HK1242103A1 - System for managing an aircraft-originated emergency services call in an airborne wireless cellular network - Google Patents

Description

System for managing emergency service calls placed from aircraft in an airborne wireless cellular network

The present application is a divisional application of chinese patent application with application number 200980134009.9(PCT/US2009/042788), application date 5/2009, entitled "system for managing emergency service calls issued from an aircraft in an airborne wireless cellular network".

Technical Field

The present invention relates to cellular communications, and more particularly to a system for handling emergency service calls placed from aircraft in an onboard wireless cellular network.

Background

In the field of wireless communications, managing wireless services provided by an aircraft network to passengers (also referred to herein as "subscribers") who are located onboard the aircraft and roam between cell sites of a non-terrestrial cellular communication network is a difficult problem. The aircraft network serves multiple users and is also linked to the ground-based network via a broadband connection that serves multiple individual users simultaneously. There is no solution in existing wireless networks: such broadband connections are managed to enable individual identification of aircraft-based subscribers.

In the field of terrestrial cellular communications, it is common for wireless subscribers to move throughout the area served by a home cellular service provider's network and maintain their desired subscriber feature set. The availability of feature sets throughout the home network is managed by the home cellular service provider's database, often referred to as the Home Location Register (HLR), which has data connections to one or more switches (packet or circuit), and various ancillary equipment such as voice mail and short message servers to enable such seamless feature set management. Each user is associated with a one-to-one communication connection (which includes channels of the serving cell site) to access the desired communication service.

Emergency service access is an important feature of existing telecommunications networks, where the network is able to identify not only the user but also his current location in order to dispatch emergency service personnel. General codes such as 911 in north america and 112 in europe are used to access emergency dispatch personnel at a predetermined site called a "public safety access point (PSAP"). Enhanced 911(E911) is an extension of this basic service and is defined as the transmission of callback numbers and geographical location information to emergency dispatch personnel. The term "geographical location information" is used to refer to information about the physical location of a user in a physical environment as opposed to a communication network address. For example, it includes a civic address, postal address, street address, latitude and longitude information, or geodetic location information. E911 may be implemented for use with landline telephones and/or wireless devices. Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is a technology that emulates a telephone call, but does not use a circuit-based system such as a telephone network, which utilizes packet data transmission techniques that are most prominently implemented on the internet. Thus, in existing telecommunication networks, there are a number of situations in which the geographical location of a user cannot be identified.

Accurate information regarding the geographic location of the user is necessary in order to quickly dispatch emergency service vehicles or other assistance to the correct destination. In a conventional wire-switched telephone network, it may be relatively easy to provide subscriber location information because the telephone handset is fixed in a particular location. A static database entry may then be constructed in a database accessible to emergency services personnel at the public safety access point to associate the home address of the user with the telephone number. However, for mobile communication systems, the use of such static database entries is not possible because the geographical location of the wireless communication device changes over time.

Another problem relates to routing emergency calls to the correct destination. This problem does not exist for conventional calls because the user would enter specific details for the desired call destination. However, for emergency calls, the jurisdiction of emergency service answering points is typically very small, for example, at the county level of the united states. Information relating to the geographical location of the user is required to determine the routing of the call to the appropriate Public Safety Access Point (PSAP). Miscalls to the wrong answering point result in costs for forwarding the call, reliability concerns, and significant delays in dispatching emergency service personnel in life threatening situations.

When wireless users enter a non-terrestrial cellular communication network (i.e., they fly as passengers in an airplane), they encounter a unique environment that has traditionally been disconnected from a terrestrial cellular network, wherein the onboard wireless network connects the users (also referred to herein as "passengers") to various services and content. Thus, the aircraft wireless network may operate as a content filter or may create unique types of content that are targeted to individual passengers onboard the aircraft. However, although the aircraft network serves multiple passengers, it is linked to the ground-based access network via a broadband radio frequency connection having a single IP address in the ground-based access network. While broadband radio frequency connections carry communications for multiple individual passengers simultaneously, these communications cannot be individually identified by a ground-based access network. There is no solution in existing wireless networks: such broadband connections are managed to enable individual identification of passengers via the assignment of individual unique IP addresses to each passenger wireless device.

Furthermore, the problems posed by the handling of emergency service calls when the user is located on an aircraft have heretofore remained unresolved, particularly because the user's location is constantly changing due to the continued flight of the aircraft. The aircraft flight crew and the cabin crew are the only personnel that can be relied upon on site to provide part of the emergency services response, and they must be intimately involved in the emergency services call. Additionally, although emergency service personnel cannot be dispatched to the aircraft, the aircraft can be given the appropriate authorization to fly to the altered destination, thereby enabling the emergency to be addressed at the altered location. However, a procedure for implementing such a decision and a communication architecture for supporting such a procedure have not been developed at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The above-described problems are solved and a technical advance achieved in the art by the present system for managing emergency service calls placed from an aircraft in an airborne wireless cellular network (referred to herein as an "aircraft emergency service call management system"), which enables a unique identification of each passenger wireless device used onboard the aircraft and a corresponding identification of the passenger associated with that passenger wireless device. These passenger wireless device registration data are stored as database entries in a ground-based Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database that associates each aircraft with its registered passenger wireless device.

The initiation of an emergency services call from any registered passenger wireless device causes the call to be routed to a serving Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) to connect the passenger to the emergency services operator. The serving Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) may be selected based on the current geographic location of the aircraft, or may be a predetermined national Public Safety Access Point (PSAP). In addition, since the aircraft flight crew and the cabin crew are the only personnel on site that can be relied upon to provide part of the emergency services response, they must participate in the emergency services call. Thus, at least one of the aircraft flight crew and the cabin crew is alerted and generally able to intervene (bridged on to) the connection of the emergency services call. In addition, aircraft emergency services call management systems have the ability to support communications with other organizations and personnel. Since emergency service personnel cannot be dispatched to the aircraft, these other organizations may include: an air traffic controller that reroutes the aircraft to a changed destination so that emergency situations can be addressed at the changed location. In addition, emergency service personnel at the alternate destination may be contacted to act as first responders so that they can be prepared when the aircraft arrives at the alternate destination.

The aircraft emergency services call management system is capable of handling emergency services calls (whether voice calls, VoIP calls, or data messages) to provide emergency communication in all modes.

