Clearinghouse System, Method, and Process for Inventorying and Acquiring Infrastructure, Monitoring and Controlling Network Performance for Enhancement, and Providing Localized Content in Communication Networks

• US 20120246142A1
• Filed: 06/07/2012
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Theodore S. Rappaport
• Original Assignee: Theodore S. Rappaport
• Inventors: Rappaport, Theodore S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,489,546 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/710
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/177 Initialisation or configuration control processor initialisation G06F9/4405
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment

Abstract

A computerized system, method and process allows telecommunications carriers to find, evaluate and select locations for equipment through direct access to end users, while providing citizens the opportunity to offer the use of their dwelling or other assets to carriers. The system and method further provides a computerized mechanism for (a) creating an inventory and marketplace for available properties for use in telecommunications networks, (b) providing quality and/or performance monitoring and control for wireless communication systems based on data in the clearinghouse, and (c) providing localized content over wireless networks using the clearinghouse.

Claims

1. A clearinghouse system for communications networks, comprising:

one or more computers which interface with a database, said database including

records pertaining to one or more telecommunications carriers which identify infrastructure for one or more telecommunications carriers in terms of one or more of (i) types of equipment and performance characteristics for said types of equipment, (ii) location information including one or more of geographical areas, and (iii) business terms for telecommunications services or for provision of said infrastructure, and

records pertaining to one or more end users which identify one or more of (i) telecommunications assets or devices or equipment owned or controlled by one or more of said end users, (ii) property assets owned or controlled by one or more of said end users, (iii) locations or types of devices or equipment used by one or more of said end users, (iv) performance, quality of service, or perceived quality or value experienced or desired by one or more of said end users at one or more locations, and (v) desired business terms or preferences for use of said telecommunications assets, said devices, said equipment or said property assets by one or more of said end users;

one or more electronic interfaces to said one or more computers which permit said one or more telecommunications carriers or one or more of said end users or one or more third parties to selectively use, view, collect, or catalog information about one or more of (a) available telecommunications assets or properties and locations thereof, (b) locations or types of equipment or devices or property assets used by one or more of said end users (b) the owners or tenants of said available telecommunications assets or properties, (d) infrastructure needs of one or more telecommunications carriers, (e) proposed business terms for fulfilling said infrastructure needs with said telecommunications assets or said property assets, and (f) performance or quality of service or perceived quality or value experienced or desired by one or more of said end users,

wherein notification or access to information associated with said records in said clearinghouse system is provided to either or all of;

one or more of said end users,

one or more of said one or more telecommunications carriers;

one or more of said one or more third parties who are not end users or a telecommunications carrier,

wherein said notification is provided when one or more of the following events occur;

(1) one or more of said end users, or one or more of said one or more telecommunications carriers, or one or more of said third parties who are not end users or a telecommunications carrier request information associated with said records in said clearinghouse system pertaining to either one or more telecommunications carriers or one or more of said end users,

(2) suitable available telecommunications assets or properties for said infrastructure needs of said one or more telecommunications carriers at one or more locations are identified

(3) performance, quality of service, or perceived quality or value of delivered telecommunications service for one or more of said end users, or said one or more telecommunications carriers, becomes worse or better than a specified tolerance or desired performance level as specified by one or more of said end users,

(4) performance, quality of service, or perceived quality or value of delivered telecommunications service for one or more of said end users, or said one or more of said one or more telecommunications carriers, becomes worse or better than a specified tolerance or desired performance level as specified by one or more of said telecommunications carriers, and

(5) performance, quality of service, or perceived quality or value of delivered telecommunications service for one or more of said end users, or said one or more telecommunications carriers, becomes worse or better than a specified tolerance or desired performance level as specified by one or more of said third parties.

2. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 wherein said database includes

public records which include, for a plurality of geographic locations, one or more of maps, location coordinates, or mapping information for said geographic locations, zoning information for said geographic locations, local ordinances for said geographic locations, contact information for government officials for said geographic locations, and information about one or more carriers serving said geographic locations.

3. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 wherein said one or more electronic interfaces permits one or more public users, who are not telecommunications carriers or end users, to selectively view or catalog information about said available telecommunications assets or properties and locations thereof, and said infrastructure needs of one or more telecommunications carriers for one or more locations.

4. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 wherein said one or more electronic interfaces includes one or more of an Internet interface, a telephone, a speech, handwriting or fingerprint recognition device, electronic mail interface, a facsimile, voicemail, a webserver, a computer, a mouse, a keyboard, VoIP, a wireless or portable computing or communications device, or a digital recorder.

5. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 wherein at least one of said one or more electronic interfaces is in communication with the world wide web, and wherein said records for one or more telecommunications carriers and said records for one or more end users can be viewed using a browser and can be retrieved by a web crawler.

6. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising a security application which protects the identity and infrastructure needs of said one or more telecommunications carriers.

7. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising a security application and billing application which permits charging one or more of said one or more telecommunications carriers, said one or more end users, or said one or more third parties for use of said clearinghouse system.

8. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising a communications application which permits secure negotiation and acceptance of business and legal terms between one or more telecommunications carriers and one or more end users for use of said one or more telecommunications assets or one or more property assets.

9. The clearinghouse system of claim 8 wherein said property assets are selected from a building, a roof top, a billboard, a light pole, a tower, and a lot or acreage.

10. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 wherein said database includes performance or quality of service information or perceived quality or value information for specific locations or specific end users.

11. The clearinghouse system of claim 10 wherein one of said one or more electronic interfaces provides automatic or manual updates of said performance or quality of service information or perceived quality or value information from one or more mobile or fixed devices located in said specific locations.

12. The clearinghouse system of claim 10 wherein said one or more electronic interfaces provides performance or quality of service information or perceived quality or value information to one or more mobile or fixed devices that are located in or will be located in said specific locations.

13. The clearinghouse system of claim 10 wherein said performance or quality of service information includes information from one or more of multiple bands, multiple carriers, and multiple end users.

14. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising

one or more local ad servers in communication with said one or more electronic interfaces, said local ad servers providing localized content to one or more mobile or fixed devices in a specific location.

15. The clearinghouse system of claim 14 further comprising

one or more base stations in communication with said one or more electronic interfaces.

16. The clearinghouse system of claim 14 wherein said local ad servers provide web page view data and usage statistics to said database through said one or more electronic interfaces.

17. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising a computation application, which interfaces with at least one of said one or more computers, and which identifies optimum or prioritized locations for said infrastructure needs based on said records of said one or more of end users.

18. The clearinghouse system of claim 2 further comprising a computation application, which interfaces with at least one of said one or more computers, and which identifies optimum or prioritized locations for said infrastructure needs based on both said records of some of said one or more end users and said public records.

19. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising an application program for forming binding agreements between at least one of said one or more telecommunications carriers and at least one of said one or more end users.

33. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 wherein said one or more computers which interface with said database and said one or more electronic interfaces are configured to accommodate queries or updates from one or more of an Internet interface, a telephone, a speech, handwriting or fingerprint recognition device, an electronic mail interface, a facsimile, voicemail, a webserver, a mouse, a keyboard, a computer, VoIP, a wireless or portable computing or communications device, or a digital recorder.

34. The clearinghouse system of claim 1 further comprising one or more application programs for submitting location, performance, quality of service, or perceived quality or value information, experienced or desired, between at least one of said one or more telecommunications carriers and at least one of said one or more end users.

35. The clearinghouse system of claim 34 wherein said one or more application programs permits submitting to be performed manually by one or more end users or by one or more carriers or by a third party.

36. The clearinghouse system of claim 34 wherein said one or more application programs permit submitting to be performed automatically by one or more programs or applications by communications between one or more end users and said clearinghouse system, or between one or more fixed or mobile devices and said clearinghouse system.

