HK1113847B - Method for informing multiple mobile terminals of an emergency event - Google Patents

Description

Method for notifying emergency events to a plurality of mobile terminals

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of security and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for notifying a plurality of mobile terminals of an emergency event.

Background

In many countries, it is legally required to alert the public in case of emergency events. Examples of emergency events are environmental disasters such as earthquakes, thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions, industrial disasters such as nuclear or chemical plant leaks, or terrorist attacks or wars.

Traditionally, the public is notified of emergency events via FM radio or Television (TV). Thus, emergency information including information about emergency events and safety indications is broadcast to the radio or TV apparatus via FM or TV channels, respectively. However, these devices are typically stationary devices such as home TVs or home hi-fi cabinets or quasi-stationary devices such as car radios, i.e. such conventional emergency alert systems have the disadvantage that mobile users who do not carry such stationary or quasi-stationary devices are often not instantly alerted in the event of an emergency.

Recently, in 11 months 2001, CMG Wireless data solutions (CMG Wireless data solutions, 2001(Internet Publication)November 2001)) describes a cell broadcast system for alerting citizens in the event of an emergency by cell broadcast. The system is basically composed of a call center and a mobile communication network. The call center may be called by, for example, an emergency call telephone 112 to notify the call center of the emergency event, optionally supplemented with location information derived from the location of the calling mobile terminal to indicate the location of the emergency event to the call center. Based on this information, the call center may select a geographic area and may send a short message Service Message (SMS) to mobile phones in that particular geographic area via cell broadcast to notify the corresponding subscribers of the event.

However, SMS is limited to short text messages of up to 160 characters. Such short text may be sufficient for immediate warning about an urgent real event, but the content and scope of the information is very limited, and adjusting often complex urgent information to accommodate such short text messages may cause time delays and misinterpretations at the transmitting and receiving ends, which are detrimental in emergency situations.

Furthermore, CMG systems are susceptible to network congestion, i.e. emergency SMS may not be delivered or delayed in case the mobile network is in congestion. Network congestion can be a very serious problem especially in emergency situations where people tend to call official agencies or relatives in large numbers.

Furthermore, on each mobile phone, the cell broadcast reception settings must be active in order to receive messages via the Cell Broadcast Service (CBS). However, users are often unaware of this feature and do not activate it manually or tend to deactivate it manually, so that most mobile phones in a cell do not receive cell broadcast messages, resulting in current cell broadcast systems being unsure of emergency notification.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to propose a method, an apparatus, a system and a computer program for overcoming the above mentioned drawbacks.

This object is achieved by a method as described in claim 1. Furthermore, the invention is embodied in a service center according to claim 14, a network component according to claim 20, a mobile terminal according to claim 22, a system according to claim 26, and a computer program according to claims 28, 29 and 30. The other claims describe advantageous embodiments.

The present invention comprises a method of enabling delivery of emergency services to a plurality of mobile terminals with the aim of improving information on emergency events. The emergency service is associated with the received emergency information.

The method comprises a plurality of steps which may be performed according to the following order, although there may be variations in the order of the steps, or some steps may be performed simultaneously.

The method may begin with receiving emergency information to be associated with an emergency service. In order to deliver emergency services to a plurality of mobile terminals, a bearer capable of distributing emergency multimedia is established. The emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is associated with an emergency priority indicator. The emergency priority indicator indicates that the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is of a higher priority than other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator such that the one or more communication network components may prioritize emergency service delivery over other communications when delivering emergency service to the plurality of mobile terminals via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

The present invention provides a number of advantages over prior art emergency alert systems. Any type of emergency service in any type of multimedia format may be delivered to the receiving mobile terminal, and in particular emergency services are not limited to short text. Thus, there is no need to convert urgent messages into short text, which is cumbersome, error prone and time consuming, thus saving valuable time, increasing the scope and content of the information, and avoiding misinterpretation. All instances of the delivery chain are adapted to prioritize the delivery of emergency services to mobile terminals via emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers, thus reducing delivery time, reducing loss of data, improving quality of service, and reducing susceptibility to network congestion. Furthermore, emergency service delivery via emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers is open to many communication technologies without relying on manual activation of reception settings at the respective mobile terminals. Finally, a fast, reliable and secure distribution channel for notifying mobile terminals of emergency events in any type of multimedia format at high rates of notified mobile terminals is achieved.

