Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)

Transcription

1 An Overview of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) October 9, 2008 Presented By: Art Prest Courtesy of: Brian K Daly Gary K Jones Doug Rutledge

2 Agenda Regulatory Aspects WARN Act and FCC Rules Definition of a CMAS Alert CMAS Architecture CMAS Mobile Devices GSM/UMTS Cell Broadcast for CMAS CDMA Cell Broadcast for CMAS CMAS Industry Standards Effort

3 Regulatory Aspects: WARN Act and FCC Rules

4 WARN Act Overview Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act U.S. Congress Passed the WARN Act as Part of SAFE Port Act on September 20, 2006 Signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday October 13 th, 2006 Required the FCC to Establish a Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee (CMSAAC) within 60 days of enactment First Meeting was December 12, 2006; final meeting October 3, 2007 Membership by appointment of the FCC Chairman Tasked for development of system-critical recommendations

5 WARN Act Timeline Oct-06 WARN Act Enactment Dec-06 FCC Establishes Advisory Committee Apr-07 FCC Defines Unserved Rural Communities Oct-07 Advisory Committee Recommendations to FCC Jan-08 FCC Issues Rules on Broadcasters Apr-08 FCC Adopts Standards Aug-08 FCC Issues Rules Allowing Mobile Operators to Transmit Alerts Sep-08 Operators File Elections on EAS Service Jan-07 Apr-07 Jul-07 Oct-07 Jan-08 Apr-08 Jul-08 Oct-08 Oct-06 Dec-08 Dec-06 - Oct-07 Development of System-Critical Recommendations By Advisory Committee Oct-07 - Apr-08 FCC Defines Commercial Mobile Service Regulations Apr-08 - Aug-08 FCC Amends Commercial Mobile Service License

6 WARN Act Requirements Voluntary Commercial Mobile Service Providers (CMSP) were required to make an Election to Transmit or Not Transmit Emergency Alerts in September 2008 Elections can be in whole or in part If elect not to transmit, must notify subscribers and provide notification at point-of-sale If elect to transmit, must comply with standards, protocols, procedures, and regulations adopted by FCC For CMSPs that Elect to Transmit Alerts: Presidential-level Alerts must be transmitted May offer subscriber opt-out capability for other classes of alerts No Fee for Service Transmission in languages in addition to English to the extent practical and feasible Liability Protections, including: any act or omission related to or any harm resulting from the transmission of, or the failure to transmit, and emergency alert

7 Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee Purpose Develop and submit to FCC recommendations regarding technical standards and protocols to enable participating CMSPs to transmit emergency alerts to subscribers Recommendations due to FCC one year from WARN Act enactment (delivered October 12, 2007) Comprised of a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives from state, local, and tribal governments; vendors, developers and manufacturers; technical experts; other governmental agencies; and wireless service providers

8 FCC First Report & Order Rules Requires CMSP to provide a CMSP Gateway must provide secure, redundant, and reliable connections to receive Alert Messages from the Federal alert gateway Support CMSP profile on Federal Alert Gateway support the defined CMAS C interface and associated protocols Defined three classes of alerts: Presidential Imminent Threat Child Abduction Emergency CMAS Alert is 90 English Characters containing: Event Type; Area Affected; Recommended Action; Expiration Time (with time zone); and Sending Agency Embedding a phone number or URL is prohibited CMSP is not required to perform any formatting, reformatting, or translation of an Alert Message except for transcoding a text, audio, video, or multimedia file into the format supported by mobile devices Multilanguage English only required Support while Roaming If roaming agreement in place and CMSP and mobile device supports CMAS Pre-emption of calls in progress CMAS shall not pre-empt p an active voice or data session Standardized Audio Attention Signal and Vibration Cadence on mobile devices Geo-targeting to the county level is minimum requirement Delivery technology Reference Points D and E protocols are defined and controlled by each Participating CMS Provider

9 FCC Third Report & Order CMSPs election to participate shall occur on September 8, CMSP development, testing & deployment starts 10 months after Government Interface specification is issued by FEMA. If FEMA Government Interface specification is not issued by December 31, 2008, FCC will reconvene emergency meeting of the CMSAAC to address the issuance of the Government Interface specification. CMSPs have 18 months for development, testing, and deployment following the 10 month interval defined above. Federal Alert Gateway and Alert Aggregator g should collaborate with participating CMSPs to test the CMAS.