Drawings

Figure 1 illustrates in block diagram form the general architecture of a hybrid air-to-ground network interconnecting air subsystems and a ground-based access network;

FIG. 2 illustrates, in block diagram form, the architecture of an exemplary embodiment of an exemplary aircraft-based network for wireless devices located in a multi-passenger commercial aircraft;

fig. 3 illustrates in block diagram form the architecture of a typical cellular network for IP data and voice services;

FIG. 4 illustrates, in block diagram form, an implementation of the aircraft emergency services call management system of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates, in flow chart form, the operation of the aircraft emergency services call management system of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates, in block diagram form, a typical existing E911 network for wireline applications; and

figure 7 illustrates in block diagram form a typical existing E911 network for wireless applications.

Detailed Description

Existing wired, wireless and VoIP emergency service system

Existing emergency services networks consist of Selective Routers (SRs), Automatic Location Identification (ALI) databases (both local and national), and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) with various centralized automatic call accounting (CAMA), long haul connections, and various data connections for querying the Automatic Location Identification (ALI) databases. In addition to these network elements are the public safety organizations themselves (police, fire and emergency services) and the communication networks supporting them.

Figure 6 illustrates in block diagram form a typical existing E911 network for wireline applications. The location of a user who is calling the emergency services network serves two primary purposes. The first purpose is: routing the emergency services call to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) 604; the second purpose is that: the user's geographic location information is transmitted for display to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) operator 607 so that emergency response units can be dispatched to the correct location. In wired voice networks, calling line address information is stored in a database called an Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database 605. This information in Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database 605 is updated and verified by synchronizing Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database 605 with primary street address guide (MSAG) database 606, where primary street address guide (MSAG) database 606 is the system used by the local exchange operator to associate the user's telephone number to the emergency service area (ESZ).

In a wired voice network 600, there is a correlation between a user's telephone number (calling line identifier (CLID)) identifying the telephone line 611 of the telephone set 601 serving the user and the user's geographic location. The geographic location is typically the home address of the user, which information is maintained by his local exchange operator (LEC) in an Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database 605. In this case, the Calling Line Identifier (CLID) becomes an off-the-shelf reference, and the incoming line to local switch 602 and local switch 602 provide an explicit indication of the proper routing of the 911 call. This allows the local exchange 602 to operate according to a static configuration when selecting an outgoing trunk 613 on which to place a call to be directed to the correct selective router 603. Next, selective router 603 may use the same static association and Calling Line Identifier (CLID) information stored in Automatic Location Identification (ALI)605 to ensure that the call can be routed to the correct serving Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)604 for the user's address.

Upon receiving an emergency call from a user containing the user's Calling Line Identifier (CLID), the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)604 can query the database over link 612 and receive back street address (also known as civic address) information associated with the Calling Line Identifier (CLID). The physical interface over which the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)604 makes such queries is variable. It may be an IP-based interface in dial-up or broadband form, or it may be converted to an x.25 packet interface. Similarly, Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database 605 may be physically co-located with local exchange operator 602 and selective router 603, or it may be a remote national Automatic Location Identification (ALI) (not shown) for directly or cooperatively processing requests from local Automatic Location Identification (ALI) 605. An operator at a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)604 collects information from the calling party and uses this information along with the automatically delivered information to deliver the emergency service request to the appropriate emergency services organization.

Figure 7 illustrates in block diagram form a typical existing E911 network for wireless applications. In cellular systems, the association between the user's current geographic location and his Calling Line Identifier (CLID) is lost. When mobile, a cellular user may be anywhere within the coverage area of a wireless network, in the strict sense. Similarly, there is no physical wireline corresponding to the wireless device 701 that is the source of the call from which the route is associated to the correct destination. However, in a cellular network, there is a physical serving cell 702 from which a call originates. The geographic granularity (granularity) of these cell locations is typically very fine for the mobile switching center 703 to determine the correct trunk to the corresponding selective router 704 via PSDN 709. In many cases, this also provides sufficient accuracy for selective router 704 to determine the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)705 to which the user should connect.

Associating the outgoing trunk line with the serving cell 702 is an internal process for the mobile switching center 703. However, some signaling is required for the Mobile Switching Center (MSC)703 to convey the same information to the selective router 704 so that it can determine the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) 705. Routing information is conveyed to selective router 704 in ISUP (ISDN user part) call setup signaling with one or another newly defined parameter called emergency services routing bit (ESRD) or Emergency Services Routing Key (ESRK). Selective router 704 examines the value of the ESRD/ESRK parameter in the call setup signaling and routes the call to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)705 based on the value.

It should be noted that there are situations where a cell border may cross to the border of a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) service area. In this case, the emergency services routing bits or emergency services routing keys from serving cell 702 may not provide a reliable indication of the route to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) 705. Both ANSI-41 (typically TDMA and CDMA) and 3GPP (typically GSM, EDGE and UMTS) cellular networks have defined functionality to handle this situation. In ANSI-41 networks, a functional element called a Coordinate Routing Database (CRDB)708 is defined. The cellular network may reference a Coordinate Routing Database (CRDB)708 and return appropriate values for the routing parameters based on the geographic location of the users (as determined by different positioning techniques such as forward link trilateration, pilot strength measurements, time of arrival measurements, etc.). This alleviates the problem of misrouting calls as long as the geographical location is improved in accuracy over the cell location. Similarly, 3GPP networks allow Mobile Switching Center (MSC)703 to request a refined routing key value from a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) based on the geographic location of the user. These location data may be used in a service control point 707 as a standard component in an intelligent network telephony system for controlling services.

Voice over IP (VoIP) networks have many similarities to cellular networks, as there are no specific physical connection points for indicating their identity, as cellular networks have specific characteristics that give rise to new considerations for E911 as compared to traditional wireline voice networks. Just as wireless devices (cell phones) can connect anywhere in a network with coverage points, IP-based telephony clients can also connect to IP networks and enjoy voice services at many and varied points. From this perspective, it is necessary to treat the VoIP client as nomadic in nature or even completely mobile to ensure coverage of all usage scenarios. It can be stated with certainty that most VoIP clients may be relatively stationary in location (e.g., a traditional physical specification desktop phone with integrated VoIP client software tends to be stationary like any traditional wired desktop phone); however, since this situation cannot be predicted explicitly by the network, the architecture for coping with mobility ensures coverage of all usage scenarios.