According to a preferred embodiment, the entity from which the emergency information is received and/or the entity requesting the delivery of the emergency service for notifying the emergency event are authenticated to prevent unauthorized entities from misusing the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer and thus delivering the emergency service. The requesting entity and the emergency information providing entity are typically one entity, but separate implementations are also possible.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the emergency priority indicator may be selected from a group of emergency priority indicators each indicating an emergency priority level, and the selected emergency priority indicator may be associated with the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, such that emergency service delivery to the plurality of mobile terminals may be effected in accordance with the emergency priority level of the selected emergency priority indicator. The selection criterion may be the identity of the entity requesting the emergency service delivery and/or the identity of the entity from which the emergency information is received. Other criteria may be an indication of the severity and/or urgency of the emergency event, and/or one or more identities associated with the mobile terminal to which the emergency service is delivered. Selecting an emergency indicator from a group of emergency indicators each indicating an emergency priority level and associating the selected emergency priority indicators thus provides greater flexibility through differential priority handling within emergency service delivery.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the emergency priority indicator may be analyzed by at least one component of the communication network for the delivery of the emergency service, and as a result of the analysis, the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer may be prioritized over other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator. The prioritization may include interrupting, halting, and/or reducing transmission capabilities and/or processing capabilities associated with other communications. Alternatively or additionally, the priority handling may comprise activating and/or increasing a transmission capability and/or a processing capability associated with the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. Priority processing may also include altering a schedule of one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery relative to a schedule of one or more messages associated with the other communication to process and/or transmit the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery at an earlier time relative to the one or more messages associated with the other communication.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the emergency priority indicator is associated with an emergency quality of service (QoS) class of the emergency service delivery. Alternatively or additionally, the Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI) may comprise an emergency priority indicator, e.g. one or more specific TMGI numbers may be reserved for emergency service delivery. A defined part of the TMGI bit pattern, e.g. the local MBMS bearer service identity, may be reserved and defined for the emergency priority indicator.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the plurality of mobile terminals are set to an emergency alert mode in which the delivered emergency service is clearly perceivable by a person, i.e. the current settings of the mobile terminals are changed by overlaying the current settings of the mobile terminals with the emergency alert mode settings, so that the emergency service can be presented to the user in a maximally perceivable manner. By placing the mobile terminal in the emergency alert mode, the output level of the mobile terminal may be adjusted to the highest possible level, and the likelihood of some user interaction may be at least temporarily restricted or even revoked. The emergency service can be received and processed instantly through the setting of the emergency prompt mode so that the emergency service can be presented to the user instantly and with clear attention. The setting into the emergency alert mode is most preferably done automatically as a background process on the mobile terminal in a network-controlled, user-hidden and muted manner without any user intervention. In summary, setting the mobile terminal to an emergency alert mode in which the delivered emergency service is clearly perceived by humans ultimately increases the number of notified users, because the emergency service received by the mobile terminal can no longer be missed by the corresponding user solely due to the current setting of the mobile terminal, e.g. in case the current setting mutes the output unit of the mobile terminal, the user may miss the received emergency service and thus not be notified of an emergency event.

According to a further preferred embodiment, an emergency alert mode activation indicator may be sent to the mobile terminal in order to activate the setting of the emergency alert mode. Alternatively or additionally, an emergency alert mode setting indication may be sent to the mobile terminal to indicate that the mobile terminal is set to emergency alert mode. The use of a preferably standardized emergency alert mode indicator uses minimal message transmission effort relative to an emergency alert mode setting indication such as a self-executing program file or Java script. But this advantage of requiring less transmittable data and a minimized network load is balanced against the possibility that there may be a mobile terminal that does not have the ability to change its setting to emergency alert mode in accordance with the emergency activation indicator or that those terminals are unable to process or recognize such indicators that cause the sending of an emergency alert mode setting indication to notify these types of mobile terminals because there is no underlying setting at such terminals.

According to other preferred embodiments, the emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator are one indicator, which may reduce the complexity of implementation and processing, since only one indicator for the purpose of both emergency service delivery priority processing and emergency alert mode setting needs to be defined and processed at the respective entity.

According to a further preferred embodiment, a plurality of mobile terminals may be assigned to a group of mobile terminals and the emergency service is delivered to the group via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. Such group-related processing enables group-related emergency services to be provided to a group of mobile terminals, thus increasing the flexibility and safety of the method, since, for example, a group of mobile terminals associated with a group type "firefighter" may be provided with an indication related to firefighters who are related to emergency events that are not intended for delivery to public mobile terminals or to other groups (to which other group-related emergency services may be delivered accordingly).

According to a preferred embodiment, the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is a multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) bearer.

The invention also relates to a computer program comprising software code portions for implementing the above described method when run at a processing unit of a service center, a network component or a mobile terminal. Such a computer program may be stored on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may be a permanent memory or a rewritable memory within a service center, a network component, or a mobile terminal, or may be external. The respective computer program may also be transmitted as a sequence of signals via a cable or a wireless link to a service center, a network component or a mobile terminal.

A computer program operable at a processing unit of a service center comprises code adapted to process received emergency information associated with an emergency event and to initiate establishment of an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer for delivering an emergency service associated with the received emergency information, the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer being associated with an emergency priority indicator, wherein the emergency priority indicator indicates a higher priority for the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to bearers not associated with the emergency priority indicator. The computer program further comprises code adapted to initiate transmission of an emergency service at the transmission unit to the plurality of mobile terminals via the emergency multimedia capable distribution carrier.

The computer program may further comprise code adapted to perform at least one of the group of: associating emergency priority indicators to emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers, authenticating entities from which emergency information is received and/or entities requesting emergency service delivery, selecting an emergency priority indicator from a set of emergency priority indicators each indicating an emergency priority level, and associating the selected emergency priority indicator as an emergency priority indicator with the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers. The code may be further adapted to initiate setting of at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals to an emergency alert mode in which the delivered emergency service is clearly discernable to a person for perception. Furthermore, the mobile terminal may be assigned to a group of mobile terminals and the code may be further adapted to initiate delivery of the emergency service to the group via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

A computer program operable at a processing unit of a network component for routing emergency services associated with emergency information in a communication network may comprise code adapted to process an emergency service received via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer associated with an emergency priority indicator indicating a higher priority of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator, to analyze the emergency priority indicator, and as a result of the analysis, to perform a priority handling of the emergency service and to initiate a transmission of the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer according to the priority handling at a transmission unit.

A computer program executable at a processing unit of a mobile terminal comprises code adapted to process an emergency service associated with emergency information received via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer indicated by an emergency priority indicator, wherein the emergency priority indicator has a higher priority than other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator, to process received information for setting an output unit into an emergency alert mode in which the emergency service is clearly perceptible by humans, to set the output unit into the emergency alert mode in dependence of the received setting information, and to process the received emergency service to be output by the output unit in dependence of the emergency alert mode.

Hereinafter, detailed embodiments of the present invention will be described in order to give a full and complete understanding to those skilled in the art. However, these examples are illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram of process steps according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 shows a first embodiment of a system according to the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a system according to the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates messages and processes for implementing the present invention;

FIG. 5a shows an embodiment of a service center according to the invention;

FIG. 5a illustrates an embodiment of a network component according to the present invention;

fig. 5c shows an embodiment of a mobile terminal according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the case of an emergency event such as an environmental disaster, an industrial disaster or a terrorist attack, the purpose is to alert people and inform them of suitable instructions such as escape instructions or diversion addresses in case they are affected by the emergency event.