20. A clearinghouse system for communications networks, comprising:

one or more computers which interface with a database, the database including performance, quality of service, or perceived communications quality or service value information, experienced or desired, for one or more locations, and one or more of

records pertaining to one or more telecommunications carriers which identify infrastructure, type, and/or location information for one or more locations,

records for one or more end users which identify one or more of equipment, devices, telecommunications assets, and property assets owned, controlled or used by said one or more end users, and

public records which include, for a plurality of geographic locations, one or more of maps, location coordinates, or mapping information for said geographic locations, zoning information for said geographic locations, local ordinances for said geographic locations, contact information for government officials for said geographic locations, and information about one or more carriers serving said geographic locations; and

one or more electronic interfaces to said one or more computers which permit performance, quality of service, or perceived communications quality or service value information, experienced or desired, obtained from one or more mobile or fixed devices that are located in one of said one or more locations to be automatically or manually updated into said database, and which permits at least one of said one or more telecommunications carriers or one or more of said end users or one or more parties which are not telecommunications carriers or end users to review, catalog, store, view, sort, or use information in said database.

21. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 wherein said one or more electronic interfaces provides performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value to one or more mobile or fixed devices that are located in or will be located in said locations.

22. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 wherein said performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value includes information from one or more of:

multiple bands, multiple carriers, and multiple end users.

23. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 further comprising means for sending instructions from one of said one or more electronic interfaces to one or more wireless devices for configuring or reconfiguring of said one or more wireless devices based on one or more of:

a ranking of performance, enhanced spectrum usage, control of interference, or requests of an end user.

24. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 further comprising means for sending a rank ordering of available telecommunications services or frequencies from one of said one or more electronic interfaces to one or more wireless devices.

25. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 further comprising a monitoring application which permits monitoring of radio operating conditions of one or more wireless devices, wherein monitored radio operating conditions are used to update performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value in said database.

26. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 further comprising one or more wireless devices which are configured to provide said performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value to one of said one or more of said electronic interfaces.

37. The clearinghouse system of claim 20 further comprising one or more applications operable with said one or more mobile or fixed devices or said one or more computers for obtaining and providing said performance or quality of service or perceived communications quality or service value information, experienced or desired, to said one or more electronic interfaces.

38. The clearinghouse system of claim 37 wherein said one or more applications permit obtaining and providing to be performed manually by one or more end users or by one or more carriers or by a third party.

39. The clearinghouse system of claim 37 wherein said one or more applications permit obtaining and providing to be performed automatically by one or more programs or applications by communications between one or more end users and said clearinghouse system, or by communications between one or more fixed or mobile device and said clearinghouse system.

27. A content providing system which provides selected content to one or more mobile or fixed devices located in specific locations, comprising:

a clearinghouse system for communications networks, said clearinghouse system including

one or more computers which interfaces with a database, said database including one or more of

performance or quality of service or perceived telecommunications service quality or value information for one or more locations,

records for one or more telecommunications carriers which identify infrastructure information for one or more specific locations,

records for one or more end users which identify equipment, devices, telecommunications assets or property assets owned, used, or controlled by said one or more end users, and

public records which include, for a plurality of geographic locations, one or more of maps, location coordinates, or mapping information for said geographic locations, zoning information for said geographic locations, local ordinances for said geographic locations, contact information for government officials for said geographic locations, and information about one or more carriers serving said geographic locations; and

one or more electronic interfaces to said one or more computers which permit one or more mobile or fixed devices to be in communication with said clearinghouse system, said one or more electronic interfaces permitting one or more of

performance or quality of service or perceived telecommunications service quality or value information obtained from said one or more mobile or fixed devices that are located in one of said one or more locations to be automatically or manually updated into said database, and

at least one of said one or more telecommunications carriers or said one or more plurality of end users or one or more parties which are not telecommunications carriers or end users to review, catalog, view, store, use or sort information in said database;

wherein a geographic location of one or more mobile or fixed devices is identified; and

one or more local ad servers in communication with said one or more electronic interfaces of said clearinghouse system configured to use said geographic location, said local ad servers providing localized content to said one or more mobile or fixed devices in.

