, for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area. The system includes an emergency alerting unit, having a first processor, operatively configured with the one or more disaster management entities. The emergency alerting unit being configured to receive, from the one or more disaster management entities, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area. The emergency alerting unit further configured to and identify, based on the alert information, the target area for geo- targeted alert dissemination. The emergency alerting unit further configured to convert the alert information into a standardized format for enabling information exchange between the proposed emergency alerting unit and all the TV broadcasters. The alert information in the standardized format can help in minimizing the costs and operational complexity by eliminating the need for different customized software interfaces for different broadcasting entities. Also, it can help in integrating with future interfaces capable of understanding such standardized format.

[0033] In an embodiment, the emergency alerting system further include a target alerting unit, having a second processor, communicatively coupled with the emergency alerting unit and the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The target alerting unit being configured to receive, from the emergency alerting unit, the standardized alert information. The target alerting unit further configured to map, based on the standardized alert information, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information. The target alerting unit further configured to transmit, a second information, to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users.

[0034] In an embodiment, the one or more digital television broadcasting entities are configured to receive, from the target alerting unit, the second information. The one or more digital television broadcasting entities are configured to identify, using one or more subsystems, the set of users registered in the target area. The one or more digital television broadcasting entities are further configured to display, in the one or more languages, the alert message on one or more devices through respective set top box associated with the one or more users registered in the target area.

[0035] In an embodiment, the one or more subsystems of the one or more digital television broadcasting entities can comprise a combination of user management system, user authentication system, and a conditional access system.

[0036] In an embodiment, the emergency alert system can comprise a configuration management system for selecting one or more attributes of the alert message, to be displayed. [0037] In an embodiment, one or more attributes can comprise a display time, display duration, display frequency, display interval, and character length of the alert message. [0038] In an embodiment, the target alerting unit can be configured to validate the standardized alert information prior to selecting the one or more attributes of the alert message.

[0039] In an embodiment, the emergency alerting system can be configured to monitor a health status of the target alerting unit prior to converting the alert information into a standardized format.

[0040] Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure pertains to a method for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area. The method includes receiving, by an emergency alerting unit having a first processor, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area from the one or more disaster management entities. The method further includes identifying, by the first processor, the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination based on the alert information. The method further includes converting, by the first processor, the alert information into a standardized format. The method further includes receiving, by a target alerting unit having a second processor, the standardized alert information from the emergency alerting unit. The method further includes mapping, by the second processor, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information based on the standardized alert information. The method further includes transmitting, by the second processor, a second information to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users.

[0041] FIG. 1A-1B illustrates an exemplary representation an exemplary architecture diagram of an emergency alerting system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] As illustrated, an emergency alerting system 100 adapted to be configured with one or more disaster management entities for transmitting an alert message to a set of users. The disaster management entities can include but are not limited to any or combination of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), State/UTs Disaster Management Authorities, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Central Water Commission (CWC), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE), Forest Survey of India (FSI) etc. and other government or authorized agencies for forecasting or alerting in case of different disaster and emergency situations. The set of users can be registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities 108-1, 108-2, .108-N (collectively referred as disaster management entities 108 and individually referred as disaster management entity 108, hereinafter), in a target area. The target area can correspond to an area where some natural calamity is predicted in advance.

[0043] In an embodiment, the emergency altering system 100 can include an emergency alerting unit 102. The emergency alerting unit 102 can be configured with the one or more disaster management entities. The emergency alerting unit 102 can be configured to receive an alert information pertaining to an advisory or an alert for a target area. The alert can be for but is not limited to cyclone, tsunami, lightning, heavy rain, a storm, heat or cold wave, landslides, avalanches, pandemic, and law and order management. The emergency alerting unit 102 can be further configured identify the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination based on the received information from the disaster management entities. The emergency alerting unit 102 can be further configured to convert the alert information into a standardized format such as common alerting protocol (CAP) format.

[0044] In an embodiment, the emergency alerting system 100 can further include a target alerting unit 104 having a second processor. The second processor can be communicatively coupled with the emergency alerting unit 102 and the one or more digital television broadcasting entities 108. The target alerting unit 104 can be configured to receive the standardized alert information from the emergency alerting unit 102. The target alerting unit 104 can be further configured to map the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information based on the standardized alert information. The target alerting unit 104 can be further configured to transmit to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities a second information pertaining to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages for displaying an alert message in to the set of users. The one or more languages can be selected based on geographical administrative boundaries format information. The alert message can be displayed on one or more device associated with the set of users registered in the target area through a set top box. The one or more device can include but is not limited to television.

