System and method for gathering data from wireless communications networks

• US 20060270401A1
• Filed: 02/24/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Telephia Incorporated (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Heidohrn, Mark, Frangione, Tom, Oyler, John, Peyrat, Alan
• Granted Patent: US 7,505,765 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/423
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

A system and method for gathering data from wireless communication networks, the wireless communication network including a plurality of cell sites, mobile subscriber units, and a mobile telephone switching office. The data gathering system comprises a plurality of data gathering nodes and a control center. Each data gathering node comprises multiple receivers, with each receiver gathering data from a different wireless communication network. Stored data at the control center is processed to generate marketing information on each wireless communication network.

Claims

1. A system for gathering data from a plurality of wireless communication networks, said system comprising:

a plurality of data gathering nodes, each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes comprising;

an antenna system; and

a plurality of receivers tuned to gather data from the plurality of wireless communication networks, each receiver of said plurality of receivers coupled to said antenna; and

a control center coupled to said plurality of data gathering nodes, said control center processing data received from said plurality of data gathering nodes.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes further comprises a local processor and storage device, coupled to said plurality of receivers.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising a network linkage coupled between said plurality of receivers and said control center, said network linkage sending stored data from said plurality of receivers to said control center.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said network linkage comprises a modem.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of receivers comprise N receivers, where N is an integer greater than one and equal to the number of wireless communication networks from which data is being gathered, and wherein each receiver at a data gathering node gathers data from a wireless communication network that is different from other wireless communication networks from which data is gathered by other receivers of said data gathering node.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the control center further comprises a relational database for storing data gathered by said plurality of data gathering nodes.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said relational database utilizes event type, cell location, market location, carrier location, and frequency band relational tables to cross-reference index value meanings in a user information table for each event.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising an offline storage media for archiving and backup of the data gathered by said plurality of data gathering nodes.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising a data mining application that processes the data gathered by said plurality of data gathering nodes to produce marketing and usage characterization information useful for wireless communication network service providers to determine their relative strengths and weaknesses to other wireless communication network service providers.'"'"'

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said marketing and usage characterization information produced comprises information on subscriber share, call share, number of new subscribers, and number of churning subscribers for each wireless communication network of the plurality of wireless communication networks.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said control center transmits instructions modifying receiver data gathering settings to each receiver of said plurality of receivers.

12. In a plurality of wireless communication networks, each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprising a layout of cell sites divided into location areas that overlap the cell layout of each other wireless communication network in a given geographic area, the system of claim 1 wherein:

at least one data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes is placed in a different location area of each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks allowing it to gather data from a group of cell sites; and

each data gathering node gathers data for a time period from a first cell in a cell group of each wireless communication network, then gathers data for a time period from a second cell in a cell group of each wireless communication network, and then gathers data for a time period from each cell in a cell group of each wireless communication network until data has been gathered for all cells in a cell group of each wireless communication network.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein said data gathering nodes are fixed, transportable, or a combination of fixed and transportable.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein each receiver of said plurality of receivers encrypts portions of the data gathered by each receiver of said plurality of receivers into unique subscriber identifiers to protect subscriber identities.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein each receiver of said plurality of receivers generates a unique subscriber identifier for each different subscriber from the RF fingerprint of the signal received.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein each receiver of said plurality of receivers filters the data that said receiver has gathered to remove private or extraneous data before sending the data to said control center.

17. The system of claim 2 wherein said local processor encrypts portions of the data gathered by said plurality of receivers into unique subscriber identifiers prior to storage at said storage device.

18. A system for gathering data from a plurality of wireless communication networks, said system comprising:

A means for gathering data from a plurality of geographic locations in a plurality of wireless communication networks, said means comprising;

means for receiving electromagnetic energy at each cell group of said plurality of cell groups; and

means for gathering data from a plurality of wireless communication networks at each cell group of said plurality of cell groups; and

means for storing the data gathered from said plurality of geographic locations.

19. The system of claim 18 further comprising a means for processing the data gathered from said plurality of geographic locations to produce marketing and usage characterization information.

20. A method for gathering data from a plurality of wireless communication networks comprising the steps of:

deploying a plurality of data gathering nodes at various geographic locations in a plurality of wireless communication networks;

gathering data at said plurality of data gathering nodes from each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

processing the data at a control center.