Cellular communications drive test system and method
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring the performance of a cellular telephone call, comprising the steps of:
- (a) calling a first mobile telephone that is configured to be in an auto-answer mode;
(b) receiving GPS location information indicative of the location of the first mobile telephone;
(c) recording data on a first computer, the data comprising telephone call parameter information available from the first mobile telephone and the GPS location information;
(d) calling a second mobile telephone that is in communication with the first computer;
(e) transmitting via the second mobile telephone the data recorded on the first computer;
(f) configuring a cellular telephone system switch to be in a call monitor mode and recording cellular system information with respect to the first mobile telephone;
(g) forwarding the data and cellular system information with respect to the first mobile telephone to a second computer; and
(h) graphically displaying the data and cellular system information with respect to the first mobile telephone.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for and method of cellular telephone system monitoring includes a cellular switch which is remotely accessed and placed in a call monitor mode. A GPS receiver is connected to a mobile telephone via an interface unit. Call performance information (e.g., signal strength, BER and call events) are recorded at the switch and downloaded to a remote computer that includes a display. GPS location information is transmitted by the mobile telephone and received by the remote computer via the switch. The computer receives and stores the recorded call and GPS information and graphically displays this information, along with a map indicating the location of the mobile telephone. Preferably, the call information is first parsed, converted and/or scaled to conform to a standard file format.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring the performance of a cellular telephone call, comprising the steps of:
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(a) calling a first mobile telephone that is configured to be in an auto-answer mode; (b) receiving GPS location information indicative of the location of the first mobile telephone; (c) recording data on a first computer, the data comprising telephone call parameter information available from the first mobile telephone and the GPS location information; (d) calling a second mobile telephone that is in communication with the first computer; (e) transmitting via the second mobile telephone the data recorded on the first computer; (f) configuring a cellular telephone system switch to be in a call monitor mode and recording cellular system information with respect to the first mobile telephone; (g) forwarding the data and cellular system information with respect to the first mobile telephone to a second computer; and (h) graphically displaying the data and cellular system information with respect to the first mobile telephone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for monitoring call performance in a mobile telephone system, comprising:
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a computer, including a display, the computer being operable to; remotely access a switch; place the switch in a call monitor mode; receive and store mobile telephone system information and location information associated with a mobile telephone unit being used in a call being monitored, the mobile telephone system information and location information associated with the mobile telephone unit are to be stored using a standard file format, the standard file format of system and location information further comprising; a channel carrying the call; a channel type; new call information; normal end call events; dropped end call events; and timestamp entries for the location information; and graphically display the system information and location information, the display further includes information associated with a serving cell site and at least one neighboring cell site, and at least one indication of received signal quality at both the serving cell site and the at least one neighboring cell site. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for monitoring call performance in a mobile telephone system, comprising:
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a computer, including a display, the computer being operable to; remotely access a switch; place the switch in a call monitor mode; receive and store mobile telephone system information and location information associated with a mobile telephone unit being used in a call being monitored in a standard file format, the standard file format of system and location information further comprising; a channel carrying the call; a channel type; new call information; normal end call events; dropped end call events; and timestamp entries for the location information; and graphically display the system information and location information, the display further includes information associated with a serving cell site and at least one neighboring cell site, and at least one indication of received signal quality at the serving cell site and the at least one neighboring cell site, and the at least one indication of received signal quality includes color coding to indicate received signal quality.
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16. A test apparatus for a mobile telephone system, comprising:
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a first mobile telephone unit having an automatic answer mode; an RF location unit substantially collocated with the first mobile telephone unit; and an interface unit substantially collocated with and coupled to the first mobile telephone unit and the RF location unit to obtain location and time information from the RF location unit and to provide the location and time information to be transmitted, along with call information, to a monitoring facility, via a mobile telephone unit. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification