System and method for scalable geographic addressing framework

1. A method for transmitting geographic addressing data to devices in an area, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first bridge device at a first tier, a geographic addressing packet destined for a target region containing a plurality of devices;

applying a first bridging function at the first bridge device using the geographic address packet to determine whether to transmit the geographic addressing packet, wherein the first bridging function utilizes certain information based on the geographic addressing packet;

determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to a second tier based on the first bridging function indicating that the geographic addressing packet should be transmitted to the second tier;

determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to a third tier based on the first bridging function indicating that the geographic addressing packet should be transmitted to the third tier; and

in response to determining that the third tier is a georouter tier, transmitting the geographic addressing packet to a georouter server that decides to send the geographic addressing packet to a second bridge device using a second bridging function, wherein the second bridge device connects to a fourth tier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first tier is a second georouter tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communications network and a wireless network, and the second tier is a geocast tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first tier is a geocast tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communications network, and the second tier is a second georouter tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first tier is a first geocast tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communication network, and the second tier is a second geocast tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first tier is a second georouter tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communication network, and the second tier is a third georouter tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the geographic addressing packet comprises a common operating picture update that is to be distributed to the plurality of devices, wherein the second tier comprises a non-bridge device receiving the geographic addressing packet, and wherein the non-bridge device decrypts a header of the geographic addressing packet to determine whether to send the geographic addressing packet including the common operating picture update to another device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

after receipt of the geographic addressing packet at the fourth tier located in the target region, distributing the geographic addressing packet by the fourth tier to the plurality of devices.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the geographic addressing packet is secured by a shared session key encryption system administered by a field security administrator.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to the second tier is in response to the first bridging function returning a true response.

10. An apparatus for transmitting geographic addressing data to devices in an area comprising:

a processor; and

a memory to store computer program instructions, the computer program instructions when executed on the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a first bridge device at a first tier, a geographic addressing packet destined for a target region containing a plurality of devices;

applying a first bridging function at the first bridge device using the geographic address packet to determine whether to transmit the geographic addressing packet, wherein the first bridging function utilizes certain information based on the geographic addressing packet;

determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to a second tier based on the first bridging function indicating that the geographic addressing packet should be transmitted to the second tier;

determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to a third tier based on the first bridging function indicating that the geographic addressing packet should be transmitted to the third tier; and

in response to determining that the third tier is a georouter tier, transmitting the geographic addressing packet to a georouter server that decides to send the geographic addressing packet to a second bridge device using a second bridging function, wherein the second bridge device connects to a fourth tier.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first tier is a second georouter tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communications network and a wireless network, and the second tier is a geocast tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first tier is a geocast tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communications network, and the second tier is a second georouter tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first tier is a first geocast tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communication network, and the second tier is a second geocast tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first tier is a second georouter tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communication network, and the second tier is a third georouter tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the geographic addressing packet comprises a common operating picture update that is to be distributed to the plurality of devices, wherein the second tier comprises a non-bridge device receiving the geographic addressing packet, and wherein the non-bridge device decrypts a header of the geographic addressing packet to determine whether to send the geographic addressing packet including the common operating picture update to another device.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to the second tier is in response to the first bridging function returning a true response.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , the operations further comprising:

after receipt of the geographic addressing packet at the fourth tier located in the target region, distributing the geographic addressing packet by the fourth tier to the plurality of devices.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program instructions for transmitting geographic addressing data to devices in an area, which, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a first bridge device at a first tier, a geographic addressing packet destined for a target region containing a plurality of devices;

applying a first bridging function at the first bridge device using the geographic address packet to determine whether to transmit the geographic addressing packet, wherein the first bridging function utilizes certain information based on the geographic addressing packet;

determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to a second tier based on the first bridging function indicating that the geographic addressing packet should be transmitted to the second tier;

determining to transmit the geographic addressing packet to a third tier based on the first bridging function indicating that the geographic addressing packet should be transmitted to the third tier; and

in response to determining that the third tier is a georouter tier, transmitting the geographic addressing packet to a georouter server that decides to send the geographic addressing packet to a second bridge device using a second bridging function, wherein the second bridge device connects to a fourth tier.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the first tier is a second georouter tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communications network and a wireless network, and the second tier is a geocast tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the first tier is a geocast tier comprising the first bridge device, wherein the first bridge device communicates via a mobile communications network, and the second tier is a second georouter tier comprising devices that communicate via a wireless network.