Embodiments of these methods and systems are explained in more detail with reference to fig. 1 and 2. In general, the method may begin with requesting delivery of emergency services to a plurality of mobile terminals to notify the mobile terminals of an emergency event according to step S100. The request may be received at the service center SC10 from an entity requesting emergency service delivery.

According to a subsequent step S300, the emergency information is received at the service center SC 10. The entity requesting the emergency service delivery and the entity providing the emergency information may be one combined entity RIE as shown or may be separate entities.

The emergency information may include indications of the nature, time, period, location, urgency and/or severity of the emergency event and/or how to act and how to escape from the emergency or area. The emergency information may be received at the service center SC10 in virtually any type of data format.

Other indications, such as timing, regional, group-related, and/or network-related indications, may be received along with the request and/or the emergency information. Examples of timing indications are indications suggesting when the service centre SC10 needs to deliver emergency services and how often emergency services are delivered or if periodic delivery is needed, geographically related examples are indications of the area (e.g. town, state, country) to which emergency information is to be delivered, examples of group related indications are indications of the specific group (e.g. police, fire fighters, ambulance squad etc.) to which emergency services are to be delivered, examples of network related indications may include indications of the characteristics of the priority handling performed for delivery of emergency services, such as whether other communications in the communication network not associated with the priority indicator need to be stopped completely, etc.

The requesting entity is typically a government instance or public authority, but other instances such as rescue teams or police units are also contemplated.

The identity of the requesting entity and/or the emergency information providing entity is preferably verified by an authentication step S200 to prevent misuse of emergency service delivery and to ensure that only authorized entities can initiate the service and provide emergency information to be published.

The service center SC10 is further adapted to perform the operations required to implement the authentication of the combined entity RIE or the authentication of the separate requesting entity and the emergency information providing entity. The service center SC10 may be configured to perform the necessary steps of self-authentication and/or may use external authentication services. Typically, the entity requesting the emergency service delivery and the entity providing the emergency information are identical so that the authentication can be shared, but situations and implementations are also envisaged where the two entities are separate and therefore need to be authenticated separately to prevent misuse.

For authentication and/or receiving requests and/or emergency information, the service center SC10 may be accessed via a dedicated management interface, such as an O & M interface of a mobile network operator (such as a GSN or UMTS network operator).

Authentication may be accomplished by verifying the identity or signature of the entity to be authenticated using, for example, a username/password mechanism. The aforementioned management interface may implicitly authenticate when under the control of an authorized authority such as a legal delegation instance similar to a lawful intercept interface, such that a request and/or emergency information received via such a controlled interface triggers a subsequent process of delivering emergency services to a plurality of mobile terminals via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. For increased security, a combination of authentication methods may be implemented.

The method may be accelerated if the request and/or the emergency information is associated with a specific emergency indicator, such as a specific emergency flag, which informs the service center SC10 that the incoming request and the received emergency information and optionally an indication are associated with the emergency event and that the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is delivered immediately. The identification of such a received emergency indicator can thus trigger the service center SC10 in an automatic manner to immediately initiate the establishment of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. To prevent misuse, the aforementioned authentication procedure may be employed. Furthermore, the emergency indicator may be configured such that it is not visible in the communication between the requesting entity and/or the emergency providing entity and the service center SC 10. Also, the request and/or emergency information is preferably encrypted and associated with the signature of the respective sending entity to provide security and consistency.

According to step S400, the service center SC10 initiates the establishment of an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer to the mobile terminal UE10-90 to which the emergency service is to be delivered. The emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer may be established by the service center SC10 or the service center SC10 may request other network components of the communication network to establish the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer to the plurality of mobile terminals UE 10-90. Preferably, the service centre SC10 is configured to recognize one or more indications that may be received together with the request and/or the emergency information and to initiate the establishment of the emergency multimedia distributing bearer in accordance with those indications.

According to the present example of fig. 2, the established emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer extends from the service center SC10 to the mobile terminal UE10-90 via the network components CR10-CR36, as indicated by the double line in fig. 2.

Emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers are associated with emergency priority indicators indicating a higher priority than communications not associated with such emergency priority indicators. There may be a set of emergency priority indicators from which emergency priority indicators may be selected to be associated to the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer to represent a finer granularity in priority handling, e.g. the highest priority corresponds to emergency services to be delivered on behalf of a government instance, while lower priorities correspond to instances of authorization for delivery of other emergency services than the government. The service center SC10 may be configured to select an emergency priority indicator and to associate the selected emergency priority indicator to the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer to be established.

The emergency service to be delivered is associated with the received emergency information, which means that the emergency service can be modified or de-modified in content, scope and/or format with respect to the received emergency information. For immediate delivery to the mobile terminal, the emergency service can be associated with the received emergency information in an unmodified manner, e.g. the received national president's lecture about the emergency or the received video with multimedia rescue instructions can be delivered immediately and unmodified as an emergency service. Emergency information may be received from a plurality of emergency content providers and may be associated into one emergency service such that the emergency service and the emergency information may be associated in a modified manner. Other examples of modifications are automatic coding of the received emergency information into a coding matching the capabilities of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. Due to the multimedia distribution capabilities of the emergency multimedia capable distribution carrier, the emergency service may contain any type of information in multimedia format, such as an instant warning video with a brief explanation of the emergency event followed by an animated map illustrating the possibility of escaping from the emergency area by animated voice and graphics supplemented with a written and possibly clickable list of addresses to divert to request subsequent information. Emergency services, which may take the form of one or more of (multimedia messaging service) MMS messages or streaming sessions, for example, may be delivered via emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers.