Airborne wireless cellular network architecture

Fig. 1 shows, in block diagram form, the overall architecture of an airborne wireless cellular network, which comprises an air-to-ground network 2 (internal network) interconnecting two elements in an external network, including an air subsystem 3 and a ground subsystem 1 (also referred to herein as an "access network"). The figure illustrates the basic concept of an airborne wireless cellular network and, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, does not include all of the elements present in a typical airborne wireless cellular network. The basic elements shown in fig. 1 provide teachings of the interrelationship of the various elements used to implement an airborne wireless cellular network to provide content to passenger wireless devices located on an aircraft.

The general concept shown in figure 1 is to provide an "internal network" to connect two parts of an "external network", where the two parts comprise an air subsystem 3 and a ground subsystem 1. This is accomplished by the air-to-ground network 2 transmitting passenger communication traffic (including voice and/or other data) and control information as well as feature set data between the air subsystem 3 and the ground subsystem 1, thereby enabling the passenger wireless devices located onboard the aircraft to receive communication services onboard the aircraft.

Aerial subsystem

An "airborne subsystem" is a communication environment implemented on an aircraft; and these communications may be based on various technologies including, but not limited to: wired, wireless, optical, acoustic (ultrasound), and so forth. An example of such a Network is disclosed in U.S. patent No.6,788,935 entitled "Aircraft-Based Network For Wireless Subscriber Stations".

The preferred embodiment for the air subsystem 3 is the use of wireless technology and wireless technology for wireless devices carried by onboard passengers and crew (creew). Thus, a laptop computer may communicate via a WiFi or WiMax wireless mode (or via a wired connection such as a LAN), or a PDA may communicate telephonic voice traffic via VoIP (Voice over IP). Likewise, a hand-held cellular telephone using the GSM protocol communicates with the air subsystem via GSM when inside the aircraft. While inside the aircraft, a CDMA cellular phone would communicate with the air subsystem using CDMA and an analog AMPS phone using analog AMPS. The connection state may be packet switched or circuit switched or both. In general, the purpose of the air subsystem 3 is to enable seamless and ubiquitous access to the air subsystem 3 by passengers and passenger wireless devices carried by the crew, regardless of the technology used by these wireless devices.

The air subsystem 3 also provides a mechanism to manage the provision of services to passenger wireless devices operating in the aircraft cabin. Such management includes not only the connectivity to provide passenger services, but also the availability of an aircraft-specific feature set that each passenger is authorized to receive. These features include in-flight entertainment services, such as multimedia presentations, as well as destination-based services that combine the passenger's existing travel itineraries with suggestions for additional services that are feasible for the passenger at their designated destination and according to their planned travel schedule. Thereby providing the passenger with an opportunity during his or her flight to enhance his or her travel experience in flight and at his or her destination.

The passenger wireless devices 101 used on the airplane may be the same wireless devices used in the cellular/PCS type ground-based communication network; however, these passenger wireless devices 101 are pre-registered with the operator serving the aircraft and/or the user has a PIN number for authentication. In addition, the antenna interconnects the passenger wireless device 101 with an in-cabin Base Transceiver Station (BTS)111, 114, where the BTS is typically a picocell that integrates BSC/MSC functionality. An additional BTS/BSC/MSC module is used for each air interface technology supported. Since switch/router 122 places calls to ground-based access network 1 via air-to-ground network 2 using modem 123, switch/router 122 acts as a bridging function (to a limited extent for media/content and signaling) between air subsystem 3 and ground-based access network 1. The switch/router 122 converts/from individual traffic and signaling paths from the base station into/from an aggregated data stream, and sends/receives the aggregated data stream over the air-to-ground network 2, wherein the air-to-ground network 2 maintains uninterrupted service as the aircraft travels. Modem 123 includes radio transmission devices and antenna systems to communicate with ground-based transceivers in the ground-based portion of air-to-ground network 2. The individual traffic channels allocated on the air-to-ground network 2 are activated according to the traffic requirements supported by the aircraft.

Air-to-ground network

The air-to-ground network 2 shown in fig. 1 is obviously a network based on wireless communication (radio frequency or optical) between the ground subsystem 1 and the passenger wireless devices located on board the aircraft, with radio frequency connections being preferred. Such radio frequency connections take the form of a cellular topology in which typically more than one cell describes the coverage area or geographical extent of the composite air-to-ground network 2. The air-to-ground connection carries passenger communication traffic and local network signaling traffic. In the preferred embodiment, the air-to-ground network 2 transmits all traffic to/from the aircraft in a single and aggregated communication channel. This "single pipe" has significant advantages in managing hard and soft handoffs as the aircraft moves between one ground-based cell and the next. This approach also employs newer, higher speed wireless cellular technologies.

Alternatively, the air-to-ground network 2 may be implemented by a wireless satellite connection, wherein radio frequency links are established between the aircraft and the satellite and between the satellite and the ground subsystem 1. These satellites may be geosynchronous (stationary as viewed from an earth reference point) or mobile, as are Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. Examples of satellites include, but are not limited to: geosynchronous Ku band satellites, DBS satellites (direct broadcast satellites), iridium systems, globalstar systems, and international maritime satellite systems. In the case of dedicated satellites, such as those used for direct broadcast satellites, the link is typically unidirectional, i.e., from the satellite to the receiving platform (here an airplane). In such systems, a link for transmitting unidirectionally from the aircraft is required to accomplish the bi-directional communication. Such a link may be satellite-like or ground-based wireless in nature as described previously. Finally, other means for communicating with the aircraft include wide area links (such as HF (high frequency) radios) and more unique systems (such as tropospheric scatter architectures).

The air-to-ground network 2 can be viewed as a channel that transports passenger communication traffic as well as control data and network feature set data between the ground subsystem 1 and the air subsystem 3. The air-to-ground network 2 may be implemented as a single radio frequency link or multiple radio frequency links, with a portion of the signal being routed over different types of links, such as air-to-ground links and satellite links. Thus, using the various component and architecture concepts disclosed herein in various combinations, there is great flexibility in implementing this system.