[0045] In an embodiment, the one or more digital television broadcasting entities 108 can be configured to receive the second information from the target alerting unit 102. The digital television broadcasting entities 108 can be configured to identify the set of users registered in the target area using one or more subsystems associated with the digital television broadcasting entities. In an embodiment, the digital television broadcasting entities 108 can be further configured to display, in the one or more languages, the alert message on one or more devices through respective set top box associated with the one or more users registered in the target area. The one or more subsystems of the one or more digital television broadcasting entities can include a combination of user management system (UMS), user authentication system (UAS), and a conditional access system (CAS).

[0046] In an embodiment, the user management system stores user’s records and details with respect to name, address, zip codes, and other information regarding the hardware being utilized by the subscriber, channels or bouquets of channels subscribed by the user, price of such channels or bouquets of channels as defined in the system, the activation or deactivation dates and time for any channel or bouquets of channels, a log of all actions performed on a user’s record, invoices raised on each user and the amounts paid or discount allowed to the user for each billing period.

[0047] In an embodiment, the UAS can translate the information about the user into an entitlement management messages (EMM), when the user management system requests for it. The UAS can ensure that the user’s security module receives the authorization needed to view the programs. Further, the UAS can act as a backup system in case of failure. In an embodiment, conditional access can imply “the access is based upon certain condition”. Under the Conditional Access System only an authorized receiver/STB (set top box) can decrypt the broadcast content. Essentially, CAS can ensure that content delivery pipe from the operator to the STB is secure and provides a mechanism of addressing each STB uniquely. CAS comprises a combination of scrambling and encryption to prevent unauthorized reception.

[0048] In an embodiment, based on the geographical administrative boundaries, UMS can filter the users and asks for entitlement management messages (EMM) from the user authorization system (UAS). The EMM addressability can be achieved through commands compatible with CAS. The provision for this EMM addressability needs to be available with CAS for targeted dissemination. At the receiving end, the EMM message can be sent to a smart-card, which can be inbuilt in Set Top Box (STB), and message can be displayed to the user.

[0049] FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary representation module diagram of the emergency alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0050] As illustrated, a module diagram 200-1 of the emergency alerting unit 102 can comprise one or more first processor(s) 202-1. The one or first more processor(s) 202 can be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, one or more first processor(s) 202 are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory 204-1 of the emergency alerting unit 102. The memory 204-1 can store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines, which can be fetched and executed to create or share the data units over a network service. The memory 204-1 can comprise any non- transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory such as RAM, or nonvolatile memory such as EPROM, flash memory, and the like.

[0051] The emergency alerting unit 102 can also comprise an interface(s) 206-1. The interface(s) 206-1 can comprise a variety of interfaces, for example, interfaces for data input and output devices referred to as RO devices, storage devices, and the like. The interface(s) 206-1 can facilitate communication of emergency alerting unit 102. The interface(s) 206-1 can also provide a communication pathway for one or more components of the emergency alerting unit 102. Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, processing engine(s) 208-1 and data 210-1. For example,

[0052] The processing engine(s) 208-1 can be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (for example, programmable instructions) to implement one or more functionalities of the processing engine(s) 208-1. In the examples described herein, such combinations of hardware and programming can be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the processing engine(s) 208-1 can be processorexecutable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and the hardware for the processing engine(s) 208-1 can comprise a processing resource (for example, one or more processors), to execute such instructions. In the present examples, the machine-readable storage medium can store instructions that, when executed by the processing resource, implement the processing engine(s) 208-1. In such examples, emergency alerting unit 102 can comprise the machine -readable storage medium storing the instructions and the processing resource to execute the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium can be separate but accessible to emergency alerting unit 102 and the processing resource. In other examples, the processing engine(s) 208-1 can be implemented by electronic circuitry.

