Method for monitoring cellular communication, and system therefor

• US 20030100317A1
• Filed: 12/19/2002
• Published: 05/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellint Traffic Solutions Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Joseph Kaplan, Ofer Avni
• Inventors: Avni, Ofer, Kaplan, Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 6,947,835 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

A system and method that continuously extracts traffic load and speed on roads within the coverage area of a cellular network. The data is extracted directly from the higher level of communications in a cellular network without using any external sensors. The cellular data used by the system includes cell handover sequences as the major input. The method consists of a learn phase in which a vehicle with a location device (say GPS system) travels across the covered routes and collects the cellular data and location data in parallel. In the continuous data collection stage the cellular data is processed and correlated to the data collected in the learn phase to yield the route and exact location of the vehicle on it. Each such two locations yield the travel distance and time, and thus the driving speed in this route section. This procedure is performed continuously across the covered area to yield the traffic load and speed.

Claims

1. A method for correlating a car with the road it travels on based on cellular communication comprises of:

Recording handover sequences for each relevant route, together with the exact location of each handover as a location reference.

Conducting analysis of new handover sequences from new calls (that do not contain location reference) in conjunction with the recorded handover sequences in order to relate the new handover sequence to the route it occurred on and determine the new handover sequence location accurately.

2. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the method is used for measuring time of driving between two points in a route based on cellular communication comprises of;

Correlating a series of handovers to a specific route as described in (‘

1’

).

Extracting time of driving by measuring time difference between handover locations.

3. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the method is used for measuring traffic speed based on cellular communication comprises of;

Correlating a series of handovers to a specific route as described in (‘

1’

).

Extracting speed by comparing time difference between handover locations and their physical distance.

4. A method as described in claim (‘

1’

) where relating each series of handovers to a specific route Includes;

Collecting groups of route section candidates that conform to the handover data and their timing.

Identifying the specific route by a screening process that eliminates sections that do not form a continuous route.

5. A method as described in claim (‘

1’

) where conducting route analysis that relates chains of handovers to specific routes includes;

Comparison process that can link similar (but non identical) sequences from the same routes

Screening process that eliminates sequences that can be related to more than one route

6. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is extracted from cellular switch

7. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is extracted between the cellular switch and the base-station controller

8. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is extracted from other parts of the cellular network

9. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is extracted from the mobile unit

10. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is sent to the analysis center through WAP.

11. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is sent to the analysis center through SMS

12. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is derived from a mobile unit not engaged in a call that delivers cell change information through the cellular system to the extraction center.

13. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is derived from a mobile unit engaged in a call

14. A method as in claim (‘

1’

) where as the information is derived from a mobile unit engaged in a call that delivers handover information through the cellular system to the extraction center