Auditing data in a wireless telecommunications network

• US 8,805,794 B1
• Filed: 09/02/2008
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Zeller, Victoria L., Freiermuth, Mark S., Rozier, Hilah A., Hines, Thomas E. III, Angell, Bonny R., Walker, Sharon, Green, Jeanna M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perveen, Rehana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoffler, Raheem
• Application Number:
  US12/202,776
• Time in Patent Office: 2,170 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/690
• 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 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

Media are provided for performing a method of auditing data associated with a wireless telecommunications network. The method includes determining whether or not to audit data associated with a given sector in a wireless coverage area in a wireless telecommunications network based off of either a sector exclusion/inclusion list or a field in a database. The method also includes comparing attributes of sectors to be audited across network elements to determine if any data inconsistencies exit. Finally, the method presents any data inconsistencies of audited sectors to a user. In an alternate embodiment, all sectors could be audited, and certain sectors could be denoted on an audit report as to indicate that this sector already has known inconsistencies or is out of service to prevent confusion and further errors.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of auditing data associated with a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

identifying a set of sectors of the wireless telecommunications network that might be the subject of a data audit, the set of sectors being a subset of all sectors in a wireless telecommunications network, each of the sectors in the set being associated with at least a portion of a coverage area of a cell in the wireless telecommunications network, the data audit being useable to identify discrepancies in information associated with each of the sectors in the set respectively, the information being stored in a plurality of different locations;

determining at least one sector of the set of sectors that is to be excluded from the audit by referencing a list of identified sectors, thereby resulting in a set of one or more excluded sectors, wherein the set of one or more excluded sectors includes at least one of sectors not in service or sectors that do not provide the particular service whose data is being audited;

excluding the set of one or more excluded sectors from the audit;

conducting the audit on all sectors of the set of sectors except for the sectors in the set of one or more excluded sectors by comparing the information stored in each of the plurality of different locations for each of the sectors in the set of sectors that is not in the set of one or more excluded sectors; and

denoting discrepancies in a sector-mismatch report.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the sectors are subsections of a wireless coverage area in the wireless telecommunications network.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein the information stored in different locations includes at least one attribute related to the set of sectors.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the conducting includes:

determining whether a first sector in the set of sectors is in the set of excluded sectors;

when the first sector is in the set of excluded sectors, excluding the first sector;

but

when the first sector is not in the set of excluded sectors, continuing the audit, including the first sector.

5. The media of claim 1, wherein the conducting includes identifying inconsistencies on all sectors of the set of sectors except for the set of excluded sectors.

6. The media of claim 1, wherein the data to be audited is 911 service data.

7. The media of claim 6, wherein the 911 service data comprises data identifying what type of 911 service each of a plurality of Public Safety Access Points is equipped to provide.

8. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of auditing data associated with a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

determining at least one sector that is to be excluded from an audit, thereby resulting in a set of one or more excluded sectors, wherein the sectors to be excluded are not in service or do not provide a particular service whose data is being audited;

excluding, from the audit, the set of one or more excluded sectors;

referencing a first attribute value stored in a first data source, the first attribute value being associated with a sector of a cell in a wireless telecommunication network that is not in the set of one or more excluded sectors;

comparing the first attribute value to a second attribute value stored in a second data source, the second attribute value being associated with the sector;

determining that there is a mismatch between the first and second attribute values, the mismatch indicating a data inconsistency; and

denoting the sector in a sector-mismatch report that lists errors indicative of data inconsistencies within the wireless telecommunications network.

9. The media of claim 8, wherein the sector is a subsection of a wireless coverage area in the wireless telecommunications network.

10. The media of claim 8, wherein determining whether the sector is to be excluded from the sector-mismatch report includes referencing a list of identified sectors to be excluded.

11. The media of claim 8, wherein determining whether the sector is to be excluded from the sector-mismatch report includes accessing field in a database, wherein the field indicates that the sector is to be excluded from the sector-mismatch report.

12. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method of auditing data associated with a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

determining at least one sector that is to be excluded from an audit, thereby resulting in a set of one or more excluded sectors, wherein the sectors to be excluded are not in service or do not provide a particular service whose data is being audited;

excluding, from the audit, the set of one or more excluded sectors;

referencing a first attribute value stored in a first data source, the first attribute value being associated with a sector that is not in the set of one or more excluded sectors;

comparing the first attribute value to a second attribute value stored in a second data source, the second attribute value being associated with the sector;

identifying a mismatch between the first and second attribute values that indicates a data inconsistency;

accessing a field in a database that indicates inconsistencies associated with the sector are to be denoted in a sector-mismatch report that lists errors indicative of data inconsistencies within the wireless telecommunications network; and

denoting the inconsistencies of the sector in the sector-mismatch report, the sector-mismatch report including an entry for the sector, the entry including a visual indication that is different from one or more other entries that are not denoted.

13. The media of claim 12, wherein the sector is a subsection of a wireless coverage area in the wireless telecommunications network.

14. The media of claim 12, wherein the denoting the inconsistencies is accomplished by flagging the inconsistencies on the mismatch report.

15. The media of claim 12, wherein the denoting the inconsistencies is accomplished by changing the font of the inconsistencies on the mismatch report.

16. The media of claim 12, wherein the denoting the inconsistencies is accomplished by not presenting the inconsistencies on the mismatch report.