[0053] The data 210-1 can comprise data that is either stored or generated as a result of functionalities implemented by any of the components of the processing engine(s) 208-1 or the system 102. The emergency alerting unit 102 can include a receiving module 212-1 that can be communicatively coupled with the disaster management entities for receiving an alert information. [0054] In an embodiment, the emergency alerting unit 102 can include a format conversion module 214-1 that can be operatively configured with the receiving module 212- 1. The format conversion module 214-1 can be configured to convert the alert information into a standardized format.

[0055] In an embodiment, the emergency alerting unit 102 can include a transmitting module 216-1 that can be operatively configured with the format conversion module 214-1 and the transmitting module 216-1 can be configured to transmit the standardized alert information.

[0056] FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary representation module diagram of target alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0057] As illustrated, a module diagram 200-2 of the target alerting unit 104 can comprise one or more first processor(s) 202-2. The one or first more processor(s) 202 can be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, one or more first processor(s) 202 are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory 204-2 of the emergency alerting unit 102. The memory 204-2 can store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines, which can be fetched and executed to create or share the data units over a network service. The memory 204-2 can comprise any non- transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory such as RAM, or nonvolatile memory such as EPROM, flash memory, and the like.

[0058] The target alerting unit 104 can also comprise an interface(s) 206-2. The interface(s) 206-2 can comprise a variety of interfaces, for example, interfaces for data input and output devices referred to as RO devices, storage devices, and the like. The interface(s) 206-2 can facilitate communication of emergency alerting unit 102. The interface(s) 206-2 can also provide a communication pathway for one or more components of the emergency alerting unit 102. Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, processing engine(s) 208-2 and data 210-2. For example,

[0059] The processing engine(s) 208-2 can be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (for example, programmable instructions) to implement one or more functionalities of the processing engine(s) 208-2. In the examples described herein, such combinations of hardware and programming can be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the processing engine(s) 208-2 can be processorexecutable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and the hardware for the processing engine(s) 208-2 can comprise a processing resource (for example, one or more processors), to execute such instructions. In the present examples, the machine-readable storage medium can store instructions that, when executed by the processing resource, implement the processing engine(s) 208-2. In such examples, target alerting unit 104 can comprise the machine -readable storage medium storing the instructions and the processing resource to execute the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium can be separate but accessible to target alerting unit 104 and the processing resource. In other examples, the processing engine(s) 208-2 can be implemented by electronic circuitry. [0060] The data 210-2 can comprise data that is either stored or generated as a result of functionalities implemented by any of the components of the processing engine(s) 208-2 or the system 102. The target alerting unit 104 can include a receiving module 212-2 that can be communicatively coupled with the transmitting module 216-1 of the emergency alerting unit 102. The receiving module 212-2 can be configured receive the standardized alert information.

[0061] In an embodiment, the target alerting unit 104 can include a mapping module 214-2 that can be operatively configured with the receiving module 212-2. The mapping module 214-2 can be configured to map the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information. The target alerting unit 104 can be further configured to transmit to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities a second information pertaining to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages for displaying an alert message in to the set of users. The one or more languages can be selected based on geographical administrative boundaries format information. The alert message can be displayed on one or more device associated with the set of users registered in the target area through a set top box. The one or more device can include but is not limited to television.

[0062] In an embodiment, the target alerting unit 104 can include a transmitting module 216-2 that can be operatively configured with the mapping module 216-2 and digital television broadcasting entities 108. The transmitting module 216-2 can be configured to transmit the second information to the digital television broadcasting entities 108.

[0063] FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of alert dissemination through emergency alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0064] In an embodiment, the one or more disaster management entities can submit the emergency alerts through the emergency alerting unit 102, based on which the target or impact area can be identified for targeted alert message dissemination. The details are validated for authorized and authentic dissemination. After successful authentication, a heath monitoring status of the target alerting unit 104 can be checked to ensure availability of the service. The alert information is then converted to a standardized format (here CAP format is used) and is dispatched to the Emergency Alert Inter-working system. The system is also capable of receiving alerts by polling the alert feeds published by authentic sources. The emergency alerting system 100 can further be configured to monitor convert the alert information into a standardized format once the health status of the target alerting unit 104 is good.