10 FCC Third Report & Order when do carrier s notify subscribers? Sixty (60) days following an announcement by the Commission i that t the Alert Aggregator/Gateway system is operational and capable of delivering emergency alerts to participating CMS providers

11 FCC Third Report & Order Withdrawal of Election CMSP may withdraw its election without regulatory penalty or forfeiture if it notifies all affected subscribers as well as the Federal Communications Commission at least sixty (60) days prior to the withdrawal of its election the carrier must notify each affected subscriber individually in clear and conspicuous language citing the statute inform the customer that he or she no longer could expect to receive alerts and of his or her right to terminate service as a result, without penalty or early termination fee Such notice must facilitate the ability of a customer to automatically respond and immediately discontinue service

12 FCC Third Report & Order Subscriber Opt-out t CMSAAC Recommended subscribers be provided a simple way to opt out of CMAS alerts except for Presidential alerts CMSPs may provide subscribers with the option to opt out of both, or either, the Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alert and Imminent Threat Alert classes of Alert Messages Imminent Threat defined by specific severity-urgency-certainty values in the alert message CMSPs shall provide their subscribers with a clear indication of what each option means, and provide examples of the types of messages the customer may not receive as a result of opting-out

13 Latest CMAS Deployment Timeline from the FCC Rules Begin Subscriber Notification

14 Definition of a CMAS Alert

15 Scope & Definition of CMAS Alerts A CMAS Alert Message processed by a Participating CMS Provider must not exceed 90 characters of alphanumeric text Generated by the Alert Gateway based on information in the received CAP message Is an effective limit to allow the message to be delivered and actually be read Expect that as CMAS providers eventually deploy technologies capable of messages of more than 90 characters, additional alert message elements will be implemented Three classes of alerts: Presidential Imminent Threat Alert Child Abduction Emergency or AMBER Alert Only alerts that are imminent threat to life & property will be delivered to mobile devices Notification service not information service Subscribers are more likely to opt out if they are bombarded by minor notices, and may fail to notice a truly serious alert Inclusion of minor events would be an unnecessary burden on the CMS provider infrastructure

16 CMAS Text Service Profile Initial CMAS text profile is a 90 English character text-based message Text is viewed as the lowest common denominator Must account for all mobile devices, low end to high end Streaming audio & video, multimedia defined for future consideration Text string generated by the Alert Gateway from the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) elements Tornado Warning in this Area until 7:00pm PDT Take Shelter Now NWS Free form text capability is provided (especially for Presidential, Amber Alerts), but a federal policy needs to be developed on what should be sent

17 CMAS Alert Message Content Format designed to ensure that the most critical information is succinctly and clearly communicated in a manner most compatible with the technical attributes of wireless networks Contents of the message: What s Happening (Event Type or Event Category ) Area affected (in this area) Recommended action (Response description) Expiration time with time zone (Represented as a distinct time e.g., until 09:30 AM EDT) Sending Agency (agency type, i.e. police, fire, national weather service, etc.) Alert Gateway may employ a generic statement such as The President has issued an emergency alert. Check local media for more details Message does not contain phone numbers or URLs Would encourage mass access of the wireless network causing severe network congestion Responsibility for the content of alerts should remain with initiators and the federal government not wireless carriers

18 CMAS Architecture

19 CMAS Architecture Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) CMAS Protocol

20 Alert Aggregator Function Authorization and authentication of 50,000+ alert initiators nationwide Potential of 4,000+ interfaces All messages attributed reliably to an individual id sender All messages accepted from individuals holding a specified credential or from a certified system which required individual credentials

21 Key Federal Alert Gateway Functions Authentication of interactions and validation of alert messages from Federal Alert Aggregator Convert received CAP message into Reference Point C message for CMSP Gateway Generate 90 character English text alert message Process alert messages in a first in first out (FIFO) queuing method Except for Presidential-level alert which will be immediately moved to the top of the queue & processed before all other non-presidential alerts

22 Key CMSP Gateway Functions Authentication of interactions and validation of alert messages from Federal Alert Gateway Will not perform any formatting, re-formatting, or translation of the alert messages other than transcoding for air interface requirements Process alert messages in a first in first out (FIFO) queuing method Except for Presidential-level level alert which will be immediately moved to the top of the queue and processed before all other non-presidential alerts

23 C Interface Each individual CMSP Gateway shall be able to receive alerts from the Federal government alert gateway over a secure interface (i.e., C Interface ) XML-based protocol defined in the CMSAAC Recommendations Currently being standardized in ATIS and TIA The CMSP Gateway will be required to, among other things, to: Manage the CMS provider s election to provide alerts Format alerts received in a manner consistent with the CMS provider s available delivery technology Map alerts to the associated set of cell sites/paging transceivers Manage congestion within the CMS provider s infrastructure

