System and method for providing network assisted geographic coordinates for emergency data messaging

1. A method for communicating geographic coordinates with an emergency data message to a public safety answering point (PSAP), said method comprising:

receiving a request from a user to send an emergency data message to a PSAP;

determining whether the emergency data message is actually an emergency message by inspecting at least one data field indicative of the data message being an emergency message, wherein the at least one data field includes an abbreviated dialing code for indicating different types of emergencies;

in response to determining that the emergency data message is an emergency message, determining whether geographic coordinates are locally available;

if so,

obtaining the locally available geographic coordinates; and

including the geographic coordinates in an emergency data message;

otherwise,

requesting geographic coordinates from a network node on a communications network;

receiving the geographic coordinates from the communications network; and

including the geographic coordinates in an emergency data message;

based on the inspection of the abbreviated dialing code, initiating continuous geographic coordinate updates to the PSAP if the abbreviated dialing code indicates a particular type of emergency; and

communicating the emergency data message to a network node on the communications network for routing to the PSAP.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising addressing the emergency data message to a centralized network address associated with the network node that is configured to identify a PSAP local to the user.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether geographic coordinates are locally available includes determining whether GPS coordinates are locally available.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining whether GPS electronics are locally available and, if not, requesting cell/sector information from the communications network.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising communicating the emergency data message without the geographic coordinates if not available within a predetermined time limit.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising if the emergency data message is communicated without geographic coordinates, then in response to receiving geographic coordinates either locally or from the communications network:

generating a second emergency data message with the geographic coordinates; and

communicating the second emergency data message to the communications network.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving a request from a user includes receiving a request by a user activating a single button.

8. A wireless communications device for communicating geographic coordinates with an emergency data message to a public safety answering point (PSAP), said wireless communications device comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver configured to communicate with a wireless communications network;

a processing unit in communication with said memory and transceiver, and configured to:

receive a request from a user to send an emergency data message to a PSAP;

determining whether the emergency data message is actually an emergency message by inspecting at least one data field indicative of the data message being an emergency message, wherein the at least one data field includes an abbreviated dialing code for indicating different types of emergencies;

in response to determining that the emergency data message is an emergency message, determine whether geographic coordinates are locally available;

if so,

obtain the locally available geographic coordinates; and

include the geographic coordinates in an emergency data message; otherwise,

request geographic coordinates from a network node on a communications network;

receive the geographic coordinates from the communications network; and

include the geographic coordinates in an emergency data network;

based on the inspection of the abbreviated dialing code, initiate continuous geographic coordinate updates to the PSAP if the abbreviated dialing code indicates a particular type of emergency; and

communicate the emergency data message to a network node on the communications network for routing to the PSAP.

9. The wireless communications device according to claim 8 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to address the emergency data message to a centralized network address that is configured to identify a PSAP local to the user.

10. The wireless communications device according to claim 8 , further comprising GPS electronics configured to generate GPS coordinates.

11. The wireless communications device according to claim 8 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to determine whether GPS electronics are locally available and, if not, requesting cell/sector information from the communications network.

12. The wireless communications device according to claim 8 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to communicate the emergency data message without the geographic coordinates if not available within a predetermined time limit.

13. The wireless communications device according to claim 12 , wherein if the emergency data message is communicated without geographic coordinates, then in response to receiving geographic coordinates either locally or from the communications network, said processing unit is further configure to:

generate a second emergency data message with the geographic coordinates; and

communicate the second emergency data message to the communications network.

14. The wireless communications device according to claim 8 , further comprising a button in communication with said processing unit, and, in response to being activated by the user, causes a request signal to be communicated to said processing unit.

15. A system for providing network assisted geographic coordinates, said system comprising:

an input/output (I/O) unit configured to communicate with a communication network; and

a processing unit in communication with said I/O unit, and configured to:

determine that a data message received from a wireless communications device via said I/O unit is an emergency data message by inspecting at least one data field indicative of the data message being an emergency message, wherein the at least one data field includes an abbreviated dialing code for indicating different types of emergencies;

in response to determining that the data message is an emergency message, request, via said I/O unit, geographic coordinates of the wireless communications device from a second network node operating on the communications network;

receive the geographic coordinates from the second network node;

include the geographic coordinates with the emergency data message;

based on the inspection of the abbreviated dialing code, initiate continuous geographic coordinate updates to the PSAP if the abbreviated dialing code indicates a particular type of emergency; and

communicate the geographic coordinates with the emergency data message to a third network node.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the second network node includes a mobile positioning center, and wherein the third network node includes a PSAP.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to communicate the geographic coordinates to a third network node with the emergency data message.

18. The system according to claim 15 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

request a short code indicative of the data message being an emergency data message; and

communicate the short code with the emergency data message via the I/O unit over the communications network to the third network node.