[0065] FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of target alerting unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0066] In an embodiment, the target alerting unit 104 can receive the standardized alert information and can act as a bridge between the emergency alerting unit 102 and legacy deployed infrastructure or one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The authenticity of alert source can be verified, and standardized alert information can be further parsed and validated. The emergency alert system 100 can include a configuration management system for selecting one or more attributes, of the alert message, to be displayed. The one or more attributes can comprise a display time, display duration, display frequency, display interval, and character length of the alert message. The target alerting unit 104 can validate the standardized alert information prior to selecting the one or more attributes of the alert message.

[0067] In an embodiment, the emergency alerting system 100 can facilitate alert message in Indian Vernacular languages such that language diversity of in the country is addressed. Language translation functionality can be made available if message is not available in regional language. After successful validation of the message, target area in form of polygon is mapped to compatible format (geographical administrative boundaries format) for understanding. Finally, the emergency alerting system 100 can facilitate channel- specific and channel-independent dissemination. The channel- specific dissemination can include, displaying alert message to particular channels which are mapped as per the regional languages.

[0068] In an embodiment, for an example, message in Tamil can be shown to Tamil channels, message in Bengali for Bengali channels, and so on. The same mechanism can be integrated through broadcasters as well along with platform operators. The channel independent mechanism can include displaying of alert information to all channels in a particular area irrespective of which channel the user is viewing. Along, with the regional languages, the alert can also be displayed in foreign language such as English, European language for foreign visitors.

[0069] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary geo-targeted message display mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0070] As illustrate, the User Management System (SMS) can be utilized and mapped to fetch set of users in the target area. FIG. 4 illustrates location-based message display mechanism to the set of users in the target area represented in form of polygon using geofencing intelligence. The highlighted area indicates the target area where the emergency message is to be disseminated. The emergency alerting system is capable of mapping impact area (polygon) for targeted alerting to compatible format which can be any geographical administrative boundary. The emergency alert message will be displayed to the set of users registered with the digital TV broadcasting entity in the target area.

[0071] FIG. 5 illustrates a method for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0072] As illustrated, in step 502, a method 500 for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area. The method includes receiving, by an emergency alerting unit having a first processor, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area from the one or more disaster management entities.

[0073] In step 504, the method 500 can include identifying, by the first processor, the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination based on the alert information.

[0074] In step 506, the method 500 method can further include converting, by the first processor, the alert information into a standardized format.

[0075] In step 508, the method 500 can further include receiving, by a target alerting unit having a second processor, the standardized alert information from the emergency alerting unit.

[0076] In step 510, the method 500 can include mapping, by the second processor, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information based on the standardized alert information.

[0077] In step 512, the method 500 can further include transmitting, by the second processor, a second information to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities. The second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users. [0078] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary computer system to implement the proposed system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0079] As illustrated, a computer system 600 can include an external storage device 610, a bus 620, a main memory 630, a read-only memory 640, a mass storage device 650, a communication port 660, and a processor 670. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system can include more than one processor and communication ports. Examples of processor 670 include, but are not limited to, an Intel® Itanium® or Itanium 2 processor(s), or AMD® Opteron® or Athlon MP® processor(s), Motorola® lines of processors, FortiSOC™ system on a chip processors or other future processors. Processor 670 can include various modules associated with embodiments of the present invention. Communication port 660 can be any of an RS-232 port for use with a modem-based dialup connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a Gigabit or 10 Gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or other existing or future ports. Communication port 660 can be chosen depending on a network, such a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or any network to which computer system connects.

[0080] Memory 630 can be Random Access Memory (RAM), or any other dynamic storage device commonly known in the art. Read only memory 640 can be any static storage device(s) e.g., but not limited to, a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM) chips for storing static information e.g., start-up or BIOS instructions for processor 670. Mass storage 650 can be any current or future mass storage solution, which can be used to store information and/or instructions. Exemplary mass storage solutions include, but are not limited to, Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives or solid-state drives (internal or external, e.g., having Universal Serial Bus (USB) and/or Firewire interfaces), e.g. those available from Seagate (e.g., the Seagate Barracuda 7112 family) or Hitachi (e.g., the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000), one or more optical discs, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage, e.g. an array of disks (e.g., SATA arrays), available from various vendors including Dot Hill Systems Corp., LaCie, Nexsan Technologies, Inc. and Enhance Technology, Inc.