24 Structure of C Interface Message CMAC_Alert_Attributes XML based One Alert Attribute segment One or more Alert Info segments One or more Alert Area segment per Alert Info segment Zero or more Alert Resources segments per Alert Info segment CMAC_protocol_version CMAC_sending_alert_gateway_id CMAC_message_identifier CMAC_referenced_message_identifier (optional) CMAC_special_handling CMAC_sender CMAC_sent_date_time CMAC_status CMAC_message_type CMAC_note (optional) CMAC_original_cap_alert_uri CMAC_Alert_Info CMAC_category CMAC_event_code (optional) CMAC_response_type (optional) CMAC_severity CMAC_urgency CMAC_certainty CMAC_expires_date_time CMAC_sender_name (optional) CMAC_text_language CMAC_text_encoding CMAC_text_alert_message_length length CMAC_text_alert_message CMAC_web (future) CMAC_Alert_Area CMAC_area_description CMAC_polygon (optional) CMAC_circle (optional) CMAC_cmas_geocode CMAC_gnis (optional) CMAC_Resource CMAC_ resource_description (future) CMAC_mime_type (future) CMAC_resource_size (future) CMAC_resource_uri (future) CMAC_resource_digest (future)

25 CAP Message to C Interface Message

26 AT&T Example Scenario Call Flow Call flow for new emergency alert message to be broadcast Reference Point A 1. Alert created Government Alerting Network Reference Point C 2. Alert validated 3. Alert converted 4. CMAM sent to AT&T AT&T Network Reference Point E Mobile Device End User 5. CMAM validated 6. CMAM acknowledged 7. Geo-targeting performed 8. Broadcast CMAM 9. Monitor for CMAM 10. Alert received, alarm issued & alert text displayed 11. Behavior of Mobile Device Beyond This Point Dependent on Mobile Device Vendor Implementations

27 Geo-Targeting Mapping of alert area to cell sites t ll it Red polygon is alert area Yellow cell sites are those providing coverage within polygon Minimum geotargeting requirement is county level If alert area crosses multiple counties, alert may be sent to each county Federal Alert Gateway will supply geotargeting information to CMSPs CMSP can choose to broadcast to smaller geo-target area, i.e. only to alert area indicated d by polygon or circle

28 Commercial Mobile Alert Delivery Technology FCC Rules based upon service profiles No specific delivery technologies specified by FCC Text service profile required Audio, video, and multimedia service profiles for future study Point-to-point delivery technologies such as SMS or MMS not feasible or practical Especially on a nationwide, statewide, or large city scale Point-to-point will quickly congest a network, resulting in significant message delays or messages not delivered, as well as denying voice service Broadcast technology required for effective distribution Uni-direction broadcast of information No response or acknowledge from mobile device Broadcast to all subscribers in alert area

29 Anticipated Traffic Volume Vast majority of emergency alerts issued by National Weather Service (NWS) Flash Flood Warnings & Tornado Warnings account for approximately all warning issued in ,050 Flash Flood Warnings issued in ,189 Tornado Warnings issued in 2006 Approximately 1,200 child abduction emergency/amber Alerts issued per year on a national basis Initial CMAS alerts for a single language of English assumed to be 25,000 per year on a national basis Based upon above statistics & factor of uncertainty Volume expected to increase due to additional usage of alert system Volume expected to increase if additional language beyond English are supported

30 Roaming Roamers can be supported if Mobile device is Cell Broadcast capable Cell Broadcast is activated on mobile device Appropriate Cell Broadcast channels/message IDs activated t CMAS functionality on mobile device highly recommended Special CMAS audio attention signals & vibration cadences Presentation of alert message text without leading overhead control indicators Detection and suppression of presentation of duplicate alert messages

31 CMAS Mobile Devices

32 Mobile Device Requirements New CMAS compliant mobile devices are required Consistent User Experience Across Devices & Operators Common Mobile Device Behavior includes: Reception Control ( subscriber opt-out ) Alerting Audio attention signal and vibration cadence Presentation Functionality and features of the mobile device after the receipt of the alert message will be CMSP and mobile device specific Legacy deployed mobile devices are not required to be supported At a minimum, new CMAS functionality is needed on future mobile devices New mobile devices will be introduced by normal market mobile device lifecycle replacement

33 Key Mobile Device CMAS Functionality Monitor and detect broadcasted emergency alert messages Present emergency alert message to subscriber Presentation controlled by subscriber opt out options on mobile device Presentation including CMAS audio attention signal and vibration cadences as well as textual component of CMAS alert message. Detect and suppress presentation of duplicate emergency alert messages Duplicates can be either from same or different cell sites No acknowledgement or response to received wireless alert message CMAS Alert Reception/Presentation shall not preempt active voice call or data session