Ground subsystem

The ground subsystem 1 comprises: an edge router 140 that connects voice traffic of the air-to-ground network 2 with conventional cellular communication network elements including a base station controller 141 and its associated mobile switching center 142, wherein the mobile switching center 142 has a visitor location register, a home location register to interconnect voice traffic to a public switched telephone network 144, and to perform other such functions. In addition, the base station controller 141 is connected to the internet 147 via the public switched telephone network 143 to complete a call. Edge router 124 also provides interconnection of data services to the internet 147, interconnection of data services to the public switched telephone network 144 via voice-over-IP server 146, and performs other such functions. These include authentication servers, operational subsystems, CALEA, and BSS servers 145.

Thus, communication between the passenger wireless devices 101 located on board the aircraft and the ground subsystem 1 of the ground-based communication network is communicated via the air subsystem 3 and the air-to-ground network 2 to the ground-based base station controller 141 of the airborne wireless cellular network. The enhanced functionality provided by the air subsystem 3, the air-to-ground network 2, and the ground-based base station controller 141 described below makes the provision of services to the passenger wireless devices 101 located onboard the aircraft transparent to the passengers. A Radio Access Network (RAN) supports communication from multiple aircraft and may use a single omni-directional signal or may use multiple spatial sectors that may be defined in terms of azimuth and/or inclination angles. The aircraft network switches point-to-point communication links between Radio Access Networks (RANs) in different locations (different ground subsystems 1) in order to maintain uninterrupted service to the air-to-ground network 2. The handoff may be a hard handoff or a soft handoff, or may be a combination of hard and soft handoffs on the air-to-ground link and the ground-to-air link.

A Mobile Switching Center (MSC) provides mobility management for all onboard systems and handover management between ground stations as the onboard systems move between the service areas of adjacent ground subsystems 1. The Base Station Controller (BSC) interfaces all traffic to/from the Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS). A Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) controls the allocation of capacity within its respective service area for each base transceiver subsystem in the airborne system.

Typical aircraft-based network

Fig. 2 illustrates the architecture of a typical aircraft-based network for passenger wireless devices located in a multi-passenger commercial aircraft 200. Such systems include a number of elements for implementing a communication backbone for enabling a plurality of different types of wireless communication devices to communicate wirelessly. The aircraft-based network for passenger wireless devices includes a local area network 206, wherein the local area network 206 includes a radio frequency communication system 201 that uses a spread spectrum mode and has short range operation. The network 206 supports both circuit-switched and packet-switched connections from the passenger wireless devices 221-224 and interconnects the communications of these passenger wireless devices 221-224 to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)126 and other destinations such as the internet 127 or Public Data Switched Network (PDSN) via a gateway transceiver or transceiver 210. The wireless passengers thereby retain their individual number identifications as if they were directly connected to the public switched telephone network 126. The passenger wireless devices 221-224 include a variety of wireless devices such as a laptop computer 221, a cellular telephone 222, an MP3 music player (not shown), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) (not shown), a WiFi-based device 223, a WiMax-based device 224, and the like, and are collectively referred to herein as "passenger wireless devices" for simplicity of description, regardless of the details of their particular implementation.

The basic elements in the aircraft-based network for passenger wireless devices include at least one antenna 205 or unit for coupling electromagnetic energy to/from an air subsystem 3 located within the aircraft 200 for communicating with a plurality of passenger wireless devices 221 and 224 located within the aircraft 200. At least one antenna 205 is connected to the wireless controller 201, wherein the wireless controller 201 comprises a plurality of elements for managing wireless communication with a plurality of passenger wireless devices 221 and 224. The wireless controller 201 includes at least one low power radio frequency transceiver 202 for providing a circuit switched communication space using a wireless communication mode such as PCS, CDMA, or GSM. In addition, the wireless controller 201 includes a low power radio frequency transceiver 203 for providing a data-based packet-switched communication space using, for example, WiFi, which may also communicate packet-switched voice over internet protocol (VoIP).

Finally, the wireless controller 201 includes: a power control portion 204 for managing power output of the plurality of passenger wireless devices. It also serves to prevent passenger wireless devices in the cabin from directly and erroneously accessing the terrestrial network when in non-terrestrial mode, through RF noise or interference means. The ultra-low airborne transmit power level characteristic represents control of the passenger wireless device by the power control element 204 of the wireless controller 201 of the aircraft-based network to manage the output signal power generated by the passenger wireless device 221 and 224 to minimize the likelihood of receiving a cellular signal of a ground-based cell site or ground-based passenger wireless device.

It will be apparent that the above-described portions of the wireless controller 201 may be combined or separated in different ways to produce implementations other than those disclosed herein. The particular implementations described were chosen to illustrate the concepts of the present invention and are not intended to limit the applicability of the concepts to other implementations.

The wireless controller 201 is connected via the backbone network 206 to a number of other elements for providing services to the passenger wireless devices 221 and 224. These other elements may include an aircraft interface 209 for providing management, switching, routing, and convergence functions for communication transmissions of the passenger wireless devices. The data capture element 207 is configured to interface to a plurality of flight system sensors 211 and 214 and a global positioning system element 216 to collect data from a plurality of sources as described below. In addition, pilot communication devices such as a display 217 and a headset 218 are connected to the backbone network 206 via a wired or wireless connection.

Finally, the gateway transceiver 210 is used to interconnect the aircraft interface 209 with the antenna 215 to enable signals to be transmitted from the aircraft-based network for the passenger wireless devices to the ground-located transceiver. Communication router functionality is included in these components to forward communication signals to the appropriate destination. Thus, signals destined for passengers on board the aircraft are routed to their individuals, while signals routed to passengers located on the ground, for example, are routed to ground subsystems. An aircraft antenna pattern that generally minimizes the lowest (earth-pointing) Effective Radiated Power (ERP) may be used to implement the on-aircraft antenna 215 to service the aircraft-based network for passenger wireless devices.