After establishing the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, the emergency service is delivered to the plurality of mobile terminals UE10-90 via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer according to step S600. Emergency services are delivered according to the priority indicated by the emergency priority indicator. To enable fast and reliable delivery, all network components CR20-C36 are preferably configured to recognize the urgent priority indicator and to perform sufficient measures to implement priority handling. This may also apply to the service centre SC 10.

An efficient priority handling measure gives the highest available resources for communications associated with the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer and the lowest resources for other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator. Accordingly, emergency services can be delivered to a large number of mobile terminals in a very short time, and network congestion caused by other communications can be avoided.

Examples of priority handling measures are: interrupting, halting, and/or reducing transmission capabilities and/or processing capabilities associated with other communications over components SC10, CR10, CR20, CR25, CR30, CR33, CR 36. Alternatively or preferably additionally, the transmission capability and/or processing capability of said component associated with the emergency service delivery via the emergency multimedia capable distribution vehicle is activated and/or enhanced. Preferably, the delivery of messages and emergency services associated with the more recently established emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is scheduled at the earliest time relative to other communications. Thus, priority handling may include any type of transmission capability, processing capability, and/or scheduling adjustment for enabling faster, more reliable, and safer emergency service delivery. Examples of priority handling of processing power are reducing the computational processing power, e.g. the processing time of a Central Processing Unit (CPU), the number of processor allocations and/or the memory capacity, for handling of non-emergency related messages of any type not associated with any type of priority indicator, and increasing the computational processing power, e.g. the CPU processing time, the number of processor allocations and/or the memory capacity, for handling of messages associated with emergency service delivery via emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers.

To prevent misuse of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer by spam publishers or other unauthorized users, the signature of the service center SC10 and/or any other suitable authority may be applied to the emergency service and/or to one or more messages required to establish the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, which may be verified by one or more network components CR10, CR20, CR25, CR30, CR33, CR36 and/or mobile terminals UE10-90 to provide consistency of the emergency service. Encryption and/or hashing are also possible security measures.

In order to avoid that the user of any of the mobile terminals UE10-90, although able to receive emergency services, misses an emergency service because the mobile terminal is in a standby mode or in a muted state or otherwise set to a mode that reduces the perception of the user, the plurality of mobile terminals UE10-90 are preferably set in step S500 to an emergency alert mode in which the delivered emergency service is clearly recognizable by humans before the delivery of the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

The setting to the emergency alert mode S500 can be implemented in various ways, and the set emergency alert mode setting will be at least temporarily valid when the emergency service is output. According to a first example, the emergency alert mode settings may already be stored at the mobile terminal, for example burned therein as a separate setting profile. The emergency alert mode activation indicator may be sent in connection with establishment of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer or may be sent in connection with emergency service delivery. Is triggered when the mobile terminal recognizes the received emergency mode activation indicator, thereby changing its current setting to an emergency alert mode setting, and outputting an emergency service according to the changed settings.

According to a second example, the emergency alert mode setting may be received at the mobile terminal in connection with establishment of an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer or emergency service delivery. Thus, the emergency alert mode settings are configured via an "over the air" configuration procedure, e.g., settings for an MMS client, an email account, and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) profile may be configured. When the mobile terminal receives these new settings, it is forced to change to the emergency alert mode settings and output the received emergency services according to these new settings.

In general, it is advantageous that the setting into the emergency alert mode takes place at an as early point in time as possible, e.g. within the framework of or even before the establishment of the emergency multimedia capable distribution carrier, so that the perceived emergency alert mode can be immediately output at the user to be notified of the emergency event, so that the risk of the user missing the emergency service is minimized. If the change to the emergency alert mode setting occurs later, for example within an emergency service delivery, the user may miss the first part of the emergency service or the output may be delayed, which is not desirable in an emergency event.

Examples of emergency alert mode settings are muting of a speaker to set the speaker to a certain noticeable level (e.g. the highest possible output level) to activate a special alert ring tone, activating a vibration, activating a special alert optical signal such as a display screen or keypad flashing, undoing, stopping or interrupting an ongoing operation or communication at the mobile terminal, setting the mobile terminal to a reception mode allowing the mobile terminal to receive emergency services via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer (e.g. by setting one or more currently inactive reception capabilities to a reception active mode, e.g. implementing an automatic CBS reception capability activation in case CBS reception is inactive on the mobile terminal), automatically received incoming emergency services identifiable based on an emergency priority indicator, and combinations thereof. The initiation and/or completion of the setting of the emergency alert mode can be informed by the mobile terminal in a clearly recognizable manner, for example in the form of an emergency notification informing the user about a change in the setting of the emergency service to be output, thus further increasing the user's attention to the emergency service to be generated.

Setting the mobile terminal to the emergency alert mode is therefore preferably network controlled to prevent misuse. Thus, it is advantageous from a security point of view to associate an emergency priority indicator with a setting of an emergency alert mode, and enabling establishment of a bearer capable of distributing emergency multimedia may cause enabling of a setting of an emergency alert mode or enabling of a setting of an emergency alert mode may cause enabling of establishment of a bearer capable of distributing emergency multimedia. Thus, when requesting the service center SC10 to initiate the establishment of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, the service center SC10 may also initiate the setting of the emergency alert mode by sending an indication of the emergency alert mode activation and/or an indicator of the emergency alert mode activation to the mobile terminal and/or requesting execution of the sending of the indication and/or the indicator to the mobile terminal at a separate network component, such as a profile providing node.

The emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator may be the same indicator that simultaneously implements prioritization of delivery of emergency services at the respective network component and setting of the emergency alert mode to output emergency services in a clearly aware manner. Alternatively, the emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator may be two separate indicators for priority handling and emergency alert mode setting, respectively.

The emergency priority indicator and the corresponding priority handling procedures, emergency alert mode settings and the setting procedures themselves are preferably standardized to have the same behaviour in all types of mobile terminals, in all types of operator networks and in all types of countries.