34 Subscriber Opt-Out Options Three classes of Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) Message categories: Presidential-level Imminent threat to life and property Child Abduction Emergency or AMBER Alert Presidential-level alert messages must always be presented Recommended subscriber options: Opt out of all messages except Presidential messages Receive only the most extreme alert messages Choice on whether or not to receive AMBER Alerts Subscriber options are maintained on the mobile device for Cell Broadcast

35 Alert Audio Attention Signal & Vibration Cadence (1 of 2) Recommended temporal pattern of audio attention signal One long tone of approximately 2 seconds Followed two short tones of approximately 1 second each Approximately ½ second gap between tones Entire sequence is repeated twice with approximately ½ second between repetitions Mobile device manufacturer specific For devices which have polyphonic capabilities, audio attention signal should consist of the two EAS tones For devices which have only single frequency alert tone capability, audio attention signal be in the low frequency range below 2.5 khz

36 Alert Audio Attention Signal & Vibration Cadence (2 of 2) Vibration cadence for wireless emergency alerts Should be noticeably different from default cadence of mobile device Should be similar to temporal pattern of audio attention signal Mobile device manufacturer specific If both audio attention signal and vibration cadence available Modes do not need to be activated simultaneously Modes do not have to be synchronized Comply with user s s settings in mobile device Silent mode Vibrate only Can not select alert audio attention signal or vibration cadence for any other mobile device function

37 Support of Individuals With Special Needs Mobile Device Behavior recommendations include emergency alert support for individuals with special needs CMAS audio attention signal for emergency alerts CMAS vibration cadence for emergency alerts Some handset models capable of text to speech functionality Clear & simple language whenever possible, with minimal use of abbreviations

38 Battery Life CMSAAC analysis confirmed that battery life is a potential issue with Cell Broadcast Each technology implements text broadcast messaging differently Each technology is deployed with different hardware and software, as well as, different standards releases Battery life impact of CMAS on a state of the art deployment of infrastructure and portable devices targeting optimized battery life could be as high as 40% or more Confirming other industry reports Impact to mobile device battery life can be managed by the CMSP through careful selection of the system parameters For example, use of GSM/UMTS Cell Broadcast DRX (Discontinuous Reception) capability Factors outside the CMSP control impacting battery life include: Number of languages supported Number of alerts sent Alert duration

39 GSM/UMTS Cell Broadcast for CMAS

40 Cell Broadcast Support of CMAS requires no changes to 3GPP Cell Broadcast specifications Cell Broadcast best solution currently available in standards Limited to text only messages Supported by both GSM & UMTS standards State of the Union of Cell Broadcast Service (CBS) Limited deployments and trials in the U.S. Most handsets deployed today do not have cell broadcast capability CBS menus are not visible to subscribers Software for CBS may or may not exist in the handset CBS in handsets have never been tested or validated

41 Cell Broadcast Basics Cell Broadcast is a GSM/UMTS feature that allows a text broadcast to all mobile terminals in a designated geographical area Broadcasts areas can be one cell, many cells, a Location Area, every cell connected to a BSC/RNC, cells in several BSCs/RNCs, or the entire network Cell Broadcast is an unconfirmed push service, meaning that the originator of the message does not know who has received the message Cell broadcast messages can only be received when the mobile is in CS (Circuit Switched) idle mode for GSM or PS (Packet Switched)-Connected Mode for UMTS Implementation of the terminal determines how the Implementation of the terminal determines how the user accesses the message

42 Cell Broadcast Message Each message is assigned an numeric identifier by the operator Serial number parameter Message serial number is part of the message broadcast Each message can contain up to 15 pages (segments) Each page can contain 93 7-bit characters Maximum message length 1,395 7-bit characters The 90 character English CMAS text message only requires one Cell Broadcast page

43 Cell Broadcast Architecture Elements Cell Broadcast Entity (CBE) Service provider or operator CB client application that may send CB messages using the interface provided by the CBC. For wireless emergency alerts, the CBE is the CMSP Gateway Cell Broadcast Center (CBC) Provides the interface for CBE clients, it handles the administration of all CB messages it receives from the CBEs including mapping of geographic areas to cell ids and delivers them to the correct BSC/RNC(s) for broadcast. Base Station / Radio Network Controller (BSC/RNC) Provides the interface to CBC for storage of the cell broadcast messages and routing of the cell broadcast message to the appropriate BTS (Base Transceiver Station) for delivery over the CBCH (Cell Broadcast Channel) or Node B9(s) for delivery over the CTCH (Common Traffic Channel)

