Adaptive data collection

• US 6,993,442 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2004
• Issued: 01/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keysight Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Hamilton, Bruce, Kanevsky, Valery, Eidson, John C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Assouad, Patrick J.
• Application Number:
  US10/846,301
• Publication Number:
  US 20050256679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 627 Days
• Field of Search: 455/423, 455/424, 455/425, 342/173, 375/224, 340/3.1, 340/3.3, 702/69, 702/179, 702/180, 702/181
• US Class Current: 702/69
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/26 using historical data, averaging values or statistics
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/27 for locating or positioning the transmitter

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention separates the region of measurement space into a plurality of sub-regions and calculates a confidence, for reconstruction of an underlying signal within said space, corresponding to each of the sub-regions. This embodiment can then accept measurements from mobile measuring devices within said measurement space and store those measurements if they originate from devices in sub-regions having a confidence below an acceptable value.

Claims

1. A method of managing measurements, said method comprising:

providing at least one mobile measuring device within a measurement space, wherein said space has a measurable phenomenon; and

determining a usefulness of a measurement of said phenomenon taken from said device by using a calculation of a confidence of a reconstruction of said phenomenon.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said confidence calculation computes a probability that an error of said measurement will fall within a range.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said space is further divided into a plurality of sub-regions, and further comprising:

calculating a confidence for the reconstruction of said phenomenon within each of said sub-regions.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the measurement originates from a first sub-region, wherein said confidence calculation for said first sub-region denotes an unacceptable reconstruction of said signal, and further comprising:

storing the measurement.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the measurement originates from a second sub-region, wherein said confidence calculation for said second sub-region denotes an acceptable reconstruction of said signal, and further comprising:

disregarding the measurement.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing successive measurements until said confidence denotes an acceptable reconstruction of said signal.

7. A system for managing measurements of a phenomenon within measurement space, said system comprising:

at least one mobile device capable of measuring a phenomenon;

a processor operable to calculate a confidence of a reconstruction of said phenomenon; and

computer code that calculates said confidence.

8. The system of claim 7 further comprising:

computer code that calculates an upper and a lower bound for a value of said phenomenon, wherein said confidence is related to a probability that the value of said phenomenon lies between said upper and said lower bound.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein said measurement space is divided into a plurality of sub-regions, and wherein said phenomenon is measured in each said sub-region.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said reconstruction is independently performed in each sub-region, and wherein said confidence is independently calculated for each said reconstruction.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

a computer readable memory; and

computer code that stores measurements taken in sub-regions with an un-acceptable confidence in the computer readable memory and discards measurements taken in sub-regions with an acceptable confidence.

12. A method for efficiently managing a reconstruction of broadcast signal, said method comprising:

providing a plurality of mobile measurement platforms capable of measuring said signal within a service area;

segmenting said service area into a plurality of sub-regions;

calculating an upper and a lower bound for the value of said signal within each said sub-regions; and

for each said sub-region, calculating a confidence that a measured value of said signal lies between said upper and said lower bound.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

storing a measured value originating from sub-regions with an unacceptable confidence.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

recalculating said upper and said lower bounds for a sub-region after said measurement is stored.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

accepting other measurements from said platforms until the confidence of each said sub-region is acceptable.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein said platforms are consumer owned devices.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein said broadcast signal is a cellular telephone signal and said platforms are cellular telephones.

18. A system for reconstructing a broadcast signal, said system comprising:

a plurality of mobile platforms capable of measuring said signal;

a service area of said signal that is segmented into a plurality of sub-regions;

a processor operable to process computer executable code including code for calculating, in each said sub-region, an upper and a lower bound for a value of said signal, and, code for calculating, in each sub-region, a confidence that a value of a subsequent measurement in said sub-region will be within a range between said upper and said lower bound.

19. The system of claim 18 further comprising:

a computer readable memory; and

code evaluating measurements in each sub-region, wherein said code stores, in said memory, measurements originating in sub-regions with unacceptable confidences.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein measurements originating in sub-regions with acceptable confidences are not stored.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein measurements are taken in one said sub-region until said confidence of said sub-region is above a predetermined value.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein said signal is a cellular telephone signal.

23. The system of claim 18 wherein said platforms are customer owned cellular telephones.