Passenger login for system access

On each aircraft, passenger access to electronic communications is typically managed via a passenger wireless device registration process, where each electronic device must be identified, authenticated, and authorized to receive service. Since the aircraft is a standalone environment for wireless communication between the passenger wireless devices and the existing onboard wireless networks on the aircraft, all communication is managed by the network controller. Thus, when a passenger activates their passenger wireless device, a communication session is initiated between the passenger wireless device and the network controller to identify the type of device used by the passenger and its wireless protocol. The "start screen" is delivered to the passenger for display on the passenger's wireless device to inform entry into the wireless network portal. Once this is established, the network controller transmits a set of login displays to the passenger wireless device to enable the passenger to identify himself and verify his identification information (when the passenger wireless device is not equipped to automatically perform these tasks via the smart client for automatically logging the passenger onto the network). As a result of this process, the passenger wireless device has a unique electronic identification (IP address), and the network can respond to the passenger wireless device without further administrative overhead. The authentication process may include: the use of security procedures such as passwords, scans for passenger invariant features (fingerprints, retinal scans, etc.), etc.

Once the passenger wireless device is logged in, the passenger may access free standard electronic services available from the network or electronic services customized for the particular passenger. The screen presented to the passenger may be customized to demonstrate the brand of the airline the passenger is riding on.

Mobile wireless network architecture

For simplicity of description, the following example is based on the use of the CDMA2000EVDO cellular network mode. However, the concepts illustrated herein are not limited to such implementations, and it is contemplated that other implementations may be created based on other network structures and implementations. Thus, fig. 3 illustrates in block diagram form the architecture of a typical EVDO cellular network for IP data and voice services, respectively, and is used to illustrate the architecture and operation of the aircraft emergency services call management system of the present invention. CDMA2000 is a hybrid 2.5G/3G mobile telecommunications technology that uses CDMA (code division multiple access) to transmit digital radio information, voice, data, and signaling data between wireless devices and cell sites. The architecture and operation of a CDMA2000 cellular network is standardized by the third generation partnership project 2. In a CDMA2000 cellular network, two radio access network technologies are supported: 1xRTT and EV-DO (evolution data optimized), where CDMA2000 is considered a third generation (3G) technology when using EV-DO access networks.

A CDMA2000 cellular network (also referred to herein as an "access network") consists of three important parts: a Core Network (CN), a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a wireless device (MS). The Core Network (CN) is further broken down into two parts, one of which is connected to an external network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the other of which is connected to an IP-based network such as the internet 311 and/or private data network 312. The wireless device MS terminates the wireless path at the cellular network user end and enables the user to access network services through the Um interface implemented to interconnect the wireless device (MS) with the access network 300.

The several main components of the access network 300 for IP data and voice shown in fig. 3 are:

base Transceiver System (BTS): an entity for providing transmission capability over a Um reference point. A Base Transceiver System (BTS) is comprised of wireless devices, antennas, and equipment.

Base Station Controller (BSC): an entity for providing control and management of one or more Base Transceiver Systems (BTSs).

Packet Control Function (PCF): an entity for providing interface functionality to a packet switched network (internet 311 and/or private data network 312).

A wireless device (MS) acts as a mobile IP client. A wireless device (MS) interfaces with the access network 300 to obtain appropriate radio resources for packet switching and to learn about the status of the radio resources (e.g., active, standby, sleep). The wireless device receives buffer packets from a Base Transceiver System (BTS) when radio resources are not available or are insufficient to support a flow to the access network 300. After a wireless device (MS) is powered on, it automatically registers with a Home Location Register (HLR) of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) to:

authenticating a wireless device (MS) in the context of an accessed network;

providing a Home Location Register (HLR) with a current location of a wireless device; and

a feature set licensed by a wireless device is provided to a serving Mobile Switching Center (MSC).

Upon successful registration with the Home Location Register (HLR), the wireless device (MS) is ready to place voice and data calls. These may take one of two forms: circuit Switched Data (CSD) or Packet Switched Data (PSD), depending on the compliance (or lack thereof) of the IS-2000 standard with the wireless device itself.

The wireless device must comply with the IS-2000 standard to initiate a packet data session using the access network 300. An IS-95 only capable wireless device IS limited to communicating circuit-switched data via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), whereas an IS-2000 type terminal may select either packet-switched data or circuit-switched data. The parameters forwarded by the wireless device (MS) over the Air Link (AL) to the access network 300 determine the type of service requested. For each data session, a point-to-point protocol (PPP) session is created between the wireless device (MS) and the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN). The IP address assignment to each wireless device may be provided by a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) or a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server via a Home Agent (HA).

Radio Access Network (RAN)

The Radio Access Network (RAN) is the entry point for wireless devices that communicate voice or data content. It includes:

an Airlink (AL);

cell site towers/antennas and cable connections to Base Transceiver Subsystems (BTSs);

a Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS);

a communication path from the base transceiver subsystem to a Base Station Controller (BSC);

a Base Station Controller (BSC); and

packet Control Function (PCF).

The Radio Access Network (RAN) has a number of responsibilities that affect, among other things, the packet service delivery of the network. The Radio Access Network (RAN) must map the mobile client identifier reference to a unique link layer identifier to communicate with the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), authenticate the wireless device for access services, and maintain an established transmission link.

The Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS) controls the activity of the air link and acts as the interface between the access network 300 and the wireless devices (MS). Radio frequency resources such as radio frequency allocation, sector division, transmit power control, etc. are managed at a Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS). In addition, the Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS) manages the backhaul from the cell site to the Base Station Controller (BSC) to minimize any delay between these two elements.

A Base Station Controller (BSC) routes voice and circuit switched data messages between a cell site and a Mobile Switching Center (MSC). It is also responsible for mobility management: which controls and directs handovers from one cell site to another as needed.

The Packet Control Function (PCF) routes IP packet data between a Mobile Station (MS) and a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) within a cell site. During a packet data session, the Packet Control Function (PCF) allocates available supplemental channels as needed to comply with the service requested by the wireless device (MS) and paid for by the user.

Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN)

A Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) is a gateway from a Radio Access Network (RAN) to a public and/or private packet network. In a simple IP network, the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) acts as a separate Network Access Server (NAS), while in a mobile IP network it may be configured as a Home Agent (HA) or Foreign Agent (FA). A Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) performs the following activities:

managing a radio-packet interface between a base station subsystem (BTS), a Base Station Controller (BSC), and an IP network by establishing, maintaining, and terminating a link layer to a mobile client;

terminating a point-to-point protocol (PPP) session initiated by a user;

providing an IP address to the user (from an internal pool or through a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server or through an authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server);

performing packet routing to an external packet data network or to a Home Agent (HA), wherein the packet routing may optionally be via a secure tunnel;

collecting and forwarding grouped bill data;

actively managing user services based on profile information received from a SCS server of an authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server;

the user is authenticated locally or the authentication request is forwarded to an authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server.

Authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server

An authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server is used to authenticate and authorize a user's network access, and to store user usage statistics for accounting and billing.

Home agent

The Home Agent (HA) supports seamless data roaming to other networks that support 1 xRTT. The Home Agent (HA) provides the anchor IP address to the wireless device and forwards any traffic associated with the mobile to the appropriate network for delivery to the headset. The home agent also maintains user registration information, redirects packets to the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), and (optionally) tunnels securely to the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN). Finally, the Home Agent (HA) supports dynamic assignment of users from an authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server, and (optionally) assignment of dynamic home addresses.

Conventional single call setup in a CDMA2000 access network

The following describes a successful call setup scenario for a single wireless device to establish a communication connection in a CDMA2000 access network. It is to be noted that the description herein ignores the radio reception/transmission activity of the Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS), but focuses on the protocol functions that start with an originating session between the wireless device (MS) and the Base Station Controller (BSC):

1. to register for packet data services, a wireless device (MS) sends an origination message on an access channel to a Base Station Subsystem (BSS).

2. The Base Station Subsystem (BSS) acknowledges receipt of the origination message and returns a base station acknowledgement order to the wireless device (MS).

3. The Base Station Subsystem (BSS) creates a CM service request message and sends the message to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC).

4. The mobile switching center transmits an allocation request message to a Base Station Subsystem (BSS) to request allocation of radio resources. A non-terrestrial circuit between a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) and a Base Station Subsystem (BSS) is assigned to a packet data call.

5. A Base Station Subsystem (BSS) and a wireless device (MS) perform a radio resource establishment procedure. The Packet Control Function (PCF) identifies that no a10 connection associated with the wireless device (MS) is available and selects a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) for the data call. The a10 connection is a term defined by the standards body and relates to the interface between a Base Station Controller (BSC) and a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), where a10 relates to IP data exchanged between the Base Station Controller (BSC) and the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN).

6. The Packet Control Function (PCF) sends an a 11-registration request message to the selected Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN).

The a 11-registration request is authenticated and the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) accepts the connection by returning an a 11-registration reply message. Both the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) and the Packet Control Function (PCF) create a binding record for the a10 connection. The term "a 11" relates to signaling exchanged between a Base Station Controller (BSC) and a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN).

8. After the radio link and the a10 connection are both established, the Base Station Subsystem (BSS) sends an assignment complete message to the Mobile Switching Center (MSC).

9. The mobile device and a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) establish a link layer (PPP) connection and then perform a MIP registration procedure over the link layer (PPP) connection.

10. After completion of the MIP registration, the mobile device may send/receive data via GRE frames over the a10 connection.

11. The Packet Control Function (PCF) periodically sends an a 11-registration request message to update the registration information for the a10 connection.

12. For the authenticated a 11-registration request, the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) returns an a11 registration reply message. Both the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) and the Packet Control Function (PCF) update the binding record for the a10 connection.

For circuit switched voice calls, the other elements shown in fig. 3 are also needed. In particular, a packet-switched voice call received from a wireless device (MS) is forwarded from a packet data serving node (PSDN) to a Media Gateway (MGW), where the packet-switched voice call is converted to circuit-switched voice and forwarded to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). In addition, call setup data is exchanged with a session initiation protocol proxy Server (SIP) to provide signaling and call setup protocols for IP-based communications to enable support of an expanded set of call processing functions and features found in the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF) and the Signaling Gateway (SGW) implement the call processing features that exist in signaling system 7(SS 7).

As can be seen from the above description, the access network 300 is wireless device oriented in that each wireless device establishes a separate Air Link (AL) radio frequency connection with the home Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS). The following is not explicitly addressed in this architecture: a number of wireless devices are served by broadband communication links from certain locations (aircraft, ship, train, etc.), where the broadband links terminate at the edge of the access network 300. The difficulties with using broadband links are: as part of the point-to-point protocol (PPP), a packet data serving node (PSDN) assigns a single IP address to a broadband link, and wireless devices located at the end of the broadband link cannot be identified by the packet data serving node (PSDN) and thus cannot receive separate services.

Emergency service calls from airborne wireless devices

Fig. 4 illustrates, in block diagram form, the architecture of an aircraft emergency services call management system, while fig. 5 illustrates, in flow diagram form, the typical operation of an aircraft emergency services call management system. While this gives one possible implementation of the system, numerous alternatives are possible within the scope of the concepts set forth herein. An aircraft emergency services call management system can be considered to have three main components: aircraft-based emergency call processing (part of wireless controller 201), ground-based emergency call processing (part of ground subsystem 1), and a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) 401.

In view of the aircraft networks described above, emergency services calls may be initiated via voice-based wireless devices, VoIP calls, or even data messages from wireless devices. While handling emergency service calls in each of these cases requires different initial communication management, the functional operation among these calls is consistent. Thus, while the following description provides basic functional services, the communication lines may differ as they are connected to passengers initiating emergency services calls.

For purposes of illustration, assume that a passenger one (430) aboard an aircraft 420 uses his wireless device to initiate an emergency services call to an aircraft emergency services call management system, wherein the aircraft emergency services call management system comprises; software and hardware located in the various systems described below to interconnect the various components to the aircraft emergency services call. If the wireless device is a voice-based wireless device, the passenger may dial a general emergency service access code, such as 911 in North America and 112 in Europe, to access emergency dispatch personnel 411 and 412 located at a predetermined Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 and 402 that service the aircraft at step 501. There may be a single country-wide Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 serving the aircraft, or there may be multiple stations 401 and 402; however, for purposes of this description, a single Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 will be used as an example to serve an aircraft. The dialed digits of the emergency service call may be detected by the aircraft emergency service call software component within the wireless controller 201 in the aircraft network (air subsystem 3) at step 502 and routed first to the crew of the aircraft at step 503, wherein the initial contact is preferably to a cabin crew member. At approximately the same time, at step 504, a communication link is established via the air-to-ground network 2 as described above to reach the ground subsystem 1, wherein the calling party (passenger 430) is identified at step 505. The identification information of the passenger 430 is known because it is logged into the aircraft network, and the passenger's identification information may be stored in an Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database 403 for storing data to identify each aircraft, the currently serving ground subsystem 1 and air-to-ground link 2, and the identification information of all passengers logged into the aircraft network. At step 506, the emergency service call is routed by the aircraft emergency service call software component located at the ground subsystem 1 via the public switched telephone network 444 to the Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 serving the aircraft. These communication connections may be linked into a multi-party conference at step 507 so that both cabin crew members, optionally including cockpit crew members (a number of the flight floor crews), and an operator 411 located at a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 may communicate with the passenger 430 initiating the emergency service call.

