System and method for gathering data from wireless communications networks

• US 6,788,926 B1
• Filed: 09/08/1999
• Issued: 09/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): MOORE, JAMES K
• Application Number:
  US09/392,012
• Time in Patent Office: 1,826 Days
• Field of Search: 455/2.01, 455/3.01, 455/3.03, 455/405, 455/456.1, 455/423, 455/425, 455/560, 455/67.11, 455/446, 455/515, 455/552.1, 455/553.1, 701/29, 701/33, 701/117
• US Class Current: 455/405
• 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 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, wherein said step of processing the data at a control center comprises eliminating redundant pages to the same subscriber to reduce storage space and analysis processing time.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein eliminating redundant pages to the same subscriber comprises the steps:

sorting through the gathered data from said plurality of data gathering nodes;

identifying pages to a same subscriber occurring within a pre-determined time period from each other; and

eliminating all of said pages except one.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of using a data mining application to process the data gathered by said plurality of data gathering nodes to produce marketing and usage characterization information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the share of subscribers for each wireless communication network for a given time period.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said method of calculating the share of subscribers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks for a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting a base number of different unique subscriber identifiers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

extrapolating the base number of different unique subscriber identifiers for each wireless communication network to an adjusted number of unique subscriber identifiers;

summing the number of adjusted unique subscriber identifiers counted for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of subscribers for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the number of adjusted unique subscriber identifiers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of subscribers for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the number of new subscribers each wireless communication network added during a given time period.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of calculating the number of new subscribers for each wireless communication network added during a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during a prior time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

comparing the list of unique subscriber identifiers for the given time period to the prior time period and counting the number of new unique subscriber identifiers that appear in the given time period but not the prior time period; and

extrapolating said number of new unique subscriber identifiers to an adjusted number of new unique subscriber identifiers.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the number of churning subscribers who canceled service for each wireless communication network during a given time period.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of calculating the number of churning subscribers who canceled service for each wireless communication network during a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during a prior time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

comparing the list of unique subscriber identifiers for the prior time period to the given time period and counting the number of churning unique subscriber identifiers that appear in the prior time period but not the given time period; and

extrapolating said number of churning subscribers to an adjusted number of churning subscribers.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the share of calls made by subscribers of each wireless communication network for a given time period.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said step of calculating the share of subscriber calls made for each wireless communication network for a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting the number of traffic channel assignments made by each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

extrapolating said number of counted traffic channel assignments to a total number of subscriber calls for the given time period for each wireless communication network;

summing the total number of subscriber calls extrapolated for the given time period for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of subscribers calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing said total number of subscriber calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the number of traffic channel assignments counted does not include traffic channel assignments made to roaming subscribers.

13. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the share of roamers of each wireless communication network for a given time period.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of calculating the share of roamers for each wireless communication network for a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting a base number of roamers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

extrapolating the base number of roamers for each wireless communication network to an adjusted number of roamers;

summing the number of adjusted roamers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of roamers for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the adjusted number of roamers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of subscribers for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

15. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises profiling the quality of subscribers for each wireless communication network.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said subscribers comprise new, churning, and base subscribers.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein said step of profiling the quality of subscribers for each wireless communication network for a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node and identifying the different unique subscriber identifiers corresponding to the type of subscriber to be profiled for each wireless communication network;

counting the number of traffic channel assignments made to each said unique subscriber identifier;

counting the total number of said different unique subscriber identifiers for all wireless communication networks;

dividing said total number for all wireless communication networks into subunits according to the number of traffic channel assignments made; and

for each subunit, calculating the market share percentage of number of subscribers for each wireless communication network in the subunit.

18. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the share of calls for each wireless communication network during a given time period.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said step of calculating the share of calls for each wireless communication network during a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting a base number of traffic channel assignments made for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks during a given time period;

extrapolating the base number of traffic channel assignments for each wireless communication network during said time period to an adjusted number traffic channel assignments;

summing the number of adjusted traffic channel assignments during said time period for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of traffic channel assignments during said period for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the adjusted number of traffic channel assignments during said time period for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of traffic channel assignments for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

20. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises calculating the share of incoming and outgoing calls for each wireless communication network.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said step of calculating the share of incoming and outgoing calls for each wireless communication network during a given time period comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and identifying each traffic channel assignment for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and identifying each page for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

identifying which traffic channel assignments are incoming calls by sorting through said traffic channel assignments and pages and identifying which traffic channel assignments are immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber;

counting a base number of incoming calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by counting the number of traffic channel assignments immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber;

counting a base number of outgoing calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by counting the number of traffic channel assignments not immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber;

extrapolating the base number of incoming and outgoing calls for each wireless communication network to an adjusted number of incoming and outgoing calls;

summing the number of incoming calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of incoming calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks;

dividing the adjusted number of incoming calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of incoming calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks;

summing the number of outgoing calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of outgoing calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks;

dividing the adjusted number of outgoing calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of outgoing calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

22. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises identifying dual mode subscribers of analog and wireless communication networks operated by the same service provider.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said step of identifying dual mode subscribers of analog and wireless communication networks operated by the same service provider comprises:

sorting through the data gathered from a service provider analog wireless communication network and identifying traffic channel assignments;

sorting through the data gathered from said service provider digital wireless communication network and identifying traffic channel assignments; and

identifying traffic channel assignments made to the same subscriber appearing in both the analog and digital wireless communication networks.

24. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of processing the data at said control center to produce marketing information on each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks comprises identifying new subscribers of a wireless communication network who are churning subscribers from a different wireless communication network.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said step of identifying new subscribers of a wireless communication network who are churning subscribers from a different wireless communication network comprises;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during a prior time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

comparing the list of unique subscriber identifiers for the given time period to the prior time period and identifying the new unique subscriber identifiers that appear in the given time period but not the prior time period; and

comparing said new unique subscriber identifiers to a list of unique subscriber identifiers for each different wireless communication network and identifying which said unique subscriber identifiers appear on said list of unique subscriber identifiers of a different wireless communication network.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of deploying a plurality of data gathering nodes at various geographic locations in a plurality of wireless communication networks comprises the steps of placing at least one data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes in each location area of each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said step of gathering data at said plurality of data gathering nodes comprises the step of at each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes, simultaneously gathering data from each location area of each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein said step of gathering data at said plurality of data gathering nodes comprises the steps of:

at each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes, employing a sampling algorithm to gather data from a cell group of each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

simultaneously employing said sampling algorithm at all data gathering nodes of said plurality of data gathering nodes to gather data from each location area of said plurality of wireless communication networks.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said sampling algorithm to gather data from a cell group of each wireless communication network, comprising the steps of:

monitoring the channel assignment of a first cell base station for a time period for each wireless communication network;

changing the monitoring frequency to monitor the channel assignment of a second cell base station for a time period for each wireless communication network; and

changing the monitoring frequency to monitor the channel assignment of the base station of each of N cells for a time period for each wireless communication network, where N equals the number of cells in each cell group of the data gathering node and is not necessarily equal for each wireless communication network.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the cells of said plurality of wireless communication networks is sampled.

31. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the share of subscribers for each wireless communication network for a given time period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting a base number of different unique subscriber identifiers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

extrapolating the base number of different unique subscriber identifiers for each wireless communication network to an adjusted number of unique subscriber identifiers;

summing the number of adjusted unique subscriber identifiers counted for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of subscribers for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the number of adjusted unique subscriber identifiers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of subscribers for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

32. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the number of new subscribers each wireless communication network added during a given time period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during a prior time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

comparing the list of unique subscriber identifiers for the given time period to the prior time period and counting the number of new unique subscriber identifiers that appear in the given time period but not the prior time period; and

extrapolating said number of new unique subscriber identifiers to an adjusted number of new unique subscriber identifiers.

33. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the number of churning subscribers who canceled service for each wireless communication network during a given time period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during a prior time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

comparing the list of unique subscriber identifiers for the prior time period to the given time period and counting the number of churning unique subscriber identifiers that appear in the prior time period but not the given time period; and

extrapolating said number of churning subscribers to an adjusted number of churning subscribers.

34. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the share of subscriber calls made for each wireless communication network for a given tine period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting the number of traffic channel assignments made by each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

extrapolating said number of counted traffic channel assignments to a total number of subscriber calls for the given time period for each wireless communication network;

summing the total number of subscriber calls extrapolated for the given time period for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of subscribers calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing said total number of subscriber calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

35. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the share of roamers for each wireless communication network for a given time period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and counting a base number of roamers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

extrapolating the base number of roamers for each wireless communication network to an adjusted number of roamers;

summing the number of adjusted roamers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of roamers for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the adjusted number of roamers for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of subscribers for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

36. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to profile the quality of subscribers for each wireless communication network for a given time period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node and identifying the different unique subscriber identifiers corresponding to the type of subscriber to be profiled for each wireless communication network;

counting the number of traffic channel assignments made to each said unique subscriber identifier;

counting the total number of said different unique subscriber identifiers for all wireless communication networks;

dividing said total number for all wireless communication networks into subunits according to the number of traffic channel assignments made; and

for each subunit, calculating the market share percentage of number of subscribers for each wireless communication network in the subunit.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein said subscribers comprise new, churning, and base subscribers.

38. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the share of calls for each wireless communication network during a given time period, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and counting a base number of traffic channel assignments made for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks during a given time period;

extrapolating the base number of traffic channel assignments for each wireless communication network during said time period to an adjusted number traffic channel assignments;

summing the number of adjusted traffic channel assignments during said time period for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of traffic channel assignments during said period for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the adjusted number of traffic channel assignments during said time period for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of traffic channel assignments for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

39. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to determine whether traffic channel assignments correspond to incoming or outgoing calls, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and identifying each traffic channel assignment for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and identifying a page for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

identifying which traffic channel assignments are incoming calls by sorting through said traffic channel assignments and pages and identifying which traffic channel assignments are immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber.

40. A method for processing a data file gathered from a plurality of wireless communication networks to calculate the share of incoming and outgoing calls for each wireless communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting trough data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and identifying each traffic channel assignment for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes and identifying a page for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks;

identifying which traffic channel assignments are incoming calls by sorting through said traffic channel assignments and pages and identifying which traffic channel assignments are immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber;

counting a base number of incoming calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by counting the number of traffic channel assignments immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber;

counting a base number of outgoing calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by counting the number of traffic channel assignments not immediately preceded by a page to the same subscriber;

extrapolating the base number of incoming and outgoing calls for each wireless communication network to an adjusted number of incoming and outgoing calls;

summing the number of incoming calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of incoming calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks;

dividing the adjusted number of incoming calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of incoming calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks;

summing the number of outgoing calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks to produce a total number of outgoing calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks; and

dividing the adjusted number of outgoing calls for each wireless communication network of said plurality of wireless communication networks by said total number of outgoing calls for said plurality of wireless communication networks.

41. A method for identifying new subscribers of a wireless communication network who are churning subscribers from a different wireless communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

sorting through data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during the given time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

sorting through the data gathered from each data gathering node of said plurality of data gathering nodes during a prior time period and generating a list of unique subscriber identifiers;

comparing the list of unique subscriber identifiers for a given time period to the prior time period and identifying the new unique subscriber identifiers that appear in the given time period but not the prior time period; and

comparing said new unique subscriber identifiers to a list of unique subscriber identifiers for different wireless communication network and identifying which said unique subscriber identifiers appear on said list of unique subscriber identifiers of a different wireless communication network.

42. A method for identifying dual mode subscribers of analog and wireless communication networks operated by the same service provider, 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;

eliminating redundant pages to the same subscriber to reduce storage space and analysis processing time;

sorting through data gathered from a service provider analog wireless communication network and identifying traffic channel assignments;

sorting through data gathered from said service provider digital wireless communication network and identifying traffic channel assignments; and

identifying traffic channel assignments made to a same subscriber appearing in both the analog and digital wireless communication networks.