According to step S600, the emergency service is delivered to a plurality of mobile terminals UE10-90 via the established emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, wherein the received emergency service may be output to the respective users in an emergency alert mode according to step S700.

In case an emergency event affects a specific area, the area may be indicated to the service center SC10 via, for example, the above mentioned area indication. The service center SC10 may initiate the establishment of emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers only to those mobile terminals located within the area. Referring to fig. 2, the area may be completely covered by coverage of CR30 and mobile terminals UEs 10-30 may be notified. In this case, the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer extends from the service center SC10 via the network components CR10, CR20 and CR30, via the connections 120, 130, 140, 150-52 to the mobile terminal UE 10-30. Thus, there is no need to establish emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers via the other connections 135, 143, 146, 153-58 to the other network components CR25, CR33, CR36 and mobile terminals UE40-90 for the area-specific related emergency service delivery.

In case of only delivering the emergency service to a specific group, for example only to the police group, the service centre SC10 may utilize the specific emergency group to provide the emergency service to mobile terminals belonging to said group. To form such a group, the service center SC10 may assign an identity, such as an MSISDN number, associated with certain mobile terminals or users thereof to the group. These identities may be stored, at least temporarily, in a group-associative register of the database. When a request to notify a specific group is received at the service center SC10, the service center SC10 may retrieve the identity of the specific emergency group to initiate establishment of emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers (as indicated by the double lines in fig. 3) to those of the mobile terminals belonging to the specific emergency group (i.e. mobile terminals UE10, UE20, UE70) according to the present example. One or more groups may be preconfigured and stored in the database. Alternatively or additionally, the indication of the identity of the group may be provided to the service center SC10 together with the emergency information as a group related indication and/or a request for emergency service delivery.

There may be more than one established emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer initiated by the same or separate service centers in parallel in the communication network, e.g. more than one established emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer used in parallel for emergency service delivery to different groups. An emergency priority ranking scheme may be advantageous in order to adjust the scheduling order of resources such as transmission capabilities and/or processing capabilities and/or respective components of the communication network to be adapted to the respective emergency priority level of the established respective emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer and thereby perform priority handling according to the level of the respective emergency priority indicator, i.e. allocating more resources to a higher level and less resources to a lower level, and allocating the lowest available resources to other communications not associated with any emergency priority indicator. One may not prioritize over another for emergency service delivery via emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers associated with the same level of emergency priority indicators.

The present invention may preferably be implemented in a system providing multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) functionality. MBMS is currently standardized in third generation partnership project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS)22.146 version (V)6.6.0(2004-09), 3GPP TS 22.246V 6.2.0(2004-09), and TS 23.246V 6.4.0(2004-09) or in 3GPP2 of CDMA 2000 system, and emergency services can be delivered by broadcasting them to any mobile terminal in any area or specific area or multicasting them to mobile terminals of an emergency multicast group in any area or specific area via a bearer capable of distributing emergency multimedia. MBMS therefore offers a very flexible implementation variant for notifying a plurality of mobile terminals about emergency events, since it allows to deliver emergency services to all mobile terminals connectable to such an MBMS system or to a part of these mobile terminals UE10-90 according to regional standards or emergency multicast packets.

Such MBMS systems typically include one or more broadcast/multicast service centers (BM-SCs), one or more Gateway GPRS Support Nodes (GGSNs), one or more Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs), and one or more Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) and/or one or more Base Station Controllers (BSCs), and such MBMS systems are typically part of a General Packet Radio System (GPRS) or a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The BM-SC may be represented by the service center SC10, the GGSN by the network component CR10, the SGSN by the network component CR20 or CR25, and the RNC/BNC by the network component CR30, CR33 or CR36 according to fig. 2 and 3 following the following nomenclature. The mobile terminals UE10-90 may be mobile phones or laptop computers equipped with a wireless transceiver capable of receiving communications via a wireless network (e.g., GPRS or UMTS) or a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).

According to a first example, an emergency quality of service (QoS) class may be used to indicate a priority associated with an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. The advantage of a specific emergency QoS class as emergency priority indicator is that it is implementation friendly and can be based on QoS schemes established by MBMS and many other communication networks.

Upon receiving the request for emergency service delivery and the emergency information, the BM-SC, which is an example of the service center SC10, is used to allocate an emergency QoS class to the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer to be established. If a multi-level prioritization scheme is used, the BM-SC may be further configured to select the corresponding QoS class level depending on, for example, the severity of the emergency event or the identity of the requesting entity or on the received indication.

Network components along the MBMS distribution tree, such as GGSN, SGSN and RNC/BNC, are configured to identify emergency QoS classes associated to emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers and to prioritize the delivery of emergency services to mobile terminals accordingly.

According to the current MBMS standard, the associated QoS class is not recognizable by the mobile terminal, i.e. the associated emergency QoS class cannot be used as an emergency alert mode activation indicator, unless the corresponding standard and/or mobile terminal is modified in such a way that the mobile terminal recognizes at least the associated emergency QoS class, thus triggering the setting of the mobile terminal to the emergency alert mode.

Compliance with existing standards is a preferred option, the emergency QoS class concept may be enhanced using a separate emergency alert mode activation indicator, which may be recognized by the mobile terminal, for example in the form of an MBMS User Equipment (UE) context. Preferably, a Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI) is used to achieve this, since the BM-SC is responsible for assigning a TMGI to each MBMS bearer service, and the TMGI is recognized by the mobile terminal. The TMGI consists of two parts, i.e. a globally unique MCC/mnc (PLMN id) and a local MBMS bearer service identity which is unique within the PLMN. Thus, when the BM-SC is triggered to notify the mobile terminal about an emergency event, the BM-SC may retrieve from the storage unit a predefined emergency TMGI (e.g. 911 emergency call number upwards from the phone) that is unique within the operator's network or preferably even unique in many/all types of networks. When the mobile terminal receives this particular emergency TMGI, the mobile terminal is therefore adapted to change its current setting to the emergency alert mode setting. The TMGI is often distributed to the mobile terminals via service announcement messages for MBMS announcement purposes, and is therefore distributed at a very early stage of the MBMS distribution process in the broadcast and multicast mode of MBMS. This early distribution allows for setting changes to be implemented before emergency services are delivered, which would make the TMGI very attractive as an emergency alert mode activation indicator.