44 GSM/UMTS Cell Broadcast Architecture t

45 GSM/UMTS CMAS Cell Broadcast Architecture t GSM UMTS

46 CDMA Cell Broadcast for CMAS

47 Cell Broadcast Referred to in the standards as SMS Cell Broadcast but it is not part of the traditional use of the term SMS. Support of CMAS requires no changes to CDMA Cell Broadcast specifications, but enhancements could evolve. Cell Broadcast is best solution currently available in standards Limited to text only messages Supported by existing CDMA standards Status of Cell Broadcast in U.S. No known deployments in the U.S. All infrastructure manufacturers had the feature imbedded years ago, but it was never commercially used or tested. All manufacturers should have Cell Broadcast commercially available in Most handsets deployed d today do not have cell broadcast enabled Virtually all handsets using Qualcomm chipsets since 2004 can support CB, but no one has enabled the feature. Software may or may not exist in the handset CB in handsets have never been tested or validated

48 Cell Broadcast Basics Cell Broadcast is a CDMA feature that allows a text broadcast to all mobile terminals in a designated geographical area Broadcasts areas can be one cell, many cells, a Location Area, every cell connected to a BSC/RNC, cells in several BSCs/RNCs, or the entire network Cell Broadcast is an unconfirmed push service, meaning that the originator of the message does not know who has received the message Cell broadcast messages can only be received when the mobile is monitoring the paging channel. (Not on a call) Software on the handset determines how the message is displayed and how the user manages the message

49 Cell Broadcast Message Each message is assigned an numeric identifier by the operator Message serial number is part of the message broadcast Each message can contain up to 120 characters The 90 character English CMAS text message requires one Cell Broadcast page. Ninety characters for the alert, and 30 characters for datum such as time, date, alert expiration time, alert type, etc.

50 CDMA Cell Broadcast Architecture t

51 Basic CDMA CMAS Cell Broadcast Architecture t Base Station Alert Gateway XML PMG-0035 C Interface CMSP Gateway (BMC Broadcast Message Center) Q (SMDPP) IS-637, IS-824 Mobile Switchin g Center (MSC) A CMSP gateway signals the MSCs for broadcast of alert messages in CDMA network. Zone Ids can be configured on MSC to identify specific set of cell sectors for broadcast. Broadcast signal to an MSC can indicate: Broadcast to all cells in the MSC Broadcast to specific Zone Ids in the MSC Broadcast to specific Cells in the MSC Cell Site Um

52 Sample CDMA Cell Broadcast Architecture Deployment Elements Federal, State, Local, Agencies CMA (Alerts) generation Alert GW XML CMSP GW (BMC) XML CAP CAP Authentication i and validation i of alerts Maintains CMSP Profiles Alert GW Alert GW Delivery of CMA to CMSPs XML Multiple alert gateways in government domain Government Domain Data Synchronization Heartbeat CMSP GW (BMC) XML Carrier Domain Mated pair of BMC as CMSP Gateway Single point of entry for CMAs Optional separation of CMSP Gateway and Message Center function MC (BMC) MC (BMC) MC (BMC) MC (BMC) IS-824, IS-637 SMDPP IS-824, IS-637 SMDPP IS-824, IS-637 SMDPP IS-824, IS-637 SMDPP MSC MSC MSC MSC Cell site Cell site Cell site Cell site CDMA Network -North CDMA Handsets CDMA Network - South CDMA Network CDMA Network CDMA Handsets - East CDMA Handsets - West CDMA Handsets

53 CMAS Industry Standards Effort

54 CMAS Industry Standards Development Joint ATIS/TIA CMAS Standards Development Specification of C interface between the Federal Alert Gateway & CMSP Gateway Includes requirements on the Federal Alert Gateway to support operations on the C interface Specification of mobile device behavior for CMAS functionality Both these specifications are technology neutral ATIS WTSC s CMAS via GSM/UMTS Cell Broadcast Service Specification Specification for Reference Points D and E within CMSP infrastructure and to the mobile device Mapping of CMAS onto existing GSM/UMTS cell broadcast Goal is no impact to existing cell broadcast standards This specification is in support of GSM/UMTS Note: TIA is also developing a specification for CMAS via CDMA Cell Broadcast GSM-NA Defines assignments of GSM/UMTS Cell Broadcast Message Identifiers for support of U.S. Commercial Mobile Alerts All specifications targeted to be complete in November, 2008