Cabin crew members and an operator 411 located at a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 determine the nature of the emergency and confirm what steps are needed to handle the emergency at step 508. If necessary, an operator 411 located at a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 generates an alert at step 509 that is sent to emergency service personnel (not shown) at the destination airport (451) and/or the airline 453 operating the aircraft. Alternatively, an operator 411 located at a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 may submit the emergency service call to a government safety agency (452) and/or an airline (453) at step 510 to determine an action plan, which may include changing the heading of the aircraft 420 to a changed destination airport. Further, as is known in the art, communication may be accomplished via a multi-party conferencing connection. The emergency service call remains active until the emergency is resolved, wherein the emergency service call terminates at step 511.

If the emergency services call was initiated by a cabin crew member at step 512, then call processing proceeds to step 504 as described above and the process continues without the passenger participating in the communication connection.

Alternatively, the passenger may initiate a VoIP call and dial a general emergency services access code, such as 911 in north america and 112 in europe, to access emergency dispatch personnel located at a predetermined Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 that services the aircraft at step 521. Because the initial VoIP call is directed to a VoIP service provider or private network, the dialed emergency services call code cannot be detected or processed by the wireless controller 201 on the aircraft 420 since the dialed digits are entered at step 522 after the initial call setup. Thus, at step 523, the VoIP service provider must detect the dialed emergency services access code and route the emergency services call to a predetermined Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 serving the aircraft 420 at step 524. In order to properly route an emergency services call to the appropriate predetermined Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 serving the aircraft 420, the incoming communication connection from the ground subsystem 1 must include call setup data indicating the origination point of the call as being aircraft type based, and must also identify the aircraft 420 from which the emergency services call originated. Furthermore, as described above, the passenger wireless device is specifically identified because it has logged into the aircraft-based network for the passenger wireless device portion of the air subsystem 3 using the passenger wireless device registration process described above.

The operator 411 establishes a communication connection to the crew 411 of the aircraft in step 525. These communication connections may be linked into a multi-party conference at step 507 so that both cabin crew members, optionally including cockpit crew members, and an operator 411 located at a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP)401 may communicate with passengers initiating emergency service calls. The handling of the emergency service call will proceed as described above.

Another method for initiating an emergency services call is via a data message generated at 531 and via a WEB interface provided by the wireless controller 201 to a passenger wireless device, such as a laptop computer. Furthermore, as described above, the passenger wireless device is unambiguously identified because it has logged onto the aircraft-based network for the passenger wireless device portion of the air subsystem 3 using the passenger wireless device registration process described above.

In all of the examples mentioned above, the handling of emergency services calls enables multiple parties to participate in exchanging information and responding to emergency situations regardless of the manner in which the emergency services call is initiated. Although other communication scenarios may exist that are similar in functionality to the communication scenarios described above, these other communication scenarios are intended to be encompassed by the processes outlined above.

SUMMARY

An aircraft emergency services call management system enables each passenger wireless device operating on an aircraft and serviced by an onboard wireless cellular network to be assigned a separate Internet Protocol (IP) address, thereby enabling the delivery of wireless services to each identified wireless device.

Claims (13)

1. A system for providing emergency services communication on an aircraft, comprising:

an aircraft network located in the aircraft for exchanging communication signals with communication devices of at least one of aircraft crew and passengers of the aircraft;

a connection component for connecting to a ground-based access network for simultaneously exchanging communication signals with at least one of a public safety access point and a government safety agency, and an airline operating the aircraft;

an air-to-ground network for communicating the communication signals between the aircraft network and the ground-based access network to establish communication between the communication device and the ground-based communication network by exchanging at least one of network signaling or management data and user traffic over different simultaneously available logical channels between the aircraft network and the ground-based communication network; and

an emergency services communication system, responsive to initiation of an emergency services call from transmission of an emergency services access code by a particular communication device of a particular passenger or a particular one of one or more aircraft crew members of the aircraft, comprising a conferencing component for simultaneously interconnecting the particular communication device of the particular aircraft crew member or the particular passenger with at least two of:

(1) another communication device located at another aircraft crew member in the aircraft, via the aircraft network;

(2) the public safety access point;

(3) the airline operating the aircraft; or

(4) The government safety agencies of the group are,

wherein each of (2), (3), and (4) is interconnected with the particular communication device via the aircraft network, the air-to-ground network, and the ground-based access network;

wherein the government safety agency determines an action plan;

wherein the course of action includes changing a heading of the aircraft to an altered destination airport;

wherein the emergency services communication system further comprises:

an alert generator to generate an emergency alert in response to an operator at the public safety access point for forwarding the generated emergency alert to emergency service personnel at a destination to which the aircraft is set to fly.

2. A system for providing emergency services communication on an aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the emergency services communication system comprises:

caller identification, responsive to the particular passenger of the aircraft initiating the emergency services call, for identifying the particular passenger of the aircraft and the aircraft.

3. The system for providing emergency services communication on an aircraft of claim 2, wherein the emergency services communication system further comprises:

a hand-off module for interconnecting an operator at the public safety access point with the government safety agency.

4. A system for providing emergency services communication on an aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the emergency services communication system comprises:

a caller identification, responsive to the particular aircraft crew member initiating the emergency services call, for identifying the particular aircraft crew member and the aircraft,

wherein the emergency services communication system simultaneously interconnects the communication devices of the particular aircraft crew member of the aircraft with the public safety access point via the aircraft network, the air-to-ground network, and the ground-based access network.