According to a second example, the emergency TMGI may be used as both the emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator. As mentioned before, the use of the emergency QoS class is also an option for an indicator to be used for both purposes.

Reference is now made to fig. 4, which illustrates the procedures and messages for performing the method in a broadcast or multicast mode in an MBMS-enabled system. For the purposes of illustration, the devices involved are limited, but practical systems often include more than one device of the respective illustration.

First, the BM-SC receives a request for emergency service delivery to a plurality of mobile phones from an emergency service delivery request and an emergency information providing entity RIE via message M100. The entity RIE is authenticated via communication M200 and may provide emergency information and/or reception timing, territory, group-related and/or network-related indications to the BM-SC via one or more messages M300. For security reasons, secure communication between the entities RIE and BM-SC is preferably used, e.g. via a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection.

The BM-SC identifying the emergency service to be delivered retrieves the emergency TMGI from its memory according to procedure P100, and then sends the emergency TMGI to the mobile terminal UE via a service notification message M400. The mobile terminal UE, which recognizes this emergency TMGI as an emergency alert mode activation indicator, retrieves the emergency alert mode settings from its memory location and overrides the current settings with the emergency alert mode settings. The mobile terminal UE is thus now able to output any received emergency services in a clearly identifiable manner. As part of the setting change, a notification message may be played to the user of the mobile terminal UE to alert him of the upcoming emergency service delivery.

Typically, the mobile terminal UE replies to the service announcement message M400 with a reply message M401. Since a large number of mobile terminals are often notified, the number of reply messages in the system may be very large, this reply message M401 being preferably omitted or suppressed according to e.g. priority handling to avoid network congestion and unnecessary load of network nodes such as RNC, SGSN, GGSN or BM-SC.

Preferably in an emergency situation the mobile terminal is adapted to omit any type of reply messages and preferably the node is adapted to further operate without waiting for these reply messages. Alternatively, reply messages may be collected at respective branches of the reverse distribution tree and compiled into aggregated reports by respective nodes to reduce the number of messages and thereby reduce the load on the nodes and network. The latter approach has the advantage that the BM-SC and/or the entity RIE can be informed about mobile terminals receiving emergency services.

According to procedure P300, the BM-SC also selects an emergency QoS class and allocates the emergency QoS class to the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer to be established. The establishment of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is indicated by messages M500-M503. After establishing the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, the emergency service is distributed via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer comprising the indicated messages M600-M603, M601 '-M603' and the indicated priority handling procedures P400-P403, P400 '-P403' performed in the respective components BM-SC, GGSN, SGSN and RNC along the MBMS distribution path. The mobile terminal UE receiving the messages M603 and M603' outputs the received emergency service in an emergency alert mode in a clearly recognizable manner according to the procedure P500.

The emergency alert mode setting may be revoked by receiving a revocation message M701 as shown in process P600. Alternatively, the return to the previous setting or the default setting may occur automatically after a certain time has elapsed without receiving any subsequent emergency service delivery related messages. For example, the validity period of the emergency alert mode setting may also be declared in the emergency alert mode activation indication, or may be part of the emergency alert mode setting stored on the mobile terminal UE. The expiry of the validity period may then trigger the mobile terminal UE to deactivate the emergency alert mode and e.g. return to a default setting consuming e.g. less battery power.

The MBMS multicast mode also requires the use of multicast groups. This multicast group can be pre-specified, for example during a subscriber subscription of an operator contract or by an entity RIE, so that messages and procedures for subscribing, joining and/or leaving the multicast group are no longer required for emergency service delivery of bearers capable of distributing emergency multimedia via MBMS multicast, since these messages cause network load and time consumption and are therefore to be avoided. The corresponding means in the MBMS system need to be adapted to comply with the requirements set forth together with the omitted messages described hereinbefore.

The use of MBMS to enable emergency service delivery to mobile terminals significantly improves existing emergency alert systems. Any type of emergency information received in any type of format can be delivered to the receiving mobile terminal immediately at the BM-SC in a multimedia format without modification, thereby saving processing time for adapting the received information to text messages and overcoming limitations regarding user submissions. Furthermore, MBMS emergency multimedia capable distribution bearers are preferably prioritized in all instances of the delivery chain, thereby avoiding network congestion and ensuring immediate service delivery and output to the user in a clearly identifiable manner. In addition to this, MBMS uses network resources in a very efficient way, since emergency services are often replicated only at network branch points of the emergency delivery path from the service center to the mobile terminal. Thus, an immediate and cost-effective emergency service delivery to a plurality of mobile terminals is achieved, thereby minimizing the probability that any one of the mobile terminals does not receive emergency service at all or does not receive it long after an emergency actually occurs. Furthermore, MBMS allows addressing specific groups of mobile terminals for distributing emergency services adapted to the needs or requirements of a specific group, thereby increasing the flexibility and availability adapted to the group.

Referring now to fig. 5a-c, embodiments of the service center SC10 ', network component CR10 ' and mobile terminal UE10 ' are explained hereinafter. The service center SC10 ', the network component CR10 ' and the mobile terminal UE ' may be adapted to perform any of the respective steps of the method according to the invention.

