Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) E911 metro street address guide (MSAG) validation
View Patent ↗An overlay list of MSAG-valid addresses is created for use in lieu of (or in addition to) the lat/lon or postal address which otherwise would go with an E911 VoIP 911 call. This overlays the nation with a series of MSAG-addressed polygons, with center points identified in those polygons, and MSAG-valid addresses provided to the PSAPs for those centers, preferably along with the original latitude/longitude coordinates.
1. A method of providing location information to a requesting device, comprising:
receiving, at a physical server, latitude/longitude information associated with a voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) caller device;
associating, at said physical server, said latitude/longitude information with a pre-defined geographic polygon enclosing said latitude/longitude from a polygon street validation database including a plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons;
retrieving, at said physical server, a validated street address associated with a center area point of said geographic polygon; and
routing said validated street address associated with said geographic polygon to a public safety answering point (PSAP);
wherein said pre-defined geographic polygon is associated with a unique validated street address.
2. The method of providing location information to a requesting device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
providing said latitude/longitude information together with said validated street address to said requesting device.
3. The method of providing location information to a requesting device according to claim 1 , wherein:
said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons do not overlap one another geographically.
4. The method of providing location information to a requesting device according to claim 1 , wherein:
a center area point of each of said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons each have a respective validated street address associated therewith.
5. The method of providing location information to a requesting device according to claim 4 , wherein:
each of said respective validated street addresses are unique.
6. The method of providing location information to a requesting device according to claim 1 , wherein:
said geographic polygon is defined by a series of latitude/longitude coordinates.
7. The method of providing location information to a requesting device according to claim 1 , wherein:
said requesting device is a physical network server.
8. A method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device, comprising:
receiving a request for a validated street address of a given Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling device;
obtaining a current latitude/longitude (lat/lon) of said VoIP calling device from a physical VoIP positioning center (VPC) server;
mapping said lat/lon of said VoIP calling device into one of a plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons maintained in a polygon street validation database;
providing a validated street address associated with a center area point of a one of said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons enclosing said lat/lon of said VoIP calling device;
wherein said lat/lon of said VoIP calling device is enclosed by only one of said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons maintained in said polygon street validation database.
9. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 8 , further comprising:
providing said lat/lon of said VoIP calling device with said validated street address to said requesting device.
10. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 8 , wherein:
said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons do not overlap one another geographically.
11. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 8 , wherein:
each of said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons are associated with a unique validated street address.
12. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 11 , wherein:
a center point of each of said plurality of pre-defined geographic polygons each have a respective validated street address associated therewith.
13. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 12 , wherein:
each of said respective validated street addresses are unique.
14. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 8 , wherein:
said geographic polygon is defined by a series of latitude/longitude coordinates.
15. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 8 , wherein:
said requesting device is a physical network server.
16. The method of providing a validated street address to a requesting device according to claim 8 , wherein:
said requesting device is a public safety answering point (PSAP).