[0081] Bus 620 communicatively couple’s processor(s) 670 with the other memory, storage and communication blocks. Bus 620 can be, e.g. a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) / PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), USB or the like, for connecting expansion cards, drives and other subsystems as well as other buses, such a front side bus (FSB), which connects processor 670 to software system. [0082] Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces, e.g. a display, keyboard, and a cursor control device, can also be coupled to bus 620 to support direct operator interaction with computer system. Other operator and administrative interfaces can be provided through network connections connected through communication port 660. External storage device 610 can be any kind of external hard-drives, floppy drives, IOMEGA® Zip Drives, Compact Disc - Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Compact Disc - Re-Writable (CDRW), Digital Video Disk - Read Only Memory (DVD-ROM). Components described above are meant only to exemplify various possibilities. In no way should the aforementioned exemplary computer system limits the scope of the present disclosure

[0083] Moreover, in interpreting the specification, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refer to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C ....and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.

[0084] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions, or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

[0085] The proposed invention provides an emergency alerting system for nonstandard or sub-standard systems in digital television broadcasting services.

[0086] The proposed invention provides an emergency alerting system, which is cost- effective as it is backward compatible with the current architecture.

[0087] The proposed invention provides an emergency alerting system, which is effective as daily average time spent on Television by any viewer is normally between 3 to 4 hours. [0088] The proposed invention provides an emergency alerting system, which enables provision for channel-specific as well as channel-independent alert message display mechanism.

[0089] The proposed invention provides an emergency alerting system, which provides a standardized implementation and bridges the alerting system with deployed legacy TV infrastructure for dissemination of alerts over television.

[0090] The proposed invention provides an emergency alerting system for provisioning alerting in television broadcasting entities which do not comply with emergency message capabilities.

Claims

We Claim:

1. An emergency alerting system, adapted to be configured with one or more disaster management entities, for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area, the system comprises: an emergency alerting unit, having a first processor, operatively configured with the one or more disaster management entities, wherein the emergency alerting unit being configured to: receive, from the one or more disaster management entities, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area, and identify, based on the alert information, the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination, and convert the alert information into a standardized format; a target alerting unit, having a second processor, communicatively coupled with the emergency alerting unit and the one or more digital television broadcasting entities, the target alerting unit being configured to: receive, from the emergency alerting unit, the standardized alert information, map, based on the standardized alert information, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information, and transmit, a second information, to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities, wherein the second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users.

2. The emergency alerting system as claimed in claims 1, the one or more digital television broadcasting entities are configured to: receive, from the target alerting unit, the second information; identify, using one or more subsystems, the set of users registered in the target area; and display, in the one or more languages, the alert message on one or more devices through respective set top box associated with the one or more users registered in the target area.

3. The emergency alerting system as claimed in claims 2, wherein the one or subsystems of the one or more digital television broadcasting entities comprises a combination of user management system, user authentication system, and a conditional access system.

4. The emergency alerting system as claimed in claims 1, wherein the emergency alert system comprises a configuration management system for selecting one or more attributes of the alert message, to be displayed.

5. The emergency alerting system as claimed in claims 4, wherein one or more attributes comprises a display time, display duration, display frequency, display interval, and character length of the alert message.

6. The emergency alerting system as claimed in claims 4, wherein the target alerting unit configured to validate the standardized alert information prior to selecting the one or more attributes of the alert message.

7. The emergency alerting system as claimed in claims 1, wherein the emergency alerting system is configured to monitor a health status of the target alerting unit prior to converting the alert information into a standardized format.

8. A method for transmitting an alert message to a set of users, registered with one or more digital television broadcasting entities, in a target area, the method comprises: receiving, by an emergency alerting unit having a first processor, an alert information pertaining to an advisory for a target area from the one or more disaster management entities; identify, by the first processor, the target area for geo-targeted alert dissemination based on the alert information; and converting, by the first processor, the alert information into a standardized format; receiving, by a target alerting unit having a second processor, the standardized alert information from the emergency alerting unit; mapping, by the second processor, the target area to a geographical administrative boundaries format information based on the standardized alert information; and transmitting, by the second processor, a second information to the one or more digital television broadcasting entities, wherein the second information pertains to the geographical administrative boundaries format information, and one or more languages, selected based on geographical administrative boundaries, for displaying an alert message in to the set of users.