The service center SC 10' (e.g. BM-SC) may comprise a receiving unit RUSC, a processing unit PUSC and a transmitting unit TUSC. The receiving unit RUSC is adapted to receive emergency information associated with an emergency event. The processing unit PUSC is adapted to initiate establishment of an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer for delivering an emergency service associated with the received emergency information. The emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is associated by, for example, the processing unit PUSC with an emergency priority indicator indicating a higher priority of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator. The transmission unit TUSC is adapted to send emergency services to a plurality of mobile terminals (e.g. UEs 10-90) via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer for notifying the plurality of mobile terminals of an emergency event.

The processing unit PUSC may be further adapted to associate an emergency priority indicator to the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer. Alternatively or additionally, the processing unit PUSC may be adapted to select an emergency priority indicator from a group of emergency priority indicators each indicating an emergency priority level and to associate the selected emergency priority indicator as an emergency priority indicator with the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

The service center SC 10' further comprises a storage unit SUSC from which the emergency priority indicator may be retrieved for association to the emergency bearer. The storage unit SUSC may also be adapted to at least temporarily store the received emergency information or group related information.

Furthermore, the processing unit PUSC may be adapted to perform an authentication of an entity from which the emergency information is received and/or an entity requesting the emergency service delivery (e.g. entity RIE).

The processing unit PUSC is preferably adapted to initiate setting of at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals to an emergency alert mode in which the delivered emergency service is clearly perceivable by a person.

Furthermore, the mobile terminals may be assigned to a group of mobile terminals and the processing unit PUSC may be adapted to initiate a delivery of the emergency service to the group via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

Referring now to fig. 5b, an embodiment of a network component CR 10' for routing emergency services associated with emergency information in a communication network is shown. The network component CR 10' (e.g. RNC or BSC) comprises a receiving unit RUSC, a processing unit PUSC and a transmitting unit TUSC. The receiving unit RUCR is adapted to receive the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer associated with the emergency priority indicator indicating a higher priority of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator. The processing unit PUSC is adapted to analyze the emergency priority indicator and, as a result of the analysis, to perform a priority handling of the emergency service. The transmission unit TUSC is adapted to transmit emergency services via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer according to the priority handling.

The processing unit PUCR may further be adapted to perform a priority handling comprising at least one procedure of the group of: interrupting, stopping and/or reducing the transmission capability of the transmission unit TUCR and/or the processing capability of the processing unit PUCR associated with the other communication and/or activating and/or increasing the transmission capability of the transmission unit TUCR and/or the processing capability of the processing unit PUCR associated with the emergency service delivery via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer and/or changing the scheduling of the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery compared to the scheduling of the messages associated with the one or more other communication in order to process the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery by the processing unit PUCR and/or to send the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery by the transmission unit TUCR at an earlier time relative to the one or more messages associated with the other communication.

Fig. 5c illustrates an embodiment of a mobile terminal UE 10'. The mobile terminal UE 10' comprises at least a receiving unit RUUE, a processing unit PUUE, an output unit OUUE and typically also a transmission unit TUUE for sending messages, such as message 401, or for connecting to a communication network. The receiving unit RUUE is adapted to receive an emergency service associated with emergency information via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer indicated by an emergency priority indicator indicating that the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is of a higher priority compared to other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator. The receiving unit RUUE is further adapted to receive information for setting the output unit OUUE to an emergency alert mode in which the emergency service is clearly perceivable by humans. Furthermore, the processing unit PUUE is further adapted to set the output unit OUUE to an emergency alert mode according to the received setting information and to process the received emergency service to be output by the output unit OUUE according to the emergency alert mode. The output unit OOUE is adapted to output the emergency service according to the emergency alert mode.

Furthermore, the received information for setting the output unit OUUE to the emergency alert mode may comprise an emergency alert mode activation indicator. The mobile terminal UE 10' may also include a storage unit SUUE in which one or more emergency alert mode settings are stored. The processing unit PUUE may be adapted to retrieve the one or more emergency alert mode settings indicated by the emergency alert mode activation indicator from the storage unit SUUE and to set the output unit OUUE to the emergency alert mode according to the retrieved one or more emergency alert mode settings.

The received information for setting the output unit OUUE to the emergency alert mode may comprise one or more emergency alert mode settings, and the processing unit PUUE may be adapted to set the output unit OUUE to the emergency alert mode according to the received one or more emergency alert mode settings.

The emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator may be one indicator and the processing unit PUUE may be adapted to process the one indicator accordingly.

Claims (27)

1. A method for notifying a plurality of mobile terminals (UE10-90) of an emergency event, the method comprising the steps of:

-receiving emergency information associated with the emergency event (S300),

-establishing an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer for delivering an emergency service associated with the received emergency information (S400), the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer being associated with an emergency priority indicator indicating a higher priority of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator,

-delivering (S600) the emergency service to the plurality of mobile terminals (UE10-90) via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of authenticating (S200) an entity from which the emergency information is received or an entity requesting the emergency service delivery.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising the steps of: selecting the emergency priority indicator from a set of emergency priority indicators, each emergency priority indicator in the set of emergency priority indicators indicating an emergency priority level, and associating the selected emergency priority indicator as the emergency priority indicator with the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

4. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising the steps of: analyzing the emergency priority indicator for delivery of the emergency service by at least one component of a communication network, and as a result of the analysis, prioritizing delivery of the emergency service via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer over the other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the priority handling comprises at least one process from the group of:

-interrupting, stopping or reducing the transmission capacity or processing capacity associated with said other communication, or

-activating or increasing a transmission capability or processing capability associated with the emergency service delivery via the emergency multimedia capable distribution vehicle, or

-modifying the schedule of the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery with respect to the schedule of the one or more messages associated with the other communication so as to process or transmit the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery at an earlier time with respect to the one or more messages associated with the other communication.

6. The method of any of claims 1, 2, 5, wherein the emergency priority indicator is a quality of service class allocable for emergency service delivery.

