PROGRAMMABLE AGENT FOR MONITORING MOBILE COMMUNICATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20100167713A1
• Filed: 12/30/2008
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Carrier Iq
• Inventors: Hoffman, George E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,565,746 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 Generation of reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/085 specially adapted for interworking of IP-based networks with other networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2227 Quality of service monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/205 Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier

Abstract

Systems and methods for collecting data related to events that occur in a wireless network. The method comprises receiving a data reporting profile which includes a series of executable commands which include a series of logical rules governing the manner in which reporting data should be generated and reported, compiling the executable commands of the data reporting profile into collection schema for collecting and reporting the reporting data according to the logical rules of the data reporting profile, creating a plurality of triggering criteria when reporting data should be generated based on the collection schema, creating a plurality of memory where the reporting data may be stored according to the collection schema, and scheduling the transfer of reporting data according to the collection schema.

Claims

1. A method for collecting data associated with a communications system from a wireless device of the system, the method comprising:

receiving a data reporting profile at a data reporting agent of the wireless device which includes a series of executable commands comprising a series of logical rules governing the manner in which reporting data should be created organized, and transmitted;

compiling the executable commands of the data reporting profile at the data reporting agent into collection schema for creating, organizing, and reporting the reporting data according to the logical rules of the data reporting profile;

creating a plurality of triggering criteria when reporting data should be created by the data reporting agent based on the collection schema;

creating a plurality of memory on the device where the reporting data may be stored according to the collection schema;

creating reporting data according to the triggering criteria which describes the operating conditions of the wireless device;

organizing the reporting data according to the collection schema; and

scheduling the transfer of reporting data to the system according to the collection schema.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering criteria comprises input of a key sequence, input of pressing a dedicated key, input of selection of an option from a menu, an erroneous data transfer, a prematurely terminated connection with the system, or an event not automatically recognized by the system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting data comprises any combination of contextual and environmental data about the device, an application operating on the device, a service utilized by the device at or near the time of the user-initiated triggering condition, and the system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein organizing the reporting data comprises using a plurality of filtering criteria of the collection schema to determine whether the reporting data should be stored in the plurality of memory.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein organizing the reporting data comprises using a plurality of aggregating criteria of the collection schema to aggregate into a plurality of metrics packages.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a plurality of uploading criteria based on the collection schema which determines the manner in which the reporting data should be sent to the system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein executable commands of the data reporting profile comprise Forth computer programming commands.

8. In a wireless network that includes a wireless device, a method for collecting that can be used to analyze an event, the method comprising:

receiving a data reporting profile which identifies a plurality of triggering events when reporting data should be created and the manner that the reporting data should be organized and uploaded to the wireless network;

sensing a triggering event;

creating reporting data in response to the triggering event, wherein the reporting data is associated with the triggering event and describes the operating conditions of the wireless device;

preparing a metrics package by organizing the reporting data according to the manner identified in the data reporting profile; and

forwarding the metrics package to the wireless network according to the manner identified in the data reporting profile.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the reporting data includes one or more of:

data describing conditions of the wireless network including signal strength, signal to noise ratio, neighbor list, or any combination thereof, and

data describing the device including current application, device settings, firmware version, user entered data, or any combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the triggering event comprises input of a key sequence, input of pressing a dedicated key, input of selection of an option from a menu, an erroneous data transfer, a prematurely terminated connection with the system, or an event not automatically recognized by the system.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the reporting data in the metrics package comprises any combination of contextual and environmental data about the device, an application operating on the device, a service utilized by the device at or near the time of the user-initiated triggering condition, and the system.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein organizing the reporting data comprises applying a plurality of filtering criteria on the reporting data according to the data reporting profile to determine whether the reporting data should be stored or discarded.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the reporting data determined to be stored is stored in a series of buffers or temporary memory.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein organizing the reporting data comprises applying a plurality of aggregating criteria on the reporting data to aggregate the reporting data into a plurality of metrics packages.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein executable commands of the data reporting profile comprise Forth computer programming commands.

16. The method of claim 8, further comprising annotating the reporting data with an annotation that includes information describing the triggering event.

17. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

storing the metrics package at the device and

transmitting the metrics package to the network at a later time.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the reporting data includes data generated before the triggering event, data generated at a time of the triggering event, and/or data generated after the triggering event.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein the reporting data represents a state of the network and a location of the device within the network at a time of the triggering event.

20. In a wireless network that includes a wireless device, a method for collecting that can be used to analyze an event, the method comprising:

receiving a data reporting profile which identifies a plurality of triggering events when reporting data should be generated and the manner that the data should be organized and uploaded to the wireless network;

sensing a triggering event;

generating reporting data in response to the triggering event, wherein the reporting data is associated with the triggering event and describes conditions of the wireless device;

filtering the reporting data so that only a portion of the reporting data is stored;

storing the portion of stored data in a buffer;

preparing a metrics package by organizing the stored reporting data according to the manner identified in the data reporting profile; and

forwarding the metrics package to the wireless network according to the manner identified in the data reporting profile.