Wireless protocols for emergency message transmission

1. A local area network (LAN), comprising a base station in signal communication with a plurality of nodes, wherein:

each node is configured to:

detect an emergency event,

detect a triggering event,

wait a listening interval, and

transmit an emergency message to the base station; and

wherein the listening interval is one or more of:

less than one SIFS in length, a SIFS being an amount of time that the base station delays before sending a CTS message;

less than one PIFS in length, a PIFS being an amount of time that a base station delays before sending a polling message; and

less than one DIFS in length, a DIFS being an amount of time that a node delays before sending an RTS message,

wherein the node is further configured to:

determine, following the detection of the emergency event, whether a DAT message is in progress;

determine that transmission of the DAT message has finished;

determine that transmission of an ACK message associated with the DAT message has finished; and then

transmit, less than one DIFS after the ACK message, the emergency message.

2. The LAN of claim 1 , wherein the node is further configured to transmit, less than one SIFS after the ACK message, the emergency message.

3. A local area network (LAN), comprising a base station in signal communication with a plurality of nodes, wherein:

each node is configured to:

detect an emergency event, detect a triggering event, wait a listening interval, and transmit an emergency message to the base station; and

the listening interval is one or more of:

less than one SIFS in length, a SIFS being an amount of time that the base station delays before sending a CTS message;

less than one PIFS in length, a PIFS being an amount of time that a base station delays before sending a polling message; and

less than one DIFS in length, a DIFS being an amount of time that a node delays before sending an RTS message, wherein a field of the emergency message includes information specifying a location of the emergency and a type of emergency response desired, the information being in human-readable form after demodulation, decoding, and conversion to alphanumeric symbols.

4. A method for responding to an emergency event, comprising:

detecting the emergency event;

then detecting a triggering event;

then waiting a listening interval;

then transmitting an emergency message;

receiving or attempting to receive a reply to the emergency message;

upon receiving a reply comprising a transmit command, transmitting a follow-on emergency message;

upon receiving a reply comprising a retransmit command, retransmitting the emergency message; and

upon failing to receive a reply during a period greater than one SIFS and less than one DIFS, retransmitting the emergency message, and

wherein the listening interval is at least one of: less than one DIFS; less than one PIFS; or less than one SIFS;

or

wherein the transmitting is configured to preempt non-emergency messages.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the retransmit command comprises a CTS message configured to instruct a node to retransmit a previously-transmitted first DAT message, and the transmit command comprises a CTS message configured to instruct the node to transmit a second DAT message.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the transmit command comprises a CTS message with a Frame Control field having a Retry bit set to a first value, and the retransmit command comprises a CTS message with a Frame Control field having a Retry bit set to a second value different from the first value.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the emergency message includes a Receiver Address field equal to a predetermined value indicating that any base station receiving the emergency message may respond.

8. A local area network (LAN), comprising a base station in signal communication with a plurality of nodes, wherein:

each node is configured to: detect an emergency event, detect a triggering event, wait a listening interval, and transmit an emergency message to the base station; and

the base station is configured to: receive the emergency message, transfer the emergency message or data derived therefrom to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), and transmit a reply to the node that transmitted the emergency message;

wherein the reply begins less than one DIFS after the emergency message ends.

9. The LAN of claim 8 , wherein the base station is configured to:

determine that a message is an emergency message and is corrupted;

decode one or more decodable portions of the emergency message; and

relay at least some of the decoded portion or portions, or data derived therefrom, to a PSAP.

10. The LAN of claim 8 , wherein the portion or portions comprise one or more of:

a Frame Control field of the emergency message;

a Duration field of the emergency message;

a Transmitter Address field of the emergency message;

a Sequence Control field of the emergency message;

a Data field of the emergency message; or

the entire emergency message.

11. The LAN of claim 8 , wherein the reply comprises:

when the emergency message indicates that further messages are available, a CTS;

when the emergency message indicates that no further messages are available, an ACK; and

when the emergency message fails to indicate whether further messages are available, a CTS.

12. The LAN of claim 8 , wherein the base station is configured to determine whether the emergency message is corrupted; and

to transmit, when the emergency message is found to be corrupted, a message instructing the node to retransmit the emergency message.

13. The LAN of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining whether the emergency message includes a Receiver Address field equal to a predetermined value indicating that any base station within range may respond to the emergency message;

upon determining that the emergency message includes a Receiver Address field equal to the predetermined value, performing a backoff delay comprising a randomly-selected portion of a predetermined delay range;

determining whether a base station has responded to the emergency message;

upon determining that no base station has responded to the emergency message, transmitting a reply message to the emergency node; and

communicating the emergency message, or data derived therefrom, to a PSAP.

14. The LAN of claim 13 , further comprising:

detecting a signal quality of the received emergency message; and

adjusting the predetermined delay range according to the signal quality.

15. The LAN of claim 14 , wherein the adjusting comprises:

when the signal quality is below a first threshold, setting the predetermined delay range to a first value;

when the signal quality is above the first threshold and below a second threshold, setting the predetermined delay range to a second value shorter than the first value;

when the signal quality is above the second threshold, setting the predetermined delay range to a third value shorter than the second value;

waiting a randomly selected interval according to the delay range value so adjusted; and then

transmitting the reply to the emergency node.

16. The LAN of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining whether the emergency message is corrupted;

upon determining that the emergency message is corrupted, transmitting, within a delay time of less than one DIFS, a retransmit command to the emergency node.

17. The LAN of claim 16 , wherein the retransmit command comprises a CTS message with a bit or bits set to a value instructing the node to retransmit a previously transmitted DAT message, or wherein the retransmit command is configured to cause the node to retransmit a previously transmitted DAT message.

18. The LAN of claim 12 , further comprising:

detecting a message from an emergency node;

determining that the message is corrupted;

determining that one or more portions of the message are decodable;

determining, from the one or more decodable portions, that the message is an emergency message;

determining, from the one or more decodable portions, data about an emergency;

communicating the data to a PSAP; and

transmitting a retransmit command to the emergency node.

19. The LAN of claim 8 , wherein the node, the base station, and the emergency message are configured to be compatible with 5G and future 6G wireless technology.