5. The system for providing emergency services communication on-board an aircraft of claim 4, wherein the emergency services communication system further comprises:

a hand-off module for interconnecting an operator at the public safety access point with a government safety agency.

6. A method of providing emergency services communication on an aircraft, comprising:

exchanging communication signals with a communication device of at least one of an aircraft crew and a passenger of the aircraft via an aircraft network located in the aircraft;

simultaneously exchanging communication signals with at least one of a public safety access point and a government safety agency and an airline operating the aircraft via a ground-based access network;

communicating the communication signals between the aircraft network and the ground-based access network via an air-to-ground network to establish communication between the communication device and the ground-based communication network by exchanging at least one of network signaling or management data and user traffic over different simultaneously available logical channels between the aircraft network and the ground-based communication network; and

simultaneously interconnecting, via a conferencing component and in response to initiation of an emergency service call from a transmission of an emergency service access code by a particular communication device of a particular aircraft crew member or a particular passenger of the aircraft, the particular communication device of the particular aircraft crew member or a particular passenger of the aircraft with at least two of:

(1) another communication device located at another aircraft crew member in the aircraft, via the aircraft network;

(2) the public safety access point;

(3) the airline operating the aircraft; or

(4) The government safety agencies of the group are,

wherein each of (2), (3), and (4) is interconnected with the particular communication device via the aircraft network, the air-to-ground network, and the ground-based access network;

wherein the government safety agency determines an action plan;

wherein the course of action includes changing a heading of the aircraft to an altered destination airport;

wherein the step of simultaneously interconnecting further comprises:

in response to an operator at the public safety access point generating an emergency alert, forwarding the generated emergency alert to emergency service personnel at a destination to which the aircraft is set to fly.

7. The method for providing emergency services communications onboard an aircraft of claim 6, wherein the step of simultaneously interconnecting includes:

identifying the particular passenger of the aircraft in response to the particular passenger initiating the emergency service call.

8. The method for providing emergency services communications onboard an aircraft of claim 6, wherein said simultaneously interconnecting further comprises:

interconnecting an operator at the public safety access point with the government safety agency.

9. The method for providing emergency services communications onboard an aircraft of claim 6, wherein the step of simultaneously interconnecting includes:

identifying the particular aircraft crew member in response to the particular aircraft crew member initiating the emergency services call; and

wherein the step of automatically interconnecting interconnects the communication devices of the particular aircraft crew member of the aircraft with the public safety access point via the air-to-ground network and the ground-based access network.

10. The method for providing emergency services communications onboard an aircraft of claim 9, wherein the simultaneously interconnecting step further comprises:

interconnecting an operator at the public safety access point with a government safety agency.

11. A system for providing emergency services communication on an aircraft, comprising:

an aircraft network located in the aircraft for exchanging communication signals with communication devices of at least one of aircraft crew and passengers of the aircraft;

a connection component for connecting to a ground-based access network for simultaneously exchanging communication signals with at least one of a public safety access point and a government safety agency, and an airline operating the aircraft;

an air-to-ground network for communicating the communication signals between the aircraft network and the ground-based access network to establish communication between the communication device and the ground-based communication network by exchanging at least one of network signaling or management data and user traffic over different simultaneously available logical channels between the aircraft network and the ground-based communication network;

an emergency services communication system, responsive to initiation of an emergency services call from transmission of an emergency services access code by a particular communication device of a particular passenger or a particular one of one or more aircraft crew members of the aircraft, comprising a conferencing component for simultaneously interconnecting the particular communication device of the particular passenger or the particular aircraft crew member of the aircraft with at least two of:

(1) another communication device located at another aircraft crew member in the aircraft, via the aircraft network;

(2) the public safety access point;

(3) the airline operating the aircraft; or

(4) The government safety agencies of the group are,

wherein each of (2), (3), and (4) is interconnected with the particular communication device via the aircraft network, the air-to-ground network, and the ground-based access network;

wherein the government safety agency determines an action plan;

wherein the course of action includes changing a heading of the aircraft to an altered destination airport; and

an alert generator that, in response to an operator at the public safety access point generating an emergency alert, forwards the generated emergency alert to emergency service personnel at a destination to which the aircraft is set to fly.

12. The system for providing emergency services communication on-board an aircraft of claim 11, wherein the emergency services communication system further comprises:

a hand-off module for interconnecting an operator at the public safety access point with the government safety agency.

13. A method of providing emergency services communication on an aircraft, comprising:

exchanging communication signals with a communication device of at least one of an aircraft crew and a passenger of the aircraft via an aircraft network located in the aircraft;

simultaneously exchanging communication signals with at least one of a public safety access point and a government safety agency and an airline operating the aircraft via a ground-based access network;

communicating the communication signals between the aircraft network and the ground-based access network via an air-to-ground network to establish communication between the communication device and the ground-based communication network by exchanging at least one of network signaling or management data and user traffic over different simultaneously available logical channels between the aircraft network and the ground-based communication network; and

simultaneously interconnecting, via a conferencing component and in response to initiation of an emergency service call from a transmission of an emergency service access code by a particular communication device of a particular aircraft crew member or a particular passenger of the aircraft, the particular communication device of the particular aircraft crew member or the particular passenger with at least two of:

(1) another communication device located at another aircraft crew member in the aircraft, via the aircraft network;

(2) the public safety access point;

(3) the airline operating the aircraft; or

(4) The government safety agencies of the group are,

wherein each of (2), (3), and (4) is interconnected with the particular communication device via the aircraft network, the air-to-ground network, and the ground-based access network; and

linking the communication device of the particular passenger with at least two of:

(1) said another communication device of said another at least one aircraft crew member located in said aircraft, via said aircraft network;

(2) the public safety access point;

(3) the airline operating the aircraft; or

(4) The government safety agencies of the group are,

wherein each of (2), (3), and (4) is interconnected with the particular communication device via the aircraft network, the air-to-ground network, and the ground-based access network,

wherein the government safety agency determines an action plan;

wherein the course of action includes changing a heading of the aircraft to an altered destination airport;

wherein the step of automatically interconnecting further comprises:

in response to an operator at the public safety access point generating an emergency alert, forwarding the generated emergency alert to emergency service personnel at a destination to which the aircraft is set to fly.