7. The method of any of claims 1, 2, 5, wherein the temporary mobile group identity allocable for emergency service delivery comprises the emergency priority indicator.

8. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, further comprising the steps of: at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals is set to an emergency alert mode for the delivered emergency service that is clearly discernable to a person (S500).

9. The method of claim 8, wherein an emergency alert mode activation indicator is sent to the at least one mobile terminal for activating a setting of at least one mobile terminal to the emergency alert mode (S500).

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein an emergency alert mode setting indication is sent to the at least one mobile terminal for instructing the at least one mobile terminal to set (S500) to the emergency alert mode.

11. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, wherein the emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator are one indicator.

12. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, further comprising the steps of: the plurality of mobile terminals are assigned to a group of mobile terminals and the emergency service is delivered to the group of mobile terminals via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

13. Method according to any of claims 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, wherein said emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is a bearer of a multimedia broadcast or multicast service.

14. A service center (SC10, SC 10', BM-SC) adapted to notify a plurality of mobile terminals (UE10-90) of an emergency event, the service center comprising a Receiving Unit (RUSC), a Processing Unit (PUSC) and a Transmitting Unit (TUSC), wherein the Receiving Unit (RUSC) is adapted to receive emergency information associated with the emergency event, the Processing Unit (PUSC) is adapted to initiate establishment of an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer for delivering the emergency service associated with the received emergency information, the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer is associated with an emergency priority indicator indicating a higher priority of the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator, and the Transmitting Unit (TUSC) is adapted to transmit the emergency service to the plurality of mobile terminals (UE10-90) via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

15. The service center according to claim 14, wherein the Processing Unit (PUSC) is adapted to associate the emergency priority indicator to the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

16. The service center according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the Processing Unit (PUSC) is adapted to perform an authentication of an entity from which the emergency information is received or an entity requesting the emergency service delivery.

17. The service center according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the Processing Unit (PUSC) is adapted to select the emergency priority indicator from a set of emergency priority indicators, each emergency priority indicator of the set of emergency priority indicators indicating an emergency priority level, and to associate the selected emergency priority indicator as the emergency priority indicator with an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

18. The service center according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the Processing Unit (PUSC) is adapted to initiate setting of at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals to an emergency alert mode perceivable clearly by a person for the delivered emergency service.

19. The service center according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the mobile terminal is assigned to a group of mobile terminals and the Processing Unit (PUSC) is adapted to initiate the delivery of the emergency service to the group of mobile terminals via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

20. A network component (CR30, CR 10', RNC) in a communication network for routing emergency services associated with emergency information, the network components (CR30, CR 10') comprising a Receiving Unit (RUCR), a Processing Unit (PUCR) and a Transmitting Unit (TUCR), wherein the Receiving Unit (RUCR) is adapted to receive the emergency service via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer associated with an emergency priority indicator, said emergency priority indicator indicating a higher priority of said emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer compared to other communications not associated with said emergency priority indicator, said Processing Unit (PUCR) being adapted to analyze said emergency priority indicator, and as a result of the analysis, a priority handling of the emergency service is performed, and the Transmission Unit (TUCR) is adapted to transmit the emergency service via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer according to the priority handling.

21. The network component according to claim 20, wherein the Processing Unit (PUCR) is adapted to perform a priority processing comprising at least one procedure from the group of:

-interrupting, stopping or reducing the transmission capability of the Transmission Unit (TUCR) or the processing capability of the Processing Unit (PUCR) associated with the other communication, or

-activating or increasing a transmission capability of the Transmission Unit (TUCR) or a processing capability of the Processing Unit (PUCR) associated with the emergency service delivery via the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer, or

-modifying a schedule of one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery with respect to a schedule of one or more messages associated with the other communication, so as to process the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery by the processing unit (purr) or to send the one or more messages associated with the emergency service delivery by the Transmission Unit (TUCR) at an earlier time with respect to the one or more messages associated with the other communication.

22. A mobile terminal (UE10, UE 10'), comprising at least a receiving unit (RUUE) adapted to receive an emergency service associated with emergency information via an emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer indicated by an emergency priority indicator, the emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer indicated by the emergency priority indicator having a higher priority than other communications not associated with the emergency priority indicator, a processing unit (PUUE) adapted to receive information for setting the output unit (OUUE) in an emergency alert mode clearly humanly perceptible for the emergency service, and an output unit (OUUE) adapted to set the output unit (OUUE) in the emergency alert mode according to the received information for setting and to process the emergency alert mode to be output by the output unit (OUUE) according to the emergency alert mode The received emergency service, and the output unit (OOUE) is adapted to output the emergency service according to the emergency alert mode.

23. The mobile terminal according to claim 22, wherein the received information for setting the output unit (OUUE) to the emergency alert mode comprises an emergency alert mode activation indicator, the mobile terminal further comprising a storage unit (SUUE) in which one or more emergency alert mode settings are stored, the processing unit (PUUE) being adapted to retrieve the one or more emergency alert mode settings indicated by the emergency alert mode activation indicator from the storage unit (SUUE) and to set the output unit (OUUE) to the emergency alert mode in dependence on the retrieved one or more emergency alert mode settings.

24. The mobile terminal according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the received information for setting the output unit (OUUE) to the emergency alert mode comprises one or more emergency alert mode settings, and the processing unit (PUUE) is adapted to set the output unit (OUUE) to the emergency alert mode according to the received one or more emergency alert mode settings.

25. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein the emergency priority indicator and the emergency alert mode activation indicator are one indicator.

26. A system for notifying a plurality of mobile terminals of an emergency event, the system comprising:

-a service center according to claim 14,

-one or more network components as claimed in claim 20 or 21, and

-said plurality of mobile terminals adapted to receive said emergency service via said emergency multimedia capable distribution bearer.

27. The system according to claim 26, comprising a plurality of mobile terminals according to claim 22.