Real time call monitoring system and method

• US 6,751,457 B1
• Filed: 06/28/2000
• Issued: 06/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Buffalo Patents, LLC
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Martin, Dannie E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Lee
• Application Number:
  US09/604,755
• Time in Patent Office: 1,448 Days
• Field of Search: 455/423, 455/424, 455/67.11, 455/67.7, 370/241, 370/244, 370/250, 375/213
• US Class Current: 455/424
• 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 real time call monitoring of call performance information in a cellular telephone system. A cellular switch is remotely accessed and placed in a call monitor mode. Call performance information (signal strength, BER and call events) are thereafter recorded and downloaded to a remote computer system that includes a display. The computer system receives and stores the recorded call information and graphically displays the call information. Preferably, the call information received is first parsed, converted and/or scaled to conform to a standard file format. In this way, the graphically displayed call performance information can be easily understood by a user even if the call performance information comes from different switch types.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a cellular call, comprising the steps of:

(a) remotely accessing a switch at a first location, the switch switching one or more cellular sites in a cellular system;

(b) remotely placing the switch in a call monitor mode;

(c) recording call information related to a cellular call;

(d) transmitting the call information to a second location;

(e) storing, at the second location, the call information as data in a standard file format; and

(f) displaying the data in a graphical format,

wherein the step of displaying the data comprises presenting a first graph illustrating the reverse and forward signal strengths associated with a mobile device and a serving cell site involved in the cellular call, the first graph further illustrating reverse signal strengths of at least two cell sites neighboring the serving cell site,

wherein the step of displaying the data further comprises presenting a second graph, simultaneously, and in temporal alignment, with the first graph, illustrating bit error rate (BER) being experienced by the cellular call, and

wherein both the first and second graphs respectively illustrate at least one vertical line extending from a top to a bottom of the respective graph that is indicative of a call event that occurred with respect to the cellular call, the at least one vertical line illustrated on the first graph being in 7410 horizontal registration with the vertical line on the second graph, whereby correlation between the first and second graphs, at least with respect to a call event, is facilitated.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of steps (a), (b) and (d) occurs over at last one of a hard wire and a wireless link.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of at least one of parsing, converting and scaling the call information to generate the data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying the identity of a serving cell site that is the cell site over which the cellular call is taking place.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing an audible indication of a call event.

6. A method of monitoring cellular call information, comprising the steps of:

(a) recording cellular call information at a switch;

(b) transmitting the call information to a remote location;

(c) graphically displaying the call information; and

(d) graphically identifying when a call event has occurred,

wherein the step of graphically displaying the data comprises presenting a first graph illustrating the reverse and forward signal strengths associated with a mobile device and a serving cell site involved in the cellular call, the first graph further illustrating reverse signal strengths of at least two cell sites neighboring the serving cell site,

wherein the step of graphically displaying the data further comprises presenting a second graph, simultaneously, and in temporal alignment, with the first graph, illustrating bit error rate (BER) being experienced by the cellular call, and

wherein both the first and second graphs respectively illustrate at least one vertical line extending from a top to a bottom of the respective graph that is indicative of a call event that occurred with respect to the cellular call, the at least one vertical line illustrated on the first graph being in horizontal registration with the vertical line on the second graph, whereby correlation between the first and second graphs, at least with respect to a call event, is facilitated.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of recording the cellular call information after the switch is placed in a call monitor mode from the remote location.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein step (b) is performed over a communications link.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the communications link is at least one of a wire and a wireless link.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising at least one of the steps of parsing, converting and scaling the call information at the remote location.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of audibly indicating that a call event has occurred.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of continually graphically displaying the call information after new call information is transmitted.

13. A real time call monitoring system for monitoring call performance in a cellular telephone system, comprising:

a cellular switch operable to be remotely placed in a call monitor mode, said switch further being capable of recording call information upon being placed in the call monitor mode and subsequently downloading recorded call information; and

a computer system including a display, the computer system being operable to (i) remote access the switch, (ii) remotely place the switch in the call monitor mode, (iii) receive and store recorded call information and (iv) graphically display the call information,

wherein the computer system is operable to graphically display a first graph illustrating the reverse and forward signal strengths associated with a mobile device and a serving cell site involved in the cellular call, the first graph further illustrating reverse signal strengths of at least two cell sites neighboring the serving cell site,

wherein the computer system is operable to graphically display a second graph, simultaneously, and in temporal alignment, with the first graph, illustrating bit error rate (BER) being experienced by the cellular call, and

wherein both the first and second graphs respectively illustrate at least one vertical line extending from a top to a bottom of the respective graph that is indicative of a call event that occurred with respect to the cellular call, the at least one vertical line illustrated on the first graph being in horizontal registration with the vertical line on the second graph, whereby correlation between the first and second graphs at least with respect to a call event, is facilitated.

14. The real time call monitoring system of claim 13, wherein the computer system comprises a modem that communicates with the switch.

15. The real time call monitoring system of claim 13, wherein the computer system displays the call information in real or near real time.

16. The real time call monitoring system of claim 13, wherein the computer system performs at least one of parsing, converting and scaling the call information.

17. The real time call monitoring system of claim 13, wherein the computer system is operable to audibly indicate when a call event has occurred.