28. The content providing system of claim 27 further comprising

one or more base stations in communication with said one or more electronic interfaces of said clearinghouse system.

29. The content providing system of claim 27 wherein said local ad servers provide web page view and usage statistics to said database of said clearinghouse system through said one or more electronic interfaces.

30. The content providing system of claim 27 wherein said means for identifying a geographic location includes a GPS associated with one or more of said one or more mobile or fixed devices.

31. The content providing system of claim 27 wherein said means for identifying a geographic location includes a means for determining one or more of towers or frequencies being used by one or more of said one or more mobile or fixed devices.

40. The clearinghouse system of claim 27 further comprising one or more applications operable with said one or more mobile or fixed devices or said one or more computers for obtaining and providing one or more of end user location;

end user viewing/usage statistics of the Internet;

end user history or record of browsing or viewing data of on-line advertisements; and

end user Internet or traffic usage profiles,

to said one or more electronic interfaces.

41. The clearinghouse system of claim 40 wherein said one or more applications permit obtaining and providing to be performed manually by one or more end users or by one or more carriers or by a third party.

42. The clearinghouse system of claim 40 wherein said one or more applications permit obtaining and providing to be performed automatically by one or more programs or applications by communications between one or more end users and said clearinghouse system, or by communications between one or more mobile or fixed devices and said clearinghouse system.

32. The content providing system 27 wherein said local ad servers provide content to said one or more mobile or fixed devices tuned to a specific transmitted signal.

43. A clearinghouse system for communications networks, comprising:

one or more computers which interface with a database, the database including performance, quality of service, or perceived communications quality or service value information, experienced or desired, for one or more locations, and one or more of

records pertaining to one or more telecommunications carriers which identify infrastructure, type, and/or location information for one or more locations, and

public records which include, for a plurality of geographic locations, one or more of maps, location coordinates, or mapping information for said geographic locations, zoning information for said geographic locations, local ordinances for said geographic locations, contact information for government officials for said geographic locations, and information about one or more carriers serving said geographic locations; and

one or more electronic interfaces to said one or more computers which permit performance, quality of service, or perceived communications quality or service value information, experienced or desired, obtained from one or more mobile or fixed devices that are located in one of said one or more locations to be automatically or manually updated into said database, and which permits at least one of said one or more telecommunications carriers or one or more of said end users or one or more parties which are not telecommunications carriers or end users to review, catalog, store, view, sort, or use information in said database.

44. The clearinghouse system of claim 43 wherein said one or more electronic interfaces provides performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value to one or more mobile or fixed devices that are located in or will be located in said locations.

45. The clearinghouse system of claim 43 wherein said performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value includes information from one or more of:

multiple bands, multiple carriers, and multiple end users.

46. The clearinghouse system of claim 43 further comprising means for sending instructions from one of said one or more electronic interfaces to one or more wireless devices for configuring or reconfiguring of said one or more wireless devices based on one or more of:

a ranking of performance, enhanced spectrum usage, control of interference, or requests of an end user.

47. The clearinghouse system of claim 43 further comprising means for sending a rank ordering of available telecommunications services or frequencies from one of said one or more electronic interfaces to one or more mobile wireless devices.

48. The clearinghouse system of claim 43 further comprising a monitoring application which permits monitoring of radio operating conditions of one or more wireless devices, wherein monitored radio operating conditions are used to update performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value in said database.

49. The clearinghouse system of claim 43 further comprising one or more wireless devices which are configured to provide said performance or quality of service information or perceived communications quality or service value to one of said one or more of said electronic interfaces.